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In the Rising action of The Color Purple, Celie and Nettie become ever more closer than they were before, and the reader starts to see that Celie and Nettie really care for eachothers welfare. At this point of the book, Nettie and Celie are already separated. Celie is given away to Mr.___ (Albert) and she is the primary source for taking care of the family. Celie is the laborer, the cook, the source of care for the children, and the source of pleasure for Albert. Nettie runs away from her fathers house and she is unexpectedly reunited with Celie. Nettie helps with the day to day chores that Mr.___ assigns Celie and also helps Celie with her studies and reading skills. Celie appreciates how much Nettie believes in her. As is evident, Celie and Nettie share an unbreakable love for eachother.
In the Climax of The Color Purple, there is a bit of a twist in the relationship between Celie and Nettie. At this point in the book, Nettie has been kicked out of Mr.____’s house for cursing and fighting back his attempt to rape her. Because of this incident, Mr.___ promises to Nettie that he will sever there communication and that she will never hear from Celie again. The story goes on and as Nettie promised, she writes to Celie frequently. The problem is, Celie is not receiving any of these letters. Later on in the book, Celie discovers a hidden pile of letters from Nettie. Celie and Nettie connect through these letters. These hidden letters serve as a bridge to their love for one another. Even though they are not physically together, they are emotionally and spiritually together. This is the extent of their relationship during the climax.
In the Resolution of The Color Purple, Celie and Nettie’s emotional and spiritual relationship is brought to an end. At first Celie learns of the sinking of the boat Nettie was on. She can’t believe that Nettie is dead because she still feels Nettie spiritually and emotionally. At the end of the book, this theory that Nettie sank along with the boat turns out to be false. They are reunited once again and now can share an actual relationship without physical restraint.
The symbol of sisterhood is an appropriate symbol because Nettie and Celie share a loving relationship throughout the whole story, even though they are not physically together through the whole story, their love for one another is present throughout. At no point in the story did one another hate eachother or lose hope in seeing each other once again. Celie deeply cares for her sister and puts her first acting as the mother. Nettie, discouraged from her letters not getting to Celie does not lose hope in trying to communicate with Celie. She continues to write even though she knows in reality that these letters would probably not get to Celie. “I ast him to take me instead of Nettie…”(7) | <urn:uuid:ff397a24-7580-4d20-9444-5d5f8881b356> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://thecolorpurplebystephen.blogspot.com/2011/02/celie-and-netties-relationship.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738660966.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173740-00125-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970716 | 644 | 2.96875 | 3 | 2.819775 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Literature |
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As per available reports about 6 Conferences, 18 Workshops and 69 relevant Journals are presently dedicated exclusively to Heartburn medicine and about 5476 articles are being published on Heartburn Medicine.
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Scope and Importance:
Heartburn is a painful burning feeling just below or behind the breastbone. Most of the time it comes from the esophagus. The pain often rises in your chest from your stomach and may spread to your neck or throat.
Heartburn medicine is used for heartburn also known as gastro esophageal reflux (GER) acid reflux or acid regurgitation occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) opens spontaneously, for varying periods of time, or does not close properly and stomach contents rise up into the esophagus. It is called GER because digestive juices-called acids-rise up with the food. When acid reflux occurs, food or fluid can be tasted in the back of the mouth. When refluxed stomach acid touches the lining of the esophagus it may cause a burning sensation in the chest or throat called heartburn or acid indigestion. Occasional GER is common but if occurs more than twice a week may lead to a more serious form called Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD). People of all ages can have GERD.
Heartburn medicine is available in different varieties over the counter that stops acid production or help the muscles that empty your stomach. Antacids, such as Alka-Seltzer, Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, and Riopan, are usually the first drugs recommended to relieve heartburn. Different combinations of three basic salts-magnesium, calcium, and aluminum-with hydroxide or bicarbonate ions are used to neutralize the acid in your stomach. Antacids, however, may have side effects. Magnesium salts can lead to diarrhea, and aluminum salt may cause constipation. Aluminum and magnesium salts are often combined in a single product to balance these effects. Calcium carbonate antacids, such as Tums, Titralac, and Alka-2, can also be a supplemental source of calcium. They can cause constipation as well. Foaming agents, such as Gaviscon, work by covering your stomach contents with foam to prevent reflux. H2 blockers, such as cimetidine (Tagamet HB), famotidine (Pepcid AC), nizatidine (Axid AR), and ranitidine (Zantac 75), decrease acid production. These drugs provide short-term relief and are effective for about half of those who have GERD symptoms. Proton pump inhibitors include omeprazole (Prilosec, Zegerid), lansoprazole (Prevacid), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (Aciphex), and esomeprazole (Nexium), which are available by prescription. Proton pump inhibitors are more effective than H2 blockers and can relieve symptoms and heal the esophageal lining in almost everyone who has GERD. Prokinetics help strengthen the LES and make the stomach empty faster. This group includes bethanechol (Urecholine) and metoclopramide (Reglan). Metoclopramide also improves muscle action in the digestive tract. Prokinetics have frequent side effects that limit their usefulness-fatigue, sleepiness, depression, anxiety, and problems with physical movement.
The scope of this study covers in-depth analysis of the global contract manufacturing, research and packaging markets. The contract manufacturing market for the pharmaceutical industry is segmented into various dosage forms, over-the-counter (OTC) and nutraceuticals, and drug delivery technologies. Clinical, drug discovery, analytical and other segments of pharmaceutical research through outsourcing have been analyzed under the contract research market. The contract packaging market is segmented into primary, secondary and tertiary packaging. In the primary packaging market, primary containers are categorized as blisters, bottles and a large category of “others,” which includes prefillable syringes, inhalers, vials and ampoules, caps and closures, dosing droppers, and labels and accessories. Analysis of market segments, trends and revenue forecasts for the global, North American and European regions as well as emerging markets have been provided in detail. The emerging market for contract manufacturing includes countries such as India, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc. BCC Research analyzes each market by its application, its regulatory environment and its technology. This analysis includes market projections and estimating market shares of the players.
The global market for contract pharmaceutical manufacturing, research and packaging totaled $248.5 billion in 2014 and is projected to approach $352.8 billion by 2019, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% through 2019.
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Herbs and Breastfeeding
Sheila I. Humphrey, BSc,
Dennis J. McKenna, PhD
from Breastfeeding Abstracts,
November 1997, Volume 17, Number 2, pp. 11-12.
Medicinal herbs can be defined as plants used to prevent or remedy illness. As our understanding of plant chemistry expands, drawing clear boundaries between food and herbs becomes increasingly difficult. Cultural attitudes toward herbs are currently undergoing rapid change, in part because new discoveries about old remedies are becoming known to scientists and the public. While much of the commonly encountered information about herbs does not meet scientific standards, a large body of research literature about medicinal plants does exist.1-8 However, scientific information about herb use during lactation, particularly recent studies, is comparatively sparse. 9-12
Nonprofit educational organizations, such as the American Botanical Council (ABC)27 and the Herb Research Foundation (HRF),28 maintain large collections of current scientific articles and books, as well as provide other resources such as Web sites and publications such as Herbalgram. Chemical and pharmacological data on thousands of plant constituents can also be found in textbooks, 3,4 on the Web, and through specialized computer databases, most notably Napralert, maintained by the Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. While reliable predictions about safety during lactation cannot be made for all situations, pharmacological data can certainly help assess relative risk for the majority of herbs widely available for sale in the USA. Some recent texts1,2,6 and monographs13,14 focus on plants about which there is scientific evidence regarding efficacy and safety, and this information can help put the reader on firm ground.
Herbs differ from medications in that they frequently contain a large number of physiologically active constituents in very small amounts. It is logical to assume that each of these chemical constituents enter human milk following the same chemical principles that govern medications. Following the rule of thumb that approximately 1 percent of a chemical consumed by the mother will enter her milk,9 it is logical to conclude that overall extremely small amounts of any one plant constituent will be present in breast milk. This is not to say that adverse effects could not occur.
It is important to distinguish between safety issues in herbal medicine versus safety issues related to a particular herb. Side effects and toxic reactions to herbs are considered rare.15,16,17 Toxic effects of herbs are often not the fault of the herb itself, but are caused by products containing misidentified plants or contaminants such as bacteria, heavy metals, or even prescription drugs. Allergic reactions to herbs can occur, as with any other plant material. Problems associated with particular plants or product types are documented.2,5 Some plants are inherently dangerous, containing naturally occurring toxins, often with cytotoxic or carcinogenic effects. While the identities of the more common toxic plants are generally known, at least to plant chemists, older herbal texts may not reflect this knowledge.16
There have been occasional reports in the medical literature of adverse effects in infants from maternal use of herbs. Review of these cases has generally revealed either the use of misidentified plants, as in the infamous "hairy baby" story,18-21 or the inappropriate or mistaken use of dangerous herbs.22 Even though these cases were exceptional, involving non-medicinal plants or dangerous medicinal herbs, it should be kept in mind that some plant species have been or could be responsible for adverse reactions in the nursing child.
Some medicinal herbs contain phytochemicals that have strong effects on the body as part of their therapeutic action, i.e., purgatives.1 Highly purified or isolated extracts of plants, such as essential oils or other concentrated isolates may have markedly different effects on the body or may even be quite toxic compared to less refined extracts of the same herb.7, 23 A familiar example would be fennel oil compared to fennel tea. The German Commission E report considers fennel seed tea, when prepared using the dose guidelines given, to be useful for indigestion, whereas the internal use of fennel oil can cause serious neurological effects.2, 14 Similarly, the use of essential oils or other strong preparations on nipples where the child would directly ingest them is a potentially dangerous practice. Maternal use of strong-acting herbs or herbal preparations should also be considered a possible risk to the child during lactation, and milder alternatives sought. Dose-related toxicity is of particular concern with any potent herb. As with all medications, following the recommended dose guidelines included with all herb products would be a first line of defense against overdose.
Referenced herb textbooks can be very useful and sound sources of information about herbs. However, their authors are not necessarily knowledgeable about lactation, a fact that must be kept in mind in reading their recommendations for lactation, which are usually rather broad. Statements such as "avoid excessive intake" or "avoid using amounts greater than used as food" present vague dose guidelines, while the statement "avoid while breastfeeding" may seem unnecessarily constrictive. Choosing to err on the side of caution, some authors state that lactating women should not use herbs at all.1,6
Current thinking about the risks of chemical substances in human milk, whether they be medications, plant chemicals, or even chemical contaminants, takes into account the significant benefits of continued breastfeeding to the baby and the mother.24 In balancing the risks and benefits in a given situation, a medication is not considered absolutely contraindicated unless it is logical to assume harm, or evidence of harm has been documented.9, 25 The analysis of risk and benefits also takes into account the varied nature of lactation: newborns face different risks than older babies or toddlers because of immaturity; infants consume varying amounts of human milk; mothers may be looking forward to years of lactation yet need or desire the benefits of medicinals.25, 26 Although health care practitioners may wish otherwise, some mothers may refuse prescription drugs and insist on using herbal alternatives for a number of reasons. While these mothers may perceive herbs as "safer," there are both risks and benefits. As with medications mothers need knowledgeable individual assessment of their unique situation.
Current science-based writings on herbs may or may not mention the folkloric or traditional information available about the use of herbs as an aid to lactation. Ethnobotanical information stands separate from knowledge gained through application of the scientific method, but it may still be valid. While little research has been conducted on the use of herbs as lactation modulators, it would seem prudent to include these ethnobotanical considerations in any description of herb use. Practitioners working with breastfeeding women need to know that herbs such as sage, for example, may decrease milk supply, even though no lactation studies have been done to verify this. Despite an otherwise conservative stance on lactation, Newall et al.6 do not cite ethnobotanical information about using sage for weaning in their recommendations for lactation, although they describe sage's folkloric use as a treatment for galactorrhea in another section. Other texts likewise mention sage's reputation as a lactation suppressant, yet fail to highlight this information when considering use during lactation.2 Careful reading of all the information about an herb is required to glean lactation-related information. Reliance on a single text for information pertaining to lactation may be inadequate, all the more so if the ethnobotanical information has been ignored.
Future investigations of herbs in lactation are needed, and not just to clarify safety issues, although these concerns are paramount. Research into the current clinical uses of herbs as aids in breastfeeding difficulties is also needed, to put the practice on a rational basis. In addition, research into the relative risks and benefits of herbal versus medical therapies in such areas as postpartum depression and thrush would be beneficial. Investigations of traditional plant use have long been an important part of drug discovery and the study of human physiology. It is reasonable to expect that systemic interdisciplinary study of plants with lactation-modulating reputations would reveal new therapies and provide research tools for a deeper understanding of human lactation.
Sheila I. Humphrey is a La Leche League Leader who majored in botany in college. Her husband, Dennis McKenna, is an ethnopharmacologist in private practice, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and an Advisory Member of the American Botanical Council.
- Tyler; V. E. Herbs of Choice: The Therapeutic Use of Phytomedicinals. Binghamton, New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press, 1994.
- Wichtl, M. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals: A Handbook for Practice on a Scientific Basis. English language edition ed. N. G. Bisset. Boca Raton, LA: RC Press, 1994. (This volume includes selected extracts from the German Commission E Monographs for Human Medicine, Section of Phytotherapy.)
- Duke, J. Handbook of Biologically Active Phytochemicals and Their Activities. Boca Raton, LA: CRC Press. 1992.
- Duke, J. Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants. Boca Raton, LA: CRC Press, 1992.
- Leung, A.Y and S. Foster. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
- Newall, C.A., L.A. Anderson, and J.D. Phillipson. Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-Care Professionals. London: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1996.
- Tisserand, R., and T. Balacs. Essential Oil Safety. London: Churchill and Livingstone, 1995.
- McGuffin, M., C. Hobbs, R. Upton, and A. Goldberg, eds. Botanical Safety Handbook: Guidelines for the Safe Use and Labelling of Herbs in Commerce. Boca Raton, LA: CRC Press, 1997.
- Hale, T. Medications and Mother's Milk. Amarillo, TX: Pharmasoft Medical, 1997.
- Bingel. A.S. and N.R. Farnsworth. Higher plants as potential sources of galactagogues. Econ Med Plant Res 1991; 6:1-54.
- Roberts, K.A. Comparison of chilled cabbage leaves and chilled gelpacks in reducing breast engorgement. J Hum Lact 1995; 11(1): 17-20.
- Mennella, J.A. and G.K. Beauchamp. The effects of repeated exposure to garlic flavored milk on the nursling's behavior. Pediatr Res 1993; 34:805-8.
- American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium. St. John's wort: Quality control, analytical and therapeutic monograph. Herbalgram No.40, 1997.
- Farnsworth, N. R. Relative safety of herbal medicines. Herbalgram No.29, 36A-H, 1993.
- Shulman, A. Toxicological problems of traditional remedies and food supplements. Int J Alternative Complementary Med January 1997, pp.9-10.
- Yarnell, E. and L. Meserole. Toxic botanicals: Is the poison in the plant or its regulation? Alternative and Complementary Therapies February 1997, pp.14-19.
- Koren, G., S. Randor, S. Martin and D. Danneman. Maternal ginseng use associated with neonatal androgenization. JAMA 1990; 264: 2866.
- Awang, D.V.C. Maternal use of ginseng and neonatal androgenization. JAMA 1991; 265:1828.
- Waller, D.P., A.M. Martin, N.R. Farnsworth. and D.V.C. Awang. Lack of androgenicity of Siberian ginseng. JAMA 1992: 267:2329 (letter).
- Golightly, P. Herbal products and breastfeeding. ALCA News 7(1), April, 1996. Subsequently pub. in Keeping Abreast.
- Talalaj, S. and A. Czechowicz. Hazardous herbal remedies are still on the market. Med J Austr 1990; 153:302.
- Horowitz, R.S., K. Feldhaus et al. The clinical spectrum of jin bu huan toxicity. Arch Int Med 1996; 156:899-903.
- Newman, J. How breastfeeding protects newborns. Sci Am 1995; 273:76-79.
- Newman, J. When breastfeeding is not contraindicated. BREASTFEEDING ABSTRACTS 1997; 16(4):27-28.
- Lawrence, Ruth. Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Professional. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1994.
- American Botanical Council, P0 Box 201660, Austin, TX 78720, 512/331-8868. http://www.herbalgram.org
- Herb Research Foundation, Pearl St. #200, Boulder, CO 80302. 303/449-2265 | <urn:uuid:4956e43e-a3ce-4060-9482-a39ef1e0c013> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://www.llli.org/ba/nov97.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917122726.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031202-00384-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905779 | 2,773 | 3.109375 | 3 | 3.106325 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
Teaching grit has been around for many years, just under different names, such as persistence, resilience, stick-to-itiveness, and others. However, during the last couple years, grit has become one of the hottest buzzwords in education and parenting.
On this page, you’ll learn where grit comes from, how to teach grit to your kids, and how it can help them succeed as adults.
What Is Grit?
In its simplest terms, the meaning of grit is the ability to see a task through to completion. It’s defined as a person’s “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”, such as the ability to avoid distractions, maintain one’s focus, and overcome setbacks.
Recent studies suggest that this perseverance can be a determining factor in your child’s long-term success and happiness.
Understanding grit and how to teach it to your kids can be challenging because it focuses on allowing them to struggle, fail, and try again. This goes against your instinct as a parent, which is to help your child when they’re having difficulty.
But the steps below show that teaching grit doesn’t have to mean standing back and watching your child fail. Instead, grit is about understanding the entire process of learning, from grasping the topic, struggling with it, and finally succeeding.
What Is the Grit Scale?
The Grit Scale was developed by Angela Duckworth, a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and Christopher H. Browne, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, in order to reveal a person’s stick-to-itiveness.
This questionnaire is easy to use as a prompt for self-reflection and shows your Grit Score on a scale of 1 to 5. The higher the score, the more grit you have. The test also reveals the percentage of American adults you score higher than.
The short quiz is not intended as a scientific guide for research because there are limitations to the results—the biggest of which is the fact that people hold different standards by which they judge behavior.
However, it is a quick and easy way of seeing how gritty you are, where you can improve, and how you judge yourself.
What Are Non-Cognitive Skills
Non-cognitive skills are also referred to as “soft skills” or character strengths. These skills are associated with an individual’s personality, temperament, and attitude.
Some examples of non-cognitive skills are:
While both cognitive skills, such as reasoning, thinking, or remembering, and non-cognitive skills are among the top predictors of job-related success, non-cognitive skills seem to make a big difference in the academic success of children, especially those from low-income families.
Research suggests that this may be because low-income children have more stress in their lives. They may also have to overcome greater challenges, both inside the classroom and outside of it, than their middle class and wealthier peers.
How to Teach Your Kids Grit
Whether you’re a low-income family or not, teaching grit to your children can help them develop the fortitude to help them succeed as adults.
Rarely, even as adults, do new projects come easily. To achieve goals, you have to overcome obstacles, learn from mistakes, and continue past struggles.
Instilling that work ethic in your children can be difficult, as many of the steps below show. But having your children understand that struggling is part of the learning process can lead to greater happiness in their adult lives.
#1: Teach grittiness by example
Even though we struggle with new activities as adults, our kids don’t always see that struggle. To them, we’re superheroes.
And, while it’s great to be a superhero, letting your kids see you struggle every now and then can be beneficial because it allows them to observe how you overcome those obstacles.
One example of teaching grittiness could be if you signed up for a half-marathon. First, you could create a training schedule to show your kids how you broke the big hurdle into smaller, more accomplishable goals.
Then, have your kids come to the race so they can see that, even with all of your hard work, finishing wasn’t easy. Showing your children that even you, their superhero, struggle at new things, shows them first-hand that, while difficult, achieving goals can be rewarding.
#2: Allow your child to get frustrated
One of the hardest tasks as a parent is to watch your kid become frustrated trying something new. Naturally, you want to help them. But, keep in mind that children learn from the struggle.
Even if they end up failing at that particular task, the process of struggling and seeing progress can help them in the future, especially when reinforced.
#3: Offer praise for your child’s strong effort
It’s easy to offer praise for the end result, such as a good grade, a good performance during the school play, or scoring a goal on the soccer field. But teaching grit includes praising the effort behind those good performances.
In any of the cases mentioned above, your child did well because of the time and effort they put into learning and practicing. So, while the end result was good, don’t forget to praise this effort because, though every performance may not be perfect, consistent effort will lead to more good performances than bad.
#4: Remember that perfection is not the goal
While your child performs a new activity, you can see in advance if they’ll succeed or fail. But, the goal shouldn’t be straight As or advanced classes. Instead, the goal should be to instill in your children the traits that will lead to success as an adult.
If your child only does things they know they’re good at, or stops halfway through something once it gets hard, they’re not challenging themselves to develop these non-cognitive skills.
And, sometimes simply completing a task is better than having a perfect outcome, so that they can learn the value of the process and how to improve for themselves.
#5: Let your child tackle tasks on his or her own
Constantly intervening in your child’s activities prevents them from learning for themselves. This can undermine their confidence and create a fear of failure. They may even end up relying on you or waiting for you to help with future struggles.
Instead, demonstrate how to do a new task, such as cooking, and allow your child to try. This allows them to try new things, but without feeling that they are all alone. Plus, if they need your help, you’re right there to jump in.
This has the added effect of teaching your child that you’re always available if they need you, whether for cooking or for more serious problems. During their teenage years, this foundation can be especially helpful.
#6: Don’t set them up for failure
Choosing when to jump in and help when you see your child’s failure in advance is always a difficult decision. One of the best ways that you can teach your child grit is, whenever possible, ask them to do tasks that they are capable of and age-appropriate, but that won’t come easily.
However, you shouldn’t stand by and simply let them fail either, because they may construe that as you don’t love them.
Instead, help your child at each step, without actually completing the task for them. This helps them learn the process and feel the pride of completing something new, all while knowing that you’ll be there to help them.
#7: Encourage and teach self-encouragement
At times, it’s our instinct to quit when a task gets difficult. When you see your child struggling, offer encouragement that you’re there to help, but you know that they can do it on their own.
You can also teach them maxims to repeat to themselves when they struggle, such as “Practice Makes Perfect.” Or, if they struggle at a certain point during practice, you can teach them maxims to repeat at specific points so that they don’t panic if they struggle at that point during their performance.
For instance, if your child plays the piano and has a big recital coming up, but keeps stumbling on one section of the song, offer encouragement and guidance. You can remind them that even if they make a mistake at that part, to take a deep breath and finish the song as well as possible.
Don’t Worry About Being a Nudge
No matter what task your child wants to achieve, whether a musical instrument, dance, athletic, or anything else, they need to learn the process before they can succeed. That means setting aside time to practice.
But, like all of us, kids face plenty of distractions. One example of grit is learning how to delay immediate gratification in order to achieve a greater satisfaction later on by seeing tasks and projects through to completion.
That means, come practice time, you’ll have to be the nudge. Though no one wants to be that parent, nudging can show your child how much importance you put on their success.
And, while the initial whining and complaining may never completely stop, if you remain consistent, the complaints should decrease over time.
Does Your Child’s School Teach Grit?
Many schools and districts are trying innovative approaches to creating a culture that focuses on developing non-cognitive skills. Ask your child’s teachers if they are incorporating some of these strategies into the classroom, if there is a bigger movement inside the school or district to do so, and how these measures are tracked for success.
Some of these whole-school, integrated approaches to develop non-cognitive skills, such as grit, in some schools include:
- Redesigning learning environments to support development
- Embedding non-cognitive teaching and learning into culture of school
- Identifying non-cognitive curricula, instructional resources, and strategies
- Coaching school leaders and teachers to integrate into curriculum and instruction
Check to see if you child’s school participates in any of these techniques teaching grit and other non-cognitive skills and if they’ve found success.
Applying Grit to Your Studies
As grit continues to influence child psychology, you may want to be a part of helping parents, schools, and children establish a foundation of grittiness for future success, such as those in psychology or education, like Angela Duckworth and other researchers.
There are many ways to continue your education and influence the field or to teach the values of grit to your kids and others.
For instance, earning an educational school psychology graduate degree, which includes school counseling and school psychology, may prepare you for a career directly helping students of all ages to overcome obstacles inside and outside of the classroom.
Either way, earning a graduate degree in education or psychology can help you teach kids, including your own, the value of grit.
Continue reading about other trends in psychology, such as the impact of technology, or use the form at the top of the page to find the perfect program for you.
Northcentral UniversityDoctor of Philosophy in Marriage & Family Therapy - Medical Family Therapy Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration - Health Services Doctor of Philosophy in Marriage & Family Therapy - Therapy with Military Families Doctor of Philosophy in Technology and Innovation Management - Computer Science Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology - Addictions Doctor of Education - Early Childhood Education Doctor of Business Administration - Computer and Information Security Doctor of Business Administration - Homeland Security - Leadership & Policy Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration - Human Resources Management Doctor of Philosophy in Education - International Education
Ball State UniversityMaster’s in Chemistry (MS or MA)
Lewis UniversityMS in Data Science - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Master of Science in Data Science - Computer Science MS in Computer Science - Non-Declared MS in Computer Science - Digital Forensics MS in Criminal Justice MS in Computer Science - Game and Simulation Programming MS in Computer Science - Cyber Security MS in Computer Science - Software Engineering MS in Computer Science - Enterprise and Cloud Computing MS in Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence
Phillips Education Center of Campbellsville UniversityMaster in Marriage and Family Therapy
Rockhurst UniversityMaster of Science in Business Intelligence and Analytics Master of Business Administration Master of Arts in Management
Aurora UniversityMBA MPA MSW
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Babson CollegeMaster of Science in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership Certificate in Advanced Management Master of Science in Finance Master of Business Administration – Full Time
Sacred Heart UniversityRN-BSN-MSN - Clinical Nurse Leader Master of Science in Nursing - Nursing Education RN-BSN-MSN - Nurse Education Master of Social Work - Advanced Standing RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Master of Science in Nursing Master of Science in Nursing - Nursing Management and Executive Leadership Master of Science in Nursing - Clinical Nurse Leader RN-BSN-MSN - Nursing Management and Executive Leadership Doctor of Nursing Practice Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner
Benedictine UniversityDual Master of Public Health/Master of Science in Management and Organizational Behavior Master of Science in Management and Organizational Behavior Accelerated MSMOB Internet Marketing Certificate Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness Graduate Certificate in Health Management and Policy Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology Graduate Certificate in Health Education and Promotion Master of Science in Accountancy Master of Science in Nursing - Nurse Executive Leader
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University of DelawareMaster of Arts in Strategic Communication Master of Science in International Business Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Business Administration - International Business Master of Science in Cybersecurity Master of Public Administration | <urn:uuid:0bb54a3f-e951-4e50-a457-26134208c409> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://www.gradschools.com/programs/psychology/developmental-psychology/7-ways-teach-kids-grit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250598726.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20200120110422-20200120134422-00402.warc.gz | en | 0.932235 | 3,067 | 3.390625 | 3 | 2.569027 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Last year’s youth justice statistics for England and Wales, published by the government, show that childhood reoffending is higher now than it was 10 years ago, outpacing adult re-offending rates 42% to 28%. But just across the border in Scotland, there is a system in place that the Scottish government claims has ‘a key role to play in reducing reoffending’. It’s called the children’s hearings system, and it’s been around for more than four decades.
In England and Wales, we separate the criminal justice system for children from that of adults by giving it the moniker ‘the youth justice system’. In the youth justice system, criminal courts are directed to consider ‘the main aim of the youth justice system – the prevention of offending by children and young people’ and to consider ‘the welfare of the child’ when sentencing. However, one thing I quickly learned working in criminal law is that, with few exceptions, these high-minded platitudes do not make the youth justice system a vehicle that truly stands apart from the criminal justice system for adults. It repeatedly fails to produce appropriate solutions by setting a new course for young offenders. Instead, the youth justice system is a brake only – it softens the impact on young people by reducing the length of sentences and offering more opportunity deal with matters out of court. However, it retains the system of escalating punishments that can easily see young people ending up in custody, often for long stretches.
The End Childhood Imprisonment campaign, recently launched by Article 39, the Howard League for Penal Reform, Inquest, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, NAYJ and Just for Kids Law highlights why we should all be concerned about this.
Hardship, neglect and unaddressed special educational needs can lead to offending behaviour by children and young people, and the overwhelming majority in the youth justice system fit into at least one of these categories. Just as importantly; children and young people lack the level of consequential thinking of adults. Research concludes that most young offenders will, even without intervention, ‘grow out’ of offending behaviour. 15-year-olds are completely different from their 25-year-old selves. Therefore, whilst it is better than nothing that the youth justice system takes a toned-down approach to criminal sanctions, this doesn’t recognise the fact that children and young people need the opportunity and support to take positive steps to get their lives back on track and leave offending behaviour in their past. This behaviour is often a sign of unmet needs in children and constitutes a red flag to relevant services. It must therefore be seen as an opportunity for support and positive intervention.
Youth offending teams are the exception. They often employ a welfare approach and exist within the youth justice system. Youth offending teams are the alternative to probation for young people. They have a critical role in recommending sentences to the courts, and they administer a range of community orders. They have the power to take a productive, welfare approach when a young person is within their jurisdiction. However, they are constrained by the system in which they exist. If young people re-offend, fail to comply with community orders or are convicted of offences outside of the youth offending team’s remit, they may have no option but to refer a young person back to court because they have to enforce court orders. This undermines the trust that may exist between the youth offending teams and young people, and prevents them from proceeding with the welfare approach that they may be pursuing.
The result is that the youth justice system is ill-equipped to see offending behaviour as an opportunity for positive change. This is because, as great as the work of the youth offending teams may be, their influence exists in, and is constrained by, a system that is punitive by nature. For any child unable to improve their behaviour in response to punishment and threats in the way we’d expect an adult to, expecting them to change as a result of criminal sanction is not a helpful intervention – it is setting them up to fail. Once in prison, their development into adulthood is only impeded, never enabled. The result is that reducing sentences of a child in ‘consideration’ of their welfare doesn’t change the fact we criminalise children unnecessarily in many cases.
So, while I recognise that there is a legitimate debate to be had about the place of custodial sentencing in the youth justice system, it is abundantly clear that a solely welfare approach must be at the disposal of those who identify youth offending. The fact that sentencing guidelines require that a criminal court simply ‘considers the welfare of the child’ does not constitute a welfare approach: the remit of the criminal courts, as the name suggests, is limited to criminal sentencing powers and is not immune from the political drive to be ‘tough on crime’. Therefore, such ‘consideration’, no matter how well intentioned, is restrained by the system in which it exists. A genuine resolution requires a separate system, one that sits in parallel to criminal punishment and whose only function is to determine and implement appropriate assistance for young people with unmet needs.
This would genuinely make the system for young people a separate vehicle to adult criminal justice. One that can achieve the result that really matters: reduction in offending behaviour and the empowerment of young people to transition into adulthood successfully.
Scotland sounds too good to be true, right? Well, I recently came back from a trip to Edinburgh to visit Clan Childlaw, a legal charity working with children and young people in Scotland, who regularly undertake advocacy and advice in Scotland’s system of children’s hearings. This trip was funded by the Legal Education Foundation, through the programme that funds my training to be a solicitor, the Justice First Fellowship. The Children’s Hearings are tribunals overseen by a lay panel with specialist training in children’s welfare matters. Anyone can refer a child to the hearings system providing they meet one or more of 17 prescribed grounds. One of those is that ‘the child has committed an offence’. This means that, rather than charging a child with an offence, they can instead be referred to the hearings system and the panel can be briefed on the circumstances of the offence.
Once in the hearings, the panels have the power to make a compulsory supervision order, which can include conditions that the young person attend particular welfare or education programmes, have specified contact arrangements with family members, work with a social worker, or be housed in supported accommodation. The panel can compel parents and professionals such as social workers, teachers and police officers to attend in order to help devise effective plans. Orders can be reviewed regularly to be updated, maintained or scrapped as appropriate. The essential factor that sets this system apart is that their aim is to make decisions to address a young person’s needs and improve their welfare. That’s it.
Often, when I talk about working with young people in the justice system, I explain how vulnerable the majority are. I use examples of our cases involving young people who have endured unimaginable hardship in state care, or at the hands of family members. I tell them of the people who have been sucked into gang violence through exploitation, manipulation, peer pressure and physical violence. And I tell them about the huge proportion who have special educational needs which impairs their social understanding or capacity to make decisions in their own, or other people’s, interests. The people I talk to about this, not unreasonably, express that they understand it might not be desirable to punish young people in these circumstances, but that the courts must nonetheless enforce a deterrent to offending in order to protect the public. They paint a picture of a justice system with nowhere else to turn, no matter how much sympathy they may feel for those who find themselves in it. Perhaps it’s true that the criminal courts, with their powers limited to punishment of incrementally increasing severity, genuinely have no alternative. But that is precisely the point.
A genuine alternative is needed. A welfare response that can operate as an alternative to criminal justice is an essential component of a workable system.
Find out more and sign up to the End Child Imprisonment campaign on the Article 39 website. | <urn:uuid:7846c043-5d4c-41c7-abd4-ce0736566a13> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://www.thejusticegap.com/learning-from-scotlands-alternative-to-youth-criminal-justice/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027314904.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20190819180710-20190819202710-00215.warc.gz | en | 0.96402 | 1,700 | 2.546875 | 3 | 3.008931 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Crime & Law |
Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) - 09.17.14
ISS Science for Everyone
Science Objectives for Everyone
The Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) investigation aims to globally map stratospheric trace gases by means of the most sensitive submillimeter receiver. Although SMILES stopped atmospheric observation due to instrumental failures since April 2010, highly sensitive data obtained for a half year provides accurate global datasets of atmospheric minor constituents related to ozone chemistry. SMILES continues operations for instrumental calibration and cooling of a mechanical cooler, as well as a brush-up of retrieval algorithms for atmospheric constituents.
Science Results for Everyone
Earth has gas problems. This investigation mapped stratospheric trace gases around the globe with an instrument on the space station that detects weak, sub-millimeter electromagnetic waves emitted from atmospheric molecules. Researchers used the data to reveal global distributions of ozone and related atmospheric constituents during the 24-hour day/night cycle on Earth. These highly sensitive observations provide a better understanding of processes controlling the stratospheric ozone chemistry and those related to climate change. Data revealed anomalous distribution of stratospheric ozone in tropic regions from autumn of 2009 to spring of 2010 and ozone depletion in the Arctic in January of 2010.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tsukuba, , Japan
Sponsoring Space Agency
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
ISS Expedition Duration
March 2009 - September 2014
Previous ISS Missions
- The main scientific target of the SMILES mission is to evaluate quantitatively the recovery and stability of the stratospheric ozone layer. There are still considerable uncertainties in factors affecting ozone levels. There is a need for a detailed understanding of ozone chemistry based on a high sensitive observation.
- SMILES will demonstrate its high potential to observe atmospheric minor constituents which contribute the ozone destraction in the middle atmosphere.
- The unprecedented high sensitive observation by SMILES will provide accurate global datasets of ozone-depletion gas concentrations. It will provide important insights into the ozone trend. Especially, chroline and bromine compounds related to ozone chemistry will be determined quantitatively.
SMILES (Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder) is a sensitive submillimeter-wave sounder. The objective of SMILES is to monitor global distributions of the stratshperic trace gases which contribute ozone depletion. SMILES is the first to use a superconductive low-noise receiver with a mechanical 4-K refrigerator in space to realize a high sensitive observation.
SNFM watches the space station’s payload local area network (LAN) to analyze and troubleshoot data traffic. By understanding how traffic flows through the local area network, engineers could devise new faster and more efficient computer networks for future space missions.
By monitoring how the station’s computers transfer data, SNFM could improve computer access for a variety of experiments, allowing faster and better transmission from the station to the ground. Scientists can be better served with this more efficient method of data downlink.
SMILES will perform cooling operation and instrumental calibration operaion. For the cooling operation, low-rate downlink will be used, and will be performed four times in 2011, each of the operations will take a few weeks. For the instrumental calibration operation, both low- and medium-rate downlink will be used.
For the cooling operation, two mechanical cryocoolers are operated. The operation procedures will be adjusted aiming to achieve a cryogenic temperature of about 4 Kelvin. For the instrumental calibration operation, subsystems related to a signal chain are powered on. The internal calibration signals are generated to investigate the response of the subsystems.
SMILES has performed atmospheric observation for a half year, from October 2009 to April 2010. After the cryocooler failure occurred at June 2010, 14-times cooling operations have been performed. Although the analysis of the atmospheric data is still continuing, we have derived some preliminary results to date. The profiles and horizontal distributions of ozone and HCl are reasonable. Even for those species with weak signals, such as BrO and HO2, we can get promising results, even for a single scan. Averaging, such as daily zonal means, will produce scientifically useful signal-to-noise ratios for these species. We have shown the capability of obtaining high-quality scientific data that will be important to addressing scientific issues such as the ozone trend problem, middle atmosphere chemistry with a special focus on the diurnal cycle, and the transport process of minor species. These outcomes from SMILES will demonstrate the high potential to observe atmospheric minor constituents in the middle atmosphere. And the knowledges obtained through the cooling operations will provide useful informations for future cryogenic missions
Sato TO, Mizoguchi A, Mendrok J, Kanamori H, Kasai Y. Measurement of the pressure broadening coefficient of the 625GHz transition of in the sub-millimeter-wave region. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer. 2010 April; 111(6): 821-825.
Takahashi C, Takahashi C, Suzuki M, Mitsuda C, Ochiai S, Manago N, Hayashi H, Iwata Y, Imai K, Sano T, Takayanagi M, Shiotani M. Capability for ozone high-precision retrieval on JEM/SMILES observation. Advances in Space Research. 2011; 48(6): 1076-1085. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2011.04.038.
Ochiai S, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Nishibori T, Manabe T, Ozeki H, Mizukoshi K, Ohtsubo F, Tsubosaka K, Irimajiri Y, Sato R, Shiotani M. Performance of JEM/SMILES in orbit. 21st International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology, Oxford, UK; 2010 March 23-25 179-184.
Kreyling D, Sagawa H, Wohltmann I, Lehmann R, Kasai Y. SMILES zonal and diurnal variation climatology of stratospheric and mesospheric trace gasses: O3, HCl, HNO3, ClO, BrO, HOCl, HO2, and temperature. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 2013 October; 118: 16 pp. DOI: 10.1002/2012JD019420.
Mizoguchi A, Yagi T, Yagi T, Kondo K, Sato TO, Kanamori H. Submillimeter-wave measurements of N2 and O2 pressure broadening for HO2 radical generated by Hg-photosensitized reaction. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer. 2013 March; 113(4): 279-285. DOI: 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2011.11.009.
Ozeki H, Tamaki K, Mizobuchi S, Mitsuda C, Sano T, Suzuki M, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Shiotani M. Response characteristics of radio spectrometers of the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (JEM/SMILES). 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Vancouver, BC; 2011 July 24-29 2262-2265.
Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Nishibori T, Ochiai S, Ozeki H, Irimajiri Y, Kasai Y, Koike M, Manabe T, Mizukoshi K, Murayama Y, Nagahama T, Sano T, Sato R, Seta M, Takahashi C, Takahashi C, Takayanagi M, Masuko H, Inatani J, Suzuki M, Shiotani M. Overview and early results of the Superconducting Submilimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES). Journal of Geophysical Research. 2010; 115. DOI: 10.1029/2010JD014379.
Mizobuchi S, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Ochiai S, Nishibori T, Sano T, Tamaki K, Ozeki H. In-orbit measurement of the AOS (Acousto-Optical Spectrometer) response using frequency comb signals. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 2012 June; 5(3): 977-983. DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2012.2196413.
Suzuki M, Mitsuda C, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Nishibori T, Ochiai S, Ozeki H, Sano T, Mizobuchi S, Takahashi C, Takahashi C, Manago N, Imai K, Naito Y, Hayashi H, Nishimoto E, Shiotani M. Overview of the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) and sensitivity to chlorine monoxide, ClO. IEEJ Transactions on Fundamentals and Materials. 2012; 132(8): 609-615. DOI: 10.1541/ieejfms.132.609.
Ochiai S, Irimajiri Y, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Nishibori T, Sano T, Sato R, Manabe T, Ozeki H, Shiotani M. Performance verification and calibration of Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES). 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Honolulu, HI; 2010 July 25-30 4275-4277.
Suzuki M, Ochiai S, Mitsuda C, Imai K, Manabe T, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Nishibori T, Manago N, Iwata Y, Sano T, Shiotani M. Verification of pointing and antenna pattern knowledge of Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES). 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Vancouver, BC; 2011 July 24-29 3688-3691.
Ground Based Results Publications
Baron P, Urban J, Sagawa H, Moller J, Murtagh DP, Mendrok J, Dupuy E, Sato TO, Ochiai S, Suzuki K, Manabe T, Nishibori T, Kikuchi K, Kikuchi K, Sato R, Takayanagi M, Murayama Y, Shiotani M, Kasai Y. The Level 2 research product algorithms for the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES). Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions. 2011 June 9; 4(3): 3593-3645. DOI: 10.5194/amtd-4-3593-2011.
SMILES. Image courtesy of JAXA.
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On January 23, 2010, SMILES observed destruction of the ozone layer at an altitude of 22 kilometers. Utilizing its high sensitivity, SMILES not only observes ozone depletion (shown in fi gure 1) but also captures changes in chlorine compound levels over a single day (the increase shown in fi gure 2 and the decrease shown in figure 3).
+ View Larger Image | <urn:uuid:a01f53cd-999e-4544-8d1c-576cb34f5003> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/638.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936463122.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074103-00012-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.778267 | 2,448 | 2.875 | 3 | 2.984246 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Located in Pittsburg County approximately nine miles south of McAlester on U.S. Highway 69, adjacent to and east of the U.S. Army Ammunition Plant (opened in 1943 as the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot), Savanna can trace its origin to a dispersed rural settlement in the Choctaw Nation of the 1860s. A post office was established in the town on May 5, 1876, and in the 1880s, after coal mining developed, it became one of the larger towns in Indian Territory. An early point on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway between Denison, Texas, and Parsons, Kansas, Savanna supported a school, churches, a good hotel, stores, a doctor, a loading platform at the railroad, a bank, a cotton gin, and a jail. The mining corporations provided many of these businesses.
In its beginning farming and ranching served as the major economic base of the Savanna area, but soon after the discovery of coal in the 1870s, mining became the major industry. Mining companies built rows of two- and three-room houses for their workers. The town mushroomed, but after explosions in mines Number One and Number Two in 1887 left six miners and twelve rescuers dead, the Savanna Coal Mining and Trading Company closed the mines and moved their company houses to Lehigh. Savanna lost much of its population and floundered until 1907 statehood, after which it again became a prosperous but small community.
In 1896-97 Savanna residents constructed a wood-frame schoolhouse, which later burned, and in 1908 replaced it with a two-story, concrete-block building. In 1911 the town had approximately 450 residents and two general stores, two drugstores, a doctor, a barbershop, and two coal companies. In 1915 the Savanna News reported to the town but did not last the decade. Regenerated by the construction of the ammunition plant, by 1960 Savanna's population stood at 620, rising to 948 in 1970. Many residents work at the plant or commute to McAlester. Savanna has a fully equipped and accredited prekindergarten-through-twelfth-grade school system, with an enrollment of 513 in 2000. The town's 2000 population numbered 730.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Pittsburg County, Oklahoma: People and Places (McAlester, Okla.: Pittsburg County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1997). Frederick L. Ryan, The Rehabilitation of Oklahoma Coal Mining Communities (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1935). Steve Sewell, "Amongst the Damp: The Dangerous Profession of Coal Mining in Oklahoma, 1870-1935," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 70 (Spring 1992). George H. Shirk, Oklahoma Place Names (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965).
© Oklahoma Historical Society | <urn:uuid:a628bc55-c83e-4720-beea-60f3a752b131> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SA025.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164009872/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133329-00030-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948687 | 586 | 2.828125 | 3 | 2.251576 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | History |
Nikola Tesla -- Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Inventor
One of science's most influential visionaries. Developed the alternating-current (AC) electrical system widely used globally today; discovered the rotating magnetic field, and designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls
Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla was considered a mathematical phenomenon since childhood, being able as a high school student to perform integral calculus in his head, which initially prompted his teachers to believe that he was cheating. He transformed his prowess in mathematics into an array of inventive achievements in electricity that live on today.
Arriving in the United States in 1884 from his native Croatia (now Serbia) almost penniless to begin working with famed inventor and business mogul Thomas Edison, Tesla (with a penchant for the writings of Mark Twain) was optimistic and brimming with ideas, and soon became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Note: Historical accounts of the relationship between Tesla and Edison differ at times. Some (such as Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Gilbert King, and writer Gene Patterson) describe the relationship as contentious -- a rivalry, even feud-like -- which they say began after Tesla began working for Edison. Others, such as representatives from The Thomas A. Edison Papers (based at Rutgers University) say the conflict was not between Edison and Tesla; it was, the representatives report, between Edison and inventor-entrepreneur George Westinghouse and began before Tesla patented his own AC electrical system and before the system was bought by Westinghouse. For further information, the Edison representatives recommend the biography, "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age" by W. Bernard Carlson http://www.amazon.com/Tesla-Inventor-Electrical-Bernard-Carlson/dp/0691057761
After leaving the employ of Edison, Tesla ventured out on his own as an inventor. His efforts led him to George Westinghouse who later licensed Tesla's patent for the AC induction motor and transformer, and also hired Tesla as a consultant to help develop a power system using alternating current.
Although his inventions brought him fame and wealth, Tesla preferred living most of his days in a series of New York hotels (including the old Waldorf Astoria). He spent much of his money on setting up future experiments and laboratories and inviting famous people to his hotel residence for elaborate dinners to inform them of his new endeavors. Unfortunately, many of these key scientific undertakings did not prove successful (including his ill-fated Wardenclyffe Tower project), and when income from his patents ran out, he was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Tesla died poor and reclusive on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86 in his hotel room in New York City. His legacy, however, is rich, thriving for more than a century, and will undoubtedly live on for decades to come.
Why He is Important: One of the most influential visionaries in science, Nikola Tesla, among
other achievements, is especially known for the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system for generators, motors and transformers.
On the AC electrical system alone, Tesla held 40 basic U.S. patents, which he later sold to George Westinghouse, an American engineer and business man who was determined to supply the nation with the Tesla's AC system. Around this time, conflict arose between Tesla and Edison, as Edison was determined to sell his direct-current (or DC) system to the nation. According to the Tesla Memorial Society of New York, Tesla-Westinghouse ultimately won out because Tesla's system was "a superior technology," presenting greater "progress of both America and the world" than Edison's DC system. Outside of his AC system patents, Tesla sold several other patent rights to Westinghouse.
Other Achievements: In Colorado Springs, where he stayed from May 1899 until 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery-- terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that the Earth could be used as a conductor and would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain frequency. He also lighted 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 25 miles( 40 kilometers) and created man-made lightning. And in 1895, Tesla designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, a feat that was highly publicized throughout the world.
While Tesla's ambitious Wardenclyffe Laboratory project and its transmitting tower in Shoreham, Long Island, NY had to be abandoned during his lifetime because of lack of funds (despite being financially supported by American business magnate J. Pierpont Morgan), plans have been underway in the past several years by non-profit organizations and others to convert the laboratory into a museum of Tesla's work. Wardenclyffe and its tower were originally envisioned by Tesla in the late 1890s to be the first broadcasting system, transmitting broadcast signals and electrical power without wires -- free of charge-- to any point on the globe by using the Earth as a gigantic dynamo.
Other tributes to the genius of Tesla include numerous books and films in his honor, in addition to: the International System of Units (Weights and Measures) in 1960 dedicating the term "tesla" to the unit measure for magnetic field strength; and in New York City, a street sign was erected in recent years titled "Nikola Tesla Corner" near the intersection of 40th Street-6th Avenue.
Tesla died in 1943 in the Hotel New Yorker, the New York City residence where he had lived for the last ten years of his life. There, he occupied a two-room suite in Room 3327 on the 33rd floor. His state funeral in New York was attended by 2,000 people including Nobel Laureates, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Vice President Wallace. He was cremated in Ardsley on the Hudson, New York. His ashes were interned in a golden sphere (Tesla's favorite shape) which is on permanent display at the Tesla Museum in Serbia's capital city of Belgrade, along with his death mask. | <urn:uuid:7fe7d089-124d-4e71-ab3b-c71e3549a8f8> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.usasciencefestival.org/schoolprograms/2014-role-models-in-science-engineering/1194-nikola-tesla.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510260734.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011740-00283-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973236 | 1,236 | 3.34375 | 3 | 2.905169 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
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Spectroscopy is a general term used within analytical chemistry and some branches of physics that encompasses a wide range of analytical techniques involving probing atoms and molecules with radiation and seeing how they interact. In general, a molecule, part of a molecule or an individual atom can absorb, emit or transmit certain frequencies of radiation within the electromagnetic spectrum. The frequencies that are absorbed or transmitted can then give information on the structure and identity of sample being examined. This is important as it is impossible to "see" atoms and molecules with the light visible to the human eye.
The scale and use of spectroscopic techniques is huge and can be even used to obtain the chemical composition of stars and planets that are light years away and with more accurate, powerful and high resolution equipment it can be used in aspects of molecular biology.
How it works
Atoms and molecules, which follow the laws of quantum mechanics, are restricted to only certain energy levels. Almost like bookshelves where each shelf is an energy level and each molecule is a book; you can only place books on the shelves rather than between them and some shelves can hold only a certain number of books. A particular amount of energy is required to lift an atom or molecule from one energy level to another, this is known as a transition. If there is too much or too little energy, the transition does not occur, but with just the right amount of energy, the transition will occur.
Types of Spectroscopy by energy level
The electromagnetic spectrum stretches from low energy (low frequency) radio waves to high energy (high frequency) X- rays or gamma rays. Different levels of energy have different effects on atoms and molecules, for example lower energies affect only molecular vibrations, higher energies directly affect electrons. As such, types of spectroscopy can be ordered according to the energy levels that they probe. That's not to say that higher is better, of course, thorough chemical analysis requires the full range of the spectrum to be used.
Radio waves
Radio waves are very low in energy when compared to the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum. In spectroscopy, this energy level is used in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to cause transitions between magnetic energy levels within the nucleus of the atom. This type of spectroscopy is very useful to organic chemists.
Rotational energy levels are caused by the molecule under examination rotating at specific energies - giving a molecule a small amount of energy causes it to rotate faster, although there are a few added complications due to quantum mechanics. Microwaves have energy that corresponds to these rotational energy levels. This can give information about a molecule's structure, such as its rotational constant, which can give some information about mass. While microwave energy can be used directly to observe this, in practice these levels are most often viewed as part of rotational fine structure within Infrared spectroscopy. This is where IR radiation is applied but has just enough energy to boost the molecule into a higher rotational state too, because it probes vibrations and rotations it is sometimes referred to as rovibrational spectroscopy.
Infrared radiation
The chemical bonds within molecules vibrate at certain energy levels - analogous to balls attached by springs vibrating. As a molecule takes in energy, it vibrates faster and moves up to a higher energy level. Transitions between these levels require similar energy to that found in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. IR spectroscopy is therefore most frequently used to determine information on the nature of chemical bonds such as their strength and length. Because these properties are related to mass, vibrational spectroscopy can be used to identify different atomic isotopes; the rovibrational spectrum of HCl, for example, contains two bands that overlap, but are distinct and high enough resolution, one corresponding to 35Cl and the other to the heavier 37Cl. Exchanging the proton (1H) for deuterium (2H) has a more pronounced effect as deuterium is twice as heavy.
Raman spectroscopy is a common variant on normal infrared spectroscopy which is also used to study the vibrations within molecules. It is used in conjunction with IR spectroscopy as the absorption peaks that don't appear in one method will appear in the other, however its mechanism is different. In Raman spectroscopy, the sample is irradiated with a laser in the IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum and the scattering of the light is detected.
Visible light
The visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum is a minute range that overlaps the vibrational (infrared) and the electronic (ultraviolet) energy levels. Light absorbed in this region is responsible for giving colour to items in the real world. Single atoms in the gas phase often absorb finely in this region. This has an important application in astronomy where fine absorption lines in the spectrum of star light are used to identify the composition of the star. Because these lines are fine (atomic absorption is perhaps the least complex) they shift due to the Doppler effect - the resulting information can be used to calculate the distance to the star, among other properties such as its wobble, which can be used to detect exoplanets.
Ultraviolet light
UV light is high in energy, high enough to excite the electrons within a molecule, moving them from one molecular or atomic orbital to another. This method generally produces very broad absorption peaks but is very useful for determining concentrations. If the light in this region is strong enough, it may kick electrons out of the molecule entirely, ionising it or turning it into a highly reactive radical. When done deliberately, it is known as photo-initiation, kick-starting a chemical reaction using light rather than heat.
X-Rays are primarily used in diffraction experiments to determine the crystal structure (crystallography) but absorption techniques do exist. In the case of x-ray energy, core electrons, rather than valence electrons as in UV spectroscopy, are excited.
Gamma rays
The impressively sci-fi sounding gamma rays are very high energy electromagnetic waves. This is a slightly more complex form of spectroscopy that involves nuclear transitions. Because it is most efficient for the source and target of the gamma rays to be the same, only a few substances can be successfully used with this method. | <urn:uuid:ef7609e8-ea6d-4722-b911-31ae2c061eea> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spectroscopy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721392.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00330-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926671 | 1,343 | 3.5625 | 4 | 2.513876 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
This month marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the British slave trade. The fight was won by William Wilberforce, who steadfastly labored for 20 years to see the shackles broken.
With the release of Amazing Grace, we get a glimpse into the life of Wilberforce and celebrate his achievement. We marvel at his tenacity and rejoice in his accomplishments.
Lurking just outside the movie theatre is another reality, though.
Most people are woefully unaware that slavery still exists today and in numbers far greater than ever before – approximately 27 million people currently suffer in global bondage. That equates to almost 10% of the present population of the United States. Trafficking in persons trails only drugs and arms dealing as the third largest income-producing criminal activity worldwide.
In other words, the traffic is really flowing.
Here are some sobering facts to consider:
The Relative Value
In 1850, the average cost of a slave in today’s money was a considerable $40,000. The average cost of a slave today is a measly $90.
The Vulnerability Factors
Over 3 billion people (one half of the world’s population) live on less than $2 per day. Vulnerable.
More than 1.3 billion people live in absolute poverty, living on less than $1 per day. Vulnerable.
Approximately 1/3 of the world’s labor force is either unemployed or underemployed. Vulnerable.
There are almost 45 million refugees and internally-displaced people globally. Vulnerable.
The Child Victims
There are greater than 150,000,000 children on the streets of the world today. Most are orphaned and abandoned. They represent the greatest ‘at risk’ group for all forms of slavery.
Somewhere between 600,000 and 2 million people, mainly women and children, are victims of human trafficking each year.
As many as one million children are sold each year into sexual slavery alone. This number doesn’t include other forms of slavery such as family debt bondage.
Some prostituted children are under the age of five and are forced to have sex with as many as 30 men per day for as little as 25 cents per ‘client.’
In excess of 8 million children are currently ensnared by the most despicable forms of child labor and slavery, including debt bondage, forced prostitution, pornography and related activities.
Did you know that this is the reality of the world that you live in?
Did you know that this is the reality for millions of suffering orphans and street children?
May our hearts be broken by the things that break the heart of God!
We have to put a stop to the traffic! We need to create a traffic jam!
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade of Great Britain (my home territory and land of citizenship), and to take advantage of the visibility on the issue created by the release of Amazing Grace, I'm expanding the TRAFFIC JAM Campaign that I set up in 2004 through Orphan Lifeline.
The primary purpose of TRAFFIC JAM has been to open up a Highway of Prayer (HOPE) to the ultimate Traffic Cop, the only One with the power to jam up the traffic globally. After all, He's in the freedom business, isn't he? Now, TRAFFIC JAM is providing a lot more - materials and prayer points to assist you in interceding on behalf of the enslaved, and to help you in hosting small gatherings, parties and events (with traffic jammin' music of course) to create forums to share and pray with others.
Let's bring the traffic to a halt, folks. You can learn more about TRAFFIC JAM at Orphan Lifeline. | <urn:uuid:5466cd04-ea42-4ad8-aca4-004523b478bb> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://abandoned-orphaned.typepad.com/paulmyhill/2007/03/modern_day_slav.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802768741.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075248-00084-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956449 | 788 | 2.90625 | 3 | 2.754844 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Politics |
From pv magazine International
Eliminating rare, expensive or otherwise problematic materials from the battery supply chain is an important goal which researchers the world over are hard at work on.
When it comes to the stationary storage needed to even out energy supply from intermittent renewables, the fact a battery’s physical size is relatively unimportant opens up more possibilities on the materials side.
Redox flow batteries are among the competing battery chemistries which have already seen commercial uptake. Like many rival solutions, flow batteries typically feature a carbon electrode, and a team led by MIT scientists has been investigating alternative material sources for this carbon, primarily by considering waste products. The group claims to have fabricated a vanadium redox flow battery using chitin, which it describes as a “polysaccharide, similar to cellulose, which is found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects.”
Vanadium flow batteries based on chitin electrodes are described in the paper Exploration of Biomass-Derived Activated Carbons for use in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.
“Obviously, there are carbon electrodes that can yield a better performance but the key to this project is to produce such electrodes from a waste material, in this case chitin from shrimp shells,” said Francisco Martin-Martinez, an MIT chemical engineer who worked on the paper. He added, since carbon electrodes are generally produced synthetically, the low cost and sustainability of the precursor material make it attractive as an electrode option.
One aspect of chitin-based electrodes that interested the researchers was that the material contains nitrogen as well as carbon, which is incorporated into the structure of the electrode and was found to facilitate electron transfer between vanadium ions, improving battery performance.
The group said it will continue to investigate biomass-based materials for use in energy applications, and that its chitin electrodes could also be suitable for applications including water desalination and supercapacitor devices.
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Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy. | <urn:uuid:bcd3dd37-446d-430a-bf99-826e7f1cbbaa> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://www.pv-magazine-india.com/2020/07/08/theres-something-fishy-about-this-flow-battery-innovation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296948756.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20230328011555-20230328041555-00369.warc.gz | en | 0.939444 | 616 | 3.109375 | 3 | 2.940603 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
There’s lots of excitement surrounding the power of polyphenols in the nutrition world right now, as compelling new evidence supports their ability to prevent and protect against degenerative diseases. We explain the science behind this in our latest blog.
A number of published studies have observed how polyphenol compounds can help to improve blood vessel function, lower inflammation, inhibit platelet aggregation (a common cause of a heart attack or stroke), have an anti-aging effect and the list goes on. Many polyphenols actually complement each other by boosting our natural immune defence system lowering our risk of disease and cognitive decline.
What are Polyphenols?
We’ve known for years that plant-based foods offer numerous health benefits due to their vitamin, mineral and fibre content, however, more advanced research has begun to identify additional compounds in certain food and beverages that exert powerful healing properties. Fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, nuts, legumes, seeds, herbs and spices are the richest sources. The magical compounds that offer these medicinal benefits give these foods their colour and taste, as a general rule the more bitter a substance is the higher the polyphenol quantity.
Originally referred to ‘antioxidants’ or ‘phytonutrients’ the classification of these nutrients is becoming much more refined – this is to distinguish between the different chemical structures that exist between them. Polyphenols are some of the most extensively researched, grouped together due to their ring-shape and divided into four sub categories:
- Phenolic acids
Many foods actually contain a mixtures of polyphenols. Apples and onions in particular have a high polyphenol content so you could say “an apple or onion a day keeps the doctor away.”
How Do They Work?
The exact mechanism by which polyphenols work in the human body is still the subject of extensive scientific research. Initially it was believed the health benefits were due to their antioxidant capacity and ability to mop up free radicals and inhibit oxidative damage in the body which causes disease.
It was then observed that polyphenols exerted a more direct effect on cardiovascular health by effecting the expression of genes involved in angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels). It seems polyphenols actually have a much more powerful ability to modulate the activity of enzymes and cell receptors and have strong implications for gene expression. In simple turns they have the ability to turn on or off the genes and the disease outcome.
Even more exciting (well for us gut obsessed Fitter Foodies) is the research suggesting polyphenols support gut health by acting as a prebiotic and increasing our levels of beneficial Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria bacteria. There’s also evidence to suggest catechins (found in tea, chocolate, apples and blackberries) exert an antimicrobial effect inhibiting the growth and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria.
Polyphenols have to undergo a process of being hydrolysed by intestinal enzymes or metabolised by the gut flora in the colon to be absorbed. Only 5-10% of polyphenols are absorbed in the small intestine, while the rest make their way to the colon. Specific metabolites produced by the colonic microflora exert important physiological effects, for example, lignans from linseed are metabolised to produce enterolactone and enterodiol which helps to modulate levels of estrogen in the body and protect against hormonal imbalances and oestrogen related cancers.
Supplements or Food
Of course supplement companies have jumped on the band wagon. Quercetin is a polyphenol found in onions and shown to decrease inflammatory chemicals in the body. You can now buy capsules that offer 300mg+ of quercetin, a dose almost 100 times higher than would be sourced naturally from dietary intake. Whilst there maybe an argument for using supplements in therapeutic doses (guided by a qualified practitioner) sourcing from food is much more safer particularly given the exact mechanisms by which antioxidants work is still not yet fully understood.
The Devil is In The Dose
Waaaaay back in the 17th century a clever bloke called Paracelsus said:
“All substances are poisons, there is none which is not a poison. It is the dose that distinguishes a poison from a remedy.”
The same applies to antioxidants. The ability of polyphenols to interact with proteins in the body and influence the action of enzymes means there will be a sweet spot that offers the health and nutrition benefit but in excess may cause negative effects.
It’s also worth noting the additional compounds in polyphenol rich foods have the potential to impact upon our health; fruit contains fructose sugars which needs to be consumed in moderation, alcohol in red wine, aflatoxin in peanuts, fat in chocolate and the caffeine in tea and coffee can all have a negative effect on health outcomes in excess. Furthermore some polyphenol rich foods have other anti-nutritional effects, the tannins in tea, coffee and chocolate may increase the risk of iron deficiency by hindering the absorption of iron if consumed too frequently.
Your Top Polyphenol List
Here are some of the highest polyphenol foods, stick this list on your fridge and make sure you get a daily dose:
Polyphenol Tips: Favour Local and Chemical Free
Of course the ‘local’ aspect can’t apply to coffee, cocaoa, tea and some of the exotic fruits but you can make a concerted effort to buy your fruit and vegetables from local farms and eat seasonally. Environmental factors have a huge influence on the polyphenol content of foods and beverages. The soil, sun exposure, rainfall and how they are cultivated will impact upon the polyphenol content.
Those produced by organic or natural agricultural means have higher levels of polyphenols than those grown by conventional agriculture without stress. Plants produce many of these antioxidant compounds to protect themselves against predators and disease. If fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides take over this function there will naturally be lower production of protective antioxidants. There is also the added burden of agricultural chemicals to consider that may outweigh the benefit of consuming polyphenol rich foods. Sourcing foods locally and organically (or by farmers who minimise use of chemicals) will ensure you get more polyphenols for you pounds.
Polyphenol Tips: Cooking
Storage and preparation may also affect the content and availability of polyphenols compounds. Many antioxidants are present in the in the outer parts of fruits and vegetables like the skin so if these are peeled during culinary preparation the polyphenol content will be reduced. Potatoes contain up to 190mg of an antioxidant called chlorogenic acid per kilo yet most of it is located primarily in their skin, makes a great case for eating potato wedges 🙂
Cooking also has an impact, one study observed onions and tomatoes lost 75-80% of their quercetin after boiling, 65% after cooking in a microwave oven and 30% after frying. Steaming vegetables leaves the highest levels of antioxidants.
The Fantastic Five
Throughout Aztec history cocoa has been renowned for its medicinal properties. Polyphenols in cocoa occur in higher concentrations than many other foods including the nutrition powerhouse that is broccoli! The catechins and procyanidins in cocoa lower your risk of cancer and heart disease, plus the polyphenols in cocoa improve the regulation of nitric oxide which plays a role in vasodialation helping to lower blood pressure. Studies have also observed supplementing with extra chocolate can help improve insulin sensitivity, decrease platelet aggregation and lower markers of inflammation.
For a high polyphenol content choose a dark chocolate with at least 60 percent cocoa solids but preferably more towards 70-85%. To increase the benefits add extra polyphenols including currants, dates, raspberries, blueberries or cherries as together they offer a synergistic effect. Limiting consumption to a 25-30g serving of dark chocolate or a single cup of cocoa daily provides the health benefits with minimal impact on your waistline.
Tea is one of the most researched of all the polyphenol foods and studies have discovered that tea leaves have a prebiotic effect in the gut supporting the growth of beneficial bacteria. All tea contain polyphenols; oolong and black teas undergo a little more processing so tend to have lower levels compared to green or white leaf tea. Tea polyphenols break down at high temperatures, so freshly brewed tea has higher amounts of polyphenols than ice tea or bottled tea drinks. Most research has focused predominantly on green tea and an active compound known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that has been shown to support weight loss, lower blood pressure, lower inflammation and exert an antimutagenic (anti-cancer) effect.
Population studies have linked the consumption of apples to a lower risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, asthma and diabetes. Studies have observed the anti-inflammatory qualities of apple polyphenols in particular have an ability to protect the colon cells against free-radical damage and prevent bone loss in menopausal women. Sourcing local, chemical free is best and smaller apples which will have less sugar.
Well we knew you’d all be excited about this one! Remember the devil is in the dose and more than two small servings of alcohol will increase belly fat and have an estrogenic effect so go ahead if muffin tops and moobs are your thing.
Resveratrol is one of the most widely studied polyphenols in wine, found in the skin of red grapes (and peanuts!) Red wines will naturally contain more polyphenols than white or rose wines and Malbec grapes in particular have very thick skins so contain a little more resveratrol than other grapes. Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are some of the highest polyphenol wines and the grapes grown in cooler climates tend to have higher resveratrol levels thus French wines are preferred over Californian. French wines are also aged more traditionally prolonging the contact with the skin and seeds, wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon and Côtes du Rhône regions are also renowned for having some of the highest levels of another polyphenol known as procyanidins. Wines from southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia are also high in procyanidins.
The issue with wine nowadays is that mass production has resulted in an increased use of pesticides, fungicides and preservatives. Many supermarket and commercial wines are more just a cup of chemicals than anything else and these add to the hangover symptoms by placing extra burden on the liver. Ideally look for biodynamic (or ‘natural), organic wines with minimal sulphites added. You can buy a wide selection online, we buy from Vintage Roots.
Matt is of course very happy about this! Research has indicated that coffee provides a whacking dose of polyphenols with over 1000 phytochemicals and the levels are similar in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. An impressive number of studies have shown a strong association between consumption of coffee and a significantly reduced risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and its also believed to improve intracellular signaling.
One cup of coffee a day (caffeinated or decaffeinated) can decrease the risk of developing diabetes by 13%, amazingly 12 cups a day reduces the risk by a whopping 67%, however, we do NOT recommend this (remember the devil is in the dose!) Most people can’t tolerate much more than 300 mg of caffeine per day, higher amounts may increase blood pressure, anxiety, insomnia and osteoporosis. Caffeine is not recommended for anyone with increased exposure to stress (er all of us?) and compromised adrenal function.
Remember not all coffee is equal. Opting for organic will have a higher polyphenol content. Also the roasting destroys some of the polyphenols, the most important being chlorogenic acid, new processing methods are being developed where the beans are soaked prior to roasting then deposited back into the same polyphenol rich liquid to return the beans to their original antioxidant content. Life Extension are one of the first companies to offer this ‘polyphenol retaining processed’ coffee and as super a this sounds we’re happy just sticking with our daily cup of Grumpy Mule or Monsoon Estates and an extra square of dark chocolate to bridge the gap 🙂
A Polyphenol Rich Day
That’s the best bit! A day of polyphenols is looking pretty cool if you ask us… | <urn:uuid:06110bf9-2bb7-4f93-8a4d-db5f94ffef49> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://fitterfood.com/general/polyphenols-a-case-for-coffee-chocolate-and-a-cheeky-vino/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676594018.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20180722213610-20180722233610-00105.warc.gz | en | 0.93976 | 2,594 | 3.21875 | 3 | 2.820723 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution assigned to Congress many of the powers of external affairs previously vested in the English king. That allocation of authority is central to America’s democratic and constitutional system. When decisions about armed conflict, whether overt or covert, slip from the elected members of Congress, the principles of self-government and popular sovereignty are undermined. Political power shifts to an executive branch with two elected officials and a long history of costly, poorly conceived military commitments. The Framers anticipated and warned against the hazards of Executive wars. In a republican form of government, the sovereign power rests with the citizens and the individuals they elect to public office. Congress alone was given the constitutional authority to initiate war.
Legislative control over external affairs took centuries to develop. The English Parliament gained the power of the purse in the 1660s to restrain the king, but the power to initiate war remained a monarchical prerogative. In his Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690), John Locke identified three functions of government: legislative, executive, and “federative.” The last embraced “the power of war and peace, leagues and alliances, and all the transactions with all persons and communities without the commonwealth.” To Locke, the federative power (what today we call foreign policy) was “always almost united” with the Executive. Any effort to separate the executive and federative powers, he counseled, would invite “disorder and ruin.”
Professor Wasserman offers several evaluations of the Supreme Court’s 1872 decision in Klein. In places he states that it was issued in a “pathological period,” is confusing to read, and therefore difficult to apply. Yet elsewhere in his article he finds the decision to be understandable and recognizes that it offers several clear separation of powers principles. Between those two competing and conflicting positions, the latter analysis is on firmer ground. His article focuses on two recent national security issues – the 2008 statute granting immunity to telecoms that provided assistance to NSA surveillance, and the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006 – to determine whether they are consistent with and controlled by Klein.
Professor Wasserman describes Klein as the product of what Vincent Blasi “has called a period of constitutional pathology, a period reflecting ‘an unusually serious challenge to one or more of the central norms of the constitutional regime.’” Pathological periods, Blasi says, are marked by a “sense of urgency stemming from societal disorientation if not panic.” They come at a time of “a shift in basic attitudes, among certain influential actors if not the public at large,” concerned with what Wasserman calls “central constitutional commitments.” Panic can affect structural features, including formal and informal separation of powers and checks and balances, which may “exert much less of a restraining influence” on the political branches and the public.” Rigorous judicial review “must be reserved for extreme cases challenging pathological laws and action . . . as a bulwark against overreaching officials and citizens.”
Klein arose, Wasserman points out, “in a previous pathological period –Reconstruction.” That is true, but what does that say about the clarity of the decision and subsequent ability to apply it with confidence? Good things and bad things come out of periods of stress and panic. The“pathological” period after the Civil War yielded three constitutional amendments: the Thirteenth (abolishing slavery), the Fourteenth (establishing new rights), and the Fifteenth (extending the right to vote). Those years opened up new professional opportunities for women. Some branches of government may perform well, others poorly. The requirement each time is to analyze a particular case or action to determine how well a political institution carries out its constitutional duties. In considering Klein in the context of the politics of 1872, the Court was clearly under stress but issued a decision that pushed back against indefensible legislation and did so in a manner that gave clear and valued guidance to future legislation and litigation.
The system of detention and military trial authorized by President George W. Bush on November 13, 2001, and additional claimed authority to hold terrorist suspects indefinitely without process, have been litigated in several judicial circuits, moving from district courts to the Supreme Court and back down again. In 2006, these authorities returned to the Court for further exploration in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Regrettably, until very recently the separation of powers issues raised by the President’s initiatives received little attention from Congress, which, under the Constitution, has primary responsibility over military courts, tribunals “inferior to the supreme Court,” “Offenses against the Law of Nations,” the war power, and “Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.” Because of congressional passivity, the principal checks on presidential power have been supplied instead by litigants and courts. The constitutional issues that emerge from this concentration of power in the presidency form the central theme of this article. | <urn:uuid:036f98da-8092-4b93-bedd-0fa94ee0b9e4> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://jnslp.com/author/louis-fisher/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501172077.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104612-00043-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947055 | 1,046 | 3.375 | 3 | 3.016861 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Politics |
16. Delphinium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 530. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed 5, 236. 1754.
Larkspur, delphinium [Greek delphinion, derived from delphin, possibly for fancied resemblance of flowers of some species to classical sculptures of dolphins]
Michael J. Warnock
Herbs , perennial, from fasciculate roots or rhizomes. Leaves basal and/or cauline, petiolate, petioles gradually to abruptly shorter on distal leaves; basal leaves usually larger than cauline; cauline leaves alternate. Leaf blade deeply palmately divided, round to pentagonal or reniform, margins entire or lobes apically crenate or lacerate, lobes of basal blades wider and fewer than those of cauline blades. Inflorescences terminal, 2-100(-more)-flowered racemes (occasionally branched, thus technically panicles), 5-40 cm or more; bracts subtending inflorescence branches; pedicels present or absent; bracteoles (on pedicels) subopposite-subalternate, not forming involucre. Flowers bisexual, bilaterally symmetric; sepals not persistent in fruit, 5; upper sepal 1, spurred, 8-24 mm; lateral sepals 2, ± ovate to elliptic, 8-18 mm; lower sepals 2, similar to lateral sepals; upper petals 2, spurred, enclosed in upper sepal, nectary inside tip of spur; lower petals 2, plane, ± ovate, ± 2-lobed, clawed, 2-12 mm, nectary absent; stamens 25-40; filaments with base expanded; staminodes absent between stamens and pistils; pistils 3(-5), simple; ovules 8-20 per pistil; style present. Fruits follicles, aggregate, sessile, ± curved-cylindric, sides prominently veined or not; beak terminal, straight, 2-4 mm. Seeds dark brown to black (often appearing white because of air in seed coat cells), rectangular to pyramidal, often ± rough surfaced. x = 8.
Species ca. 300 (61 in the flora): n temperate and arctic subtropical and, in Eastern Hemisphere, tropical mountains (s of equator in Africa).
Three Eurasian species of Delphinium -- D . elatum Linnaeus, D . grandiflorum Linnaeus, and D . tatsienense Franchet--have been commonly cultivated in North America. Of the nonnative taxa, only D . elatum is sporadically naturalized, as far as is known. Isolating mechanisms in Delphinium appear to be primarily ecological, geographic, and/or temporal. Where these distinctions are disrupted, introgression often exists. Hybridization occurs regularly between certain taxa, particularly in areas of disturbance (e.g., roadcuts, drainage ditches, clearcuts). The more common and easily recognized hybrids are included in the key.
Many names have been misapplied in Delphinium . The few misapplied names mentioned in discussions below refer to relatively widespread problems.
Unless otherwise noted, the key and descriptions refer to fresh material. Some features may be significantly altered by pressing; they can, however, usually be determined with a certain amount of effort and experience.
In the descriptions, "base of cleft" refers to the point where the cleft or sinus reaches most deeply into the petal blade.
Ewan, J. 1945. A synopsis of the North American species of Delphinium. Univ. Colorado Stud., Ser. D, Phys. Sci. 2: 55-244. Lewis, H. and C. Epling. 1954. A taxonomic study of Californian delphiniums. Brittonia 8: 1-22. Taylor, R. J. 1960. The genus Delphinium in Wyoming. Univ. Wyoming Publ. 24: 9-21. Warnock, M. J. 1993. Delphinium. In: J. C. Hickman, ed. 1993. The Jepson Manual. Higher Plants of California. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London. Pp. 916-922. Warnock, M. J. 1995. A taxonomic conspectus of North American Delphinium. Phytologia 78(2): 73-101. | <urn:uuid:2f9a4b85-6a78-42e3-ac11-63c65621a192> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=109521 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701161946.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193921-00093-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.808219 | 950 | 2.921875 | 3 | 2.75134 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Growing guidelines: When the seedlings have four leaves, thin head or romaine lettuce to 12 to 16 inches apart. Do the same for leaf lettuce unless you plan to harvest entire plants instead of leaves; in that case, 4-inch spacing is adequate. Thin butterheads to 3 to 5 inches apart.
Lettuce is 90 percent water and has very shallow roots, so keep the soil surface moist but not soggy. Make sure the crop gets at least 1 inch of water a week from rain or irrigation; otherwise, leaves can be thin and bitter, and the plants might bolt to seed. To help prevent disease, try to water on sunny mornings, so the leaves can dry by evening. After a good rain or watering, apply a thick layer of mulch to conserve moisture, suffocate weeds around the easily damaged roots, and keep lettuce leaves free of dirt. To promote quick growth, side-dress with compost or fish emulsion once or twice during the growing season.
Just before bolting, lettuce plants start to elongate and form a bitter sap. To keep this from happening, pinch off the top center of the plant. Pull up and discard any plant that goes to seed. If you are a seed saver, wait and save seeds from the last plants to bolt, since quickness to bolt is a bad trait. Seed savers should also be aware that different lettuce cultivars can cross with each other and with wild lettuce, so next year’s plants may not come true from your saved seed.
Soggy soil and crowded plants can encourage bottom rot, a disease that turns lettuce plants black and foul-smelling. There are only a few varieties that are resistant to this disease, which has spores that can persist for years in the soil. If you’ve had problems with bottom rot, choose varieties with an upright form rather than a spreading form, and try planting your lettuce plants on 4-inch-tall ridges of soil. Be careful to avoid wetting the leaves when you water.
Gray mold makes grayish green or dark brown spots on lower leaves and is usually brought on by damp, overcast weather. Injured seedlings are particularly vulnerable. Pull up any infected plant and dispose of it far from the garden.
Harvesting: Pick lettuce in the morning to preserve the crispness it acquires overnight. Watch your crop closely, as mature plants deteriorate quickly. To test the firmness of heading types, press down gently on lettuce hearts with the back of your hand; don’t pinch them, as this can bruise the hearts. Use a sharp knife to cut heads below the lowest leaves, or pull plants out by the roots. Harvest leaf types as needed. Lettuce tastes best when eaten fresh but will keep up to 2 weeks when refrigerated. | <urn:uuid:b096dfd2-997d-4d10-b4e1-74108e5852a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/lettuce-growing-guide?page=0,2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164941522/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204134901-00059-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934537 | 576 | 2.953125 | 3 | 1.819446 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Home & Hobbies |
Welcome to Class 9
Miss A Hampshire
Miss W Harvey
Mrs P Jenkins
Mrs T Grainger
Mrs S Garthwaite
Do you have any ideas for this page? Why not let your Teacher know!
Have you seen the Kids’ Zone? Play games and visit some cool websites. You can vote for your favourites.
Our PE days are Wednesday and Friday.
Children need the following PE kit please:
Homework is given on Tuesdays and needs to be completed/returned to school on Fridays. Also please read with your child as often as possible. When listening to your child read their school reading book, please complete their yellow reading diary sheet.
To help your child at home try these useful websites:
Phonics Play - www.phonicsplay.co.uk
Topmarks - www.topmarks.co.uk
Education City - www. educationcity.com
Purple Mash - www.purplemash.com
BBC - www.bbc.co.uk/education
Half Term 6 Topic - 'Towers, Tunnels and Turrets'
We will be learning about castles and castle life as well as finding out about some amazing structures and famous tunnels around the world. We will learn about tunnelling animals such as moles, rabbits, worms, ants and badgers. We will learn about some of the amazing structures created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel too.
Half Term 5 Topic - 'Beachcombers'
In this topic our learning experiences include:
Beach/seaside habitats, seashore animals and plants, marine food chains, coastal features, caring for the environment, seascape artists, drawing, painting and sculpture, non-fiction research, computing activities/skills, beach safety and much more!
Here we are exploring the rock pools at the Block Sands on the Headland. We found lots of things such as: limpets, winkles, hermit crabs, kelp, bladderwrack, periwinkles, anemones, barnacles and we saw a cormorant fishing too!
Half Term 4 Topic - 'Wriggle and Crawl'
We have been learning all about minibeasts!
The Woodland Trust website is a useful resource.
Discovery Zoo visited our class and we enjoyed meeting and learning about:
Rosie the tarantula, Brian the giant African land snail, Millie the millipede, Hissing Sid the cockroach and Twiggy the spiny stick insect.
In our groups, we enjoyed sharing and telling stories to each other.
Here we are rehearsing first.
Half Term 3 Topic - 'Street Detectives'.
We learnt about our local area and community, looking at houses and shops old and new and finding out how our streets have changed. We looked at maps and plans as well as old photographs of the local area.
We found out about local heroes from Hartlepool, significant historical events, people and places in our town. We enjoyed our learning activities at the Museum of Hartlepool. Here we are dressed in Victorian clothes and creating pictures of The Wingfield Castle.
Half Term 2 Topic - 'Land Ahoy!`
We used maps and atlases to locate continents, oceans, seas and places that Captain Cook visited on his famous journeys.
A pirate called Captain Raggy Beard visited our class and told us stories about the sea, sang sea shanties with us and we even had to walk the plank!
We had a great time when we visited the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum and we enjoyed learning all about him.
Half Term 1 Topic - 'The Scented Garden'
We found out lots about plants and minibeasts. We investigated their habitats in our school grounds and also at Teesmouth. Our Class even discovered a lime hawk moth caterpillar as we were exploring our local area!
We enjoyed learning about different herbs and plants that we eat as well as learning about how plants are very useful to us. Asda helped us in our learning and then we had a great time making pot pourri and lavender and lemon biscuits. | <urn:uuid:ddce8233-3b50-4523-962e-43a64bfb246c> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | http://www.grangeprimaryschool.org/class-9-2015-2016/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195524254.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20190715215144-20190716000512-00043.warc.gz | en | 0.935551 | 861 | 2.96875 | 3 | 1.389553 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Presentation on theme: "Chapter 20 Notes: DNA Technology. Understanding & Manipulating Genomes 1995: sequencing of the first complete genome (bacteria) 2003: sequencing of the."— Presentation transcript:
Understanding & Manipulating Genomes 1995: sequencing of the first complete genome (bacteria) 2003: sequencing of the Human Genome mostly completed These accomplishments depended on new technology: –Recombinant DNA: DNA from 2 sources (often 2 species) are combined in vitro into the same DNA molecule Called Genetic engineering: direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes
DNA technology has launched a revolution in the area of: BIOTECHNOLOGY: the use of living organisms or their components to do practical tasks -microorganisms to make wine/cheese -selective breeding of livestock -production of antibiotics -agriculture -criminal law
**Practical goal of biotech = improvement of human health and food production
Ch 20 looks at: 1.Main techniques for manipulating DNA 2.How genomes are analyzed & compared at the DNA level 3.Practical applications of DNA technology (including social & ethical issues)
“Toolkit” for DNA technology involves: -DNA vectors -host organisms - restriction enzymes
VECTORS = carriers for moving DNA from test tubes back into cells -bacterial plasmids (small, circular DNA molecules that replicate within bacterial cells) -viruses
HOST ORGANISMS: bacteria are commonly used as hosts in genetic engineering because: 1) DNA can easily be isolated from & reintroduced into bacterial cells; 2) bacterial cultures grow quickly, rapidly replicating any foreign genes they carry.
RESTRICTION ENZYMES = enzymes that recognize and cut short, specific nucleotide sequences (called restriction sites) -in nature, these enzymes protect the bacterial cell from other organisms by cutting up their foreign DNA
Restriction Enzymes (cont.)… most restriction sequences are symmetrical in that the same sequence of 4-8 nucleotides is found on both strands, but run in opposite directions restriction enzymes usually cut phosphodiester bonds of both strands in a staggered manner producing single stranded “sticky ends”
Restriction Enzymes (cont.)… “sticky ends” of restriction fragments are used in the lab to join DNA pieces from different sources (complementary base pairing) * RECOMBINANT DNA unions of different DNA sources can be made permanent by adding DNA ligase enzyme (form covalent bonds between bases)
DNA Technologies: 1) Cloning 2) DNA fingerprinting (profiling) 3) Microarray 4) Gene therapy
Steps Involved in Cloning a Human Gene: 1) Isolate human gene to clone (ex: insulin); 2) Isolate plasmid from bacterial cell; 3) cut both DNA samples with the same restriction enzyme to open up bacterial plasmid & create sticky ends on both samples; 4) Mix the cut plasmids and human DNA genes & seal with DNA ligase; plasmid Human gene
Cloning a Human Gene (cont.)… 5) Insert recombinant DNA plasmid back into bacterial cell; 6) As bacterial cell reproduces, it makes copies of the desired gene; -grow cells on a petri dish 7) Identify cell clones carrying the gene of interest. -HOW? Which ones took up the gene & are making insulin? *Add a 2 nd gene besides insulin; add one for antibiotic resistance & then grow bacteria on that antibiotic
LE 20-4_3 Isolate plasmid DNA and human DNA. Cut both DNA samples with the same restriction enzyme. Mix the DNAs; they join by base pairing. The products are recombinant plasmids and many nonrecombinant plasmids. Bacterial cell lacZ gene (lactose breakdown) Human cell Restriction site amp R gene (ampicillin resistance) Bacterial plasmid Gene of interest Sticky ends Human DNA fragments Recombinant DNA plasmids Introduce the DNA into bacterial cells that have a mutation in their own lacZ gene. Recombinant bacteria Plate the bacteria on agar containing ampicillin and X-gal. Incubate until colonies grow. Colony carrying non- recombinant plasmid with intact lacZ gene Colony carrying recombinant plasmid with disrupted lacZ gene Bacterial clone
Why can bacteria produce insulin through recombinant DNA technology? The genetic code is universal!!!! | <urn:uuid:22212266-4b19-41fb-b54f-094b5e257814> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | http://slideplayer.com/slide/6828157/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100568.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205204654-20231205234654-00757.warc.gz | en | 0.857403 | 913 | 3.65625 | 4 | 2.792582 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that the drug carvedilol, currently prescribed for the treatment of hypertension, may lessen the degenerative impact of Alzheimer's Disease and promote healthy memory functions. The new findings are published in two studies in the current issues of Neurobiology of Aging and the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
"These studies are certainly very exciting, and suggest for the first time that certain antihypertensive drugs already available to the public may independently influence memory functions while reducing degenerative pathological features of the Alzheimer’s disease brain," said study author Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, Saunders Family Professor of Neurology and Director of the Center of Excellence for Novel Approaches to Neurotherapeutics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Pasinetti’s team found for the first time that carvedilol, a blood pressure lowering agent, is capable of exerting activities that significantly reduce Alzheimer’s disease-type brain and memory degeneration. This benefit was achieved without blood pressure lowering activity in mice genetically modified to develop Alzheimer’s disease brain degeneration and memory impairment. These data were published in Neurobiology of Aging.
In a second study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the research team led by Dr. Pasinetti assessed how mice learned new tasks and information and recall of past information chemically stored in the brain. They found that carvedilol treatment was capable of promoting memory function, based on assessments of learning new tasks and information and recall of past information, which is already chemically stored in the brain.
In the study, one group of mice received carvedilol treatment and the other group did not. The scientists conducted behavioral and learning tests with each group of mice, and determined that it took the mice in the carvedilol significantly less time to remember tasks than the other group.
"Ongoing clinical research is in progress to test the benefits of carvedilol, which may prove to be an effective agent in the treatment of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Pasinetti. “We look forward to further studying this drug in the human population."
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of few medical schools embedded in a hospital in the United States. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 15 institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institute of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report. The school received the 2009 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
- 60 Good Reasons to Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room
- Alzheimer's CareGiving -- Insight and Advice
- Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Worried About Alzheimer's Disease -- You Should Be
- What is Alzheimer's? What are the Eight Types of Dementia?
- Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
- Alzheimer's Disease Statistics
- Is it Really Alzheimer's or Something Else?
- Ten Symptoms of Early Stage Alzheimer's
- Ten Tips for Communicating with an Alzheimer’s Patient
Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,565 articles with more than 8,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room | <urn:uuid:eb3e6e9b-342f-4bea-af20-3c7070db47db> | CC-MAIN-2015-14 | http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2010/06/antihypertensive-drug-carvedilol-may.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00226-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919172 | 767 | 2.6875 | 3 | 2.738106 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
Diabetic Foot Problems
Patients with diabetes should have regular visits with one of our board-certified physicians at American Foot and Leg Specialists to avoid diabetic foot problems. Diabetes patients must constantly monitor their blood glucose level, as swell as examining their feet everyday in order to prevent infections that can lead to open wounds or even amputation. In the feet and lower legs, diabetes can cause poor circulation through hardening of the arteries and nerve problems that affect a patients’ ability to feel correctly.
Without consistent observation, diabetic feet may not heal properly from minor injuries or constant rubbing from poorly fitting shoes. Other foot abnormalities such as hammertoe, athlete’s foot, or even ingrown toenails should be treated as serious issues.
Symptoms in the feet and lower legs like persistent pain, swelling, hard shiny skin, pus, red streaking, new or lasting numbness, minor trauma, or a new blister/ulcer/wound need to be addressed immediately by one of our board certified podiatry specialists.
Complications from Diabetic Foot Problems
Diabetic Neuropathy: which occurs as a result of uncontrolled diabetes and results in the loss of feeling in the feet. This loss of feeling becomes particularly problematic when a blister, cut, ulcer, or similar complication develops on the foot and a patient cannot detect the complication. The blister, cut, ulcer, or other complication can then go undetected for some time and become infected before it is properly addressed.
Peripheral Artery Disease: which leads to reduced blood flow to the feet. Peripheral refers to the extremities away from the heart. Poor blood circulation to an injury or irritation of the foot can make it difficult for even the smallest cut or sore to heal leading to infection or other serious complications.
Diabetic Foot Amputations
Diabetes is the single greatest cause of non-traumatic leg amputations. The risk of leg and foot amputations significantly increases for those who have diabetes compared to those who do not. Furthermore, evidence suggests that around 80% of these amputations can be avoided with early detection and proper foot care. Due to neuropathy and the associated lack of feeling, early detection can be difficult. Combining the lack of feeling associated with neuropathy and the lack of blood flow with peripheral artery disease, undetected and slow healing infection can result in amputation of a toe, foot, or entire leg.
In light of the serious nature of such foot complications, it is important to maintain proper foot care and see our physicians at American Foot and Leg Specialists routinely if you have diabetes.
Treatment for Diabetic Foot Complications
Exercise is often recommended as a way of improving circulation throughout the body, including the feet and legs, though one should consult one of our physicians before starting any exercise regimen. Remember, most diabetic complications are avoidable with effective foot care. This includes wearing properly fitted shoes, not going barefoot, performing regular self-examinations of the feet, wearing stockings that improve blood circulation, and other similar forms of care.
Dos and Don’ts for Diabetic Foot Care
Diabetic patients should check their feet every day to avoid diabetic foot problems. Our team of physicians have provided some helpful foot care tips below for preventing complications:
- buy shoes early in the day.
- buy shoes that need to be broken in.
- wear the same shoes every day.
- wear sandals or thong flip-flops.
- wear socks or stockings with a tight elastic band.
- wear support hose with seams or garters.
- treat corns and calluses yourself.
- walk barefoot.
- smoke and further decrease your blood flow.
- use strong chemicals or antiseptic solutions such as iodine or salicylic acid on your feet.
- use heating pads, electric blankets, or hot water bottles on your feet.
- use tape or other sticky materials on your feet.
- trim your toenails in a curved fashion.
- soak your feet without asking one of our physicians.
- get your feet wet in the rain or snow.
- use lotion, petroleum jelly, lanolin, or oil on in between your toes.
- sit with your legs crossed for a long period of time.
- stand in one position for a long period of time.
- gently wash your feet every day with gentle soap.
- dry your feet after bathing.
- use lotion, petroleum jelly, lanolin, or oil on the top and bottom of your foot.
- rotate your shoes.
- examine your feet every day for any common diabetic foot symptoms listed above.
- request shoes with deep toe boxes with leather upper materials.
- protect your foot from hot and cold.
- examine your shoes for any foreign objects or spots that could rub your feet consistently.
- wear clean, dry socks or non binding pantyhose.
- wear natural fiber socks such as cotton, wool, or cotton-wool blend.
- wear warm socks and protective footwear in the winter.
- prop your feet up when seated as often as you can.
- contact our office if your circulation is impaired.
- contact our office immediately for any minor or major injury to your foot.
At American Foot and Leg Specialists we do not take anything lightly. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms discussed on this page make an appointment today to ensure your symptoms are identified and treated promptly. If you live south of Atlanta, Georgia, there is an office convenient to you. Patients from all over, including Griffin, Union City, Newnan, Forest Park, and Ellenwood give American Foot & Leg a “thumbs up.” | <urn:uuid:c13d2eb5-b85e-40b8-a69c-db6f906e6e65> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | https://americanfoot.com/diabetic-foot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232256381.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20190521122503-20190521144503-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.926112 | 1,183 | 2.71875 | 3 | 2.009549 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Health |
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Science fiction often predicts scientific advances.
Leonardo Da Vinci designed flying machines and Jules Verne wrote about rocket ships long before they became part of everyday reality.
Another sci-fi mainstay is the thinking machine — conjured by master storyteller Isaac Asimov in his robot tales and represented by the computer, HAL 9000, in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the Arthur C. Clarke novel that became a major motion picture.
Welcome to the brave, new reality of “cognitive computing,” a technological trend to develop a computer that behaves like a human brain.
Prototype computer chips have been developed by IBM in a six-year project involving 100 researchers and about $41 million in funding from the government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.
Computer mimicry based on previous input already is part our daily lives. It is experienced when a search engine attempts to identify a search based on a few keystrokes or when a smartphone recognizes characters of text and predicts words.
Cognitive computing, however, combines technology and psychology in “parallel processing” to analyze new, unexpected information.
Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research, likens parts of the new chips to digital neurons and synapses.
IBM’s efforts to simulate the human brain are not new. The company simulated 40 percent of a mouse’s brain in 2006, a rat’s entire brain in 2007 and 1 percent of a human cerebral cortex in 2009.
Modha, however, says the new chip marks a major breakthrough. “It really changes the perspective from ‘What if?’ to ‘What now?’”
Clarke’s classic novel, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” ends with a powerful Star Child focusing on the Earth, uncertain of what do next. But, the reader is told, he would think of something.
If scientists succeed in creating a cognitive computer that simulates the human brain, what promising or terrifying possibilities are raised by Modha’s question: “What now?”
Or, like Clarke’s Star Child contemplating its new-found powers, will we simply hope we will think of something?
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Please review our Policies and Procedures before registering or commenting | <urn:uuid:74d0e363-60cc-4fce-9b2c-0e90ed619cba> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.fultonsun.com/news/2011/aug/21/our-opinion-cognitive-computing-what-now/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1398223206647.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20140423032006-00273-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921721 | 507 | 3.546875 | 4 | 2.788726 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
The Alliance of Civilizations HLG Report, submitted to the UN Secretary-General in November 2006, underscored the importance of education in "preparing young people for an interdependent world" and called for education systems to "provide students with an understanding and respect for the diverse religious beliefs, practices and cultures in the world."
Several guidelines drawn up by intergovernmental organizations, as well as world leaders, have spoken of the need for intercultural education and the necessity to learn about and across differences. References in this regard include the UNESCO Guidelines on Intercultural Education, Civil Paths to Peace: Report of the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding (2007)and the COE White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue "Living Together as Equals" (2008). Specific references to education about religions include, for instance,
- A COE Publication: John Keast, Editor: Religious Diversity and intercultural Education: a Reference Book for Schools. 2007.
- Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR) publication, Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs. (2007).
Further, participants at the UNAOC January 2008 Madrid Forum expressed the strong desire that the next UNAOC clearinghouse should be a clearinghouse on "Education about Religion and Beliefs" (ERB). Intrinsic to the goal of educating students about religions and beliefs are the instruments of civic and peace education, tolerance and ethics education, as well as global and cross-cultural education. These mechanisms also offer a different way of advancing the ultimate pillar of education to "live together," especially in the context of some societies where teaching about religions themselves may raise issues of "church-and-state separation."
In defining "religion" and "belief," this site follows the OSCE's ODIHR Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs (2007) on this point, which takes a broad view of "religion" and "belief," encompassing not only "traditional and long-established religions" of today's world as well as "less well known and less well understood systems of belief." It also includes "non-religious systems of belief," based on earlier United Nations Human Rights documents (pp. 30-31).
At this stage, our clearinghouse focuses primarily on school education for the following reasons:
a) It is the stage that is the most important in forming educated opinions;
b) It is the stage where public policy can have the most influence, because in many states public funding of education offers the opportunity to have concomitant curricular influence; and
c) It is probably the area where resources are available but scattered across different regions and therefore the UNAOC mechanism can be particularly useful.
This web-based clearinghouse features approaches, consensus guidelines, intellectual and instructional resources, links to associations/organizations and institutions working in the field of ERB, an ERB journal, an online forum for users to discuss issues and pose questions, and events of interest to researchers, policy-makers and educators working in this area. The clearinghouse aims to be:
a) Dynamic with continuous updates in its various sections, with the aid of partner organizations;
b) Useful for educators, policy-makers, and religious leaders; and
c) Accessible widely to different kinds of users.
Visitors do not have to go through registration and/or sign-in processes to view the contents of the clearinghouse (including the forum or journal), or download material as one of our objectives is to have the widest possible dissemination of resources on our site. However, registration is required to post articles, opinions, and resources, which will be vetted by UNAOC staff and/or partners. This will enable us to promote rational and civil discourse without being diverted by polemical remarks.
The ERB clearinghouse will work through a network of partner organizations that will include universities, other intergovernmental organizations, and civil society organizations. Partners will be drawn from different regions so that the materials in the clearing house are available in many languages and on different subjects. | <urn:uuid:8f4995f8-3fe4-4267-9872-26105167ced1> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | http://erb.unaoc.org/about/overview-of-erb/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572491.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916060046-20190916082046-00325.warc.gz | en | 0.933269 | 850 | 3.796875 | 4 | 2.991418 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Hopefully you’ve read my blog about Sally Lunn’s Bakehouse after my recent trip to Bath. Of course, although I usually centre my trips completely around food and drink, one of the main reasons I wanted to visit this fantastic city was the famous Roman Baths!
I honestly had no idea how much was here before I planned my visit! I really thought you just walked in and saw the main bath area and that was it! You could literally spend all day and more here!
You walk out onto the terrace first of all which looks down over the main swimming bath. The terrace was completed in 1897 when the Roman Baths first opened to the public. The main swimming bath is just one part of the whole site, which consists of extensive baths, a temple complex and even hot springs.
Along this terrace you can see statues of Roman Governors of the province of Brittania (as Britain was known then), and Roman Emperors who had particular connections to Britain. The statues include Julius Caesar, Claudius, Hadrian and Constantine the Great.
You will next see the Hot Spring – the hot water in the Spring rises at a rate of 1,170,000 litres each day at 46 degrees! It bubbles up into the Kings Bath which was built in the 12th Century AD. Beneath the Kings Bath is a reservoir built by Roman engineers who used the hot water to supply the baths.
As you continue you come across the beautiful Temple Pediment. This was the front of the temple of Sulis Minerva and was supported by four huge columns. The Temple looked down on visitors in the Temple Courtyard from a height of 15 metres. Lights shining on the Temple show the colours and designs it would have had back then and it is absolutely stunning.
You then move into the Temple Courtyard and the Buttress of Spring Building. The massive stone blocks formed a buttress supporting a corner of the building over the Sacred Spring.
When you enter the Temple Courtyard you will come across the Altar – this sacrificial altar was the focus for public worship where priests conducted ceremonies and animal sacrifices. two of the cornerstones are in their original positions and a third lies close to the altar where it was found in 1965. It is likely that the altar was painted but it isn’t clear if the panels between the cornerstones were plain or decorated with carvings.
You will also see the Haruspex Stone – after a sacrifice, the Temple haruspex removed organs from the animal’s body and studied these to predict the future.
Next you will come across the Sacred Spring – the Roman’s would erect altars at places where great streams appear from hidden sources – they would honour springs of hot water as divine.
In the 12th Century the Kings Bath was built within the Roman ruins. In the 18th Century the Pump Room was built. There were steps, or “slips” outside the windows which allowed bathers into the water from passages beneath the Pump Room. Unfortunately, the ledge around the Spring is all that remains of the King’s Bath floor. The orange stain marks the former water level. In 1979, the floor was removed and the water lowered to the “Roman level”, approximately four metres below today’s level.
After viewing hundreds of Roman artifacts and learning about Roman brick making and sluice gates, you can view the Great Bath at ground level and then go on to view the East Baths.
Back in those days, as you moved through the spaces in the East Baths the rooms went from cool to very hot. Mixed bathing was often practiced in the Roman world, but not always. Here you will find similar rooms to the East and West of the Great Bath which allowed men and women to bathe simultaneously but separately. There would have been smells of massage oils and hot steam greeting the bathers as they entered the large heated rooms.
Noble and poor, slaves and free would have all used these baths together. Attendants were there to help with food and drink and slaves would have accompanied the rich, fetching and carrying their belongings. Common snacks included oysters, sausages and bread.
People would move from the changing rooms (apodyterium), to a warm room known as a tepidarium, and onto the hottest room, the caladium. There were also shallow bathing pools known as sudatoria, two small deep immersion pools known as balnea and a large cool swimming pool called a natatio.
After all this, you can try a sip of the hot spring water – not the best tasting but worth a try for the experience!
And finally is the beautiful Cold Bath – this beautiful preserved bath, with two sets of steps leading down to it, was probably fed from a cold water spring higher up the hillside above the Roman Baths. The two large brick pillars were built to support the road above when the electric trams were introduced to Bathing 1904.
Plus, when you are on the Terrace when you first arrive, make sure you take a stunning photo of Bath Abbey overlooking the Baths! | <urn:uuid:db4f0e64-3309-4641-b3ea-c9742189b39a> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://cocochlo.blog/2019/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337889.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006222634-20221007012634-00655.warc.gz | en | 0.978066 | 1,057 | 2.515625 | 3 | 1.834773 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Travel |
There was a lot of bloodshed to get to that point, but the Constitution of the United States of America was signed on September 17, 1787 by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It took until June 21, 1788 to get the required 9 out of 13 states to ratify the document. Subsequently, the government did not begin functioning under the new constitution until March 4, 1789. Today, the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.
I was not an avid student of history in my younger years. As the years of life add up it is easy to now see the folly of such a dismissive attitude toward past events. The present moment that we have the opportunity to experience has been shaped by these historical events in monumental ways. The gift of freedom is a cherished treasure that did not come without a significant price.
The world in which we live is a complex place. While it is easy to sit in my living room and criticize our governmental leaders while watching the evening news, I also realize that their task of governing the country is no small endeavor. This becomes more and more evident as the polarization of America grows ever deeper and wider. Seeking the common good seems to be a foreign concept in the current political climate. On the other hand, could it be that there is just no majority viewpoint as to what is the common good?
My growing concern for our country is the lack of moral persuasion exuded by the Church. Separation of Church and State has been so twisted through the years that the Church has been pushed more and more into the background so as to have little or no influence in the civil discourse of ideas. If the Church does not have a place at the table in the arena of public life, who or what will be the determining influence that shapes the current thinking in regard to the common good.
Preaching and teaching on Christian values greatly impacted our nation in its early years. There is much written documentation to verify that assertion. Now, preachers are frequently badgered into silence about anything that is related to politics or cultural values. Some want the IRS to strip a church of its tax-exempt status if the preacher mentions anything politically oriented in the sermon. Is that really what was intended from the founders of our country? Historical documents would certainly indicate that it is not.
On the flip-side, there are many people sitting in the pews who do not want to hear anything even remotely related to politics from the pulpit. Since many cultural values are shaped by politics and even mandated into law by legislation and court decisions, how does a preacher avoid wading into politics if the sermon covers the topic of morality? If the preacher talks about any of a vast array of topics regarding morality, it can be assumed that the sermon has entered politics. For instance, how would a preacher address any of these things without potentially being considered political?
Outreach to the immigrant
Persecution of Christians
As fewer and fewer people attend church services on a regular basis it is only a logical progression that the Church will continue to lose its influence in shaping cultural values. Furthermore, as some Christian denominations accept abortion, same-sex unions, and other behaviors once considered taboo, the remaining denominations holding fast to traditional moral values are viewed as obsolete, out of touch, and irrelevant. The end result is that the value system once espoused by churches of most major denominations has been called into question at best, and completely disregarded at worst.
What does this have to do with our country and our constitution? Read the pertinent documents from our country’s early history. Look at the biblical inscriptions etched in stone on many of our government buildings. Look at the role of religion in the shaping of our country and you will clearly see that the founders emphasized the necessity of faith for the republic to effectively function under this type of governance structure. All of this begs the question, “What happens now as our country moves away from the founding Christian principles? How long can we last with this system of government as the Christian foundation becomes more and more despised and is incrementally removed from all of public life? Is the streak of 227 years of functioning under the same constitution drawing to a close? | <urn:uuid:23e9e956-beaa-4dfa-ae09-14ac5ab8ec98> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://www.deaconvernon.com/deacon-vernons-blog/bring-out-the-big-guns1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662594414.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220525213545-20220526003545-00052.warc.gz | en | 0.966048 | 879 | 2.640625 | 3 | 2.933673 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Politics |
Many things depend on the power of conversation – including vaccine equity. A reliable way to foster unity and close the inequality gap is to form strong relationships with underserved populations.
In Slovakia, the Roma community continues to face high levels of social exclusion, discrimination, and inequalities – all of which lead to a severe distrust with those from outside. Such barriers present a significant challenge when reaching the Roma people, particularly when raising awareness around healthcare initiatives such as increasing the uptake of the HPV vaccine.
But how can effective communication strategies bridge the gap?
Breaking down barriers
It is thought that the Roma community is the largest minority ethnic group in the European region (WHO, 2017). This community is complex, comprising of many different populations. As health practitioners, it is essential that we keep communication at the heart of our work, by listening and understanding the needs of this group through cultural appreciation and anti-bias approaches. By doing so we can work with underserved groups to break down the health system barriers and protect the healthcare rights of these communities.
One of the key messages of the World Health Organization’s European Immunization Week 2023 is vaccination communication. By encouraging open conversations around vaccination between parents, guardians, and health professionals, not only does it help to build trust but can also motivate individuals to follow vaccine recommendations and schedules.
As a project that aims to remove health system barriers to vaccination services – to improve the overall coverage of MMR and HPV vaccines in Europe – the RIVER-EU project has undertaken communication workshops in all target countries to better evaluate and understand local context and current project situations in each area; most recently in Slovakia working with the Roma people.
How can we effectively find answers to questions about immunisation that really impacts this community. Questions such as what other approaches could be taken regarding HPV vaccination? How can we work with target groups to support this change? How can we implement these changes?
In Slovakia, the communications team worked with UPJŠ to identify the goals, key messages, and communication channels needed to effectively communicate with the Roma people and other stakeholders.
Collaboration is key. Collaborating with the community and other organisations such as Healthy Regions (Organizácia Zdravé regióny) – a contributory organization of the Ministry of health who specialises in providing equal access to public health for the Roma community – can help with research efforts and community mobilisation.
Healthy Regions is already carrying out campaigns to raise awareness on the importance of vaccination as part of primary prevention to protect against cervical cancer. However, working with the Roma community is just one part of the chain of change.
Healthcare professionals have a strong influence when it comes to the dissemination of healthcare advice, particularly around the vaccination process.
It is vital that patients feel secure and confident when seeking healthcare. However, distrust between the healthcare system and patients continues to be a significant problem and this is especially true amongst the underserved Roma communities.
“The most important things for me are trust and a feeling of security having the healthcare provider explain to me what is going to happen and knowing that you are safe.”
A Roma girl testimony, Slovakia
Attitudes and behaviours including prejudices, inappropriate behaviour and racism have a profound impact on breaking down barriers in health systems, leading to distrust and neglect of care.
Building such trust requires empathy, active listening, and patience. Unfortunately, due to increasing pressures faced by health professionals across Europe, it can be difficult for doctors to establish a genuine relationship with their patients. This becomes even more challenging when there are cultural and linguistic differences. Regrettably, failing to be sensitive towards a patient’s needs or providing insufficient information can have a significant impact on people’s lives.
Health professionals need to be educated on the importance of culturally sensitive community care to increase vaccination uptake within the Roma community. Having an in-depth understanding of the societies and communities in which we operate enables us to build strong relationships with underserved communities to meet their values, needs and desires and protect their healthcare requirements. A lack of empathy skills can lead to a complete rejection of the healthcare system.
Increasing HPV vaccination in the Roma communities
Access to adequate healthcare is a universal right that all individuals deserve. However, due to long-standing structural problems, not all people can receive the care they are entitled to.
Considering this, the UPJŠ team has identified key community leaders and organisations that can help mobilise the Roma community and ensure a successful implementation of interventions. By working closely with the community, training healthcare professionals, and addressing concerns about vaccination with effective messages that can lead to actions, it is possible to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine among marginalised Roma communities in Slovakia.
Working with the community enables us to gain an insight into each perspective, value, and motivation, leading to the creation of effective and tailored messaging – this is particularly important when communicating with parents, adolescents, health providers or health mediators.
What drives and motivates communities, particularly underserved communities, such as the Roma people, ensures that we, as health practitioners can understand and attune content that resonates with specific values and help promote better health outcomes.
Though, it may be difficult to see all the benefits and impacts of building herd immunity in the population at first glance, what is known is that having healthy communities can lead to a better quality of life for everyone and help build a more resilient and prosperous society.
Research conducted by the RIVER-EU communications outreach team, illustrated that many of the health system barriers are due to a lack of effective communication and consequently dissemination of health-related information is difficult to achieve. To meaningfully engage with underserved communities across Europe, healthcare professionals must be careful to not further marginalise access to healthcare, but instead consider the needs of the Roma people and other underserved communities by working with them in collaboration with key stakeholders, such as the Pavol Jozef Safarik University (UPJŠ), to raise awareness around vaccination.
Field visit participants:
- Ekaterina Gómez
- Eleonora Mesiano
- MSc. Daniela Fiľakovská Bobáková
- MSc. Lucia Bosakova
- MSc. Jana Plavnická
- MSc. Zuzana Dankulincova
- Dr. Ingrid Urbancikova
- Bc. Emilia Gajdosova | <urn:uuid:fe394339-d735-49d9-aca0-5b8707122c9b> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://river-eu.org/vaccine-equity-and-effective-communication-why-it-matters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224655247.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20230609032325-20230609062325-00783.warc.gz | en | 0.938768 | 1,324 | 2.96875 | 3 | 3.023666 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
In the 1800s, billions of passenger pigeons occupied the North American skies. Enough of these pigeons, scientifically known as Ectopistes migratorius, filled the sky that they often blocked sunlight for hours in the daytime. But within a century they were wiped out by hunters for sport and commercialism. Here are some of the details passenger pigeons, which became easy prey for hunters in the 19th century, when bird hunting rose in popularity.
How Industrialization Influenced Bird Hunting
Passenger pigeons were vulnerable to hunters because they flew in huge flocks that made them easy targets. Low flying birds in particular could easily be killed with a pole. The invention of the telegraph allowed hunters to locate flocks and nests in real-time. Another major technological advance of the era, the railroad, allowed them to transport thousands of pigeons at a time to various markets.
Martha, the Last of the Species
By the early 1900s, the only known passenger pigeons left in America were housed at the Cincinnati Zoo. Martha was identified as the final bird of the species, as despite a $1,000 reward for bringing a male passenger pigeon to the zoo, she died in 1914 without finding a mate. She was frozen in a 300-pound block of ice and shipped to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, where she can still be seen today.
Reasons to Remember Passenger Pigeons
One of the interesting facts about passenger pigeons is they collaborated to find food and raise offspring. As flocks, they were able to drop hundreds of feet in the air all at once and maintain their course, demonstrating their team spirit of flying together. As a team, they defended each other against enemies.
But as the population began to quickly decline in the late 19th century, it weakened their community and their connections with each other. The death of this species became a wake-up call to citizens and lawmakers that wildlife must be protected. It also made scientists realize that a greater understanding of birds can be learned by studying how populations of species affect the broader ecosystem.
Beginning of the Conservation Era
On a positive note, the extinction of the passenger pigeon led to the first major wildlife preservation legislation, kicking off America’s conservation movement. These laws helped save endangered species such as the American alligator and bald eagle.
Today about 13% of birds, 25% of mammals and 41% of amphibians have been identified as endangered wildlife, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. | <urn:uuid:ed7c2c2a-5d39-4712-8c42-ffa5654ea0c4> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://suzannegrandt.org/extinct-animals-spotlight-passenger-pigeon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655883439.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20200703215640-20200704005640-00556.warc.gz | en | 0.970783 | 516 | 3.484375 | 3 | 2.804229 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Moon ♑ Capricorn
Moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. It is visible all night and it is high in the sky around midnight.
Moon is passing first ∠1° of ♑ Capricorn tropical zodiac sector.
Lunar disc appears visually 6.6% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1768" and ∠1888".
The Full Moon this days is the Strawberry of June 2097.
There is high Full Moon ocean tide on this date. Combined Sun and Moon gravitational tidal force working on Earth is strong, because of the Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy alignment.
The Moon is 14 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the middle part of current synodic month. This is lunation 1205 of Meeus index or 2158 from Brown series.
Length of current 1205 lunation is 29 days, 6 hours and 44 minutes. This is the year's shortest synodic month of 2097. It is 18 minutes shorter than next lunation 1206 length.
Length of current synodic month is 6 hours shorter than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 9 minutes longer, compared to 21st century shortest.
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠355.1°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠10°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep increasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of apogee (∠180°).
Moon is reaching point of apogee on this date at 09:04, this is 13 days after last perigee on 10 June 2097 at 09:12 in ♊ Gemini. Lunar orbit is starting to get closer, while the Moon is moving inward the Earth for 14 days ahead, until it will get to the point of next perigee on 8 July 2097 at 18:43 in ♋ Cancer.
This apogee Moon is 406 338 km (252 487 mi) away from Earth. This is the year's farthest apogee of 2097. It is 930 km farther than the mean apogee distance, but it is still 371 km closer than the farthest apogee of 21st century.
4 days after its descending node on 20 June 2097 at 09:05 in ♏ Scorpio, the Moon is following the southern part of its orbit for the next 10 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from South to North in ascending node on 4 July 2097 at 19:44 in ♉ Taurus.
16 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♉ Taurus, the Moon is moving from the second to the final part of it.
13 days after previous North standstill on 11 June 2097 at 04:55 in ♋ Cancer, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠27.467°. Next day the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-27.434° in the next southern standstill on 25 June 2097 at 00:31 in ♑ Capricorn.
The Moon is in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun on this date and this alignment forms Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy. | <urn:uuid:c293b295-9afe-4957-b6be-c1f02f7a2175> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | http://lunaf.com/lunar-calendar/2097/06/24/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864648.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20180522073245-20180522093245-00160.warc.gz | en | 0.905376 | 686 | 2.75 | 3 | 1.868447 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Science & Tech. |
While we’d like to believe that Canada’s lakes and rivers are crystal clear, water pollution is a serious problem in even the most remote reaches of cottage country.
Here are seven ways that you could be polluting your community’s water without realizing it.
While cigarettes are a major known cause of air pollution, there’s another unwanted side effect of smoking: millions of cigarette butts are littering our ocean and lake floors. It’s estimated that five trillion (yes, you read that right) cigarette butts are tossed on the ground every year, many of which find their way via sewer drains to the water. Loaded with chemicals, they’re a type of toxic waste that doesn’t biodegrade, making them one of the top pollutants of the Great Lakes. It’s just one more reason that you should make sure your butt finds its way into the bin.
Washing your face
If your facewash contains microbeads, you’re flushing thousands of tiny plastic particles down the drain and into our waterways every time you lather up. The beads are too small to be filtered by wastewater treatment plants, which is how they find their way into lakes, oceans, and rivers. Once there, the non-biodegradable plastic particles are impossible to remove and end up being consumed by marine life, including fish and oysters. Instead, choose soap with a biodegradable exfoliate, such as walnut shells or apricot seeds.
Not maintaining your septic system
While there’s a certain appeal to having a “rustic” cottage, there’s absolutely nothing appealing about having a rustic sewage system. Leaky, rusting, and older septic tanks and lines are one of the greatest sources of water pollution in cottage country. According to a report from the Township of Muskoka Lakes, lakes are easily contaminated when untreated sewage seeps from faulty tanks to bedrock and groundwater flows. Checking your septic system on a regular basis is essential—especially if you have an older cottage.
Fertilizing your lawn
Ground and surface water pollution caused by agricultural pesticides and fertilizers is one of the largest sources of water pollution in North America. While it’s on a much smaller scale, the fertilizers that you use on your home lawn and garden can have similar effects. When fertilizer enters streams as runoff, it finds its way directly into our lakes, causing algal blooms, which deplete oxygen for fish and other species. Instead of store-bought chemicals, see if there is a natural or organic method that will lead to a greener lawn, such as ditching your mower bag.
Flushing away expired medication
Sewage treatment plants are not designed to filter pharmaceuticals, and flushing old drugs down the toilet is having very real effects on fish and wildlife. Fish populations in Canadian lakes have significantly decreased due to levels of estrogen, which can be found in birth control pills, while flushed antibiotics may lead to resistant strains of bacteria in our waterways. Keep tablets out of our waterways and landfills by taking expired drugs back to your local pharmacy for safe disposal.
Just like any other personal care products, the sunscreen you wear can have an adverse affect on water quality. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers’ bodies every year, containing zinc oxide and titanium oxide, which never biodegrade. Meanwhile, benzohenone-2 protects wearers against the effects of UV light, but it can also kill juvenile corals. Luckily, eco-friendly sunscreens do exist.
De-icing your driveway with salt
Think about what road salt does to your car—now imagine what it must do in our lakes. Considered a toxin, the salt you sprinkle on your sidewalk will eventually make its way into sewer drains or nearby waterways, increasing chloride levels and creating dangerous conditions for aquatic life, including killing amphibians and plants. So before you pour on a heavy dose of salt, try your luck with an ice chipper and a bit of good old-fashioned elbow grease. | <urn:uuid:60214d4c-c719-49d8-a7d1-289444b57f79> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://cottagelife.com/environment/7-surprising-ways-you-may-be-contributing-to-water-pollution | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719139.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00222-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942862 | 857 | 3.015625 | 3 | 2.450119 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Science & Tech. |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
|Health care in the United States|
|Government Health Programs|
|Private health coverage|
|Health care reform law|
|State level reform|
|Municipal health coverage|
|Health care in the United States|
|Government Health Programs|
|Private health coverage|
|Health care reform law|
|State level reform|
|Municipal health coverage|
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. Unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), funds roll over and accumulate year to year if not spent. HSAs are owned by the individual, which differentiates them from company-owned Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) that are an alternate tax-deductible source of funds paired with either HDHPs or standard health plans. HSA funds may currently be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability or penalty. However, beginning in early 2011 OTC (over the counter) medications cannot be paid with HSA dollars without a doctor's prescription. Withdrawals for non-medical expenses are treated very similarly to those in an individual retirement account (IRA) in that they may provide tax advantages if taken after retirement age, and they incur penalties if taken earlier. These accounts are a component of consumer-driven health care.
Proponents of HSAs believe that they are an important reform that will help reduce the growth of health care costs and increase the efficiency of the health care system. According to proponents, HSAs encourage saving for future health care expenses, allow the patient to receive needed care without a gatekeeper to determine what benefits are allowed and make consumers more responsible for their own health care choices through the required High-Deductible Health Plan.
Opponents of HSAs say they may worsen, rather than improve, the U.S. health system's problems because people may hold back the healthcare spending that would be covered by their Health Savings Accounts, or may spend it unnecessarily just because it has accumulated and to avoid the penalty taxes for withdrawing it, while people who have health problems that have predictable annual costs will avoid HSAs in order to have those costs paid by insurance. There is also debate about consumer satisfaction with these plans.
HSAs were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003. They were developed to replace the Medical Savings Account system.
A survey of employers published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in September 2008 found that 8% of covered workers were enrolled in a consumer-driven health plan (including both HSAs and Health Reimbursement Accounts), up from 4% in 2006. The study found that roughly 10 percent of firms offered such plans to their workers. Large firms were more likely to offer a high-deductible plan (18%), but enrollment was higher in small firms (8% of covered workers, versus 4% in larger firms). As of 2012, these numbers had increased. Approximately 31% of firms offering health insurance offered an HSA (26%) or an HRA (5%) option. Large firms (38%) were somewhat more likely than small (31%) firms to offer such options. 11% of covered workers were in HSAs, while 8% were in HRAs. In small companies, 24% were in HDHPs vs 17% in larger firms.
A survey of health insurers performed by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) found that 4.5 million Americans were covered by HSA-qualified health plans as of January 2007. Of those, 3.4 million were covered through employer-sponsored plans, and 1.1 million were covered by individually purchased HSA-qualified plans. This represented an increase of 1.3 million since January 2006. In the individual market, 25% of new purchasers bought HSA-qualified plans. HSA-qualified plans represented 17% of new policies sold in the small group market and 8% of new policies sold in the large group market. A follow-up survey by AHIP reported that the number of Americans covered by HSA-qualified plans had grown to 6.1 million as of January 2008 (4.6 million through employer-sponsored plans and 1.5 million covered by individually purchased HSA-qualified plans). HSA-qualified plans represented 27% of new purchases in the individual market, 31% of new enrollment in the small group market and 6% of new enrollment in the large group market.
In January 2008, market research firm Celent moderated its earlier projections, citing the HSA market's "disappointing early showing", and projected 12.5 million accounts by 2012. A survey published by AHIP in May 2009 found that 8 million people were covered by HSA/High-Deductible health plans in January 2009. Of those, 1.8 million were covered by individual policies and approximately 6.2 million were covered by a group plan.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in April 2008 that many individuals enrolled in HSA-qualified health plans did not open tax-qualified HSA accounts, and individuals that had HSA accounts had higher incomes than others. According to the report, nationally representative surveys conducted by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in 2005 to 2007 found that 42 to 49 percent of HSA-eligible plan enrollees did not open HSAs in those years. Based on an examination of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, GAO found that tax filers who reported HSA account activity had higher average incomes than other tax filers. Contributions into HSA accounts ($754 million in 2005) were roughly double withdrawals from the accounts ($366 million). Average contributions were also roughly twice average withdrawals ($2,100 versus $1,000). 41% of tax filers who made an HSA contribution did not make any withdrawals; 22% withdrew more than they contributed during the year.
Data released in 2012 indicate that the use of HSAs is increasing. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) reported in May 2012 that the number of people covered by an HSA-eligible HDHP more than doubled between January 2008 to January 2012 (going from 6.1 million to 13.5 million). The split between group and individual plans was 11 million vs. 2.5 million, and the gender distribution of HSAs between male and female enrollees was an even 50%. Among individual plan holders, 51% were under age 40, and 49% were age 40 or over. The top five states with HSA/HDHP enrollment were California (1 million), Texas (0.76 million), Illinois (0.72 million), Ohio (0.66 million) and Florida (0.54 million). Also, a survey released in February 2012 by J. P. Morgan Chase of the 900,000 HSAs that it manages indicates that contributions to HSAs have been steadily increasing. Between 2009 and 2011, the average Chase HSA balance rose by 11% annually, and the average employee contributions increased by 7% in 2011. Also, in 2011, 42% more dollars were transferred from HSA cash into HSA investment accounts than were transferred out.
According to 2014 midyear research conducted by Devenir, there is an estimated $22.8 billion held in HSA accounts amongst 11.8 million HSA accounts.
Deposits to an HSA may be made by any policyholder of an HSA-eligible high-deductible health plan or by their employer, or any other person. If an employer makes deposits to such a plan on behalf of its employees, non-discrimination rules still apply—that is, all employees must be treated equally. However, if contributions are made through a Section 125 plan, non-discrimination rules do not apply. Employers may treat full-time and part-time employees differently, and employers may treat individual and family participants differently. (The treatment of employees who are not enrolled in a HSA-eligible high-deductible plan is not considered for non-discrimination purposes.) Also, for 2007, employers may contribute more for non-highly compensated employees than highly compensated employees. Contributions from an employer or employee may be made on a pre-tax basis through an employer. If this option is not available through the employer, contributions may be made on a post-tax basis and then used to decrease gross taxable income on the following year's Form 1040. The main advantage of making pre-tax contributions is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA) and Medicare Tax deduction, which amounts to a savings of 7.65% (5.65% for the employee in 2011 due to Social Security rate holiday) each to the employer and employee (subject to limits of the Social Security Wage Base). The self-employed must pay self-employment tax on their contributions. Regardless of the method or tax savings associated with the deposit, the deposits may only be made for persons covered under an HSA-eligible high-deductible plan, with no other coverage beyond certain qualified additional coverage.
Initially, the annual maximum deposit to an HSA was the lesser of the actual deductible or specified Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limits. Congress later abolished the limit based on the deductible and set statutory limits for maximum contributions. For example, the 2012 statutory limits are $3,100 for an individual and $6,250 for a family. All contributions to an HSA, regardless of source, count toward the annual maximum. A catch-up provision also applies for plan participants who are age 55 or over, allowing the IRS limit to be increased. Contribution limits have increased since this posting. single plan is $3,250 for 2013, and $3,300 for 2014. Family plan contribution limits are $6,450 in 2013 and $6,550 in 2014.
All deposits to an HSA become the property of the policyholder, regardless of the source of the deposit. Funds deposited but not withdrawn each year will carry over into the next year. If the policyholder ends their HSA-eligible insurance coverage, he or she loses eligibility to deposit further funds, but funds already in the HSA remain available for use.
The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 signed into law on December 20, 2006, added a provision allowing a one-time rollover of IRA assets to be used to fund up to one year's maximum HSA contribution.
According to IRS Publication 969: Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans, you can generally make contributions to your HSA for a given tax year until the deadline for filing your income tax returns for that year, which is typically April 15. All contributions to an HSA from both the employer and the employee count toward the annual maximum.
(55 or older) (Single and Family)
Funds in an HSA can be invested in a manner similar to investments in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Investment earnings are sheltered from taxation until the money is withdrawn (and can be sheltered even then, as discussed in the section below).
While HSAs can be "rolled over" from fund to fund, an HSA cannot be rolled into an IRA or a 401(k), and funds from these types of investment vehicles cannot be rolled into an HSA, except for the one-time IRA transfer mentioned earlier. Unlike some employer contributions to a 401(k) plan, all HSA contributions belong to the participant immediately, regardless of the deposit source. A person contributing to an HSA is under no obligation to contribute to his or her employer-sponsored HSA, although employers may require that payroll contributions be made only to the sponsored HSA plan.
HSA participants do not have to obtain advance approval from their HSA trustee or their medical insurer to withdraw funds, and the funds are not subject to income taxation if made for qualified medical expenses. These include costs for services and items covered by the health plan but subject to cost sharing such as a deductible and coinsurance, or co-payments, as well as many other expenses not covered under medical plans, such as dental, vision and chiropractic care; durable medical equipment such as eyeglasses and hearing aids; and transportation expenses related to medical care. Through December 31, 2010, non-prescription, over-the-counter medications were also eligible. Beginning January 1, 2011 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act stipulates HSA funds can no longer be used to buy over-the-counter drugs without a doctor's prescription.
There are several ways that funds in an HSA can be withdrawn. Some HSAs include a debit card, some supply checks for account holder use, and some allow for a reimbursement process similar to medical insurance. Most HSAs have more than one possible method for withdrawal, and the methods available vary from HSA to HSA. Checks and debits do not have to be made payable to the provider. Funds can be withdrawn for any reason, but withdrawals that are not for documented qualified medical expenses are subject to income taxes and a 20% penalty. The 20% tax penalty is waived for persons who have reached the age of 65 or have become disabled at the time of the withdrawal. Then, only income tax is paid on the withdrawal, and in effect the account has grown tax deferred (similar to an IRA). Medical expenses continue to be tax free. Prior to January 1, 2011, when new rules governing HSAs in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect, the penalty for non-qualified withdrawals was 10%.
Account holders are required to retain documentation for their qualified medical expenses. Failure to retain and provide documentation could cause the IRS to rule withdrawals were not for qualified medical expenses and subject the taxpayer to additional penalties.
There is no deadline for self-reimbursements of qualified medical expenses incurred after the HSA was established. High-income individuals can take advantage of this by paying for medical costs out of pocket, retaining receipts and allowing their accounts to grow tax-free. Money can then be withdrawn years later for any reason, up to the value of the receipts.
When a person dies, the funds in their HSA are transferred to the beneficiary named for the account. If the beneficiary is a surviving spouse, the transfer is tax-free.
Health savings accounts are similar to Medical savings account (Archer MSA) plans that were authorized by the federal government before HSA plans. HSAs can be used with some high-deductible health plans. HSAs came into being after legislation was signed by George W. Bush on December 8, 2003. The law went into effect on January 1, 2004.
HSAs differ in several ways from MSAs. Perhaps the most significant difference is that employers of all sizes can offer an HSA account and insurance plan to employees. MSAs were limited to the self-employed and employers of 50 or fewer people.
The premium for an HDHP generally is less than the premium for traditional health insurance. A higher deductible lowers the premium because the insurance company no longer pays for routine healthcare, and insurance underwriters believe that Americans who see a relationship between medical cost and their bank accounts will consume less medical care, shop for lower-cost options, and be more vigilant against excess and fraud in the health care industry. Introducing consumer-driven supply and demand and controlling inflation in health care and health insurance were among the government's goals in establishing these plans.
With HSAs, in catastrophic situations, the maximum out-of-pocket expense liability can be less than that of a traditional health plan. This is because a qualified HDHP can cover 100% after the deductible, involving no coinsurance.
HSAs also give the flexibility not available in some traditional health plans to pay on a pretax basis for qualified medical expenses not covered in standard or HSA insurance plans, which may include dental, orthodontic, vision, and other approved expenses.
HSA accounts also have an advantage over Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) since deposits are not necessarily tied to expenses in a particular plan or calendar year. They are automatically rolled over for future medical expenses or may be used to reimburse qualified expenses from prior years as long as the expense was qualified under an HSA plan at the time that the expense was incurred.
Over time, if medical expenses are low and contributions are made regularly to the HSA, the account can accumulate significant assets that can be used for health care tax free or used for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.
The HDHP plan, along with an HSA is the only health insurance plan option available that can possibly have a net gain of value during the year, provided the HSA funds are invested.
A recent industry survey found that in July 2007 over 80% of HSA plans provided first-dollar coverage for preventive care. This was true of virtually all HSA plans offered by large employers and over 95% of the plans offered by small employers. It was also true of over half (59%) of the plans which were purchased by individuals.
All of the plans offered first-dollar preventive care benefits included annual physicals, immunizations, well-baby and well-child care, mammograms and Pap tests; 90% included prostate cancer screenings and 80% included colon cancer screenings.
Health savings accounts in fact encourage customers of all backgrounds to constrain costly spending and obtain more preventative health care. In Indiana, those with HSAs are 98% satisfied.
Some consumer organizations, such as Consumers Union, and many medical organizations, such as the American Public Health Association, oppose HSAs because, in their opinion, they benefit only healthy, younger people and make the health care system more expensive for everyone else. According to Stanford economist Victor Fuchs, "The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance."
Critics contend that low-income people, who are more likely to be uninsured, do not earn enough to benefit from the tax breaks offered by HSAs. These tax breaks are too modest, when compared to the actual cost of insurance, to persuade significant numbers to buy this coverage.
One industry study matched HSA account holders to the neighborhood income ("neighborhood" was defined as their census tract from the 2000 Census) and found that 3% of account holders lived in "low-income" neighborhoods (median incomes below $25,000 in 1999 dollars), 46% lived in lower-middle-income neighborhoods (median incomes between $25,000 and $50,000), 34% lived in middle-income neighborhoods (median incomes between $50,000 and $75,000), 12% lived in upper-income neighborhoods (median incomes between $75,000 and $100,000) and 5% lived in higher income neighborhoods (median incomes above $100,000).
In testimony before the US Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Health in 2006, advocacy group Commonwealth Fund said that all evidence to date shows that health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans worsen, rather than improve, the US health system's problems.
HSA funds that are not held in savings accounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are subject to market risk, as is any other investment. While the potential upside from investment gains can be viewed as a benefit, the subsequent downside, as well as the possibility of capital loss, may make the HSA a poor option for some.
Consumer satisfaction results have been mixed. While a 2005 survey by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association found widespread satisfaction among HSA customers, a survey published in 2007 by employee benefits consultants Towers Perrin came to the opposite conclusion; it found that employees currently enrolled in such plans were significantly less satisfied with many elements of the health benefit plan compared to those enrolled in traditional health benefit plans.
In 2006, a Government Accountability Office report concluded: "HSA-eligible plan enrollees who participated in GAO's focus groups generally reported positive experiences, but most would not recommend the plans to all consumers. Few participants reported researching cost before obtaining health care services, although many researched the cost of prescription drugs. Most participants were satisfied with their HSA-eligible plans and would recommend them to healthy consumers, but not to those who use maintenance medication, have a chronic condition, have children, or may not have the funds to meet the high deductible."
According to the Commonwealth Fund, early experience with HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans reveals low satisfaction, high out-of-pocket costs, and cost-related access problems. A survey conducted with the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that people enrolled in HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans were much less satisfied with many aspects of their health care than adults in more comprehensive plans.
Some policy analysts say that consumer satisfaction doesn't reflect quality of health care. Researchers at RAND Corporation and Department of Veterans Affairs asked 236 vulnerable elderly patients at two managed care plans to rate their care, then examined care in medical records, as reported in Annals of Internal Medicine. There was no correlation. "Patient ratings of health care are easy to obtain and report, but do not accurately measure the technical quality of medical care," said John T. Chan, UCLA, lead author.
According to a 2006 Zogby poll, seven in ten voters back Congressional action to allow HSA participants to pay for their insurance premiums using money in their savings plans. | <urn:uuid:c67d146c-1437-43af-b781-62e883faca2d> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://blekko.com/wiki/Health_savings_account?source=672620ff | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657124607.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011204-00333-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971047 | 4,449 | 2.65625 | 3 | 2.961004 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Finance & Business |
Multicultural Interactions Workshop
Multicultural Interactions Workshop (Audience: Faculty, Staff, and Community):
Multicultural Interactions Workshop is a 90 Minute to Two-hour long workshop (Preferably 2 hours) that provides critical reflection on perspectives of our past and an opportunity to look at past experiences in order to see how those experiences impact current thinking and behaviors regarding microaggressions in classroom, workplace and community. The workshop also examines the benefit of revising developing authentic work relationships that facilitate inclusive work and classroom environments. The workshop is designed to be interactive and reflective using different techniques such as small PowerPoint Presentation, small group discussion and talking circle. This workshop also allows participants to begin paying attention on how past learned experiences and messages may still influences how we interact with people now.
Multicultural Interactions Goals:
- Introduce the concept of microaggression.
- Discuss ways in which we can minimize and combat macroaggressions.
- Facilitate improving the campus climate, particularly for marginalized groups.
Multicultural Interactions Learning Objectives. Participants will:
- Be able to define microaggressions and all its three sub-categories of microaggression
(microinsult, microassault, microinvalidation)
- Be able to identify some impacts of microaggression.
- Recognize the importance of ending microaggressions.
When: Friday, March 24, 2017
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Where: BA 102
Cross-Cultural Communication Workshop (Audience: Faculty, Staff, and Community):
Cross-Cultural Communication Workshop is a 90 Minute to Two-hour long workshop (Preferably 2 hours) that facilitates understanding people from different cultural groups. This workshop provides supports for working together and how we can minimize cultural misunderstandings when working collaboratively with international students, faculty and staff. It can also enable the development of better collaborations and partnerships. This workshop utilizes mixed techniques from group discussion, storytelling, picture illustrations, and discuss strategies to minimize misunderstanding.
Cross-Cultural Communication Goals:
- Challenge participants to learn about the ways people from different cultural backgrounds and countries think, communicate, and behave based on the value systems, worldviews, and narratives that ground them.
- Introduce some fundamental patterns of cultural differences such as High Context Culture vs. Low Context Culture, High Social Contract vs. Low Social Contract, and Individualism vs. Collectivism to name a few.
- Identify one’s own cross-cultural sensitivity and level of understanding.
- Identify some challenges of working with others whose culture is different from own.
- Discuss strategies to better engage in cross-cultural communication.
Cross-Cultural Communication Learning Objectives. Participants will:
- Able to identify some cultural references and behaviors that rooted in the fundamental patterns of cultural differences presented in the workshop.
- Begin to recognize own cultural scheme and reflect on its potential implications on communication styles and expectations.
- Develop appreciation for diverse perspectives and experiences while continues to value critical inquiries to enhance mutual understanding.
When: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Where: BA 100 | <urn:uuid:f47b1d9e-1ae8-4d45-842a-9165c1c0a088> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://www.bgsu.edu/multicultural-affairs/events/past-events/multicultural-interactions-workshop.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221214713.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20180819070943-20180819090943-00313.warc.gz | en | 0.864247 | 655 | 2.578125 | 3 | 2.905385 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
The link goes both ways
When most people hear the words ‘climate change’ and ‘aviation’ in one sentence, they tend to think of the impacts that the aviation industry has on anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change. However, at the Met Office we are also interested in how changes in our climate may affect aviation.
So, how does climate change affect Aviation?
Climate change can be defined as a large-scale, long-term shift in our planet’s weather patterns. Therefore changes in our climate may have more permanent consequences on flight operations, whether at airports or in the en-route phase of flight.
On the ground…
The latest ‘State of the Global Climate’ report revealed 2015 to have had the largest increase yet of global surface temperatures compared to pre-industrial levels. High-confidence projections show a continued rise in our global temperatures into the future. But how do warmer temperatures affect aviation? There are a range of possible impacts, such as through an increased risk of fuel flashpoints being reached or tarmac standards being exceeded, whether on the runway or on airport access roads. Take-off distances may also be affected, as increasing the temperature causes a decrease in the air density and so a reduced lift force, meaning the possible need for longer runways or lighter aircraft in future. This is of particular importance for airports in warmer parts of the world or those situated at higher altitudes. Many of these impacts can be addressed through appropriate adaptation planning, but with our changing climate there is a need for a better understanding of these risks.
Although impacts at airports are critical, we must not forget changes in conditions en-route, especially as air traffic continues to grow. With a warming climate, more moisture in the atmosphere is expected and, consequently, more convective activity. With our growing air traffic demands, this would likely lead to more weather avoidance and re-routing particularly through busy airspace.
Studies have shown there to have been an observed poleward shift in the North Atlantic jet stream, which can affect transatlantic route planning, although there remains to be some degree of uncertainty in the future changes of the jet position. Other recent research has suggested that climate change and could lead an increase in severe (clear-air) turbulence events over the North Atlantic due to the effects on the jet stream, although this again is in an early stage of research.
Back on the ground, weather is often a big factor when choosing our preferred holiday destinations and so climate change could even lead to gradual differences in flight demand along particular routes – although of course many other factors are involved here.
This aims to give you a taste of some of the wide-ranging impacts climate change can have on the aviation industry, but there are many additional impacts to also consider from other factors such as changes in precipitation so watch this space.
Claire Bartholomew, Aviation Scientist | <urn:uuid:8b897529-fc72-4579-ba5c-913deeb320ba> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://blog.aviation.metoffice.gov.uk/2017/06/19/a-different-perspective-on-climate-change-how-changes-in-our-climate-may-affect-aviation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627999838.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20190625132645-20190625154645-00233.warc.gz | en | 0.951037 | 590 | 3.828125 | 4 | 2.972104 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Transportation |
Protect the files that matter most
We store our most important, often irreplaceable, files on our computers and phones. Duplicating and securely storing those files prevents us from losing them.
Backing up your data keeps it protected in any number of unforeseen circumstances, from accidentally erasing files to a total system failure in which your files and documents are destroyed.
Secure your important data
Keep your files organized
Organize files and documents using folders and sub-folders instead of leaving them scattered around your desktop.
Back up what matters
Back up any files you want to protect, like family photos or financial documents. You don’t need to back up applications, utilities, or your operating system (OS) — those can be reinstalled later.
Choose the back up solution that’s right for you
There are different options you can use to back up your files.
Cloud storage saves your files, documents and photos to a remote database. A cloud storage service may come standard with the operating system (OS) of your computer or device. Find out if your device does automatic backups to a cloud by searching for it in your OS’ system preferences or settings menu.
External hard drives are devices that can be connected to your computer or device to save a copy of files, documents and photos. Connect your external hard drive regularly to back up files. Remember to disconnect it when the backup is complete.
External storage can also be done on a USB key, CDs or DVDs.
For extra peace of mind, consider backing up your files on two different storage devices. Remember, backing up your files and documents externally can help you recover them if they become damaged or compromised.
Set a back-up schedule
Some external hard drives come pre-installed with auto-back-up software that regularly backs up everything for you. If not, set a reminder for yourself to back up your data at least once a week.
Protect your back-ups
Whether you’re using the cloud or a physical back-up, enable passwords or use other encryption security whenever possible.
You can also keep your data back-up storage separate from your computer, or even away from home, to minimize the chances of both being stolen or destroyed.
Know where your cloud is coming from
If you’re using cloud storage to back up your data, review the privacy policies and security features offered by your cloud provider. For example, providers may offer several months of historical file recovery or protection from ransomware. Make sure to use a strong password for your cloud service. | <urn:uuid:1818bd73-839f-4e3a-b984-f2210f217985> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://getcybersafe.gc.ca/en/secure-your-devices/storage-and-backup | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662531762.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220520061824-20220520091824-00377.warc.gz | en | 0.890097 | 526 | 2.734375 | 3 | 1.500084 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Software |
Cristian Baitg/Getty Images
Cristian Baitg/Getty Images
Physicists say they've discovered how to zap the fat out of chocolate.
The researchers, led by Rongjia Tao of Temple University, were able to remove up to 20 percent of fat by running liquid milk chocolate through an electrified sieve. And they say the chocolate tastes good, too.
Before they're foil-wrapped bundles that make chocoholics smile, chocolate bars start out as liquid in a factory: delicious particles of cocoa solids (which give chocolate its characteristic flavor) sugar and mixed solids, suspended in melted fat and oil, mostly cocoa butter (typically, up to 40 percent by volume). The cocoa butter is essential for keeping the liquid chocolate flowing smoothly through factory pipes.
When a consulting firm working for candy giant Mars Inc. reached out to Tao back in 2012, it wanted his help in improving the viscosity of liquid milk chocolate. Tao's team worked out a method of making the chocolate flow even better than normal through the pipes — without adding any more cocoa butter.
Then the researchers had a Eureka moment: If they could make liquid chocolate flow better without any extra cocoa butter, they could also slash the fat in it — by 10 to 20 percent — and still make it flow well enough not to jam the pipes.
Tao studies smart fluids — liquids whose properties can be transformed by applying an electric field. For example, a smart fluid may thicken rapidly upon receiving an electric shock. Most smart fluids are machine oils, but, curiously, liquid chocolate is also a smart fluid.
When you look at liquid chocolate at the microscopic level, the cocoa solids are circular, suspended in the fat and oil of the cocoa butter. These circular particles can pack together and get jammed (like a glass full of golf balls). Adding cocoa butter helps get the cocoa solids moving again.
But Tao and his team figured out how to use electricity to get the flow going. The researchers inserted an electrified sieve into the liquid chocolate. When the cocoa particles passed through the sieve, they receive an electric shock. That makes the cocoa solids flatten and start behaving like little bar magnets, lining themselves up into long chains. This chain formation allows more room for the liquid chocolate to flow.
Why? Flat objects pack tighter than round objects — the so-called "M&Ms pack more tightly in your mouth than gumballs" effect. More room means smoother flow — all without adding more cocoa butter.
Previously, manufacturers trying to lower the fat content in their chocolate could only reduce fat content to about 36 percent. But Tao and his colleagues say their method allows them to slash fat content down to 28 percent.
The title of the researcher's paper, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, promises that this electric shock method "leads to healthier and tastier chocolate." The research was funded in part by Mars. Alas, the paper supplies no data to support this titular claim about improved flavor. John Hayes, a food scientist and the director of the Sensory Evaluation Center at Penn State University, is skeptical.
"Part of what makes chocolate so unique is the melting properties of the cocoa butter," Hayes says. "It just melts exactly at body temperature." That's part of the pleasure we experience when a chocolate square melts in our mouth. Presumably, changing the amount of cocoa butter in chocolate would also change this experience. "Less butter would mean more powdery, more brittle, more stringent" chocolate, Hayes says.
Sounds to us like it would taste more like dark chocolate. However, since the researchers didn't include tests for taste and texture, it's hard to know how the zapped chocolate measures up, Hayes notes.
So is electrified, low-fat chocolate coming to a store near us? Tao says he is working with a "major chocolate company" to give his electric-field technology a real-world test run. | <urn:uuid:07e9217c-243b-460a-919e-a20366289f5a> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/25/482538542/with-a-zap-scientists-create-low-fat-chocolate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030338213.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20221007143842-20221007173842-00631.warc.gz | en | 0.946686 | 821 | 2.75 | 3 | 2.856763 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Food & Dining |
|Volume 1, Number 1 (June 2007)
Copyright Essentials for Linguists
This paper addresses copyright issues that linguists confront in their capacity as users and creators of scholarly work. It is organized in a simple question-answer format. Questions 1–3 present the basics of U.S. copyright law, including the fundamental nature of copyright as a bundle of intellectual property rights and the role of registration. Questions 4–5 treat issues of copyright notice. Questions 6–8 explain licenses, especially Creative Commons licenses, and the function of an Author’s Addendum. Questions 9–10 look at copyright in the context of online open access publishing. Question 11 discusses the concept of Fair Use. Question 12 analyzes the problem of what are called Orphan Works. Questions 13–19 explore issues of copyright ownership, including Work for Hire, joint authorship, and attribution. Questions 20–22 deal with copyright with specific reference to fieldwork situations and indigenous rights. The paper concludes with a brief presentation of key sources for further study and clarification.
information is the fundamental nature of [science and] education.
1. INTRODUCTION. The first question the reader is likely to ask is: why include an article on copyright in the first number of LD&C, a journal primarily concerned with field linguistics? The answer lies in an alternative reading of the LD&C acronym, namely “Language Documentation and Communication.” However important basic fieldwork is, the communication of the results of this research is equally important. These are not separate enterprises, as people heading off to the field often think, but flip sides of the same coin. Those of us who value empirical linguistic research have decried the dominance of linguistic theory in our discipline, but we have tended to remain silent about an equally serious weakness affecting the descriptive linguistic enterprise, namely the phenomenon of field linguists who fail to write up and publish their findings. All of us, whether specialists in Africa or Southeast Asia or Latin America, know of legendary figures—whom we usually mention in reverential terms—who have mountains of knowledge in their heads and masses of materials in their files but who have published very little. These materials cry out for both readings of the C in LD&C, conservation and communication, with the latter being as urgent as the former.
Even if one agrees that scientific communication is essential, one still might ask what this has to do with copyright law. Why do linguists need to bother about this? Isn’t this what lawyers are for? There probably was a time when individuals involved in scholarly linguistic work, whether functioning as fieldworkers, authors, or editors, didn’t have to concern themselves with such matters, but this is no longer the case. (It is striking—and somewhat embarrassing to me—that the Newman and Ratliff (2001) fieldwork volume, whose preparation began barely a decade ago, doesn’t include a single mention of copyright.) There are numerous reasons why the situation is very different now from before, but let me mention just three. First, copyright protection—what I prefer to call copyright “shackles”—now lasts for any inordinate amount of time, anywhere from 70 to 120 years, as compared with the 28 years that formerly was the norm in the U.S. Second, contrary to what used to be the case, the publishing of academic journals has turned out to be extremely profitable. Putting out journals is less and less a labor of love by dedicated colleagues committed to promoting scholarship in their fields and more and more a money-making enterprise by large often transnational publishers. Nowadays journals and the scholars who publish in them are not necessarily on the same wave length and they often have conflicting interests. Third, and most obvious, the internet presents new threats to traditional publishing while simultaneously providing new opportunities for fast and effective scholarly communication and the commercial exploitation of that scholarship.
The copyright world has changed. Almost daily we discover that the failure of scholars to pay attention to such matters has had serious negative consequences. For example, older classic works in our field that ideally should be an open part of our intellectual legacy turn out to be off limits, and in general copyright restricts our ability to make creative use of previous works, including our own (!). When we fail to pay attention to copyright matters, we inadvertently give up scholarly rights that we would like to have and needn’t have lost, such as the right to post papers on our private websites or the right to duplicate our own papers for students in classes that we are teaching. In the normal course of things, field linguists might not appreciate the relevance of copyright rules to their work, but the fact is that to protect yourself and your scholarly goals and objectives, you really do need to understand basic concepts in copyright law and how it affects you.
The purpose of this paper is to explain copyright principles and issues that are relevant to scholarly communication. The goal is not to make you a copyright expert, but rather to give you some sense of what is at stake and what you possibly can do about it.
The approach that I have adopted is a simple question-and-answer format, in which I have tried my best to avoid legalese and to provide answers in plain conversational English. Before starting in, however, let me make two disclaimers. First, I shall not be treating copyright from an international perspective. Rather, I am limiting myself to U.S. copyright law as embodied in the Copyright Act of 1976 (and amendments thereto), which went into effect on January 1, 1978 (U.S. Code Title 17). Copyright law elsewhere in the world—especially European and Canadian law, with which I have some familiarity—is similar to U.S. law in most respects but there are differences. Second, the sketch that I am providing is for general information purposes and is not to be taken as legal advice. If you should ever have the misfortune of coming up with a copyright problem that threatens to spill over into legal action, go see your university counsel or consult a copyright attorney. It is hoped that the information presented here will provide a context within which to place your situation and will help you frame the questions that you want to ask. But be aware that this is just a brief sketch and not a legal treatise.
Q1. What is copyright?
A1. The best way to answer this question is not to offer a facile and uninformative definition, but rather to set out some of the critical attributes of copyright. (1) Copyright provides authors with exclusive (monopolistic) control over their works. (Note: In accordance with normal copyright law usage, the creator of a work, whether it be a novel, a painting, a piece of sculpture, a musical composition, or a photograph, is called the “author.”) (2) Although usually described in the affirmative, copyright is better thought of in the negative, i.e., a set of prohibitions on what others cannot do without the copyright holder’s permission. (3) Copyright is automatic. What this means is that a work becomes copyrighted once it is created and reduced to concrete form whether the author has any interest in having the copyright or not. This is a situation where the passive, which all style manuals encourage us to eschew, is apt. (4) Copyright is a form of intellectual “property,” and as such can be transferred by sale, gift, inheritance, etc. (5) Copyright is not a single thing but rather a bundle of rights encompassing reproduction (the original right to make copies), distribution, performance, display, and the making of derivative works (e.g., a translation of a book or a theatrical adaptation of a story). Each of these rights can be conveyed separately, e.g., you can give one publisher the publication rights and another the translation rights, and each is divisible; e.g., you could give translation rights to two individuals or companies, either covering different languages or even applying to the same language. (6) Copyright has an exceedingly long duration. It is currently the life of the author plus seventy years, or ninety-five years in the case of employer-created works. Before the current copyright law went into effect in 1978, copyright lasted for twenty-eight years, with the possibility of renewal for another twenty-eight+ years, the exact duration depending on subsequent extensions. A consequence and, in my opinion, very great benefit of the renewal system was that the copyright on the large majority of works ended after twenty-eight years. (7) Most creative work is covered by copyright: songs, poems, books, scholarly articles, paintings, sculpture, photographs, and even computer programs. A modicum of originality is required—a shopping list probably wouldn’t make it—but not much, e.g., a banal teenage love letter probably would qualify. What is not covered are ideas, facts, data, real world phenomena, and practical/useful processes. Also not covered are State constitutions, statutes, and judicial opinions, and all works of the U.S. Government. (8) Works that lack copyright protection for whatever reason—whether the work never qualified for copyright or the copyright expired or was lost—are said to be in the public domain. As far as copyright law is concerned, these public domain works are free for all to use.
Q2. How does one reconcile the notion that copyright is automatic with the requirement that one must pay a fee and file for copyright?
A2. This supposed contradiction is based on a misconception. The fact is that one does not have to file anything with the U.S. Copyright Office to establish your copyright. You can register your work if you like, but this is entirely voluntary. People who have created works that they expect to have economic value usually opt for registration, not because it is required but because it confers a number of potential legal benefits. For example, registration is a precondition for suing someone, it creates a presumption as to the validity of your copyright, and if you win your case, it offers the possibly of being awarded your attorney’s fees and what are called “statutory damages,” i.e., a set amount of money without your having to show that you actually lost anything.
Q3. I am a Ph.D. student just about to finish up. Should I copyright my thesis?
A3. Although one can talk about “copyrighting” something, in the same way that one can talk about the sun rising, no one actually copyrights anything anymore: it just happens. Once you finish a work and get it reduced to “tangible form,” i.e., on paper, on a computer, on a disk, on tape, on film, etc., but not just in your head, the work is automatically copyrighted. It just happens. Your university probably requires that you publish your thesis with University Microfilms International (now a company called ProQuest) as part of the degree requirements, but this doesn’t affect the copyright status of the work one way or the other.
However, if you want to register your thesis, UMI will do it for you for a nominal fee ($65 at the current time). Most students do so because they mistakenly think that this is a condition for obtaining their degree and that it is necessary in order to copyright their work. They are also influenced by university graduate schools and copyright management centers, almost all of which advise students to do so. I personally take a minority position on this issue and recommend that students do not register their theses. Not only is it an unnecessary waste of money, but philosophically it makes the wrong statement. To me a thesis is an academic exercise intended to demonstrate that a student has a grasp of his/her subject and is prepared to function as a professional academic, i.e., is someone who values science and knowledge and believes in scholarly communication in the broadest sense. To start out by buying the right to potentially sue someone who might want to make use of your work strikes me as a wrong first step. One good thing about the registration system as it is set up is that lack of registration does not involve loss of copyright, and thus one can always do it later if there should be some good reason to do so, which is almost never the case. In the meantime, scholars and scholars-to-be should resist the insidious “commodification” of ideas and culture” (see Porsdam 2006).
Q4. In order to prevent people from stealing my ideas and plagiarizing my papers, I make a practice of putting a copyright notice © on all papers that I write, whether I am duplicating copies for class or whether I am posting them on my personal website. Is this good practice?
A4. Yes and no. To begin with, ideas cannot be copyrighted, only the expression of those ideas, so if you are worried about being scooped, copyright is not going to help you. Second, it is a huge mistake to confuse plagiarism with copyright infringement. Plagiarism is a type of literary fraud—not theft as often mistakenly claimed—which may come into play whether the misuse constitutes copyright infringement or not. (For an entertaining and easy-to-read discourse on plagiarism, see Posner 2007.) In a university setting, plagiarism constitutes academic dishonesty, potentially leading to student discipline or professional censure. If, for example, a student plagiarizes something of yours in an MA thesis, the obvious step is to contact the Dean at that school. It would be pointless to go to the trouble and expense of suing the student in federal court for copyright infringement. Similarly, if you should discover that another scholar has plagiarized your work, the sensible approach would be to handle your complaint through professional channels—the offender’s university or a scholarly society such as the LSA—rather than resort to the courts.
Nevertheless, putting © and your name and date on a paper does serve a useful notice function. What it says publicly is that you have chosen to preserve your copyright rights and that you have not authorized other people to use your work unless they contact you and request permission to do so. This is especially useful on the web, where the open-access culture leads people to believe that anything that you have posted is there for the taking. As long as you are putting a notice on your paper, don’t forget to include an address (ideally email) where people can reach you if they want. There is nothing more annoying than spotting a work that you want to use, having the good intention of asking permission, and not knowing how to locate the author.
Q5. Someone suggested that the way to protect my copyright when I finish a paper is to put © at the bottom of the first page and mail a copy of the paper to myself. Is this a good idea?
A5. Yes, if you want to help out the post office with its financial problems; otherwise it’s a waste of time and money. I don’t know where this idea—referred to as the “poor man’s copyright”—originated, but it serves no useful purpose. As for copyright itself, when your work is finished it’s yours, and as for registration—if it is something you care about—you have to send the proper forms with the appropriate fees to the copyright office for it to be operative. I suppose that there could be the rare occasion when that unopened envelope with a readable postmark could be just the proof that you needed to show that your work predated that of someone else who claimed to be the true first author; but unless you are extraordinarily compulsive and paranoid, this practice is more trouble than it is worth.
Q6. What is a copyright license?
A6. The reason that copyright, which is an intangible, is referred to as “intellectual property” is that, like concrete property, it can be sold, willed, donated, exchanged, or otherwise transferred to others. In lieu of conveying copyright in toto, one can give someone else permission to exercise some of the elements that make up the bundle of rights. If one thinks of copyright as the negative right to prevent people from using your work, one can think of a license as the positive permission which allows someone to make specific use of your work. Most journals require that the author transfer the copyright to them. LD&C, on the other hand, allows the author to retain the copyright per se, but requires that the author give them explicit permission to publish the paper along with certain associated rights. The agreement that authors sign when they publish papers in LD&C is a license.
It is important to remember that unlike copyright transfer, which covers the gamut of rights, a license is limited to its specified terms. Thus, a simple license authorizing a journal to publish a paper would not necessarily entail the right to republish that work in a separate collected volume, to sell the article separately from the journal itself, to have the article translated, or to use the article in good fun as the basis of a parody. Additional uses such as these would have to be provided for in the license itself. (Some, but not all, of these are in fact covered in the LD&C author’s agreement.)
Licenses are of two main types, and from a legal perspective the difference is highly significant. Exclusive licenses are those that give someone the right to exploit a work in some way or other to the exclusion of everyone else, including the copyright holder. Exclusive licenses must be in writing. Nonexclusive licenses permit someone to make use of a work in some specified way, but do not preclude others (including the copyright holder) from also making similar uses. For example, the standard agreement that PhD students sign authorizing University Microfilms International (UMI) to distribute their theses is a nonexclusive license. It does not prohibit the authors from publishing the same work elsewhere, whether in modified form, in a series of journal articles, or exactly as is. Nonexclusive licenses need not be in writing, although good business practice would usually expect it. They can be oral or even implied. For example, if someone submits an article to an informal departmental journal, that act of submission constitutes an implied license authorizing the journal to publish the article even in the absence of a formal letter explicitly saying so.
Q7. What is a Creative Commons license?
A7. Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization devoted to the goal of making current intellectual outputs and our rich cultural legacy as widely available and openly accessible as possible. Creative Commons, which has developed into an energetic international movement, arose in reaction to what was viewed as unnecessarily restrictive behavior on the part of book publishers, movie studios, the music recording industry, and other copyright holders, especially with regard to activities on the internet (see Lessig 2004, McLeod 2005). In contrast to the standard phrase “All Rights Reserved,” which typically accompanies copyright notices, Creative Commons’ mantra is “Some Rights Reserved.” A better way to appreciate their approach is to reword their catchphrase as “Some Rights not Reserved.” That is, the goal of Creative Commons is to have authors (and artists and photographers, etc.) free up their works so that other people can make use of them. It doesn’t mean giving up one’s copyright per se, and it doesn’t mean that authors are not entitled to proper attribution for their works—this is required in all CC licenses. Rather it simply means giving away rights that one doesn’t need and that one is prepared to make available to others.
To accomplish this, Creative Commons has drawn up a small number of alternative licenses that authors can attach to their works in order to allow others to use them. The way this operates in practice is that people looking at a work that has a CC license know that they can do certain things with the work without having to go to the hassle of trying to find the author or publisher to request permission. For example, if you were looking for a picture of a hyena or a baobab tree to include as an illustration in a children’s story that you were writing, you could go to the Flickr website (http://www.flickr.com) and limit your search to pictures with an appropriate CC license and thereby know that anything that came up would be available for you to use.
Some CC licenses are more open and less constrained than others. They differ in terms of what the user can do (e.g., make derivative works or not) and under what conditions (e.g., only noncommercial use or not). All papers in LD&C, which has adopted a progressive, open-access publishing policy, carry a CC license, authors being given the option of two types. The first allows people to freely reproduce and distribute the work on condition that it is for noncommercial purposes, but it does not allow people to make derivative works such as adaptations or translations. (Note that when we talk about what people can or cannot do, we are only talking about the special privilege that they are being given. People can always do other things if they obtain the necessary permission, for which there may or may not be a fee involved.) The other license, which also requires that the use be for noncommercial purposes, allows greater latitude in that derivatives are permitted, but there is an added condition that any new work built on the article must be issued with the same CC license as the original. The idea is that you should not be permitted to take advantage of someone else’s openness and generosity and then erect a fence around your own work.
Q8. What is an Author’s Addendum?
A8. Normally when a paper is accepted for publication in a journal, the editor sends you a boilerplate contract (= author’s agreement) to sign whereby you transfer the copyright to the publisher. Authors are now beginning to realize that they should be able to retain certain privileges for themselves and that they needn’t have to cede all of their rights. Although the author may have no objection to the journal exercising the exclusive right to publish the paper now and in the future, the author might like to be able to do specific things as a matter of course without having to beg the publisher for permission. (The usual problem is not the publisher’s refusal, but the publisher’s failure to respond in a timely manner, if at all.) Examples would be the right to use the paper in one’s own teaching; the right to include the paper in a volume that one is editing; the right to deposit the paper in one’s institutional digital repository; the right to have the paper translated into another language, such as Hausa or Quechua; and the right to make multiple copies of the paper to be distributed to members of the community where one worked. One way to deal with this is to add an additional page to the contract that was sent to you, the “Author’s Addendum,” spelling out exactly what it is you want. (One commonly talks about retaining rights; however, you are really transferring the copyright to the publisher who in effect is then issuing specified licenses back to you.) Publishers may balk at the addendum, but as the practice becomes more common, they will gradually come around to the idea that their standard contracts cannot be take-it-or-leave it documents, and that if your requests are reasonable, they are likely to agree. Of course, given the power imbalance, it is difficult for faculty and students to negotiate with major publishers on an individual basis. This is why organizations such as the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and university consortia such as the Big-Ten-based Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) are developing model authors addenda for scholars to adopt and which eventually may be negotiated at an institutional level on behalf of the faculty.
Q9. How do copyright rules for online publication differ from normal copyright rules?
A9. Strictly speaking, they don’t. The law is the same but the cultural framework and professional expectations are different. The web is an incredibly democratic institution and one dominated, or at least heavily inhabited, by young people who have grown up with the experience and expectation that things on the internet are free, as in fact they often are. Interestingly, even when one turns to traditionally published books issued by commercial and academic presses, one is beginning to find pdf copies of books being made available for free by their authors simultaneously with the sale of the print copies (e.g., Benkler 2006, Lessig 2004). Thus online publications tend to have fewer copyright restraints and restrictions in practice than comparable paper publications, although there is no reason in principle why this would have to be so.
Q10. If I take an article from a free, open-access online journal, is it fair to assume that I can use the material for whatever academic purposes I want?
A10. No, and this follows from the previous question. People seem to think that online open access material is thereby in the public domain, but this is not the case at all. Even though you are free to read an open-access journal without paying, strictly speaking the contents of the journal are copyrighted. Thus in the absence of an explicit notice (such as a Creative Commons license) that authorizes you to duplicate, distribute, or otherwise use the material, you may not. An open-access journal is like a free newspaper that you might find at your favorite coffee shop. You can read it or use it for wrapping up smoked mackerel, but that’s it. The articles in the free journal are subject to the same panoply of copyright protections and restrictions as an article in the Wall Street Journal or Linguistic Inquiry. But, as indicated earlier, people don’t feel that way.
Q11. If a work is copyrighted and doesn’t come with something comparable to a Creative Commons license, does this mean that I can’t use it in my work without tracking down and asking permission of the publisher? If I have to get permission every time I quote something in a book review or every time I reproduce some example or tree diagram in an article I am working on, everything is going to grind to a halt. Is there no way out?
A11. Fortunately copyright law contains an exception to the general rule that the copyright holder has the exclusive right to exploit a work and this is what is called “Fair Use.” If you make reasonable use of someone else’s work for such purposes as commentary, criticism, scholarship, or parody, and if this use doesn’t interfere with the copyright holder’s legitimate economic interests, Fair Use allows you to do so without going to the trouble of requesting permission. Although there are no strict guidelines as to what constitutes Fair Use, there are set factors to consider that give you some measure of what would be considered reasonable. These factors are: the nature of your intended use (noncommercial vs. commercial); the nature of the work being used (factual vs. creative, published vs. unpublished); the quantity or importance of the material used (a few lines vs. an entire chapter or section); and the potential impact of your use on the financial value of the material used (little vs. substantial). I would suggest that the best rule of thumb is to put yourself in the other person’s place. If someone used some of your work without permission—assuming, of course, proper citation and attribution—would you be annoyed, or would you feel that it would have been silly for the person to have bothered to ask you?
In most cases, I think that scholars have a good sense of what is and what is not Fair Use. The problem is that publishers tend to be overcautious. You might feel that it is eminently reasonable to incorporate material from someone else’s article in a book that you are working on, but your publisher may feel otherwise and require that you get copyright permission. Even if you are absolutely sure that your use falls under Fair Use, there’s not much you can do if your publisher insists: this is the copyright bottleneck that we are all up against.
Q12. There’s a great paper published in a small journal some twenty-five years ago that I would like to include in a volume that I am editing, but my publisher won’t agree because I haven’t been able to get permission from the author. The journal is long defunct and no one has any idea where the author is or whether the person is even still alive. Since no one is being hurt, can’t we just go ahead?
A12. Copyrighted works whose copyright holders can’t be located are referred to as “orphan works.” This is a huge problem already and one that is only going to get worse in the future. This is because of the extraordinarily long copyright duration (the copyright on works created today will easily extend until the year 2100), the generally insignificant commercial value of most scholarly works, and the absence of a required and updated copyright registration system. You may ask why publishers are so silly as to be frightened by the prospect of the copyright holder showing up. The answer is that copyright law is unforgiving and doesn’t provide good faith as an excuse for infringement. If the publisher published a book that included a chapter for which it lacked permission (because one couldn’t get it even though one tried), the copyright holder could sue the publisher and most likely would win, thereby subjecting the publisher to monetary damages and, even worse, the prospect of having to withdraw the book from publication. The risks are very slight indeed, but publishers, whose interests are usually economic and not scholarly, would rather not take the risk. There has been proposed legislation, both in the U.S. and abroad, to do something about the orphan works problem by building in due diligence/safe harbor provisions, but so far nothing has happened. Ultimately there has to be some change in the law—the current situation is absurd—but in the meantime we are stuck with what we have.
Q13. Suppose an old and dear professor of mine, now deceased, left me her voluminous field materials (including notebooks, dictionary slips, and tape recordings), lifelong professional correspondence, draft papers, and a partially finished book. They are extremely important materials that I intend to work up for publication so as to make them available to other scholars. Since she has entrusted me with her materials, I presume that this is OK. Given that I am going to have to devote a lot of time and effort into publishing these materials, the question I have is, whose name(s) should appear as author?
A13. Your first big problem is with your presumption. Although you now have the physical papers, and although it was probably the professor’s intention that you help get them out, unless she transferred the copyrights to you—and it is very possible that she didn’t—you don’t hold the copyright to these materials and thus you lack the authority to publish them. Quelle horreur! This is a serious and pervasive problem. Senior scholars generally attend to estate planning and other financial matters, but they often overlook what was so important to them throughout their lives, namely the results of their intellectual efforts. Thus, in order to publish these works, you will need to track down the current copyright holder(s), which could be a spouse, children, grandchildren, or even the professor’s favorite charity, and convince them to transfer the copyrights to you. Otherwise, you’re stymied.
The raw fieldnotes, the drafts, and the correspondence present different problems. The good news about the notes is that facts and data are not copyrightable and so you can use these as you wish. The draft papers and book are probably copyrighted and thus to publish these you would need the copyright holders to transfer the copyright to you or else issue you a license. This would be necessary even if your final works differed from the originals in a substantial way. The bad news about the letters is that not only are they covered by copyright, but the copyright holder is not the professor (or her successors), but the individual writers. Without their permission, or that of their heirs—whoever and wherever they may be—you cannot publish the letters or even post them on a free online website. You own the physical letters, which you can sell or give away or deposit in a library archive, but you lack the intellectual rights embodied in the copyright.
Whose name(s) should appear as author, whether you only, the professor, or both, is a question of professional propriety, courtesy, and understanding: it is not a copyright question. The copyright issue would be whether your editorial work on particular publications was substantial enough to make you legally a joint author and thus co-owner of the copyright in those works.
Q14. A graduate student who worked as my field assistant on an NSF grant has written up a publishable paper. Who owns the copyright? The student, I as Principal Investigator (PI), or NSF?
A14. Strictly speaking, none of the above! Most likely your university owns the copyright, even though it doesn’t know it and wouldn’t want it. This is because of a provision of the copyright law covering “Work made for Hire.” This provision states that work done by an employee as part of that employee’s normal duties belongs to the employer. Normally the writer of a paper—in this case the student—is the initial copyright holder. In Work for Hire situations, the employer occupies the place of the actual author and becomes the legal copyright holder. Assuming that the student was being paid out of your grant, i.e., he was not a volunteer intern, and that the paper came out of his work on the project, i.e., was within the “scope of his employment,” then the copyright would belong to the employer. Although you may have been the student’s direct supervisor and NSF was the source of the funds, if the student was officially an employee of the university and got his checks and W2 forms from them, the university would be the legal employer and thus the copyright holder.
In practice, no one pays any attention to this and the student could publish his paper and sign whatever author’s agreement was required as if he had the copyright. There is, however, a way in which the student could have had the copyright in the first place. The Work for Hire rule is a default rule. Although the copyright on an employee’s creation normally belongs to the employer, if the employee and employer agree otherwise in a signed written document, the employee can be deemed the copyright holder. But lots of luck in finding someone in your university legal department who would be willing to sign such a thing!
Q15. Thinking about the “scope of employment” phrase, wouldn’t it follow that the academic papers that all of us professors produce would belong to our universities? I mean, sure we teach, but a good part of what we are paid to do is to do research and publish. So if the university owns the copyright to our work, how come we haven’t heard anything about this?
A15. That’s the $64,000 question. If you simply read what the law says regarding Work for Hire, you indeed would have to conclude that universities, not the professors, are the rightful copyright holders. A few appellate court judges who have commented on the subject have proposed that there is a “teacher’s exception” to the Work for Hire rule; but these pronouncements are problematic indeed. The reality is that universities don’t want and are not set up to handle the multitude of copyrights that faculty generate each year and so they generally function as if the Work for Hire rule didn’t apply (although they occasionally fudge when it comes to copyrights on potentially valuable software). Thus in practice, professors are the de facto initial copyright holders of their own works. One of these days, the matter is going to end up in the courts, and we may get a clear (or more likely muddy) ruling on the subject. But in the meantime, it is not anything to worry about.
Q16. If I hire someone to do a map for an article I am writing or hire someone to prepare an index for my book, is the copyright mine? That is, can I assume that this would fall under the Work for Hire rule?
A16. The copyright could be yours, but it is not automatically so. You may think that when you give the cartographer a check and he gives you the map, you thereby own the copyright, but that is not the case. Unless you take appropriate steps, he has the copyright, not you. We can assume that you have the right to use the map in your article—we talked earlier about implied licenses—but you do not have the copyright. The reason is that with commissioned or specially ordered works, the default is the opposite of what it is with employees. Although you speak of having “hired” someone, that person was really a free-lance, independent contractor rather than an employee. This being the case, the cartographer or indexer would own the copyright, not you, unless you two had an agreement in writing specifying that this was to be Work for Hire. It is extremely important to keep this in mind; otherwise you could discover later at some inconvenient moment that a portion of your article or book didn’t belong to you.
Q17. The director of a big fieldwork team insists that his name be on every paper that comes out of the project whether he personally was involved in the research and writing or not. Is this allowed?
A17. This question raises both professional and copyright issues. U.S. copyright law is remarkably silent about the question of whose name(s) can appear on a work. The copyright laws of many European countries encompass “moral rights,” which deal with issues of attribution and creative integrity, but U.S. law does not have anything comparable (except in the limited case of paintings and sculpture). Thus, no one could object to the director’s putting his name on the papers on copyright grounds, although they certainly could on professional and ethical grounds. The question here would be what is the generally accepted and expected norm in such situations, the practice being different in different disciplines. Note, however, that if the director was not a contributing author of the paper in any real sense, then strictly speaking he would not have any copyright interest in the paper whatsoever. That’s the law. In practice, once the director got his name on the paper, everyone would treat him as a joint author with equal copyright rights from that point forward.
The most important message to take from this discussion is that one should not expect copyright law to fix all the problems in the world. The issue here is really one of appropriate professional behavior and proper academic ethics and should be addressed in those terms without reference to copyright as a legal doctrine.
Q18. How about a situation where four people really did work together on a project (although to different extents) and thus all deserve to have their names on the paper. Assuming that the PI, whose name appears first, led the research effort and that the second author did the bulk of the write-up, what rights do the various authors have?
A18. Again one needs to separate professional scholarly practices from legal rules. Professionally, the various members of a research team need to sort out among themselves who does what, who is responsible for what, and who is entitled to what, ideally before any conflict arises. Under copyright law, the rule is that all authors of a single work constitute equal copyright holders, i.e., the PI of a big project or the person who did most of the writing has no more legal claim to the work than a part-time unpaid undergraduate assistant. Members of a group working on a commercial project can decide among themselves how the proceeds are to be allocated, but as far as copyright ownership is concerned, if there are four authors, each has a one-fourth interest. Note that any of copyright holders, including the most minor contributor in the team, may use the work as they see fit and may even issue nonexclusive licenses as long as they provide a financial accounting to their joint copyright holders. What they cannot do on their own without the agreement of the others is transfer the copyright as such or issue an exclusive license.
Q19. Suppose the person who did most of the writing was a PhD student. Could she rewrite the article a bit and use it as a chapter in her thesis?
A19. We keep coming back to the fact that many academic questions have copyright and noncopyright dimensions. From a copyright point of view, if the student was one of the authors—she needn’t have been the primary author—she would be free to make whatever use of the work that she wanted without needing permission from the others. This follows from the general rule about the rights of joint authors. I am assuming here that the joint authors are still the copyright holders. If they had published the paper and had transferred the copyright to the journal publisher, then the student’s use of the paper without permission would constitute copyright infringement even though it was her own paper.
The real issue in this case is one of possible academic misconduct. If the student removed the names of the other authors and incorporated the article in her thesis as if it were hers alone, she would be guilty of plagiarism. If she properly cited the article and/or did a major rewrite, she would be OK. But if she presented the material as her own when her changes were essentially cosmetic, she could be subject to academic discipline.
Q20. While I was in the field I collected quite a lot of oral literature, especially from two remarkable people. The first was an old woman who seemed to know an endless number of folktales, which she told in energetic fashion. Both she and the village elders explained to me that she was the personal custodian of the folktales, but that the tales as such were the property of the community. The second was a blind man who was admired in the village because of his linguistically expressive poetry. I recorded both of these people and with the help of a local school teacher assistant transcribed everything in the local language and translated everything into English. From a copyright point of view, who owns what?
A20. No one owns copyright to the folktales. The old woman doesn’t because, although she related them, she was not the author. Similarly, the community has no copyright interest because of the lack of identifiable authorship. When the elders told you that the community owned the folktales, you may have acquired certain contractual or ethical obligations regarding your use of the tales, but this would be outside of copyright law. Finally, neither you nor the teacher has any copyright interest in the folktales as such. Transcription of a recording does not constitute authorship.
As long as the poet’s poetry was entirely oral, there would have been no copyright. However, once you recorded the poetry, you thereby “reduced it to tangible form”—the transcription wasn’t required—whereupon copyright automatically attached. (For sake of discussion, I am assuming that the copyright laws in the country in which you were doing your research are similar to U.S. law.) The poet is now fully invested with the copyright on his poetry that you took down, and so anything that you intend to do with the poetry will require his approval.
Unless the teacher could be considered your employee and not just someone who did special tasks for you from time to time, you and the teacher jointly own the copyright to the translations. Remember, even if you paid him well for the translation work, and even if your understanding was that you would then be free to use the translation as you wanted, if you didn’t get an agreement in writing saying that his free-lance work would constitute Work for Hire, the teacher obtained a 50% interest in the translation. As a joint holder of the copyright, you would be free to use the translations for your purposes and even issue nonexclusive licenses—each co-holder has that right. However, you couldn’t transfer the copyright as such without the teacher’s approval, and you would owe him 50% of any royalties or other income that might ensue from your combined efforts.
Q21. Who owns the copyright on the photos that I took in the field, me or the individuals in the pictures? Do I need their permission if I want to publish the photos? Regarding the copyright, would it matter if I were using an expensive camera that was paid for out of an extra grant that I had received from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the express purpose of taking high-quality pictures?
A21. The general rule for pictures is that the photographer is the author and therefore the copyright holder. The people being photographed have no copyright interest in the photos at all. On the other hand, what you may do with the photos is a different matter. This depends not so much on copyright, but on privacy matters, personal and professional ethics, cultural rules, where the pictures were taken and of whom, and on whatever formal or informal agreements you made with the people you photographed. That is, no one is likely to sue you for copyright infringement; but since most people feel very strongly about photos, you need to be extra cautious not to overstep your bounds.
The fact that NEH paid for the camera doesn’t change the fact that you as photographer own the copyright to your photos. If you were an employee of NEH whose job it was to take photos, then copyright on the pictures would automatically be theirs under the Work for Hire doctrine. Alternatively, if the terms of your grant specified that NEH was to obtain the copyright on the photos, then you would have to sign over the copyright to them. Otherwise, the copyright on the photos is yours.
Q22. Some communities have awakened to the history of cultural exploitation by Western scholars and now want to exercise control over their language, specifically with regard to written or recorded documentation. Some now insist that they be provided copies of research notes and recordings collected in the field and some want to have the final say on who can and who cannot make use of materials on their language that have been deposited in libraries and archives. How does copyright enter into the picture?
A22. The short answer is that it doesn’t. One cannot copyright facts or ideas or real-world phenomena, which means that languages are not copyrightable. There is a lot of discussion these days—more so in anthropology and folklore than in linguistics—about indigenous intellectual property rights. These include aspects of indigenous knowledge, such as traditional pharmacology, which are patentable subject matter, as well as literature, music, and the arts, which fall in the copyright domain. Unfortunately copyright law as it now exists appears to be of no help in preserving traditional rights. The problem, as was brought to my attention by Akiemi Glenn (personal communication), is that unlike the copyright over-protection situation that Creative Commons deals with, the problem in the non-Western world is often one of copyright underprotection (see Hardison n.d.). Thus, if there are to be any standards to determine appropriate community control of language materials and oral literature, or guidelines regarding respect for traditional cultures, these are going to have to be drawn up by professional societies or university institutes or provided for by ad hoc legislation independent of the current copyright system.
10. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. Scholars tend to be both creators of and users of copyrighted material. The tension in copyright law results from the natural inclination of authors to be possessive about their creative output, and the desire of readers and users to have maximum access to cultural and intellectual works at minimal cost, where cost is measured not just in terms of money but in time, effort, and inconvenience (what are often referred to as “transaction costs”). And then one has to take into account the publishers, who play an important role in facilitating the communication between the creators and the ultimate readers and users. Copyright law is supposed to strike a balance in meeting the needs wishes, and interests of the various stakeholders. Many individuals involved with scholarly communication feel that the law is now way out of kilter, which explains the emergence of self-help measures such as Creative Commons licenses and the Author’s Addendum. Nevertheless, no matter how one feels about the issue philosophically, all people involved in scholarly production (and this includes field linguists who would much prefer to think about other things) need to have a basic understanding of what copyright law is about in order to know how to react intelligently to it and how to deal with the problems that it inevitably presents.
11. SOURCES. Useful brochures about copyright law and access to the copyright act itself (U.S. Code Title 17) can be found on the website of the U.S. Copyright Office. A number of universities, especially Cornell, Duke, Maryland, Michigan, and Stanford, have extremely helpful copyright pages, a very good one being that of the Copyright Center at IUPUI. The best comprehensive one-volume treatment of copyright law is Leaffer 2005. Strong 1999 is less detailed and in need of updating, but it is still very reliable and for the nonlawyer interested in the subject, much easier to read than Leaffer 2005. Information regarding Creative Commons can be obtained from their website and from numerous online resources such as Educause (2005, 2007).
Benkler, Yochai. 2006. The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press. (available for free at <http://www.benkler.org/Benkler_Wealth_Of_Networks.pdf>)
Creative Commons <http://www.creativecommons.org>
Educause. 2005. A review of creative commons and science commons by Mia Garlick. <http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM05510.pdf>
Educause. 2007. 7 things you should know about ... Creative Commons. <http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7023.pdf>
Hardison, Preston. n.d. Indigenous peoples and the commons. <http://onthecommons.org/node/1022>
IUPUI Copyright Center <http://www.copyright.iupui.edu>
Leaffer, Marshall A. 2005. Understanding copyright law. 4th ed. Newark: LexisNexis.
Lessig, Lawrence. 2004. Free culture: How big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity. New York: Penguin Press. (available for free at <http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/>)
Lindsey, Marc. 2003. Copyright law on campus. Pullman, WA: Washington State University Press.
McLeod, Kembrew. 2005. Freedom of expression: Overzealous copyright bozos and other enemies of creativity. New York: Doubleday.
Newman, Paul, and Martha Ratliff, eds. 2001. Linguistic fieldwork. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Porsdam, Helle, ed. 2006. Copyright and other fairy tales: Hans Christian Andersen and the commodification of creativity. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Posner, Richard A. 2007. The little book of plagiarism. New York: Pantheon Books.
Strong, William S. 1999. The copyright book: A practical guide. 5th ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
United States Copyright Office <http://www.copyright.gov> | <urn:uuid:866c1d30-f2c0-4df4-9f12-7675cb3df4ff> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/1724/newman.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375094957.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031814-00232-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961463 | 10,804 | 2.5625 | 3 | 2.953387 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Crime & Law |
The words googol (10 to the power of 100, or 1 with 100 zeroes after it) and googolplex were invented by a nine year old, who defined a googolplex as 1 followed by "writing zeroes until you get tired". His uncle, mathematician Edward Kasner, took all the fun out of it by then defining googolplex as 10 to power of 100 to the power of 100 (or put another way, googol to the power of 100). In so doing, he rendered his nephew's definition not merely obsolete, but possibly the greatest understatement in human history. If you wrote a googolplex via the zeroes method, you'd run out of atoms (roughly calculated at 10 to the power of 80) and even available space in the universe long before you got to the last zero.
The reciprocal of a googolplex (that is, 1 divided by a googolplex) is a googolminex. Dubious variants on these words are zootzootplex (coined by a precocious and no doubt highly irritating four year old), which is the exponential factorial of the googolplex (don't ask), and googolmilliplex which I'm not even going to try to define. The study of mathematical variants of googol has been dubbed googology. You'd think googolology would be more natural, but who knows what goes on in the heads of mathematicians?
Google, a search engine company you may have heard of, calls its world headquarters The Googleplex. Nice touch.
Dear Mr Buffett
Your annual letters to shareholders are legend. They're clear, simple, funny at times, and full of whimsy.
Everything, in fact, that a serious corporate communication must never be.
It is time someone spoke up and helped you realise the error of your ways.
I have taken the liberty of excerpting a few passages from the first few pages of your 2015 letter to Berkshire shareholders and providing comments.
Should you find time to review these comments, I am certain you will find them most useful. They may, in fact, go some way to helping you be taken seriously by the rest of the corporate world, who learned long ago the dangers of speaking plainly and directly.
With best wishes for your future.
WB: During the first half of those years, Berkshire’s net worth was roughly equal to the number that really counts: the intrinsic value of the business.
KG: This is too simple and makes you sound like a hick. How about "the most pertinent number"?
WB: The carrying value of the “losers” we own is written down, but “winners” are never revalued upwards.
KG: Avoid using italics for emphasis. It makes your writing sound like speech, and the last thing you need is a personal touch in a financial newsletter.
WB: We’ve had experience with both outcomes: I’ve made some dumb purchases, and the amount I paid for the economic goodwill of those companies was later written off...
KG: Two things. 1: Don’t say “I”. It suggests you’re taking personal responsibility (which you must never do). 2: “Dumb” is too direct. I suggest something safe and vague like “Berkshire has experienced its share of less-than-ideal outcomes.”
WB: Of the five, only Berkshire Hathaway Energy, then earning $393 million, was owned by us in 2003. Subsequently, we purchased three of the other four on an all-cash basis. In acquiring BNSF, however, we paid about 70% of the cost in cash and, for the remainder, issued Berkshire shares that increased the number outstanding by 6.1%. In other words, the $12.7 billion gain in annual earnings delivered Berkshire by the five companies over the twelve-year span has been accompanied by only minor dilution. That satisfies our goal of not simply increasing earnings, but making sure we also increase per-share results.
KG: Don't explain technical matters in everyday language. If shareholders can't understand what the three preceding sentences mean, tough. Let them go study economics at Yale or Harvard or something.
WB: A personal thank-you: The PCC acquisition would not have happened without the input and assistance of our own Todd Combs, who brought the company to my attention a few years ago and went on to educate me about both the business and Mark.
KG: Don’t give away so much credit to your underlings. The trick is to appear magnanimous while really taking the credit yourself. If you must mention Todd Combs, say something like “I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Todd Combs in helping me assess the potential value of the PCC purchase."
WB: With the PCC acquisition, Berkshire will own 10 1/4 companies that would populate the Fortune 500 if they were stand-alone businesses. (Our 27% holding of Kraft Heinz is the 1/4.) That leaves just under 98% of America’s business giants that have yet to call us. Operators are standing by.
KG: No they're not, so don't say it. People are stupid and might think you're serious.
WB: Our many dozens of smaller non-insurance businesses earned $5.7 billion last year, up from $5.1 billion in 2014. Within this group, we have one company that last year earned more than $700 million, two that earned between $400 million and $700 million, seven that earned between $250 million and $400 million, six that earned between $100 million and $250 million, and eleven that earned between $50 million and $100 million. We love them all: This collection of businesses will expand both in number and earnings as the years go by.
KG: Delete "We love them all." Jeez!
WB: Berkshire’s huge and growing insurance operation again operated at an underwriting profit in 2015 – that makes 13 years in a row – and increased its float. During those years, our float – money that doesn’t belong to us but that we can invest for Berkshire’s benefit - grew from $41 billion to $88 billion.
KG: See earlier comment. If people don't know what a float is, it's not your job to explain it to them.
WB: While Charlie [Munger] and I search for new businesses to buy, our many subsidiaries are regularly making bolt-on acquisitions.
KG: Just a thought, Warren. What about changing Charlie’s name to Charles? It would lend him some real gravitas, don’t you think?
WB: (With this hands-off style, I am heeding a well-known Mungerism: “If you want to guarantee yourself a lifetime of misery, be sure to marry someone with the intent of changing their behavior.”)
KG: No offence, Warren, but do you really think people are interested in your cute little insights into life? | <urn:uuid:7bf38b13-b381-46fa-9b2e-13a52de19d04> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | https://www.departmentofwriting.co.nz/blog/archives/03-2016 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656104215805.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20220703073750-20220703103750-00441.warc.gz | en | 0.968111 | 1,509 | 2.609375 | 3 | 2.678511 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Finance & Business |
This chapter describes statements which were not included in previous chapters. These statements are of secondary importance; some are obsolete, and retained only to ensure compatibility with earlier software; others are highly specialized and likely to be needed only under very unusual circumstances.
The statements are:
11.1 ASSIGN STATEMENT
ASSIGN is an executable statement that assigns an integer constant to a special type of integer variable. The integer constant must be a valid statement label. The integer variable can then be used as a transfer destination in an as signed GO TO statement or a format specifier in a READ or WRITE statement.
The ASSIGN statement takes the form:
ASSIGN label TO name
where label is a valid statement label and name is an integer variable. Once an ASSIGN statement is executed, name has the meaning of a statement label and is not a regular integer variable. Therefore, operations cannot be performed on name while it has the meaning of label.
The following are valid ASSIGN statements:
ASSIGN 10 TO NUMBER
ASSIGN 20 TO IFORMAT1
These examples assign the value 10 to integer NUMBER and 20 to integer IFORMAT1. NUMBER is then used as a transfer destination in an assigned GO TO statement, and IFORMAT1 is used as a format specifier.
The following example program shows the use of the ASSIGN statement. The program increments a real variable X by 3. every time a pass through the IF-GO TO loop is completed.
Running this program yields:
FOR K= 1, X IS= 3.00
FOR K= 2, X IS= 6.00
FOR K= 3, X IS= 9.00
FOR K= 4, X IS= 12.00
FOR K= 5, X IS= 15.00
Example Program: Assign Statement and Assigned GO TO
11.2 COMPUTED GO TO STATEMENT
The computed GO TO is an executable statement that transfers control to one of several statement labels in cluded in its list, depending on the value of an integer expression which follows immediately after the list.
The computed GO TO takes the form:
GO TO (lab1, lab2, ... , labn) integexp
where lab1, lab2, ..., labn are a list of n valid statement labels in the program unit, and integexp is an integer expression that yields values from 1 to n. When the computed GO TO is executed, control is transferred to the statement label indicated by integexp. For instance, if integexp= 2, control goes to lab2, which is the second listed label.
The following example illustrates the use of the computed GO TO statement.
GO TO (10,20,30,40,50) I
If I= 1 during execution, control is transferred to statement 10; if I= 2, control is transferred to statement 20; and so on.
Typically, the GO TO and computed GO TO statements are disruptive, as shown in the example below. Therefore, their extensive use is discouraged. Usually, the same objectives can be accomplished in a more orderly manner with a DO loop/block IF construct combination.
Example 1: Computed GO TO Statement
DATA X,I /0.,0/
5 I= I + 1
IF(I.GT.3) GO TO 40
GO TO(10,20,30) I
10 X= X + 2.5
GO TO 5
20 X= X + 4.7
GO TO 5
30 X= X + 8.3
GO TO 5
This example initializes X = 0. and I = 0 with a DATA statement. Then, it sets an IF-GO TO loop to vary I from 1 to 3, each time adding a different real number to X. In this example, ... stands for a block of statements. Notice that five GO TO's were used in this example.
Example 2: DO Loop and Block IF Construct
This example accomplishes the same task as Example 1, but using a more friendly DO loop and block IF construct.
DO I= 1,3
X= X + 2.5
X= X + 4.7
X= X + 8.3
Notice the absence of GO TO statements in this example. It is good programming practice to minimize the use of GO TO and computed GO TO statements to improve readability.
11.3 BACKSPACE STATEMENT
The BACKSPACE is an executable statement that moves back to the beginning of the preceding record in an open input/output file, i.e., it repositions to the start of the last record transferred, enabling a record to be used more than once in an input/output operation. An example is:
where 90 is a statement label to which control is transferred in the event of an error during input/output operation. When no error specifier appears, the BACKSPACE statement reduces to:
Example Program: Use of Backspace Statement
This example reads a real number X from an input file named X.DAT. (Assume that X = 35.) Then, it adds to X an integer varying from 6 to 12, a total of seven times, each time backspacing and reading X again from the input file. Finally, it writes the result to an output file named X.OUT connected to unit 7. Note that X is being redefined twice at every pass of the loop, once during the READ statement and again during the arithmetic assignment statement (X= X + J).
The input would look like this:
The output would look like this:
J= 6 X= 41.00
J= 7 X= 42.00
J= 8 X= 43.00
J= 9 X= 44.00
J= 10 X= 45.00
J= 11 X= 46.00
J= 12 X= 47.00
11.4 BLOCK DATA SUBPROGRAM
A BLOCK DATA subprogram is used specifically for the purpose of initializing COMMON blocks with DATA statements. It is a special type of subprogram that can contain only specification statements. Any of the following statements can appear in a BLOCK DATA subprogram:
As with any other program unit, the last statement of a BLOCK DATA subprogram must be an END statement.
The following example uses a BLOCK DATA subprogram to initialize two integer arrays A and B with DATA statements. Then it adds A and B and writes the result (C) in the main program. Note the following features of this program:
Example Program: Use of Block Data Subprogram
11.5 EQUIVALENCE STATEMENT
The EQUIVALENCE is a nonexecutable statement that associates two or more variables in the same program unit with the same storage location. It takes the form:
in which var1, var2, and var3 are variables stored in the same location in memory. Therefore, an assignment of var1 causes the same assignment to var2 and var3. Dummy arguments cannot be specified in EQUIVA LENCE statements.
With the large storage space of current computers, this statement has now become obsolete, and it is retained only for compatibility with older software.
11.6 IMPLICIT STATEMENT
Recall the rules for integer and real type declaration stated in Chapter 3:
The IMPLICIT statement overrides these rules. When ever needed, the IMPLICIT statement is placed at the top of the specification block (see Fig. 1.1). The IMPLICIT statement has effect on variables only, and not on the default types of intrinsic functions.
The use of the IMPLICIT statement is illustrated by the following examples.
IMPLICIT INTEGER (I,J,K,L,M,N)
IMPLICIT REAL (A-H,O-Z)
These statements state the default setting for implicit declaration of data types. Therefore, they are redundant. In the absence of an IMPLICIT statement, the processor assumes that this is the case.
The first example above can also be written as
IMPLICIT INTEGER (I-N)
However, if a range is specified, as in (I-N), the first letter should precede the second letter in alphabetical order.
The following examples illustrate other rules for implicit type declaration.
IMPLICIT REAL (A,B,E-H,M-W)
IMPLICIT INTEGER (I-K)
IMPLICIT DOUBLE PRECISION (D)
IMPLICIT COMPLEX (X-Z)
IMPLICIT LOGICAL (L)
IMPLICIT CHARACTER*20 (C)
These examples state that, in the absence of explicit type declarations (e.g., INTEGER, REAL, CHARACTER, and so on), the processor takes variables beginning with A and B as real, C as character, D as double precision, E through H as real, I through K as integer, L as logical, M through W as real, and X through Z as complex.
11.7 PAUSE STATEMENT
The PAUSE statement is an executable statement that temporarily suspends program execution and displays a message on the terminal. It has the form:
in which the optional argument display is a label that tracks the particular PAUSE statement that suspended program execution (in case of an executable program having multiple PAUSE statements). The argument can be either a character constant or an integer consisting of up to 6 digits. If the argument is omitted, the following message is displayed on the screen:
The following examples illustrate the use of PAUSE:
PAUSE 'TAKE ACTION NO. 1'
In these cases, the following messages would be displayed on the screen, respectively:
TAKE ACTION NO. 1
Following a pause, to resume or terminate program execution, the appropriate command would have to be entered at the operating system level.
Example Program: Use of Pause Statement
The output from this program may look like this.
BEFORE FIRST PAUSE
BEFORE SECOND PAUSE
BEFORE THIRD PAUSE
TAKE ACTION NO. 1
AFTER THREE PAUSES--THE END
In this example, CONTINUE is the appropriate operat ing system command to resume execution of the program; $ is the operating system prompt.
11.8 REWIND STATEMENT
The REWIND statement is an executable statement that repositions an open file to the beginning of the file. An example is:
where 5 is a logical unit number, and 95 is a statement label to which control is transferred in the event of an error during input/output operation. When no error specifier appears, the REWIND statement, like the BACKSPACE statement, is reduced to:
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FORTRAN FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS VICTOR M. PONCE • ONLINE EDITION •
|Copyright © 2014 • Victor M. Ponce • All rights reserved.| | <urn:uuid:4f4b5c8c-a2d3-4c40-a21c-1b764ec97a32> | CC-MAIN-2017-22 | http://ponce.sdsu.edu/fortran_11.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463608416.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170525195400-20170525215400-00378.warc.gz | en | 0.853017 | 2,320 | 3.578125 | 4 | 2.213321 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Software Dev. |
In this post we are going to construct a simple Inverter using IC 555 timer. We will explore the proposed inverter circuit in-depth and also we will learn how to debug the circuit at different stages to solve the issues that could arise with this inverter.
We will see:
- Full circuit diagram of IC 555 based Inverter
- Deconstruction of the circuit
- Debugging the circuit for issues
- Power output of this inverter
- Prototype images
Full circuit diagram of IC 555 based Inverter:
There are many inverter circuits using IC based oscillators around the internet, but none can beat the popularity of IC 555 which has tons and tons of applications in timing based circuits. Inverter is also a timing based circuit whose frequency and duty cycle are important parameter.
The IC 555 can handle it like piece of cake. Moreover the 555 timer is already a popular IC among the new comers of electronics and also among much experienced hobbyists and all would find easy to work with IC 555.
By looking at the circuit you would have got an idea how easy the circuit is, now let’s deconstruct each stage and explore.
Deconstruction of the circuit:
Any power inverter circuit has the following 3 stages:
- Driving stage / switching circuit
The oscillator circuit converters DC current from battery in to AC current at lower power level; the frequency and duty cycle are determined at this stage. The oscillations will be amplified by the next stage using MOSFETs.
Calculating resistor and capacitor values:
The frequency of the IC 555 is determined by the two resistors and one capacitor. Here we are utilizing 4.7K and 120K values for resistors and we have chosen 0.1uF value for capacitor. The values are chosen carefully to meet the 50Hz and 50 percent duty cycle requirement as close as possible.
So, after many calculations we concluded the values for the two resistors as 4.7K and 120K and the capacitor value as 0.1uF. Using these values we can achieve close 50Hz and 50% duty cycle.
The frequency of the IC 555 is determined by:
F = 1.44 / (R1 + 2 x R2) C
F = 1.44 / (4700 + 2 x 120000) x 0.1 x 10^-6
F = 58.84 Hz
In real life we will get around 55 Hz (depending on tolerance of components used) which is good enough for low power application like chargers, CFL lamps, table fans, tube lights, incandescent lamps etc.
One important factor we should always take care is the duty cycle. Getting 50 % duty cycle i.e. equal amount of ON and OFF time is very important for an inverter.
We can witness from the oscilloscope that we are getting very close to 50 % duty cycle and also getting around 58Hz as per our calculation (good enough for 50/60Hz low power devices).
Consequences if the duty cycle is not 50% for an inverter:
- Excess heating of transformer’s winding, that could leads to malfunction of transformer.
- Noise from the transformer’s winding.
- Noise from the connected gadget.
- Improper operation of the connected gadget which could lead to malfunction.
- Excess power loss overall.
Driving Stage / Switching Stage:
Now the oscillations are generated as per our requirements, but the frequency signal is so feeble that it cannot drive the transformer to step-up the voltage. To do this we need some kind of amplification device to increase the strength of the 50Hz signal from the IC.
This can be done using transistor; we generally don’t use BJTs as it is a current controlled device, which means we have to apply some current (much higher than IC 555 can handle in this case) to the base terminal of the transistor only then we will get the desired output. The transistor also gets hot due to higher internal resistance of the BJT; like 2N3055.
So we are using MOSFET which is another classification of transistor, it just need the weak signal from the IC 555 to get the necessary current to drive the transformer as per our requirement. MOSFETs have very low internal resistance, due to this the MOSFETs get barely warm at lower to medium loads.
Illustration of MOSFET in an Inverter circuit:
You no need this big and thick heat sinks; a smaller metal plate with 1 inch x 1 inch will do the job.
Using H-bridge configuration:
Commercially manufactured inverters use this configuration to switch the 50/60Hz signal to the transformer’s winding generate to alternating current (AC). We can also use the same configuration as illustrated below:
You can use this configuration if you have a transformer with winding of 0-9V at secondary.
So how does it work?
From the oscillator circuit (IC 555 and from BC548) we have generated two signals which are 180 degree out of phase; meaning if one of the signal wire is HIGH and the other signal wire is at LOW state. This signal is applied at the points A and B.
At any given point only two diagonal MOSFETs are turned ON and the other two diagonal MOSFETs are OFF. Now let’s say at point ‘A’ is HIGH and point ‘B’ is LOW, the top left MOSFET and bottom right MOSFET will turn ON and we will get (–Ve) polarity at bottom and (+Ve) polarity at top across the transformer terminals.
In the next cycle the point ‘A’ turns LOW and point ‘B’ turns HIGH, now the top right MOSFET and bottom left MOSFET will turn ON thus giving us (+Ve) polarity at bottom and (-Ve) polarity at top across the transformer terminals.
This cycle takes place 50 or 60 times per second thus we get alternating current at the transformer’s output.
What is the function of BC548 transistor in the circuit?
In the full circuit diagram you can spot a BC 548 transistor, if you are wondering why, this is for creating an inverted the signal, so now we have two signals; one from IC 555’s pin #3 and from transistor’s collector. You can see two points (wires) has been marked as A and B.
At these two points at any given time one point is HIGH and another point is LOW. There are two MOSFETs to energize the two coil windings alternatively, to switch the two MOSFETs alternatively we should apply signal that is opposite to the each other’s state.
You can also apply these two signals to H-bridge MOSFET driver as shown above, still we will get the desired output from the transformer.
Debugging issues with this inverter:
The proposed circuit is well tested one and it should work for you if you follow the circuit diagram precisely.
As a beginner there is a good chance that it might not work in the first attempt after construction. Here we are going to debug the possible issues and solve it stage by stage; in the end you can make your inverter work.
First Step: Debugging IC 555 oscillator:
First you should check whether the IC 555 is generating any oscillation. You can easily check it by connecting a speaker across points ‘A’ and ‘B’.
You should hear a buzzing sound from the speaker which means the IC 555 is generating signal, if not IC 555 is not generating any oscillation.
Solution: Check the wire connections associated with IC 555 and its orientation. If IC 555 gets very hot, it means you kill it, replace with new one.
There is a good chance that most beginners fail to create this stage successfully in the first attempt, so please give more attention to this stage of the inverter.
Second Step: Debugging MOSFET:
If your both the MOSFETs are damaged there will be no output at the transformer.
If one MOSFET is damaged and other is working fine, the transformer creates noise when loaded and output voltage swings and if you connect a light bulb you will notice flickering.
Solution: Replace the damaged MOSFET in the circuit.
If both the MOSFETs are working properly you will get very low noise from transformer which is expected from any power inverter.
NOTE: Before you come to the conclusion that MOSFETs are damaged, please check the MOSFETs with multimeter, there are plenty of tutorials online to check MOSFET using a multimeter.
Third Step: Debugging transformer
We are using an ordinary step-down transformer in reverse to step-up the output voltage. You should test the transformer only after the above two steps, issues with the transformer are rare.
If you salvaged a transformer from a very old appliance (more than 10 years), we recommend not using it for testing.
Solution: You can test the transformer by connecting the 230V primary to 230V AC mains and measure the voltage at the secondary winding.
How much power this inverter can deliver?
The maximum power this inverter can deliver is depend on the specification of the transformer.
Say if you have a 9V/10A transformer, at best it can deliver 9V x 10A = 90 watt. If you want 200 watt output from this inverter then you need to switch to bigger battery like 18Ah and a transformer with rating greater than 9V x 22A = 198 watt.
What are the gadgets I can plug to this inverter?
You can plug SMPS based power supplies, small inductive loads and all kind of resistive loads such as:
- Mobile chargers, laptop chargers, CFL lamps, tube lights.
- Small table fans.
- Incandescent lamps, soldering iron, regulated power supplies, SMPS.
What you should NOT plug to this inverter?
Any lifesaving or medical equipment or any measuring instrument that uses this inverter as its power supply.
If you have any questions regarding this inverter, please comment your questions you can anticipate a guaranteed reply from us.
thank you too much the ckt is h bridge work perfectly and op voltage 216v….I have a video….. | <urn:uuid:83618274-24ac-4e2e-bff2-da72a355172f> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | https://electronics-project-hub.com/ic-555-inverter-circuit/?replytocom=1336 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986655554.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20191014223147-20191015010647-00141.warc.gz | en | 0.909697 | 2,194 | 2.71875 | 3 | 2.461348 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Hardware |
For those with lots of space for cutting gardens, gourds are a wonderful alternative to traditional cut flowers. During the fall months, gourds of all types are very popular for floral designs. That is a good reason to grow your own. Unlike fresh cut flowers, the gourds will last for months with no special treatment.
Gourds are pretty much grown as you would any other vine crop, such as cantaloupes, squash, melons, and cucumbers. They need plenty of space, but they are very rewarding when it comes time to pick the crop.
There are several kinds of gourds that can easily be grown for cutting gardens. Though these may differ in appearance, they all pretty much require the same type of growing conditions and care.
Gourds can be direct sown into the garden where they are to grow. This should be done after the date of the last expected frost has past. As an alternative, you can start the seeds indoors three or four weeks earlier if you can give the seedlings enough light.
When planting seeds outdoors, two or three should be placed in each hole. Later, these can be thinned to leave the largest, healthiest plant.
Gourd plants should be spaced two to four feet apart in the row. The wider spacing is recommended. Sufficient space between rows is also needed. If necessary, save space by training them to go up walls, fences, and trellises. They can even be grown on porch rails.
In the past, I have grown some without support, and found they will climb nearby plants, including corn and trees. If you are short on garden space, consider planting gourds on the compost pile. Quite often, I allow them to sprout in the compost, and the plants do beautifully.
When picking a spot, choose a warm, sunny one. Gourds require lots of sunlight. Generally, these arenít very particular when it comes to soil. A well drained one is ideal. Adding organic matter before planting will help the vines to grow better.
Like the other members of the cucumber and squash family, gourds need lots of water. They are very vigorous, fast growing vines. Allowing the plants to become dry may affect the size and quality of the gourds. If sufficient rainfall doesnít occur, water them when they need it.
Because they are large plants, gourds will do better if you fertilize them as soon as the plants become established. Once they start blooming, use a fertilizer that is low in nitrogen (the first number listed on the fertilizer container). For example, a 5-10-10 ratio is suitable.
Gourds do require pollination by insects, such as honeybees or bumblebees. Because chemical pesticides are harmful to the pollinators, I avoid using them.
Usually, gourd plants require very little attention. Normally, they suffer from few serious problems. Some gardeners become concerned when the plants seem slow in setting fruits. That is probably because the first flowers will be female, and these will not be pollinated until the male flowers also begin to open as well.
It is also normal for some of the young fruits to drop off. This will happen when a plant has more fruits than it can support. So it gets rid of the extras.
The fun part comes when harvest time comes. For drying, the gourds should be allowed to remain on the vines until they become lighter in color. At that point, they are ready to pick and use for floral designs. Without any special treatment, they should be useful for several months. If you really want to dry them so they will last even longer, use a needle to poke a hole near the stem. This allows the extra moisture to escape. Otherwise, the gourd will eventually rot. | <urn:uuid:959b6736-f34d-4036-9322-819de5dddeaa> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art32260.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818689028.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170922164513-20170922184513-00217.warc.gz | en | 0.953667 | 793 | 2.859375 | 3 | 1.511485 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Home & Hobbies |
The most important Fuels used to produce heat are coal, oil and gas. These fuels and air react very slowly at atmospheric temperatures, but will react very rapidly producing a flame when raised to high temperatures. A burner is a device designed to ensure that the flame is stabilized by establishing a suitable flow field to produce the initial temperature rise. The flame is used as the source of heat to preheat the fuel/air mixture to the ignition temperature. In the case of a simple laminar flame propagating through mixture, the heating is caused by the thermal conductivity of the mixture transmitting heat upstream of the flame front. Most burners operate with a turbulent flame, and in this case, hot combustion products are recirculated by a reverse flow region in the burner flow field; mixing of these hot gases with unburned mixture raises its temperature to the ignition point. The presence of highly reactive radicals in the combustion products also contributes to the ignition process. A reliable ignition process generally leads to a stable flame.
In addition to ensuring a stable flame, the burner is also required to achieve a high completeness of combustion, which is often referred to as high ‘combustion efficiency.’ This depends on thorough mixing of the fuel and air, and the retention of high enough temperatures until the reaction is complete. A fundamental feature of the mixing process is that it requires power. The source of this power is usually the fan, which supplies pressurized air to the upstream region of the burner. The burner is designed in such a way that this pressure is converted into a high speed jet (or jets) in the downstream region. There is a steep velocity gradient in the edge of the jet (known as the Shear Layer) and provided that the size of the shear layer is significantly larger than the size of the Kolmogorov eddies, whose Reynolds Number is unity, turbulent eddies will be formed. Most of the energy of the jet is transferred to the Turbulence within about twenty jet widths from the burner head.
Turbulence decays very rapidly through the small-scale Kolmogorov dissipation eddies, so there is little turbulent kinetic energy or dissipation beyond this twenty jet width region. At the molecular level, the dissipation of turbulence is caused by molecules carrying their momentum from one eddy to the next. In a qualitative sense, it is apparent that they will also carry their species to the adjacent eddy and thus turbulent dissipation results in mixing at the molecular level.
Chemical reactions depend on mixing at the molecular level rather than on the average of large-scale rich and lean regions, hence the turbulent dissipation region coincides with the region at which molecular mixing and reaction take place. Of course, it is possible that the mixing process consists of ‘like’ mixing with ‘like.’ In order to minimize this possibility, it is important that adjacent Kolmogorov eddies should consist of the different materials to be mixed. Since small-scale eddies are derived from the large-scale eddies by a stretching process, it must be ensured that adjacent energy containing eddies consist of the materials to be mixed. This can be accomplished by designing the fuel injection system so that the maximum separation of the fuel elements is smaller than the size of the energy containing eddies. These energy containing eddies are comparable in size to the thickness of the shear layers; hence, they can also be decided by the burner designer. Thus, these fundamental principles can be used to determine the geometry of the burner, including such features as the number of gas jets required to distribute the gas in a gas burner. (See also Mixing.)
The aerodynamic design of the burner must, therefore, accomplish two major tasks. The first is to ensure recirculation of hot combustion products to stabilize the flame by some feature, such as a bluff body. The second is to thoroughly mix the fuel and the air in the shear layers downstream of the burner to ensure a high combustion efficiency.
The burner designer must take other factors into account, such as the required shape of the flame or the required heat distribution on the load to be heated. Thus, high velocity jet flames (tunnel burners) are used for intensive convective heating, whilst a ‘wall flame’ may be used when we do not want flame impingement to occur.
One important class of industrial flames rely on strong swirl to stabilize the flame by virtue of the fact that swirl causes a low static pressure on the axis compared to the local ambient static pressure. The radial differential pressure may be calculated by integrating the radial pressure gradient expression:
where vt denotes the tangential velocity which is a function of radius. Since the axial static pressure quickly rises to the ambient pressure, it is apparent that there is an adverse pressure gradient along the axis which leads to reverse flow for high levels of swirl. A recirculation region is thus formed on the axis of the burner extending downstream from the burner throat. The swirl burner has the advantage that the hot recirculation region is formed away from walls, whereas a bluff body flame stabilizer, such as a ‘V’ gutter, has flame in contact with the metal walls. (See also Vortices.)
Other features which must be taken into account in the design of the burner is the minimization of pollutants such as Carbon Monoxide, soot and oxides of nitrogen (NOx).
Carbon monoxide and soot are formed when the oxygen available for combustion is inadequate to oxidize all the fuel to carbon dioxide. The solution to this problem is to operate the burner on the lean side of the stoichiometric mixture point, whilst ensuring good mixing so that there are no locally rich regions. The provision of excess air to minimize carbon monoxide and soot formation brings with it the disadvantage that the quantity of flue gases is increased. At the Chimney, these gases have to be maintained at reasonably high temperatures to avoid condensation and to provide a buoyant plume that will disperse high in the atmosphere. The gases carry sensible heat away from the region where it could be used, and thus decrease the efficiency of the boiler or furnace. An optimum quantity of excess air is, therefore, employed at which the efficiency is as high as possible consistent with acceptable levels of pollutant formation.
The minimization of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) is slightly more complicated and involves special techniques, such as staged combustion, to avoid high local temperatures, since oxides of nitrogen are formed from the nitrogen in the air at high temperatures. (See Nitric Oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide.)
Burners designed for oil firing are generally similar to gas fired burners, except that the fuel must be sprayed into the shear layers where the drops can be mixed thoroughly with the air. It is also important that an appropriate proportion of the fuel is carried into the recirculation region to maintain flame stability. The fuel atomizer is thus a critical component, and its design is still somewhat empirical. The energy to atomize the fuel is either derived from a pump, which raises the fuel to a high pressure, or a second fluid, such as high pressure steam, may be used. In either case, shear forces at the surface of a thin film of the liquid lead to instability of the surface, which breaks up into small drops. The drop sizes required for rapid combustion is usually less than 50 μm and are difficult to produce with heavy oil fuel. Heating heavy fuel oil dramatically reduces its viscosity and aids the atomization process; thus, heavy oil fuels are heated before they are burned. (See also Atomization.)
Burners designed for pulverized coal firing are based on the same principles as described above; however, the coal particles are of the order of 70 μm in diameter and require about one second to burn. The furnace chamber must therefore allow sufficient residence time for burnout to occur, and sufficient oxygen must be present. The residual ash from the particle will be either liquid or solid, depending on the local temperature and the ash fusion temperature. It is important that liquid ash does not impinge on boiler components, such as the superheater tubes. This is achieved by removing heat from the hot gases by radiation in the early stages of the boiler. Once the gases have cooled to an acceptable level, then convective heat transfer can be employed. (See also Boilers.)
Burners for gas turbines are required to produce hot gases with a near uniform temperature profile at the turbine entry. Since the acceptable turbine entry temperatures are less than the stoichiometric flame temperature, the hot gases from the first stage of combustion must be diluted by mixing with additional air. As explained above, the dilution mixing process again requires mixing power derived from the pressure difference across the combustion chamber wall. Furthermore, the chamber wall must be kept cool by some mechanism, such as the use of a film of cool air injected through slots parallel to the wall, or through the use of some form of effusion cooling.
One of the problems which may be encountered with burners is the phenomenon of oscillatory combustion. The oscillations may by either random or periodic.
Random fluctuations result from the turbulent combustion process itself and noise is produced due to the rate of change of the rate of heat release. Although the efficiency of this process is very small, typically about 10−8, large burner installations may have capacities of hundreds of MW and several watts of combustion noise is very noisy indeed.
Periodic oscillations result from positive feedback from the acoustic field in the furnace. The mechanism of the feedback typically consists of three stages:
The acoustic sound field consists of standing waves in which the velocity fluctuations are 90°C out of phase with the pressure fluctuations.
The velocity fluctuations cause changes in the fuel/air mixing pattern and the shape or location of the flame.
The changes in the flame result in fluctuations in heat release which have a component in phase with the pressure fluctuations. Energy is then transferred into the pressure fluctuations, thus sustaining the acoustic field in the furnace. All the harmonics of the furnace chamber, for which the acoustic energy input overcomes the damping, will be driven.
The solution to this problem, when it occurs, involves identifying the specific coupling mechanism and modifications to the burner or to the chamber acoustic damping. | <urn:uuid:0dfd8b75-a06d-4268-b208-0f87617b5a74> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://thermopedia.com/content/604/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046153816.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20210729043158-20210729073158-00035.warc.gz | en | 0.942746 | 2,118 | 4.25 | 4 | 2.854618 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
In 1613, the sloth received its English name from a man who’d never seen the animal in the flesh. Samuel Purchas, an English cleric, collected sailors’ reports of sights from their voyages around the world. Though he had not been to the Americas himself, he first described the sloth, which is native to Central and South America, in his book, Pilgrimage. Locals, he reported, called the animal “hay” after the sound it made, and because it moved so slowly, the Portuguese called it “preguiça.” That might translate as “laziness,” but, being a cleric, Purchas translated the word as as “sloth,” one of the seven deadly sins. The name stuck.
From their early encounters with sloths, Europeans did not think much of these creatures. They were described as having human faces, so artists depicted them as a sort of fuzzy bear with an ape-like head. (There are actually two distinct types of sloths, two- and three-toed, which are less closely related than was originally assumed, but since both move slowly, they are lumped together, even today.) As late as the 19th century, one natural history book describes sloths as “imperfect monsters of creation, equally remarkable in their disgusting appearance and helpless condition.”
But in our time, the reputation of sloths has been rehabilitated. This may have reached its zenith with the Great Sloth Meltdown of 2012, when the actress Kristen Bell shared on The Ellen Show the story of just how excited she was to meet a real, live sloth:
Since then, it’s been a popular opinion that sloths are pretty darn cute and amazing. In fact, there’s an entire internet subculture dedicated to “sloth love.”
So which is it? Are sloths imperfect, disgusting monsters? Or are they cute—full stop? Here we present both cases and a chance to resolve this pressing question. After reading the arguments on both sides (and, quick preview, the case for disgusting involves human latrines), please vote in the poll below, which will close at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 14, at the end of Atlas Obscura’s Sin Week.
Sloths Are Cute/Amazing
Baby sloths are unreal adorable.
Okay, it’s cheating a little bit to start with baby animals, because most of them are cute. But sloth babies have the particularly adorable characteristic of spending the first months of their lives clinging to their mother’s bellies. Also, look at this one and its giant tongue!
They love hibiscus.
Just as Michael Pollan advises, sloths eat mostly plants. It’s one of the reasons they are so slow—their diet is low-energy, so their metabolic rate is slow, too. Their digestive systems may take an unusually long time to process food, though there’s some debate about that. One of their favorite foods is reportedly hibiscus flowers, which have also become a popular ingredient in human food culture. Sloths: totally on trend.
They sleep in trees.
Sloths spend most of their time high in trees, and they stay there to sleep, too. To make a comfy tree bed, they like to wrap their legs around a trunk, lean back onto a well-angled branch, and tuck their chins to their chests. This looks incredibly comfortable—the ideal way to sleep in a tree, if you are a sloth and can pull off the balance.
They smell like trees.
Sloths move slowly enough that they don’t need sweat glands, and their body odor is minimal. In the wild, they pick up the smell of their surroundings. Sam Trull, of the Sloth Institute Costa Rica, who has rescued sloths and released them into the forest, told Mental Floss, “they smell really good” when they’re in the forest. “It’s probably just coming from being in the trees and whatever saps that are getting on them from sleeping and moving in the trees versus living in my living room or sleeping in bags. But they smell like trees now.” Gah.
Sloths make an extremely distinct sound that’s been compared to the squawk of a human infant. It’s … well, just watch:
Sloths are disgusting
They are covered in algae.
Sloths are ecosystems unto themselves. They have developed symbiotic relationships with algae and moths. The algae grows all over their bodies, in some cases turning sloths a slime-green hue, and moths live in their fur and lay eggs in their feces. The sloths may even eat some of the algae that grows all over them, or absorb some of its nutrients through their skin. Yes, this is cool, but also it is kind of gross.
They have extra vertebrae.
Most mammals, no matter how long their necks are, have seven neck vertebrae. (The vertebrae in, say, a giraffe’s neck are much longer than ours, for example.) By contrast, sloths have nine vertebrae in their necks. This enables them to turn their heads almost 360 degrees, like a creepy horror-movie creature. Also, the extra vertebrae can have vestigial ribs sticking out of them.
Their claws are very long.
Sloths need claws to grasp and hang from trees, but close up they are long and creepy appendages. They look a bit like human fingernails that were allowed to grow long and were never cleaned.
They do this sex scream.
Sloths are usually antisocial; they spend much of their lives alone. But when it comes time to mate, a female sloth has to let the males of her species know she’s ready. She does this with a loud and unpleasant scream.
The latrine thing
In 2001, a group of scientists working in the Peruvian Amazon noticed a sloth hanging from the wooden beams over their latrine. It wasn’t just hanging there, though. It was eating from the latrine. “It was scooping with one hand from the semi-liquid manure composed of faeces, urine and toilet paper and then eating from the hand,” the scientists later reported.
This wasn’t just one weirdo sloth, either. The team observed multiple sloths behaving in this way, on 25 different occasions. Though it must have some nutritional value, there’s no definitive answer as to why the sloths were eating human feces. And remember how baby sloths cling to their mothers? It’s hard to see in this picture, but it shows a mom and baby sloth emerging from the latrine together.
To review, the case for sloths being cute: Baby sloths have long tongues, sloths eat hibiscus flowers and other plants, they make incredible squawking noises, they have mastered sleeping in trees, and they smell like the forest. The case for sloths being disgusting—they are covered in algae, they have extra, creepy vertebrae and gross, long claws, they screech to attract a mate, and they are willing to eat liquid-y human waste.
So, what do you think? Sloths—cute or disgusting? | <urn:uuid:de766bc2-5225-4487-94e1-a0d672e6115c> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sloths-cute-disgusting-poll | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496668544.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20191114232502-20191115020502-00030.warc.gz | en | 0.97533 | 1,561 | 2.828125 | 3 | 2.652061 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Berries are incredible for your health; what makes them so exceptional is their massive load of antioxidants. Especially dark berries have become popular among health-conscious consumers. What are antioxidants, and what are the
impressive health benefits of Aronia berries? Read it in our blog post to find out.
What are Antioxidants and Free Radicals?
Our food contains antioxidants naturally. Antioxidants can be:
∙ vitamins such as vitamin C, A and E
∙ minerals such as manganese and selenium
∙ plant nutrients like flavonoids, phenols, polyphenols, phytoestrogens and carotenoids
Each one acts differently. Together they form a team to protect your body’s cells from damage. Because oxygen splits into single atoms with unpaired electrons, oxidative stress constantly attacks our bodies. These atoms are called
free radicals, and they scavenge the body to seek out other electrons so they can become a pair. The process of oxidative stress begins if the unstable condition of the atoms remains. Free radicals are linked to many human
diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They are also associated with ageing, which has been defined as a gradual accumulation of free-radical damage.
Lifestyle factors can accelerate the production of free radicals. Those include cigarette smoke, environmental pollutants, radiation, industrial solvents, certain drugs, and heavily processed foods. Since the age of industrialization,
we have been facing exogenous sources at a rapidly growing rate. Coincidentally we’ve been losing access to the very thing that counters these free radicals: antioxidants.
What are the Benefits of Antioxidants such as Anthocyanins?
Antioxidants prevent free radicals from taking electrons and causing damage. They are able to give an electron to a free radical without becoming destabilized themselves. Antioxidants are substances whose job is to clean up free radicals. Fruits and vegetables, especially colourful ones, contain natural antioxidants.
Some examples include berries, spinach, kale and nuts. Blue and purple foods typically are rich in anthocyanins, which are generally associated with cardiovascular health and they may be useful in treating several conditions including high blood pressure, colds, urinary tract infections and cancer.
The Aronia Berry - Antioxidant Superstar
Among the berries, Aronia melanocarpa, also known as black chokeberry, stands out as an excellent source of antioxidants. No other berry contains as many anthocyanins and OPC. Traditionally, Native Americans used Aronia berries as a cold remedy, and current studies are showing that they have wide-spread health benefits.
Although the Aronia plant is native to eastern North America, it’s widely grown in Europe (especially in Poland, Croatia and Germany). Due to it’s sour and astringent taste, Aronia is also called “chokeberry”. The berries are commonly
prepared into jams, jellies, fruit juices, syrups, tea, powder and wine.
Just add 50-100 ml of Aronia juice or a teaspoon of dried Aronia berries to your diet every day, and your body will thank you! You can find more information about Aronia berry health benefits on our website.
Where to buy Aronia Berries?
To offer high-quality organic Aronia berry products we partner with Aronia ORIGINAL, the market leader in Germany. Aronia ORIGINAL stands for simple, natural, living. Over ten years ago they introduced naturally biologic products
to the market, without any additives and compromises. Check out our Aronia online shop to discover Aronia juice, dried berries, Aronia powder and much more! | <urn:uuid:4a264518-6668-4591-adb7-f331a4f8b6cc> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://www.aroniaberry.ca/blog/aronia-berry-north-american-fruit-rich-in-antioxidants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347413624.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20200531182830-20200531212830-00286.warc.gz | en | 0.938734 | 780 | 2.984375 | 3 | 1.957498 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Health |
Topic: Leadership, Emotions
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (NOV 2012)
Article: Looking Down: The Influence of Contempt and Compassion on Emergent
Authors: S. Melwani, J.S. Mueller, J.R. Overbeck
Reviewed By: Ben Sher, M.A.
Do you want people to think of you as a leader? Do you want to cultivate and mobilize hordes of dedicated minions in pursuit of world domination? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are in the right place. New research by Melwani, Mueller, and Overbeck (2012) has provided new insight into why certain people are perceived as leaders. Unlike past research, which has focused mainly on personality traits, this study found that certain emotions can be influential as well.
In three separate studies, the researchers found that people who display two types of emotions are more likely to be perceived as leaders. These two emotions are contempt and compassion. Even though contempt seems like a bad emotion and compassion seems like a good one, these two emotions have something in common. Both involve making a downward social comparison. This means that someone who displays these emotions appears to be better off than the target of the emotions. For example, you might show contempt for someone who has failed in some way that you have not. Similarly, you might show compassion for someone when some element of their life is worse than yours.
But even if people who display contempt and compassion look better by comparison, why does this make people view them as leaders? The researchers found that displaying contempt and compassion make people look smarter by comparison. Why has the other person failed at something and you have not? Perhaps it is because you are smarter. Why has something bad happened to the other person and has not happened to you? Perhaps it is because you are smarter. This fits with past research that shows that people who seem to be smart are also identified as leaders.
So there you have it: If you want to gain influence over others, you need to display the right kind of emotions. It doesn’t matter if they are good emotions like compassion or bad emotions like contempt. As long as your emotions make you seem better than the target of your emotions, you have a chance to affect the way people think of you and increase your perceived leadership abilities. As devious as this sounds, this study gives us greater understanding about how leaders emerge. Armed with this knowledge, we are in a better position to select and train leaders who will be successful at earning the respect of followers.
human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management | <urn:uuid:2b06816d-a8dc-45d3-a6db-f32db7656bdf> | CC-MAIN-2016-22 | http://www.ioatwork.com/get-ahead-by-getting-emotional-io-psychology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464049275437.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524002115-00060-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97096 | 534 | 2.875 | 3 | 2.960559 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
In a recent article in ALS News Today, researchers at Penn Medicine found that hypermethylation can slow the development of ALS. The normal methylation process impacts genes that affect DNA structures.
A research team at Penn Medicine recently found that hypermethylation is able to inhibit the development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) in a study titled,
“This is the first epigenetic modification of a gene that seems to be protective against neuronal disease,” said lead author Corey McMillan, PhD, research assistant professor of Neurology in the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in a recent news release.
A gene called C9orf72 is linked to a DNA binding protein which is related to ALS and FTD.
“Understanding the role of C9orf72 has the possibility to be truly translational and improve the lives of patients suffering from these devastating diseases,” said senior author, Edward Lee, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neuropathology in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn.
The study included 20 patients who had a gene mutation of the C9orf72 gene and a diagnosis of FTD or ALS. These patients were compared to 25 healthy individuals.
According to the report:
Results from the MRI showed a reduction in grey matter in many brain areas in the patient groups compared to the controls. Those patients that had hypermethylation of C9orf72 were found to have in the hippocampus thalamus and frontal cortex, more grey matter volume in areas that are affected in ALS and FTD. In order to validate the results the researchers evaluated autopsies of 35 patiets that had C9orf72 expansions and observed that an increased methylation was related with less neuronal loss in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex.
This implies that in patients with C9orf72 hypermethylation, the disease progresses slower. The researchers also found a relationship between hypermethylation and predicted memory decline.
The work identifies a gene that can be targeted to precision medicine treatments and for new drug development in motor neuron diseases. C90rf72 may be a “neuroprotective agent”.
References: “C9orf72 promoter hypermethylation is neuroprotective: Neuroimaging and neuropathologic evidence.” The results are published in the journal Neurology. | <urn:uuid:13a6ea0b-0619-4e6c-985f-c0b7018bde6d> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://alscrowd.org/what-may-slow-als-degeneration/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370506580.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20200402014600-20200402044600-00114.warc.gz | en | 0.941768 | 500 | 2.734375 | 3 | 2.943111 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
CORONA VIRUS IN ICELAND – COVID-19
One of the most significant pandemics in recent times is circulating the world, and of course, there are lots of questions about this disease. While efforts are still going on in several affected countries on getting a complete cure for the patients, unaffected countries are putting preventive measures in place to ensure that they don’t come in, including Iceland. However, you may or may not have heard all there is to know about the Corona virus, especially with all the unfiltered information being propagated through social media. So, first, let’s discuss exactly what the Corona virus is and how it is being fought around the world.
Facts about the Corona virus
With more than 119,000 people around the world known to be infected with this disease and not less than 4,200 deaths recorded, there is no doubt that the new Coronavirus is spreading rapidly. However, most of these cases and deaths have been experienced in China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. Despite this, it is spreading internationally while efforts are underway to curtail it. Coronaviruses belong to the family of viruses known to lead to disease in animals. So far, about seven have leaped humans, but most only cause cold-like symptoms. There are two other coronaviruses different from this recent strain: the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). However, compared to the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, they are far more dangerous and have killed no less than 1,500 people since 2002.
Out of all the confirmed cases so far, only 20 percent have been classified as critical or severe. Another within the range of 15 to 20 percent is said to be severe, while the current death rate still hangs between 0.7 and 3.4 percent. However, factors that affect these figures are location and access to proper healthcare services. All in all, this is much lower than the death rates for SARS, which stands at 10 percent and MERS, which is a whopping 30 percent. Despite this, it still poses a significant threat.
According to scientists in China, the Coronavirus has mutated into two strains, which could make it even more complicated to develop a vaccine. Various reports have suggested that the source of this outbreak is the Wet Market in Wuhan, where traders engaged in the sale of both live and dead animals.Such markets present an increased risk of viruses leaping from animals to humans as there are abysmal hygiene standards in areas where animals are butchered close to live ones. Usually, they are also densely packed. As at this moment, no one knows the animal source of this outbreak,but the original host is believed to be bats. The bats were not sold in the Wuhan market but may have infected live chickens or other animals sold there. Bats are known to harbor a vast range of zoonotic viruses, including rabies, HIV and ebola.
It is not possible to say in which direction the disease will go, but, in its current trajectory, there is a high possibility that it could spread to more countries. The good news is that the number of cases is starting to decrease in China.Initial symptoms include a general feeling of being unwell, tiredness, dry cough, and fever. Data from the Chinese authorities shows that around 80 percent of the cases of the disease are mild, but 20 percent require hospitalization. So far, about 382 people in the UK have tested positive for the virus. It has been noticed that the trajectory of severe cases focuses on the elderly and those who already have underlying health problems. An older person with underlying health problems became the first person in Britain to die after being diagnosed with the disease, a piece of information confirmed by the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust. Police have received unprecedented powers to compel people at risk for coronaviruses to be quarantined.
Placing patients and those who have come in contact with those infected under quarantine is an excellent way of minimizing the spread of this Coronavirus. As no vaccines have been made for this virus, doctors are testing existing medications for illnesses such as Ebola and HIV. The first results look promising, but until the full clinical trials have been completed, doctors cannot be sure that the drugs are effective.However, work is still ongoing to develop an effective vaccine despite complications caused by the mutation of the virus.
Like the cold and flu viruses, the virus is spread through drops when a person coughs or sneezes. The drops fall on the surfaces and are collected in the hands of others and spread even further. People contract the virus when they touch infected hands with their mouth, nose, or eyes.It follows that the most important way of protecting yourself from the Coronavirus is to keep your hands clean by washing as much as possible with soap and water. A hand sanitizer gel can also be used. There is some deliberation about whether the disease is transmitted through the air. There is still no evidence of it, but that could change. Viruses in the air remain for a more extended time than those spread by the droplets and can also be transmitted in ventilation and air conditioning systems.Experts say that the disease can only be transferred between close contacts, defined as spending more than 15 minutes, two meters from an infected person.
Several crazy conspiracy theories have been circulating that the Coronavirus escaped from a Chinese laboratory, either by accident or by design. However, this is categorically false, and scientists who study its genetic code have related it to bats. There are speculations that it jumped from one animal to another, which then transmitted it to humans.
In addition to reporting in China, the disease is now found in more than 80 countries around the world, including popular Southeast Asian vacation destinations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand.Italy has also seen a lot of cases, prompting authorities to impose a blockade in the north of the country.Iran in the Middle East is also particularly affected.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns against travel to China at this critical time. British travellers contracted the disease from a tourist companion at a French ski resort earlier this month, but all recovered and were released from the hospital. At the Tenerife hotel, where an Italian guest tested positive, other tourists were trapped in there for a while. The passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship were quarantined for several weeks. While the Covid-19 is similar to SARS and MERS, it is significantly less lethal.
SARS and MERS are also coronaviruses that cause acute respiratory infections. They also originated from bats, SARS transmitting to humans via civet cats, and MERS reaching via camels. In 2002, the first case ofSARS was reported in China, and from there, it spread to 27 countries, infecting about 8,000 people and killing 700. It spread rapidly at first but later became extinct. On the other hand, MERS, which was first seen in 2012 in Jordan, is considered more tenacious. To date, some 2,500 cases have been identified. It is deadlier than SARS, claiming as much as 850 lives in total.In about 14 percent of coronavirus cases, the virus causes severe illness, including pneumonia and difficulty breathing. It is critical in just about five percent of patients where they experience multiple organ failure, septic shock, and respiratory failure.
WHO reports that the death rate in Wuhan is two to four percent, while it is about 0.7 percent in the rest of China and other countries around the world. The health services in Wuhan are overwhelmed with patients which could explain why the death rate is significantly higher in this region. However, men are said to be more susceptible to a severe form of Coronavirus. This also affects people with underlying conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.The 1918 Spanish flu which spread worldwide and led to as much as 100 million deaths is said to be the deadliest outbreak in modern history. However, compared to the Hong Kong flu, Asian flu of 1957 and Swine flu outbreak in 2009, the Coronavirus epidemic is much smaller.
How safe is Iceland?
Iceland also has its concerns when it comes to Coronavirus or COVID-19. The first case was discovered in Iceland in late February, and a week later, there were 37 confirmed cases. This may sound high, but we believe the Icelandic authorities are using a few, but very useful, and even unique methods that will ensure that this terrible outbreak is not as severe as it appears to be in other countries.
All confirmed cases are Icelanders who were in Austria and Italy for a ski trip. As it stands, the virus is not yet spreading among Icelandic citizens. All of these people are in quarantine. And none of them is severely affected as authorities confirm that it will take a long time before the country gets to the point where people will spread the virus in the country. However, these first measures will undoubtedly ensure that this outbreak is not as severe as, for example, in Italy. Therefore, when it comes to safety in Iceland from the Coronavirus, we can say that it is guaranteed. None of the infected persons have been integrated into society. As it has already been established that only those with the virus can pass it on to others, it is safe to say that there is no risk in sight.
As expected, the Iceland government has put up some special measures to curtail the spread of the virus and misinformation in the country. The first is complete transparency. All agencies involved, and others related to the outbreak have daily press conferences, even if there is nothing new. This is important for a few reasons. It combats false information circulating on the internet, ensures that the correct information on sanitation is spread around, and the proper reaction is delivered to people. These lectures are live on Iceland’s largest news sites, radio, and television. So, you can’t miss it.
Another particularly considerable measure put into place is the introduction of paid quarantine to encourage people to come forward. The government, in association with the Icelandic Employers’ Confederation and Icelandic unions, have reached an agreement to pay people wages for being in quarantine. What’s more, it doesn’t affect your sick leave at all. People must remain in quarantine because the risk is that an entire company will have to close if an employer interrupts its quarantine. This is also logical because breaking the quarantine intentionally is illegal as it puts the lives of others in danger. Such people risk prison time or a hefty fine. Therefore, citizens in Iceland are extra careful and willing to cooperate if, for any reason, there is a need to have them quarantined.
The Iceland authorities are also encouraging coordination between various institutions. Health workers, the police, the government, and others are working closely together. And they are doing the heavy lifting. They have tested the virus on 368 people, and about 400 are in quarantine. So, for Icelanders, this is a great operation. There have also been significant steps to control misinformation through the media. One of the biggest problems with this first virus, in the internet age, is misinformation. Those who are spreading false information are faced with very critical thinking, and the people of Iceland are much better at separating the nonsense from the facts, due to the daily press conference. So far, these measures have worked effectively as Iceland doesn’t have a high incidence of Coronavirus, like several other countries around the world.
Coronavirus and the seasonal flu
Combating a pandemic in the digital age comes with a lot of drawbacks. The biggest is the possibility of misinformation. Videos and images can be spread with various captions to instigate panic or pass across unverified information. When news of the Wuhan virus spread online, a video became an emblem of its declared origin. This video showed a young Chinese woman, allegedly in Wuhan, biting a practically entire bat while holding the creature with chopsticks. Several media platforms promoted this video, including The Daily Mail media, as did several prominent extremist bloggers like Paul Joseph Watson. Thousands of Twitter users blamed the outbreak for allegedly “dirty” Chinese eating habits, in particular the consumption of wildlife, which is said to have started in a so-called wet market selling animals in Wuhan, China.
There was only one problem. The video was not set in Wuhan, where the bat is not a delicacy. It wasn’t even from China. Instead, he showed Wang Mengyun, the host of an online travel program, eating a plate in Palau, a Pacific island nation. According to the tourist, this was merely a way of experiencing the adventure and enthusiasm that comes with trying out unusual food. This practice is quite common with numerous American chefs and travel hosts.
In a moment of the greatest fear of a viral pandemic, the Palau video spread to Europe and the United States as a means of spreading the narrative that foreigners, especially Asians, have disgusting eating habits. Images of Chinese or other Asians who eat insects or snakes frequently circulate on social media or clickbait news. People are also spreading another old racist idea that dirty Chinese are carriers of the disease. Many Americans long believed that as far back as 1854. Today, those same ideas have often been transferred to other groups, such as South American refugees, but they persist in the way some Westerners think about China.These prejudices can fuel fear and racism. As the Wuhan virus spreads, the Chinese as a group are more and more likely to be blamed for its incubation and spread. In countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, where there are already clashes between ethnic Chinese, those feelings could become unpleasant. In the West, especially under the Trump administration, it could fuel public and government prejudice.
Undoubtedly, wildlife treatment may be at the root of the virus. Wet markets where live animals are sold, mainly for food or medicine, still exist in most Chinese cities, and the Huanan seafood market was initially believed to be the source of this outbreak. The Chinese government has banned wildlife trade until the epidemic ends.But it turns out that the market may not have been the cause of the outbreak at all. A new study shows that the first known victims had no contact with the market. And while the virus currently appears to have originated from bats, it’s unclear how it got to humans. Chances are no one was involved in devouring the creatures of the night.
The new coronavirus outbreak has been in the news in recent weeks, but there is another viral epidemic affecting countries around the world: the flu season. So, what are the similarities or differences between the seasonal flu and Coronavirus? So far, the new Coronavirus has caused more than 100,000 diseases and more than 3,000 deaths worldwide. But that is nothing compared to the flu, also called influenza. Only in the USA, the flu has caused approximately 34 million illnesses, with 350,000 hospitalized and about 20,000 confirmed dead based on reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As opposed to the novel Coronavirus, scientists have studied seasonal flu for decades. So, despite the danger, there is sufficient information about the flu and what to expect when it is in season. This means that COVID-19 is a kind of wild card in terms of its impact in the foreseeable future.
Despite influenza morbidity and mortality, there is a certainty of seasonal influenza. There is a guarantee that as we get to March and April, flu cases will decrease. The problem now with COVID-19 is that there are many unknowns. However, more research is still ongoing to give us a better understanding of the virus and the threat it poses. From what we know so far, this is how it compares to the flu.
The influenza A and influenza B viruses, and COVID-19 cause respiratory illness.Typical symptoms of the flu, according to the CDC, include diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, and fever. While flu symptoms come up suddenly, most people usually recover in as little as two weeks. However, others suffer from complications, including pneumonia.
With COVID-19, efforts are still ongoing to get the full picture of its severity and symptoms. According to the CDC, the symptoms reported in patients range from mild to severe and may include shortness of breath, cough, and fever.According to the WHO,it may be difficult to distinguish between different respiratory infections based on symptoms alone as they are quite similar.
Taking a tour in Iceland
With the spread of Coronavirus, a big question going through the mind of several people is if it is safe to take a tour in Iceland during this time. The answer is a resounding yes. The only condition attached is that you should not be coming from an already infected area, and you are free to come down to Iceland to see the numerous natural wonders it has to offer. Taking a tour in Iceland is 100% safe as we have so far been able to contain any coronavirus incident. Our landmarks are waiting for you. You can make memories at the fantastic ice caves, which are indeed one of a kind or experience the wonders of our numerous extraordinary waterfalls. However, to get the best out of Iceland, you need the guidance of experts who knows the terrain like the back of their hands. Our tour guides at Reykjavik Outventure have spent several years navigating through the best places in Iceland, complete with history lessons in a fun way to help you learn a bit more about the roots of the beautiful country.
Here is an extra tip: you can take an extra safety step by booking our private tours. With the private tours, you move at your own pace and with less bodily interactions with people. So, if you are a little worried about the possibility of being in contact with a lot of people, a private tour will help you solve this problem quickly. A private tour could include a visit to famous tourist spots with just you and a local guide. It provides you with in-depth knowledge of a particular topic, such as a country’s food culture or architecture, led by a professional in the field.Here are other benefits of picking our private tours:
- Hang out with the people you want: Meeting new people on tour can sometimes be half the fun of your vacation, but there is always a risk that there is someone on the journey that you don’t get along with and who can sometimes put the brakes on the trip. In this scenario, where you would like to be extra cautious because of the Coronavirus, you can decide to go on a private tour with just close friends and family. By booking a private trip, you have the opportunity to bring together the people you want to hang out with and feel like they would enjoy the same type of vacation as you while feeling genuinely safe.
- You can access exclusive experiences: Yes, you can plan your own family and friends’ vacations without the help of a tour company. However, we are sure that you will miss out on amazing experiences that just aren’t available to the general public. On many of our private tours, we can establish exclusive experiences such as private tastings with winemakers, or walking tours that dive deeper than the general public routes that only touch the surface.
- The extra knowledge: You may not be aware of all the wonderful experiences available to you in a specific location. Although you can do extensive research online, there are still plenty of amazing experiences, restaurants, and local activities that may be brand new or not yet shared on social media. After every tour, we always look for ways to make the next one even better as your experience with us counts. We will help you create the best itinerary by suggesting exciting activities that may not have been on your radar.
- Take the trip you want, the way you want: We pride ourselves on creating fun and engaging itineraries, but we still understand that not everyone is thrilled to do each of the activities we have chosen. That’s where private tours shine. You choose the people you want to go with, the destination and the activities you want to do. With the help of our team of experienced tour guides, you can build the vacation of your dreams.
- Go when you want to go: We all would love to be able to drop everything and go on vacation when we want, but the reality is that we have many responsibilities and obligations in our lives that should come first. Sometimes public tour dates just don’t fit a busy schedule the way you’d like. With a private tour, you can schedule your vacation for when it works best for you.
Among the benefits, you choose your itinerary, or the guide customizes the tour according to your interests.The guide will pick you up from your hotel in a private car at the time you choose. You never waste time traveling to other hotels to pick up other travellers or wait for them to get on the bus.If you are curious about history and interested in the stories of real people from the place you are visiting, a private guide can make a difference. You can ask your private guide questions, receive individual attention as you progress at your own pace. We have a solid relationship with the best tour guides in the country. Our clients have benefited from the guides’ experience, their local knowledge, and love for the cities in which they live. Private tours enhance travel experiences, making them more memorable.
Reykjavik Outventure Private Tours
At Reykjavik Outventure, we have tons of private tours available for your pleasure. Every one of them has been specially planned to ensure that you have access to the best sights in Iceland, all combined to give you an unforgettable experience. Here are some of our private tours:
1. Private South Coast, Glacier Lagoon & Ice Cave
This tour starts with a pickup at any spot of your choice in Reykjavik. The tour guide will take you first to the magical Seljalandsfoss while serenading you with tales of trolls and elves while on the journey. You will spend some time on the walking trail of this waterfall before heading over to the Skógafoss waterfall. No doubt, the first sight of this waterfall will leave you dazzled. Little wonder Game of Thrones was filmed here. Several other stops in this private tour are the Black Sand Beach and Vatnajokull glacier, the biggest glacier in Iceland. The lagoon filled with ice cubes and the diamond-filled beach will undoubtedly leave you lost for words.
2. Private Reykjanes Peninsula tour
On this tour, you will be visiting Brimketill, Reykjanes cliffs, Gunnuhver, the bridge between two continents, and the renowned Black Church. Of course, the trip starts from your location in Reykjavik, where you will stop at eth northernmost part of Reykjanes first. Here, you will get to see one of the oldest lighthouses in Iceland and another built during the second world war. After learning all you need to know about this lighthouse, you will move over to the oldest village in this peninsula known as the Hafnir. It won’t be an overstatement to say that this place is power-packed with gems and a lot of history. Here, you will visit the old Black Church before heading over to the bridge between two continents. Believe in ghosts? Well, a visit to Gunna may give you a few ideas. The final stop is a small pool where you can enjoy a relaxing dip. You can book our Private Reykjanes Peninsula tour here
3. Private South Coast tour + Glacier touch
Say hello to Cape Dyrhólaey, Black Sand Beach, Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss on this tour designed to take your breath away. You can also see a lava exhibition if you want to. Our tour guide has so many stories to tell, and you will certainly enjoy listening to tales of monsters, Vikings, trolls, and hidden people. The first stop is Seljalandsfoss waterfall, and if you are going on a sunny day, you will most certainly see a rainbow beautify the clear blue skies. You will also be stopping at the Skógafoss waterfall, where you can see the water run down from the top. Get your hiking boots ready to explore the trail to Fimmvörðuháls, which starts at this waterfall. There is something special at islands, and Cape Dyrhóley is no different. You get an exhilarating feeling while you watch the volcano Katla on one side, breath in the air of the North Atlantic ocean on the other hand, and viewing the black sand beach all around you. We definitely won’t forget the basaltic rocks, which are surreal. We saved the best for last on this exciting tour with the Lava Exhibition at Hvolfsvollur. While this is optional, you wouldn’t want to miss this high-tech exhibition for the world. It gives you the sensation of being in the middle of a huge eruption, with earthquakes and tremors that feel a hundred percent real. Join us in this private south coast tour
4. Private South Coast & Glacier Lagoon tour
Head out on a remarkable journey to Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Black sand beach Reynisfjara, Glacier lagoon, and Diamond Beach. There is almost nothing as amazing as standing behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall while the sun shines on your face, and you are admiring a colorful rainbow. You get to experience this and more on this private south coast and glacier lagoon tour. Next is the Skógafoss waterfall, which we can only describe with the word perfect. Enjoy the view from the top before heading over to Reynisfjara, otherwise known as the Black Sand Beach, where you will see the black basaltic rocks. The Glacier Lagoon puts the perfect cap on this tour. Every person who has come on this tour is always mesmerized by the ice in the ocean and being surrounded by beautiful glaciers. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime experience. Want to see amazing landmarks in one private tour around the South Coast of Iceland then you book here.
5. Private Snæfellsnes Peninsula tour
From Arnarstapi, Búðir, and Djúpalón to Saxhóll and Kirkjufell, this carefully planned private tour touches some of the best places in Iceland. After our tour guide picks you up, you will be going to the fantastic peninsula and Búðir. Budir sits close to the ocean and is the site of the old Black Church. After being entertained by seals, the next stop is a deep and narrow ravine called Rauðafeldsgjá, which is located inside the cliffs at the south end of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. It is a ravine with its little waterfall as well. Another stunning place you will check out is Arnarstapi. Nothing you have ever imagined will prepare you for this sight of this beautiful and dramatic landscape. All you have to do is marvel at the ocean around you while you observe at the edge of the cliffs. You would feel like spending all day in this serene environment, but you won’t get to because there are still other sights even more amazing than this. One of them is the Black Lava Pearl Beach, which you will be visiting next. Nothing we say will give you an idea of what to expect; you can only see this for yourself. Next up is Saxholl, a crater. You will be encouraged to walk on it, which will give you a great view of the peninsula. It is one of the most famous craters in this area and for good reasons too. Finally, the tour comes to a wonderful end with a visit to the mountain Kirkjufell and the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall, which is right next to it. It is a magical place.
Book this exclusive Private tour around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula
6. Private Golden Circle & Secret Lagoon tour
Where would you be going on this tour? The itinerary includes the Dairy farm, secret lagoon, Kerid, Gullfoss, Geysir, and Þingvellir. This tour starts a little different from the others, though. The tour guide picking you up from your location will be a local Viking. Yes, you heard that right. This Viking is never short of stories about the Icelandic nature and every other thing that is a source of pride to us in Iceland. While listening to these stories, you will be on your way to the national park called Þingvellir, which is filled with a lot of Icelandic history. This was where the first parliament of Iceland was made, and dozens of other events took place at this spot. Next up is the volcanic crater called Kerid, which has a lake in it. While most of Iceland’s soil has stones, sand, and black caldera, this particular crater has rocks and red caldera. The food in Iceland is also part of its rich history, and you will be able to enjoy food made by the local farmers. It doesn’t hurt to admire the bulls and cows while you dine. If you have heard anything about hot springs, you know that they are simply fantastic. Geysir, which is a part of the geothermal area in Haukadalur Valley, is a hot spring that is absolutely lovely to watch as it explodes. Next is the spectacular Gullfoss waterfall, which you can spend hours marveling at its beauty. This tour wouldn’t be complete without taking a bath in The Secret Lagoon, and that is exactly what you would do. You can book this amazing Private Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon Tour here
There are several more private tours available at Reykjavik Outventure, and we invite you to head over to Iceland for an unforgettable experience. You are completely safe from the Coronavirus, and you will get to add that much-needed excitement into your life. Get ready for the vacation of a lifetime. | <urn:uuid:36899f96-5096-4c00-8274-f63bacd4fd5c> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.reykjavikout.is/corona-virus-in-iceland/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600401582033.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20200927215009-20200928005009-00656.warc.gz | en | 0.965063 | 6,285 | 2.65625 | 3 | 2.605086 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Travel |
“If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.”
— Walt Whitman, quoted in Unsafe at Any Speed
In 1965, Ralph Nader wrote the manifesto Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile. “For over half a century,” Nader charged, “the automobile has brought death, injury, and the most inestimable sorrow and deprivation to millions of people.” As U.S. traffic deaths surpassed 50,000 annually, Nader contended that “doctors, lawyers, engineers and other specialists have failed in their primary professional duty: to dedicate themselves to the prevention of accident-injuries.” He saved his most fervent anger for automobile manufacturers, whose indifference to life-saving design features he viewed as an “assault” on the human body. “Body rights,” he claimed, deserved “the precise, authoritative articulation and front-rank support which is being devoted to civil rights.” 1 Even if the book did not send citizens pouring into the streets, it made a powerful impact: President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Highway Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act the next year. More important, Unsafe challenged the dominant culture of American business. By insisting that consumer safety was a corporate duty and a civil right, Nader applied “full moral pressure” on manufacturers to produce designs that prioritized safety over style. 2
Although Nader’s work is not regularly discussed in an architectural context, it illuminates how debates about the user were transforming American design discourse between the 1950s and 1970s, and how industrial designers and architects were navigating those changes. For it should not be forgotten that Unsafe was not only a general indictment of corporations but also a very specific attack on designers whose neglect of safety, in Nader’s view, resulted in thousands of injuries and deaths. The same tail fins and hood ornaments that were being lovingly captured in pop art (think of Richard Hamilton’s 1964 Glorious Techniculture) were proving to be lethal on impact.
Actually design attitudes towards users and consumers had been in flux for some time. In a 1961 article for The Architectural Review, the sharpest of all design critics, Reyner Banham, surveyed recent developments in industrial design and argued that the rise of the consumer was the most significant change of the 1950s. 3 Industries were beginning to solicit the “consumer viewpoint” through consultative bodies, while advertisers — much more controversially — were investigating consumer preferences through market research. Most notorious was motivation research, a “pseudo-science,” Banham said, that sought to discover the real, often subconscious reasons why consumers chose one product over another. Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders (1957) and other “alarmist literature” held that these techniques were used to manipulate consumers. Consumer associations, meanwhile, tried to protect citizen-consumers from such corporate trickery through a combination of independent product testing, education and campaigns. 4
Caught between various bodies and types of research, the consumer emerged as a schizophrenic figure. On the one side was the “rational” consumer, the figure consulted by industry bodies and represented by associations, who held coherent views and acted in his or her best interests given impartial information. On the other was the “irrational” consumer, targeted by manufacturers and advertisers, who was in thrall to unconscious desires (“image lovers given to impulsive and compulsive acts,” in Packard’s words). 5
Banham’s primary concern was that industrial designers had lost their autonomy and were increasingly required to respond to the results of consumer research rather than design for the public as they saw fit. Certainly, they were no longer to consult any “objective” criterion such as “good taste”; consumer preferences and motivations were king. For Banham, as for most designers and critics, the trend was exemplified by the rise of the car stylists of Detroit. The Motor City’s automobiles were the most potent and most polarizing symbol of commercial design: some found their designs hateful, others found them bold, and still others sought to objectively assess their moral implications. Banham claimed they represented the “absolute subjection [i.e. of design] to market research statistics.”
Nader took up this theme in Chapter 6 of Unsafe at any Speed, which traced how Detroit stylists had come to wield greater influence over automotive design than engineers. His star witness was the Ford Mustang, the great success story of the day. The Mustang design process had actually begun with a market research exercise which established the desirability of certain design features: for instance, 42 percent of college students wanted bucket seats for “first dates.” Next, stylists were brought in, and then — and only then — engineers. Nader noted, “The product planning committee, working closely with the stylists, had chosen the prototype and had approved the basic sheet metal and two body styles — before it informed the development engineers at Ford.” Then the advertisers did their magic. The result was a wildly popular but shoddy car, which favored old components over improved ones that could save lives, from dual braking systems to seat belts. 6
Not only was Detroit privileging style over safety, but the stylistic details themselves were dangerous. Nader pointed to the Cadillac’s iconic tail fins which, after being introduced in the 1940s, grew more blade-like each year until they were phased out in 1966; for two decades stylists cheerfully ignored evidence that the sharp edges of automobiles were a major cause of injury to pedestrians. Whereas Banham refrained from moralizing about stylists, Nader had no hesitations. He made perfectly clear that he saw them as unethical and negligent, especially in his outraged analysis of a 1962 paper by General Motors stylist Charles Jordan which made no mention of pedestrian safety. 7
Nader’s demand that stylists be held responsible for safety was a notable intervention into design debates. The arguments that Detroit had provoked in European design circles, in the 1950s, were all essentially concerned with aesthetics and the role of the designer; when morality was invoked, it was usually to defend high design from popular taste, not to promote user safety. Even automotive-industry critics attacked styling mostly on the grounds that manufacturers used it to manipulate consumers (e.g., by infusing products with sexual symbolism). As designer Patricia Conway asserted, “Until the appearance of Unsafe at any Speed … it never occurred to anyone — the public, the design critics, or, least of all, designers themselves — that tailfins might not only be ugly, but dangerous.” 8
While his rights-based argument was radical, Nader’s ethical challenge to designers was not without precedent. 9 Given the power that Detroit wielded economically and symbolically in American life, its practices inevitably cast a long shadow over the adolescent industrial design profession and pushed designers to define their own methods and values against it. A decade earlier, Henry Dreyfuss, a founding member of the American Society of Industrial Designers and one of the country’s most eminent practitioners, had openly criticized Detroit in his bestselling Designing for People (1955), which blamed automobile deaths and injuries on cars that were faster and more powerful than necessary. 10 Dreyfuss advanced “UTILITY” and “SAFETY” as his own criteria for evaluating a good design. “Is the automobile easy to handle?” he asked, pointedly, knowing well that for most popular Detroit models the answer would be “no.” 11 And Dreyfuss thought he had the answer: ergonomics research. Five years after Designing for People, he published The Measure of Man, which became a standard anthropometric reference (today known, in a revised version, as The Measure of Man and Woman). Dreyfuss deployed multidisciplinary teams, including medical experts, psychologists and engineers, to study design problems. He believed that psychology was a key “human factor” in what ergonomists termed “man–machine relations,” and that one of the main tasks of designers was to “lessen the mental strains of this pressure age.” He stressed, “It is not enough to seat [people] comfortably at their work. There is a responsibility also to remove the factors that impair digestions, cause headaches, backaches, fatigue, and give them a feeling of insecurity.” 12
With this statement, Dreyfuss established that it was proper for designers to delve deeply into human psychology insofar as it affected user comfort. So, if designing an airplane, it was sensible — indeed necessary — to understand the sometimes irrational factors that contributed to people’s fear of flying in order to mitigate them through design. 13 An essential, albeit fine, ethical boundary was thus drawn between ergonomics and motivation research: even though psychological research done in the name of ergonomics was quite likely to improve product sales (for instance, by making people happier to fly), its primary aim was not to get consumers to buy products but to enhance users’ sense of security and wellbeing in a particular environment, which was now considered part of the designer’s “responsibility” in the same way as protecting users from bodily harm. Thanks to its precise humanistic remit, ergonomics avoided what Banham wryly called the “anti-social perversions” of motivation research even as it also began to probe the human psyche. 14
From Ergonomics to Squat Closets
The principle that corporations and designers had a duty to care for users made inroads into design thinking. One of the most memorable works of this new era was architect Alexander Kira’s groundbreaking study, The Bathroom (1966), based on research carried out between 1958 and 1965 at Cornell University’s Center for Housing and Environmental Studies and financially supported by American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation (soon to be American Standard). Now acknowledged as a “classic of user-centered design research,” the book is an important attempt to establish an alternative both to hard-core functionalists and to industrial stylists and also to accommodate human factors in all their complexity. 15
Bearing more than a passing resemblance to Unsafe at any Speed, Kira’s ambitious project aimed to establish fresh design criteria for bathroom facilities, which were decried as “ARCHAIC, INADEQUATE, UNHEALTHY, AND UNSAFE!” on the back cover of the book’s paperback edition. 16 Kira was concerned with the piecemeal and unscientific way in which bathroom equipment components were designed, relying on antiquated trade practices, obsolete recommendations in architectural handbooks, and the inward-looking market research of manufacturers, rather than on studies of actual bathroom use, behaviors and attitudes. Kira proposed to close this gap with a more integrated approach.
While the project’s aims were straightforward enough, the resulting book was perplexing and complex, owing as much to psychology and even sexology as to anthropometry. The study was based on the proposition that, in order to create effective new design criteria, both objective factors (anatomical and physiological) and subjective ones (psychological and cultural) needed to be understood, with the latter acting as constraints on what particular design would work in any given time or place. 17 In other words, Kira was working within the expansive tradition of ergonomics research that Dreyfuss advocated, and he adhered to an iterative and multidisciplinary mode of working. Due to the taboo nature of certain bathroom functions, however, Kira’s research would push the psychological boundaries of design much further than Dreyfuss was ever required to do.
To study both objective and subjective factors, Kira divided his research activity into three parts: an extensive multidisciplinary literature search; a field survey of “current attitudes, practices and problems” among 1,000 middle-class households; and laboratory research to identify practical issues associated with personal hygiene activities. In the laboratory, the performance of each task or hygiene activity was analyzed and described in detail, drawing on data from anthropometric handbooks (including Measure of Man), ergonomic studies and the field survey, with the goal of establishing design considerations for different groups — men, women, children, the aged and the infirm. Researchers then filmed live subjects as they performed various functions, both with and without equipment, and the constituent motions of each activity were identified. On this basis, Kira suggested basic parameters for hygiene activities, developed hypotheses about how best to meet them and designed experimental equipment.
Although Kira authored The Bathroom, the study required the help of a large team of researchers from other fields, including many drawn from Cornell’s pioneering College of Home Economics, which had the necessary expertise in surveying, testing and analysis. In fact, most of the research methods had been honed in an earlier collaborative study, The Cornell Kitchen, whose user-centered philosophy was pithily described as:
Build the cabinets to fit the woman.
Build the shelves to fit the supplies.
Build the kitchen to fit the family. 18
Kira also championed this inside-out philosophy of design, stating that his aim was to fit “the activity, or the equipment, to the man, rather than vice versa.” 19 Through detailed analysis of the bathroom’s four major fittings and their actual use, Kira demonstrated that conventional design had produced lavatories that were too low, bathtubs too short, showers too small and water closets too high. He sought to address these flaws with flexible designs that accommodated the full range of human activities comfortably and safely. He showed that baths, while not as sensationally dangerous as automobiles, were a major cause of injury in the home, and that other aspects of bathroom design were bad for general health and physical functioning, causing a range of conditions from hemorrhoids to scabies. Bearing in mind normal changes over the course of a lifetime (weight gain, pregnancy, aging, and illness), he advised that safety features like non-slip surfaces, hand-sprays and safety rails be installed even in standard facilities, as such incapacities represented “only more severe degrees of those encountered by the ‘normal’ population.” 20
For the most part, Kira’s proposed changes were mundane. His dramatic redesign of the water closet, however, showed that he felt certain cases justified a more interventionist approach. A survey of the medical literature had convinced him that throne-style water closet designs were a major cause of constipation, described by physiotherapist F. A. Hornibrook as “the greatest physical vice of the white race.” 21 Noting the medical view that the optimal posture was a squat, Kira proposed a semi-squat water closet with a redesigned seat that supported the ischial tuberosities and brought the knees above seat level, which would gradually strengthen abdominal and upper leg muscles and forestall many medical problems of the aged. 22
Kira had to know that many users would find the squat closet an unacceptable departure from the conventional throne. Dreyfuss had explicitly warned that new designs tended to fail when they broke radically in form with the products they replaced. 23 If consumers demanded the reassurance of “survival form” in cars, clocks and toasters, they would certainly demand it in bathroom equipment, which provoked strong feelings of guilt and disgust. In fact, Kira devoted lengthy passages to identifying and dissecting bathroom taboos with reference to anthropologists, sexologists and psychoanalysts, and sometimes he conceded that user subjectivity had him beat. For instance, even though he valued its hygienic benefits, he never had much hope for the bidet, which Americans rejected due to its negative associations with loose (French) sexuality.
Given his realism elsewhere, Kira’s crusade for squat toilets raises the question: what audience was he trying to reach? Who did he see as being key to achieving bathroom reform? It seems clear, in the book’s first edition, that Kira was not targeting consumers directly; rather his primary goal was to convince manufacturers, builders and architects that his ideas were viable. Hence his extensive use of technocratic visual studies (which lay readers would have found baffling) and his focus on production methods. Not unlike Buckminster Fuller, whose Dymaxion designs he referenced, Kira hoped to persuade manufacturers to turn out “complete” facilities with designed-in accessories and safety features. In stark contrast to Nader, Kira believed that his rational case would win these parties over, and he largely eschewed moralizing or threats of government intervention. His conclusion was notably serene: “The ultimate responsibility for a rational approach to personal hygiene … rests not only with the producers, but with the architects, consumers — in fact, with all of us.” 24
Kira’s conciliatory optimism was understandable, given his involvement with American Standard, which he anticipated would bring some of his designs into mass production. Indeed, the company was investing heavily in research and product development and demonstrating a greater sensitivity to safety than it had before. The year before The Bathroom was published, American Standard released the Stan-sure “skid-resistant” bathtub, possibly to capitalize on Kira’s recommendation that all bathtubs have non-slip bottoms. 25 American Standard eventually put one of Kira’s designs into production, a posture-mold seat; and he consulted on other products for the company, notably the prefabricated Spectra 70 bath and enclosure, which included most of his design criteria, from multiple shower heads to a lumbar support to a fold-out tray. 26
Yet despite enthusiastic reviews for The Bathroom in the trade press, there was no rush on the part of other manufacturers, builders or architects to follow Kira’s guidance or make use of his data. The Washington Post noted that “almost everyone is familiar with the conclusions of Alexander Kira,” but that his ideas had not yet had much impact. Still, the Post predicted that the public — once the mass-market paperback of the book had circulated — would “force the fixture industry to design safer models.” Until then, it advised, “keep your tub belts buckled.” 27
“Unsafe at any Faucet”
With the reference to “tub belts,” the newspaper linked Kira’s safety concerns to the contemporary debate in the automobile industry. Revealingly, the Post assumed that bath manufacturers could not be trusted to reform themselves and would need external pressure to do so — a conclusion that might not have seemed obvious before Nader. (America’s foremost humorist, Art Buchwald, satirized the new orthodoxy through an “interview” with Ralph Draino, author of “Unsafe at any Faucet,” who argued that plumbing manufacturers needed “government control because they can’t police themselves.” 28) In any case, Kira did seem to lose faith in manufacturers after his book was released, and he changed his tactics accordingly. While the first edition resembled a scientific report, the 1976 edition worked much harder to win over the public. It featured completely new sections on public facilities and bathrooms for the disabled, and the entire text was extensively rewritten and updated, with an abundance of anecdotes, homosexual graffiti and dirty jokes.
The illustrations changed most substantially: Kira’s original photos of modestly bathing-suited models were replaced with “more natural” photos of nude women and men performing typical hygiene activities and physiological acts from showering to urinating. All of the report’s original studies were re-drawn or re-photographed, and new ones were included. And, tellingly, Kira decided to feature manufacturers’ photographs of existing products. By now he could choose from a larger number of ergonomic fittings that responded to or were sympathetic to his design criteria, and he realized that product references appealed to the consumer. “The likelihood of fully realizing the substantive improvements described and suggested in the following pages,” he wrote, “depends very much on the consumer’s level of concern and willingness to demand and pay for more rational, more convenient, and safer solutions.” 29
With this statement, Kira embraced the idea of consumer-led change, urging readers to literally buy his vision of safer bathrooms and thus to force reform one purchase at a time. Kira judged that concerns over health and safety were most likely to spur consumers into action. Consequently, in the revised edition, he was more explicit about the dangers of bathrooms, citing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s estimate that 275,000 people were injured each year in baths, a figure which was then repeated in many reviews of his book. Kira’s efforts to fit into the crusader genre received a further boost when Nader, now the country’s most famous consumer activist, wrote an endorsement for the book, praising it as an exposé of the “inadequate safety, hygiene and convenience features in bathrooms.” 30
Yet The Bathroom greatly exceeded the boundaries of Nader’s own inquiries, thanks to Kira’s constant delving into psychosexual life well as to his worldly, almost raffish tone and his often obscure and titillating visuals. The resulting book was a strange hybrid, a cross between Unsafe at Any Speed, Masters and Johnson’s Human Sexual Response and Alex Comfort’s Joy of Sex. People read it, talked about it, and wondered at it; but did they act on it? While The Bathroom’s conclusions were noted in design-savvy decorating guides and some European manufacturers produced Kira-inspired designs, the book did not inspire the widespread consumer revolution that its author sought. 31
This failure was perhaps to be expected: the ergonomic needs of users often do not map onto consumer desires. In Kira’s case, a mismatch seemed inevitable: he was quietly anti-fashion, and he rarely discussed what bathrooms might look like, on the grounds that this would detract from their quality as functional spaces. For all his open-mindedness, he showed limited willingness to engage people’s bathroom fantasies — even as they hovered like ghosts in Appendix B of his original study, a summary of respondents’ suggestions for improvements that revealed a palpable yearning for more space, more privacy, more gadgets and more opulence, such as alcoved powder rooms, terrazzo tiles, full-length mirrors, built-in heat lamps, even a “built-in ashtray on an aluminum swivel” next to the toilet. 32 In short, people longed for a Hollywood-style luxury bathroom, whose excesses Kira deplored. Needless to say, no respondent expressed a desire for a more physiologically correct way of defecating.
Indeed, even when in possession of health and safety information, consumers might not act to protect their “rights” as citizens or their best interests as users. To take one example: in the 1980s, Kira complained that safety bars — among the most innocuous of features — were often resisted because they made the able-bodied feel infirm or old. 33 The dislike of safety bars, however, should not be seen to confirm the “irrationality” of consumers; rather, it highlights the fact that objective and subjective human factors are complex and contradictory and can surpass the capacity of design to reconcile them. This is likely why Kira, with surprising frankness, described his designs as a “compromise between realities.” 34 But if Kira made expedient and practical compromises, many consumers — as the example of safety bars suggests — were unwilling to do the same. This would prove to be the great weakness of consumer-led bathroom reform.
Given the resistance, how could a space be opened up for change? In interviews, Kira reflected that the best hope lay in education: improving the public’s awareness and understanding of design issues. 35 By contrast, Dreyfuss maintained that “survival form” was necessary to win consumers’ acceptance; and Banham believed that architects should continue to maintain overall control over environments (selecting “good” designs on consumers’ behalf.) 36 But it was Nader — with his insistence on consumer advocacy, government intervention and external scrutiny — who proved most prescient. For it would ultimately take disability standards, codes and regulations to usher in a sea change in bathroom design and to universalize safety features in public facilities. The impetus came from the civil rights movement: from the 1960s onward disability rights activists advanced the proposition that accessible public facilities were essential to equality. 37 Their highly effective campaigns made it obvious that the concept of “body rights” was just as applicable to bathrooms as to automobiles. Yet in their own homes, most consumers seemed content to leave their body rights just outside the bathroom door. | <urn:uuid:89b87272-cf78-4203-b0eb-894001e4c727> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://placesjournal.org/article/designed-in-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875143805.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20200218180919-20200218210919-00094.warc.gz | en | 0.975274 | 5,229 | 2.671875 | 3 | 3.011547 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Art & Design |
- East St. Louis School District 189
Level Up to Excellence - January 2019
A Spark from ARC
January 24, 2019
Level Up to Excellence
“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.”
– Les Brown
Are we demanding enough from ourselves and our students? High expectations are critical to our success and the success of our students. What is success? Success is typically defined as the accomplishment of one’s goals. To attain success, we must have the ability to move from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
Behind every successful organization you will find:
- A clear and compelling mission/vision;
- A strong culture of excellence;
- Passionate and intrinsically motivated employees full of courage, commitment, compassion, confidence and capacity;
- Intolerance for excuses;
- Strong collaboration and teamwork;
- Data-driven decision making.
If you want to achieve excellence, you can’t be afraid to fail. Overcoming failure is essential to achieving excellence. Although you may not remember, your past has been full of moments of failure. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You failed many times before you learned to ride a bike. Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Failure was necessary to achieve excellence.
If you want to swing for the fences, you have to be willing to strike out. Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot. Hank Aaron struck out more times than over 90% of the professional baseball players who ever entered the major leagues through 1991. However, most of us don’t think of Hank Aaron as a failure. Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. In 1923, he held the record for most home runs in a season, the highest batting average, and he also struck out more times than any other player in Major League Baseball. Do we think of him as a failure? Ty Cobb was thrown out trying to steal bases more than any runner in the history of professional baseball. Most of us do not think of Ty Cobb as a failure.
Most people also don’t think of Vince Lombardi as a failure. As head coach, he led the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships in seven years. Yet when he was 44 years old, he was still a line coach at Fordham University. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, yet everyone knows how the legend persisted and went on to have a great professional basketball career.
There are countless non-athletic examples of building success from failure. Certainly Albert Einstein was not a failure, but he did fail a course in math. Walt Disney went bankrupt seven times and had a nervous breakdown before he made it big. Thomas Edison failed in over 1,000 experiments before he invented a light bulb that would last. R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York became profitable and expanded to a national chain. English novelist John Creasey received 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
All these people failed repeatedly, but they learned something tremendously important. They learned that the only difference between a “big shot” and a “little shot” is that the “big shot” is a “little shot” that kept on shooting. They also learned that you have to Persevere Until Success Happens (PUSH principle).
We have not attained our goal for academic excellence; however, we must not give up. We must stay committed to excellence. Failure is an event, not a person, a detour, not a dead-end street, a stepping stone, not a stopping stone, a teacher, not an undertaker. You really don’t fail unless you stop trying. Keep in mind this message, inspired by Aristotle:
“Excellence is never an accident;
it is the result of high intention,
and the vision to see
obstacles as opportunities.”
Nobody can consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way they see themselves. Therefore, it is imperative that you see yourself as a winner and a person with the capacity to achieve excellence. Don’t be concerned about failure. Think about the successes you missed simply because you didn’t try or persist. Keep excellence as your target and persevere until you reach it. Our students deserve your best.
I encourage you to watch this video called “Don’t Be Afraid to Fail” to further inspire you: http://apps.estl189.com/temp/DONT_BE_AFRAID_TO_FAIL-Study_Motivation_2017.mp4
Arthur R. Culver, Superintendent | <urn:uuid:09857e7a-0a74-4b95-bb86-5cfdba1d47c0> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.estl189.com/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=756&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=620&PageID=1&Comments=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400244353.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20200926165308-20200926195308-00118.warc.gz | en | 0.96868 | 999 | 3.265625 | 3 | 2.388885 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Groups such as Oxford Nanopore (see “Nanopore Sequencing”), which introduced its technology a year ago at the same conference, and Gundlach’s lab are developing nanopore technologies as another method for getting long sequences, but so far no nanopore technology has made it to the market. These systems use a biological pore as the site of DNA analysis, which limits the speed at which DNA can be read.
Nabsys’s technology also passes DNA through a pore, but instead of the protein pore approach that Oxford Nanopore and others are taking, Nabsys uses a pore cut into a solid-state chip. According to the journal Biotechniques, Oxford Nanopore’s system can process DNA at a maximum rate of 400 bases per second. Nabsys claims its system can read up to a million nucleotides per second. Such speed could be critical in clinical settings, where fast diagnoses are needed to make treatment choices.
Combination Sequencing with Nabsys Positional Maps
Because of the highly repetitive nature of human DNA and the relatively short length scales over which DNA sequencing platforms obtain information, assembling the data produced by these platforms is computationally intensive and results in contig lengths that are very short compared to the lengths of chromosomes. Complete genomes typically have required additional finishing to unambiguously place repeated or difficult regions. In contrast, Positional Sequencing as developed by Nabsys using nanoscale detectors and specific hybridization
probes will provide information over hundreds of kilobases and even megabases of contiguous sequence. Specifically, the platform locates, with sub-diffraction- limit resolution, the positions of oligonucleotide probes that have bound to long DNA fragments. This information can be assembled into contigs whose lengths approach the lengths of chromosomes. This information can used to automatically finish sequencing projects as well as correct misassemblies.
The limitations of short read sequencing are becoming more and more recognized. Long range sequence information such as that offered by Nabsys Positional Sequencing is essential for full genomic analysis. We have demonstrated a complementary relationship between short read sequencing and Nabsys mapping. The combination of these two low cost technologies produces sequence quality surpassing that of current standard practices.
We have demonstrated the ability to place short read contigs on a genome wide scaffold. This type of information is useful for discovering clinically relevant structural variants. We have also demonstrated the ability to detect and correct misassemblies in short read de novo sequence. These improvements point the way to a regime in which sequencing is not only fast and cheap but also correct and complete.
Electrophoresis - Mapping and sequencing DNA using nanopores and nanodetectors
ABSTRACT - Even prior to the introduction of capillary DNA sequencers, nanopores were discussed as a low-cost, high-throughput substrate for sequencing. Since then, other next-generation sequencing technologies have been developed and achieved widespread use, but nanopores have lagged behind due to difficulties in generating usable sequence data. The practical and theoretical issues of translocation speed and signal detection encountered when attempting to sequence DNA with nanopores are discussed. Various methods that different laboratories have used to overcome difficulties in biologically based and solid-state nanopores are also presented. Different approaches designed to circumvent the overriding issue of detecting signals from individual bases in a time-resolved manner in nanopores are described. For example, genomic positional sequencing utilizes hybridization of short oligonucleotide probes to very long DNA templates and then detects these probes by variations in current blockade in solid-state nanodetectors. The positions of the probes relative to each other and relative to the ends of the DNA are determined by measuring the time between current blockade peaks. By assembling many such measurements, it is possible to overcome the problems encountered when attempting to sequence DNA at high speed in nanopores, providing the potential for true de novo sequencing of large genomes on a routine basis.
All Nabsys presentations and publications
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks | <urn:uuid:f4fd4544-81ff-44fb-b9b6-249f85eabf30> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2013/02/solid-state-sequencer-can-scan-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501173405.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104613-00219-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935507 | 851 | 2.8125 | 3 | 3.028203 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
6 Ways The Internet Has Changed Our Education System
20 years ago none of us could have possibly imagined the kind of impact the internet would have on our lives. We’ve almost reached the stage where society would cease to function without it, and although some people might consider this to be a worrying concept, it’s actually improved living standards for millions of people and played a big role in ensuring we all have a voice. Even so, the education system has probably been affected more than others, and this is what I’m going to focus on throughout this article.
Finally accepting that qualifications give us the best chance of success usually happens around the age of 25. This is due to the fact that people in their mid-twenties have spent a few years in the real world and now realise that unskilled work is both underpaid and extremely tiring. So, deciding to apply for a university course is usually the best option. Some people find it easier than others as family and social responsibilities can sometimes get in the way, but at the end of the day, if you want to earn a good wage in a comfortable job that you enjoy, the alternative options are pretty limited.
Anyway, you’ve come here to read about the many ways in which the internet has changed our education system, right? But before I get into that, I’d like to stress that this list isn’t definitive, it just contains the most obvious alterations we’ve seen. So, without any further delay, here they are…
1 – It Has Allowed People To Take Online Degrees
By far the most distinct change we’ve seen has been within university learning itself. In the past, it was possible to complete certain courses from home using providers like the Open University, but this proved to be troublesome for many people who really needed some face to face advice and a good chance to speak personally with lecturers. It’s certainly true that many of the providers would hand out phone numbers of experts to help with this but that simply wasn’t good enough, and so pass rates were quite low for a while.
Now it’s easier than ever to partake in distance learning thanks to instant video messaging services like Skype and Google Hangouts. Anyone enrolled on a distance learning course can simply communicate with teachers or lecturers via the internet, and some even hold conference calls between multiple students. This has increased pass rates and made this kind of education truly viable for many people.
The great thing about distance learning is that fees are slightly reduced, so not only can you complete a degree course in the comfort of your own home at a time that suits you, but you also end up saving a lot of money that – let’s face it – would be much better spent on necessities.
2 – It Has Provided A Means For People To Get Free Information
Regardless of which type of degree you’re undertaking, a few years ago you would have had no choice but to spend hours in libraries trying to source information to help you complete coursework and assignments. Thanks to the internet this is no longer true, as it’s possible to find out everything you could ever want to know online without the need for lengthy searches. Whatever you think of Google and their agenda for global domination, you have to admit they’ve made it much easier to find relevant information.
This may have some drawbacks, however, because it means that millions of people are choosing to look things up online rather than learning properly and remembering them. Obviously that would be fine if we were allowed to take smartphones or tablet devices into our exams, but unfortunately the education system hasn’t progressed to quite that level yet.
Still, having all this info at our fingertips does mean that people without the inclination or the funds to attend mainstream higher education establishments can educate themselves from home. You’d be surprised at just how many employers are willing to overlook a lack of qualifications if you can prove to them you understand the job from personal research.
3 – It Has Encouraged Assistance Services To Thrive
Anyone who needed assistance with their education in the past would have to either get in touch with someone at their university, or call a premium rate phone line and speak to a private company who deals with whatever kind of issue they may have. Luckily, these firms have now progressed, and so many of their services can be obtained online without having to waste any money on calls or letters.
It’s even possible to purchase a custom essay on any major subject, written to whatever standard you need it, if that’s something that interests you. And although it’s never going to be a wise move to hand in someone elses work, they can be a fantastic learning aid, and often help students to better understand what is expected of them.
On top of this, you can pretty much find dedicated assistance teams willing to help you out (for a price of course) with absolutely every single aspect of the education system by simply typing your request into a search engine. This is in stark contrast to how things worked a few years ago when students were very much left to their own devices.
4 – It’s Responsible For Increased Productivity
I realise that computers were around a little while before most of us had a decent internet connection in our homes, but during those times many students still had to write their work by hand. Now, thanks to email, instant messaging and cloud-type storage solutions it’s possible to get things done in half the time. I don’t know about you, but I can type considerably faster than I can write, and this is the case for most people.
Being able to send assignments straight to tutors within seconds also means they don’t need to be completed quite as quickly, which obviously allows certain advantages. Presuming the average person in higher education can cut down their writing time by around ? using internet-ready computers, and deadlines can be extended slightly due to faster delivery times, the result is that people have much more free time to spend brushing up on their other skills or completing extra work.
Though you might consider this increase in productivity to be minimal, over an entire year (or even just a term) it can save hundreds of hours of unnecessary labor and stress, which is obviously a good thing for all involved.
5 – It Has Brought People With Similar Interests Together
Social media is a truly wonderful thing, and this is why millions (if not, billions) of people now have pages on many different networks, allowing them to make contacts all over the world who have the same interests. This can be very useful when you’re involved in the education system, as it means you should have no trouble finding someone out there who can help you out whenever you get stuck. Also, locating people with similar outlooks can be very rewarding, as many individuals find it difficult to fit in with mainstream society due to their alternative beliefs or thought patterns – but no-one is ever alone. There are others out there; you’ve just got to find them.
Facebook is currently the most popular platform, and though it was originally designed for communication between people who already know each other, over time it has grown and transformed into the networking phenomenon we see today. No matter how obscure your interests may be, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll find similar people online – thanks internet!
Subjects like nuclear physics are far too complicated for most people to understand, and so those who study it rarely get the opportunity to discuss anything about their day with their friends. Yet again, this shows just how essential social media has become.
6 – It’s Allowed People To Create Software And Distribute It For Free
The days when we all had Microsoft Office and the Encyclopedia Britannica installed on our computers are long gone – thank god! If nothing else, these programs we far too costly for the application they were designed for, and so it should be obvious why so many open source solutions have become available since the internet really took off. Nowadays it’s much more common for people in education to use OpenOffice or even Google Docs to complete their work – both and free, and both are much better than the paid alternatives.
You might say that free software puts established develops out of business, but it really is their own fault. If Microsoft would have charged only around £50 for their product, we’d probably all still have it. However, if they’re going to get greedy, the online world is going to start fighting back.
Anyway, that’s about all I can manage today, I’m actually heading down to London over the weekend for a meeting at Imperial College. Who knows; you might see me there.
Have a great weekend! | <urn:uuid:d6d7cf66-80fa-4ed2-8cb2-8a56972bf7a3> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | http://www.elearning-tour.com/6-ways-the-internet-has-changed-our-education-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547584328678.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20190123085337-20190123111337-00574.warc.gz | en | 0.972695 | 1,819 | 2.765625 | 3 | 2.752935 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
An eight-month-old is curious about everything, but he also has a very short attention span and will move rapidly from one activity to the next. Two to three minutes is the most he’ll spend with a single toy, and then he’ll turn to something new. By twelve months, he may be willing to sit for as long as fifteen minutes with a particularly interesting plaything, but most of the time he’ll still be a body in motion, and you shouldn’t expect him to be any different.
Ironically, although toy stores are brimming with one expensive plaything after another, the toys that fascinate children most at this age are ordinary household objects such as wooden spoons, egg cartons, and plastic containers of all shapes and sizes. Your baby will be especially interested in things that differ just a bit from what he already knows, so if he’s bored with the oatmeal box he’s been playing with, you can renew his interest by putting a ball inside or turning it into a pull toy by tying a short string to it. These small changes will help him learn to detect small differences between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Also, when you choose playthings, remember that objects too much like what he’s seen before will be given a quick once-over and dismissed, while things that are too foreign may be confusing or frightening. Look instead for objects and toys that gradually help him expand his horizons.
Often your baby won’t need your help to discover objects that fall into this middle ground of newness. In fact, as soon as he can crawl, he’ll be off in search of new things to conquer. He’ll rummage through your drawers, empty out wastebaskets, ransack kitchen cabinets, and conduct elaborate experiments on everything he finds. (Make sure there’s nothing that can hurt him in those containers, and keep an eye on him whenever he’s into these things.) He’ll never tire of dropping, rolling, throwing, submerging, or waving objects to find out how they behave. This may look like random play to you, but it’s your child’s way of finding out how the world works. Like any good scientist, he’s observing the properties of objects, and from his observations, he’ll develop ideas about shapes (some things roll and others don’t), textures (things can be scratchy, soft, or smooth), and sizes (some things fit inside each other). He’ll even begin to understand that some things are edible and others aren’t, although he’ll still put everything into his mouth just to be sure. (Again, make sure there’s nothing dangerous lying around that he can put in his mouth.)
His continuing observations during these months also will help him understand that objects exist even when they’re out of his sight. This concept is called object permanence. At eight months, when you hide a toy under a scarf, he’ll pick up the scarf and search for the toy underneath—a response that wouldn’t have occurred three months earlier. Try hiding the toy under the scarf and then removing it when he’s not looking, however, and your eight-month-old will be puzzled. By ten months, he’ll be so certain that the toy still exists that he’ll continue looking for it. To help your baby learn object permanence, play peekaboo with him. By switching from one variation of this game to another, you’ll maintain his interest almost indefinitely.
As he approaches his first birthday, your child will become increasingly conscious that things not only have names but that they also have particular functions. You’ll see this new awareness weave itself into his play as a very early form of fantasy. For example, instead of treating a toy telephone as an interesting object to be chewed, poked, and banged, he’ll put the receiver to his ear just as he’s seen you do. You can encourage important developmental activities like this by offering him suggestive props—a hairbrush, toothbrush, cup, or spoon—and by being an enthusiastic audience for his performances. | <urn:uuid:c4455d97-2ac7-4983-bdba-5f7834b29688> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/pages/Cognitive-Development-8-to-12-Months.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3A+No+local+token | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583512501.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20181020013721-20181020035221-00032.warc.gz | en | 0.967398 | 886 | 2.953125 | 3 | 2.209792 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Books by David C. Woodman
A classic reconstruction of the mysterious events surrounding the tragic Franklin expedition has taken on new importance in light of the recent discovery of the HMS Erebus wreck, the ship Sir John Franklin sailed on during his doomed 1845 quest to find the Northwest Passage to Asia.
First published in 1991, Unravelling the Franklin Mystery boldly challenged standard interpretations and offered a new and compelling alternative. Among the many who have tried to discover the truth behind the Franklin disaster, Woodman was the first to recognize the profound importance of Inuit oral testimony and to analyze it in depth. From his investigations, Woodman concluded that the Inuit likely visited Franklin’s ships while the crew was still on board and that there were some Inuit who actually saw the sinking of one of the ships. Much of the Inuit testimony presented here had never before been published, and it provided Woodman with the pivotal clue in his reconstruction of the puzzle of the Franklin disaster. Unravelling the Franklin Mystery is a compelling and impressive inquiry into a part of Canadian history that for one hundred and seventy years left many questions unanswered. In this edition, a new preface by the author addresses the recent discovery and reviews the work done in the intervening years on various aspects of the Franklin story, by Woodman and others, as it applies to the book’s initial premise of the book that Inuit testimony holds the key to unlocking the mystery.
David Woodman re-evaluates the importance of Inuit oral traditions in his search to reconstruct the events surrounding Sir John Franklin’s tragic 1845 expedition. He shows that often-misunderstood tales of white men travelling through Inuit lands may in fact refer to survivors of the Franklin expedition.
In 1868 American explorer Charles Francis Hall interviewed several Inuit hunters who spoke of strangers travelling through their land. Hall immediately jumped to the conclusion that the hunters were talking about survivors of the Franklin expedition and set off for the Melville Peninsula, the location of many of the sightings, to collect further stories and evidence to support his supposition. His theory, however, was roundly dismissed by historians of his day, who concluded that the Inuit had been referring to other white explorers, despite significant discrepancies between the Inuit evidence and the records of other expeditions.
In Strangers Among Us Woodman re-examines the Inuit tales in light of modern scholarship and concludes that Hall’s initial conclusions are supported by Inuit remembrances, remembrances that do not correlate with other expeditions but are consistent with Franklin’s.
ISBN 9780773513488, 184 Pages
Published by McGill-Queens University Press.
First edition released September 1995
David C. Woodman is a contributor to this collection of essays which is edited and prefaced by John Moss.
The North has always had, and still has, an irresistible attraction. This fascination is made up of a mixture of perspectives, among these, the various explorations of the Arctic itself and the Inuk cultural heritage found in the elders’ and contemporary stories.
This book discusses the different generations of explorers and writers and illustrates how the sounds of a landscape are inseparable from the stories of its inhabitants.
ISBN 9780776604411, 240 pages
Published by University of Ottawa Press
Released October, 1997 | <urn:uuid:4f05058d-1d6d-41b9-84ad-b9d75f911af5> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.aglooka.ca/books/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506559.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20230924023050-20230924053050-00897.warc.gz | en | 0.9571 | 685 | 3.078125 | 3 | 3.044962 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
Dental Hygiene in Richmond Hill
Have a Healthy Smile with Dental Hygiene in Richmond Hill
Maintaining good dental hygiene is crucial for preventing dental problems and promoting overall health. Here are some tips to help you keep your teeth, gums, and mouth clean and healthy:
Regular Brushing and Flossing
Good dental hygiene starts with regular brushing and flossing. Brush your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes each time and make sure to brush all surfaces of your teeth. Use dental floss or interdental cleaners to clean between your teeth at least once a day to remove plaque and food particles that brushing can’t reach.
In addition to regular brushing and flossing, maintaining a healthy diet is also essential for good dental hygiene. Avoid sugary or acidic foods and drinks that can contribute to dental problems. Limit your consumption of sugary snacks and drinks, and drink plenty of water to help rinse away food particles and bacteria that can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.
Regular Dental Checkups
Regular dental checkups are an important part of maintaining good dental hygiene in Richmond Hill. During a dental exam, a dentist or dental hygienist will clean your teeth and gums, remove any plaque or tartar buildup, and check for signs of dental problems. They may also take X-rays to check for hidden dental issues that can’t be seen with a visual exam.
Use of Mouthwash or Oral Rinses
Using mouthwash or oral rinses can help kill bacteria in your mouth and freshen your breath. Look for an alcohol-free mouthwash that contains fluoride and antimicrobial agents. You can also try natural remedies like oil pulling, which involves swishing coconut or sesame oil in your mouth for several minutes to remove bacteria and promote healthy gums.
Pay attention to your toothbrush and replace it every three to four months or sooner if the bristles become frayed. Using an old toothbrush can do more harm than good by spreading bacteria around your mouth. You can also consider using an electric toothbrush, which can be more effective at removing plaque and can be easier to use if you have arthritis or other mobility issues.
Start Early with Children
If you have children, it’s important to start teaching them good dental hygiene habits from a young age. Encourage them to brush their teeth twice a day and floss daily, and help them choose healthy snacks and drinks that are good for their teeth. Taking your child to the dentist for regular checkups can also help prevent dental problems and promote good oral health habits.
Remember, by practicing good dental hygiene habits and seeking regular dental care, you can help prevent dental problems and maintain a healthy, beautiful smile for life. | <urn:uuid:de27bc7b-d036-4564-9314-9cfc67bdb6cc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://richmondhillsmilecentre.ca/treatments/dental-hygiene/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100508.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20231203125921-20231203155921-00070.warc.gz | en | 0.918864 | 564 | 2.953125 | 3 | 0.615736 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Health |
A kidney stone or renal calculus is a crystal concentration formed in the kidneys. Nephrolithiasis is formed from the minerals consumed in the diet and is largely composed of calcium. 75% of kidney stones are calcium stones. While Struvite stones are more commonly noticed in women, Uric acid stone can occur in men and women. Typically men are more affected by kidney stones than women. In most cases, the kidney stones are expelled by the body in the urine and no symptoms are noticed. But as the kidney stone grows in size, it can lead to pain and other symptoms. This is because of the obstruction to the ureters. A person suffering kidney stones feels pain in the area between the ribs and hip or lower abdomen and groin. Intermittent pain or renal colic is felt in spasms. It is sometimes accompanied by fever, blood and pus in the urine and pain on urination. There might be nausea and vomiting. There might be abnormal color of the urine.
Some foods that might increase the risk of kidney stone formation are refined sugars, sodium, vast quantities of animal protein and cola. Inadequate consumption of water adds to the risk factors. Those taking calcium supplements might also notice higher incidences of renal stone formation. This does not happen with high consumption of dietary calcium. Sodium, Uric acid and sulfurous amino acids also contribute to the formation of kidney stones. On the other hand, magnesium and potassium reduce urinary crystal formation by excreting citrate. Those with a family history of kidney stones are at higher risk of renal stones. Persons suffering kidney disorders, UTI and cystic kidney disease are also susceptible to kidney stones. Hyperoxaluria is a condition where the body produces too much oxalate. When this quantity is too large to be dissolved in urine, it leads to the formation of renal stones.
Ultrasound is done to confirm the presence of kidney stones. X-rays and IVP (intravenous pyelogram) aid in imaging the renal stone. Kidney function test and blood tests are also done. The size of kidney stones can range from a small grain of sand to a pearl. It can be smooth or jagged. Over time, renal stones can cause irreversible kidney damage. Most small stones in the kidney do not need treatment or removal. But if the kidney stones cause urine blockage, bleeding, infection or keep growing in size, they need to be removed. Some kidney stones, especially those consisting of uric acid or cystine can be treated with medicines. Else endoscopic removal of kidney stones with a uterescope is done. Lithotripsy is often used to break the stone into smaller pieces so that they can be flushed with the urine.
A kidney biopsy is often recommended for those who notice blood in the urine (hematuria), excess protein in the urine (proteinuria) or progressive kidney failure. Kidney biopsy might reveal the causes for improper functioning or rejection of a transplanted kidney. If urine tests, ultrasound or CT scan reveal possible kidney problems, kidney biopsy can aid in determining the cause.
A patient undergoing kidney biopsy is given sedation through IV. The biopsy needle is inserted through the skin with the aid of ultrasound. A small sample tissue is taken for examination. There is likely to be mild soreness in the muscle and some blood in the urine for the next 24 hours. Serious complications include puncture of a major blood vessel or bleeding into the kidney. Abnormal results of kidney biopsy show signs of scarring or inadequate blood flow or signs of disease such as renal cancer. Patients with blood clotting disorder are not advised to undergo this diagnostic test. Obesity, UTI, hypertension are some factors that can affect the accuracy of kidney biopsy results.
Nephrologists are specialists who specialize in diagnosing and treating diseases related to the kidney. They are trained to mange kidney disorders too. Pediatric nephrologists treat the same conditions in infants, children, and young adults. Nephrologists should complete medical school and then complete three years in internal medicine and further specialize for two years in the field of nephrology. Pediatric nephrologists have to further take special certification to qualify as pediatric Nephrologist. Nephrologists also termed as renal physicians treat diseases related to the kidney, any malfunctioning in the kidney can affect other organs of the body.
Enter your health or medical queries in our Artificial Intelligence powered Application here. Our Natural Language Navigational engine knows that words form only the outer superficial layer. The real meaning of the words are deduced from the collection of words, their proximity to each other and the context.
Diseases, Symptoms, Tests and Treatment arranged in alphabetical order:
Bibliography / Reference
Collection of Pages - Last revised Date: October 25, 2020 | <urn:uuid:b5aac24f-90ca-4b01-bee3-c24e1a055c3d> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://athena.targetwoman.com/kidney | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107889574.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20201025154704-20201025184704-00130.warc.gz | en | 0.938979 | 990 | 3.59375 | 4 | 1.839949 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Health |
Common Dental Treatments for Children
By Louis Buono on February 19, 2018
Healthy habits begin at a young age. In addition to learning about proper oral hygiene, your child should also attend routine dental visits to keep their teeth healthy. Did you know that the American Dental Association suggests that your child see the dentist around the age of one, or whenever the first tooth erupts? At our Garden City, NY, practice, we provide quality dental care for adults and children. Offering a wide array of general dentistry services, Dr. Louis J. Buono is experienced in treating younger patients. We offer common dental treatments for children which can instill healthy habits for a lifetime of benefits.
Dentistry is what we do, and we can correct a whole range of oral health problems. However, we much prefer to prevent these issues from developing in the first place. The best way to do that is to be diligent in keeping dental visits and develop an appropriate oral health regimen. Our team is well equipped to do just that.
Cleanings and Examinations
Kids need dental cleanings just like adults. The only way to prevent cavity-causing bacteria is to remove the plaque deposits and biofilm that cause it. Our dental team can spend time with your child and educate them in a fun, engaging way about the importance of dental hygiene.
Most children will require cleanings approximately every six months. However, if your child is particularly prone to decay, we can see them more frequently. Dr. Buono will also perform routine dental assessments to identify any potential problems. When diagnosed early, cavities are much easier to address.
The plaque buildup that accumulates around the teeth harbors bacteria. These bacteria thrive on sugary and starchy foods and can eventually cause the tooth enamel to wear thin. This process, known as demineralization, can make the teeth more vulnerable to decay and damage. Topical fluoride treatments help to remineralize the enamel, making the teeth strong and resilient.
The back teeth have deep grooves and fissures on the chewing surfaces. These indentations can become packed with food, debris, and bacteria, making them susceptible to cavities. Dental sealants can be placed on these surfaces to shield the teeth from bacteria. To apply sealants, a thin, plastic, coating is painted directly onto the teeth. When used in conjunction with brushing and flossing, dental sealants are an excellent way to maintain optimal oral health.
Occasionally, cavities develop despite our best efforts. When this occurs, Dr. Buono can discuss your options with you. It is best to save baby teeth when possible, as they are an important aspect of growth and development. Most cases of mild decay can be treated with a simple dental filling. In some cases, stainless steel crowns or other alternative treatments may be recommended.
Learn More about Pediatric Dental Treatments
If you need a dental team who can meet the needs of your entire family, schedule a consultation at Garden City Smiles. Dr. Buono and our team are committed to providing quality, compassionate care for patients of all ages. If you have questions about our dental treatments for children, or if you would like to schedule a visit, contact us online anytime.
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“I have been going to Dr. Buono for about 6 years and he’s great. His pricing fit my budget and my teeth can not look any better.” Isabella | <urn:uuid:a35011d4-455f-49c3-b8ac-fbe9e020b19b> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://www.gardencitysmiles.com/blog/2018/02/19/common-dental-treatments-for-children-189575 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027319470.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20190824020840-20190824042840-00307.warc.gz | en | 0.935225 | 716 | 2.5625 | 3 | 1.417893 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Health |
UPTON, NY - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory have fabricated transparent thin films capable of absorbing light and generating electric charge over a relatively large area. The material, described in the journal Chemistry of Materials, could be used to develop transparent solar panels or even windows that absorb solar energy to generate electricity.
The material consists of a semiconducting polymer doped with carbon-rich fullerenes. Under carefully controlled conditions, the material self-assembles to form a reproducible pattern of micron-size hexagon-shaped cells over a relatively large area (up to several millimeters).
"Though such honeycomb-patterned thin films have previously been made using conventional polymers like polystyrene, this is the first report of such a material that blends semiconductors and fullerenes to absorb light and efficiently generate charge and charge separation," said lead scientist Mircea Cotlet, a physical chemist at Brookhaven's Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN: http://www.
Furthermore, the material remains largely transparent because the polymer chains pack densely only at the edges of the hexagons, while remaining loosely packed and spread very thin across the centers. "The densely packed edges strongly absorb light and may also facilitate conducting electricity," Cotlet explained, "while the centers do not absorb much light and are relatively transparent."
"Combining these traits and achieving large-scale patterning could enable a wide range of practical applications, such as energy-generating solar windows, transparent solar panels, and new kinds of optical displays," said co-author Zhihua Xu, a materials scientist at the CFN.
"Imagine a house with windows made of this kind of material, which, combined with a solar roof, would cut its electricity costs significantly. This is pretty exciting," Cotlet said.
The scientists fabricated the honeycomb thin films by creating a flow of micrometer-size water droplets across a thin layer of the polymer/fullerene blend solution. These water droplets self-assembled into large arrays within the polymer solution. As the solvent completely evaporates, the polymer forms a hexagonal honeycomb pattern over a large area.
"This is a cost-effective method, with potential to be scaled up from the laboratory to industrial-scale production," Xu said.
The scientists verified the uniformity of the honeycomb structure with various scanning probe and electron microscopy techniques, and tested the optical properties and charge generation at various parts of the honeycomb structure (edges, centers, and nodes where individual cells connect) using time-resolved confocal fluorescence microscopy.
The scientists also found that the degree of polymer packing was determined by the rate of solvent evaporation, which in turn determines the rate of charge transport through the material.
"The slower the solvent evaporates, the more tightly packed the polymer, and the better the charge transport," Cotlet said.
"Our work provides a deeper understanding of the optical properties of the honeycomb structure. The next step will be to use these honeycomb thin films to fabricate transparent and flexible organic solar cells and other devices," he said.
The research was supported at Los Alamos by the DOE Office of Science. The work was also carried out in part at the CFN and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies Gateway to Los Alamos facility. The Brookhaven team included Mircea Cotlet, Zhihua Xu, and Ranjith Krishna Pai. Collaborators from Los Alamos include Hsing-Lin Wang and Hsinhan Tsai, who are both users of the CFN facilities at Brookhaven, Andrew Dattelbaum from the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies Gateway to Los Alamos facility, and project leader Andrew Shreve of the Materials Physics and Applications Division.
The Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies Gateway to Los Alamos facility are two of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs: http://nano.
Scientific paper: Structural dynamics and charge transfer via complexation with fullerene in large area conjugated polymer honeycomb thin films: http://pubs.
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.
Visit Brookhaven Lab's electronic newsroom for links, news archives, graphics, and more: http://www. | <urn:uuid:1c642235-3768-4660-b5ba-a5c72b499276> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/dnl-tcm110310.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469258937291.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723072857-00131-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918478 | 1,041 | 3.234375 | 3 | 2.82047 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Elephants belong to the order Proboscidea—animals with trunks. Proboscidea is Greek for “having a nose.”
At various times, proboscideans have lived on each of the continents on earth except Australia and Antarctica.
The trunk may have initially evolved to serve as a snorkel, allowing the animal to spend long periods under the water's surface. In modern elephants the trunk serves as extra “arm and hand” for gathering food that would otherwise be hard to reach.
Though there have been scores of species in the order, only two have survived into recent times.
Elephants evolved primarily in the Old World and came to North America during a series of migrations. The immigrant elephants evolved into new North American forms but ultimately all these elephants were extinct by 10,000 years ago.
Why did all the other families of the order Proboscidea go extinct? Evidence suggests that North American mammoths and mastodons were hunted to extinction by the first humans to reach the continent. Some scientists also argue that warming climate played a role in their extinction.
Paleo sleuths continue to piece together the mystery of why some species vanish and other go on.
Learn more about out how the elephant evolved from a smooth-faced, four-tusked beast to the familiar pachyderms we know today.
Art depictions © Mark Marcuson/University of Nebraska State Museum.
Ancient relative to the elephant and sea cow. The Moeritherium did not have a trunk but had a flexible upper lip that allowed it to grasp vegetation to eat. It stood about 2 feet tall and was about 10 feet long. It dwelled in swamps and water and had a lifestyle similar to the modern hippopotamus.
Closely related to the Moeritherium with characteristics of scoop-shaped lower tusks, used to dredge plants from flooded riversides and lakebeds. Unlike its ancestor it had a trunk with long, lower jaws and short upper and lower tusks.
Hoe Tusker – (Deinotherium)
Deinotherium belonged to a separate family of elephants living in the Old World. Its characteristics include two downward curving tusks that were good for digging. Unique in that they did not have tusks in their lower jaw.
Scoop Tusker – (Platybelodon grangeri)
Thought to have lived in swamp areas and scooped up algae and crops but may have actually used their long jaws (two large extensions that looked like teeth) to scrape trees for bark. Some controversy on whether this mammal should be considered a “shovel tusker”.
Prod Tusker – (Gomphotherium) “Four Tusker”
Originated in North America the bulldozer, short and stocky built for power with a massive jaw they plowed through the lush forests of Nebraska. The Prod Tusker had a long, low skull with a short trunk and two tusks on the upper jaw, two on the lower. The lower tusks were used to scoop food from the mud. Know as America’s most ancient elephant.
Long Jawed Tusker – (Megabelodon lulli)
Found in the Nebraska Niobrara River Valley. This “Four Tusker” did not have tusks in the lower jaw, but had a flexible lower lip.
Perfect Tusker – (Eubelodon)
The Perfect Tusker was the size of the modern Asian elephant and thought to have fed on treetops with long legs and long trunks with short jaws. The shorter jaw allowed for a long, modern style of trunk. It had two large upper tusks and No lower tusks, unlike other gomphotheres. Specimens found at Ashfall Fossil Beds.
Shovel Tusker – (Gomphotheriidae)
24 MYA - 10,000 years ago
This “Four Tusker” had lower tusks that were used to scoop food from mud, a long, low skull and a short trunk. Gomphotheres, a separate family of elephants and was ancestral to modern elephants. It was eplaced by more advanced elephants in the Pliocene. Extinct in North America by 2 MYA but survived in South America until 6,000 years ago.
Short Jawed Tusker – (Stegomastodon)
3 MYA - 10,000 years ago
Not really a mastodon but a gomphothere, it was considered to be the last of the “Four Tuskers”. Their name means “roof nipple tooth” they had two, upward-curving tusks. Migrated from North America to South America 3 mya, where it survived into the Ice Age.
Mammoth – “Archie” (Mammuthus)
5 MYA - 4,500 years ago
Also called mammoths, the largest mammals to have existed in the Great Plains,the adults could be more than 13 feet tall. Both males and females had long, curved tusks and corrugated teeth that enabled them to grind grasses. Ancestor of modern African elephants but not Asian elephants, is known as Nebraska’s state fossil.
American Mastodon – (Mammut)
12 MYA - 10,000 years ago
It roamed North American and then mysteriously became extinct around 10,500 years ago. Most likely due to changing climate that was warmer and drier. Their name means “earth burrower” and comes from the European farmers who discovered mammut fossils and thought they belonged to huge, burrowing animals.
African Elephant – (Loxodonta africana)
2.5 MYA - Recent
Characteristics include a swayed back, tapered head with large ears and trunk with two extensions. The male and female both have tusks.
Asian Elephant – (Elephas maximus)
2.5 MYA - Recent
Characteristics include an arched back, large domed head with small ears and trunk with a single “finger” or extension. Only the male will have tusks.
This state has supplied many pieces of the puzzle that help form the picture of changing climate and habitat, and its relationship to elephant evolution.
At Ashfall Fossil Beds, a middle Miocene site where volcanic ash overwhelmed whole communities of animals, excavations revealed specimens including a jawbone of a short-jawed four-tusker or Eubelodon in the sand layer below the ashbed. The water hole was situated in a depression amid warm grasslands and riparian (river-related) forests. Historical work was done here by paleo sleuth Mike Voorhies.
Norden Bridge, a middle Miocene site from about 14 MYA, was host to the first elephants in Nebraska and had the greatest diversity of animals from any terrestrial fossil site in the world, according to Mike Voorhies. The Gompotheres or four tuskers at Norden Bridge lived in a warm, temperate, forested habitat along stream channels. Winter temperatures were mild and did not go below freezing for long periods (indicated by the presence of species like tortoises that could not tolerate freezing). It was home to both grazers and browsers, and was an environment with several habitats. Historical work was done here by paleo sleuths Morris Skinner and Mike Voorhies.
Oak, a site from the late Pleistocene (about half a million years ago), had specimens of mastodons and mammoths, along with many browsers and a few grazers. Pine and spruce pollen were also found there. Historical work was done here by paleo sleuth Mike Voorhies. | <urn:uuid:7d2be160-1983-4c2c-9d87-72cf1e4b17f8> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | http://paleosleuths.org/elephants.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376827963.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20181216165437-20181216191437-00174.warc.gz | en | 0.953919 | 1,638 | 4.15625 | 4 | 2.669649 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Search Dog Trapper lived life to the fullest, enjoying every moment, whether searching for survivors after Hurricane Katrina or playing in the backyard swimming pool. This handsome Yellow Lab crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 15 years old on June 22 with his Handler of nearly 13 years, Marshia Hall, by his side.
•The British Veterinary Association reported nearly 11,000 UK pet poisoning incidents last year, with e-cigarette materials high in nicotine as a threat on the rise. Vitamin D tablet poisonings were also up, with rat poison, chocolate and artificial sweeteners also on the list.
•David Krall nearly died after he was infected with Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a rare bacteria that can be transmitted to people from dog saliva, when he was bitten by a neighbor’s dog, and although he’s recovered, he was left with partially amputated toes, hearing loss and other deficits. Krall’s condition, which was plagued by a series of mistakes and misinformation and was complicated by the fact that his spleen had been removed two decades earlier, left him in a medically induced coma for over a week.
•By Victoria Usher
The sense of fair play is an important human trait, but new research suggests that it’s a key behavior for dogs and wolves as well. This new research with wolves suggests that this aversion to unfairness predates the domestication of dogs. Scientists tested similarly raised dogs and wolves that lived in packs. Two animals of each species were placed in adjacent cages, equipped with a buzzer apparatus.
When the dog or wolf pressed it with their paw, both animals got a reward on some occasions. Other times, the dog or wolf doing the task got nothing while the partner did. The key finding was that when the partner got a high value treat, the animal doing the task refused to continue with it. “When the inequity was greatest they stopped working,” said Jennifer Essler, from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. “The fact that the behavior was found in both wolves and dogs helps to overturn the idea that dogs learned this concept because they were domesticated. It makes much more sense to say that this would be something shared from a common ancestor than to say it evolved twice, or to say that it came from domestication.”
Pet dogs are less sensitive to being treated unfairly – probably because of their experience with humans. “I think it’s clear that this is affected by both domestication as well as their life experience with humans because you do see a difference between pet dogs and pack-living dogs,” said Essler.
•Dear Dr. Weldy’s: My fiancé and I have been shopping for a new puppy, but after speaking to some friends of ours, we are blown away at the cost of veterinary care. We don’t think that we’ll move ahead with getting a puppy because the necessary care and surgery costs aren’t in our budget. Why is it so expensive to visit the vet?!
Dear Bremen: I’m so glad you asked! You aren’t wrong, and we sympathize with you — veterinary care is not cheap, and unplanned veterinary care can be financially straining. A simple answer to your question would be to say that your veterinarian is part of a business and businesses need to generate income. But, there’s more that we in the veterinary field would like you to know.
This conversation should be prefaced by saying that everyone at your vet clinic cares about your pet. The hustle and chaos may distract from it, but those individuals are extremely hard working and they’ve dedicated their lives to ensuring the betterment of you and your pet’s lives.
The obvious holds true — veterinary clinics are commercial entities with large utility bills and lots of overhead. Additionally, medications, surgical instruments, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc., all cost a lot of money to purchase and maintain. Most importantly, though, vet clinics charge what they charge so that veterinarians, receptionists, nurses, and support staff can continue to keep pets healthy. What many people don’t understand is that the amount of money that a clinic generates rarely reflects the enormous amounts of work, education, sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears that go into a regular day on the job.
This is well-illustrated by comparing veterinary medicine to human medicine. Veterinarians have very similar training to physicians on the human side — four years of college followed by four years of veterinary school. And many veterinarians go on to specialize, just like medical doctors. That education comes at a price for everyone; vets and physicians graduate with a similar amount of debt (approaching $200,000 for recent graduates). However, veterinarians make anywhere from a quarter to half of what physicians make.
Meanwhile, veterinary nurses and assistants (arguably the hardest working and most caring members of the veterinary team) are also suffering from a large debt-to-income ratio. Though many people are aware of the education required for vets, very few realize that many of the nurses they see at the vet have two-year, and sometimes four-year degrees. Despite their education and on-the-job training, most veterinary nurses make half (at best) of what their human counterparts bring in. The same holds true for all support staff involved. They are all extremely qualified individuals who work very hard to bring you and your animals better lives.
I haven’t pointed all of this out to complain, however. All of us enjoy our work and we’re proud of what we do. We signed up for this. I’ve pointed this out to illustrate that the veterinary team, in many ways, makes a financial sacrifice, so that we can all continue to enjoy the love and fulfillment our animals bring.
Questions for Ask a Vet can be asked either by email to [email protected], by regular mail to Dr. Weldy’s Associates, 114 N. Elkhart, P.O. Box 527, Wakarusa, IN 46573, or by visiting the website at www.drweldys.com. | <urn:uuid:461eb147-f7d2-4a8b-a3ad-ac0ae6d01f9c> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://venturabreeze.com/2017/07/19/vol-10-no-21-july-19-aug-1-2017-the-pet-page/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647153.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20180319214457-20180319234457-00226.warc.gz | en | 0.970995 | 1,285 | 2.59375 | 3 | 2.87272 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
The Salt Workers of the Little Rann of Kutch
The Arabian Sea retreated millenniums ago, leaving rich deposits of salt under the harsh desert landscape of the Little Rann of Kutch in India’s far west state of Gujarat. Each year the monsoon rains turn the desert into 5,000 square kilometres of salty marsh, forcing the animal inhabitants to seek refuge amongst the sparse thorny vegetation on tiny islands of high ground and the salt workers to return to their impoverished villages around the rim of the desert. When the rains stop and the mud has dried sufficiently to glitter again with salt, all these desert survivors return to their incredibly tough life.
It is the intense heat of September till March that allows the salt workers, known as agariyas, to carry out their ancient grueling work. Temperatures can reach 50 degrees ‘in the shade’, if you can find it that is, for they work in the open salt pans most of the day and their only protection is their simple humpies, rebuilt each year. Some 45,000 people are involved in the Little Rann as salt workers, their families and dependents.
The dreadful cycle begins with seeking an advance payment from the wholesale salt merchant who owns the lease and relies on many family groups to actually produce the salt crystals he transports to the markets for considerable profit. The salt workers use most of this advance money to re-sink the well and buy fuel for the crucial pump that brings the saline water (seven times saltier than the ocean) from the wells into the drying pans, as well as to buy deliveries of fresh water and basic food for themselves. At the end of the season the salt worker is paid about 40c per 100kg bag of salt, often resulting in little or no income once the advance money is taken off. All of this work demands long hours of physical effort under the relentless sun, usually with no protection for feet, hands or eyes, resulting in appalling health issues, especially gangrene, tuberculosis, blindness and premature death. They feel they have no choice.
We met a Rabari salt worker and his wife with their three year old son working hard on the pans near their humpy. They had constructed a series of drying pans by hand and feet, then pumped the well water into successive pans for raking and concentrating into brine until it had dried out completely to produce crystalized salt ready for transport. Each cycle takes about four months. They were fortunate to have an old bicycle that occasionally enabled them to visit their other two children who stay with their grandmother for the eight month season. With luck they may return to their village in April with $600.
Various strategies have been tried in recent years to assist these subsistence salt workers but with limited success. Ironically, salt has been a key symbol of India’s successful achievement of freedom from British colonial rule ever since Gandhi’s famous Salt March on 1930, demonstrated the effectiveness of massive non-violent civil disobedience campaigns. The current struggle facing these impoverished salt workers, (who may need another Gandhi to inspire them), is the plan of the Forestry Department to end all the salt leases by 2013 so that the newly recognized UNESCO biosphere reserve of the Little Rann can be better protected, including its rare Asiatic wild ass. With around 500,000 Indians involved in the salt industry, politicians will have a hard time prioritizing wild asses over local employment and profits. Meanwhile, after the monsoons, these local salt workers will return to their meager living in the endless sun and again gather the salt we all take so much for granted. | <urn:uuid:8c053c00-aafc-40a3-afeb-e32c961a11d8> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://www.robertvankoesveld.com/the-salt-workers-of-the-little-rann-of-kutch | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886108709.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170821133645-20170821153645-00152.warc.gz | en | 0.963312 | 730 | 2.828125 | 3 | 2.835936 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
Cold sores are unsightly and painful blisters which occasionally appear on the lips, cheeks, nose, or tongue. They are incredibly common and yet have no cure or definite method of prevention. Most importantly, cold sores are contagious, causing the quick and easy transmission of the herpes simplex viruses.
There are eight herpes viruses which cause 7 different illnesses. Cold sores result from two of them: Herpes Simplex 1 (HSV1 or oral herpes ) and Herpes Simplex 2 (HSV2 or genital herpes). It used to be thought that HSV1 was responsible for cold sores while HSV2 was responsible for genital herpes. We now know that both viruses can cause either kind of lesion, thought HSV1 most commonly causes cold sores and HSV2 genital herpes.
Life Cycle of HSV
The herpes simplex virus is unique in that it can remain dormant within a human host for years, often the entire length of a person's life. The virus accomplishes this by hiding out in nerve fibers. HSV1 most commonly hides out in the trigeminal cranial nerve, a giant network of nerves that provide movement and sensation to the entire face. When the immune system becomes weakened, often in response to stress, the virus can be reactivated. When this happens, the virus will travel down the nerve towards the periphery. The immune system will eventually detect the reawakened virus and attempt to destroy it, resulting in a fluid filled sore: the cold sore. The virus will then retreat back up the nerve and wait for another opportunity to resurface and be transmitted.
Transmission of HSV
The herpes simplex viruses are spread through contact and bodily fluids. Many people contract HSV-1 as infants when an infected adult kisses or touches them. People with herpes can even transmit the virus when they don't show any symptoms. This is called asymptomatic viral shedding and is thought to be responsible for herpes transmission over 70% of the time.
Prevention of Herpes Outbreaks
Most herpes outbreaks occur when the immune system becomes weak. While several physical things can weaken the immune system, stress and lack of sleep are other common immune system stressors. You can avoid stress through meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises. Be sure to eat right and get plenty of sleep to keep the immune system at its best.
Spreading Herpes throughout the Body
While the lips, cheeks, and nose are the most common places for cold sores to erupt, you can also spread the virus to other nerve-rich places of your body like the fingers and genitals. When displaying herpes symptoms it's a good idea to wash your hands frequently to prevent this spread.
Treating Cold Sores
The worst thing you can do for a cold sore is to mess with it. It may look somewhat like a pimple and you may really want to pop it, but do your best to leave it alone. Cold sores often form deep within the skin and can cause scarring if tampered with too much. Most cold sores clear up in seven to ten days. Keep the sore clean and dry and it should heal up without any other help.
Photo Credit: bx_bianca | <urn:uuid:707f4350-3414-4ea5-9ae2-1783dcaba53f> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://www.hellolife.net/herpes/b/can-herpes-simplex-be-caught-from-a-cold-sore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247489425.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20190219061432-20190219083432-00491.warc.gz | en | 0.943473 | 661 | 3.609375 | 4 | 1.218675 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Health |
Kids can use fine motor skills all day, but doing the same thing over and over can cause children to lose interest. These activities are fun experiences for October that will help build fine motor skills. These are perfect for a fall theme or Halloween theme. And, since many of the items are from the dollar store, you can stock up your morning work baskets or centers.
Halloween Fine Motor
When we refer to fine motor skills, we mean the small muscles in the hand and fingers. These muscles are used for writing, for tying shoes, and for delicate manipulation of objects. Regular practice in using these muscles is important for their development. Before children can begin to grasp a pencil properly and write with control, they must develop strength and dexterity in their fingers and hands. Fun, engaging activities that encourage using the hands and fingers are the ways to keep kids interested and in continuing to develop fine motor skills.
Halloween Fine Motor Tray
Assembling a fine motor tray is easy to do. I like to use a chip-and-dip tray. I purchased several from the dollar store in a variety of colors. Why different colors? When different colored materials appear on a different colored tray, the children say, “A new activity!” They are immediately more engaged, even if we are still doing similar activities, because it seems new.
Basics for my fine motor tray: small stampers, paper straws, stickers in different sizes, ink pads, colored glue or glitter glue, scissors, and colored paper. You could encourage children to explore the materials independently. However, I do introduce materials and some ways to use them. (Check out details of activities below.)
After introducing the materials to preschoolers, I put the fine motor tray on a table in the morning as part of morning work. After all the children are familiar with the materials, I move the tray to a center for regular use.
Draw lines on orange construction paper; make lines about one apart. The space between the lines should be wide enough to fit a small sticker or one of the stamped images. Cut the paper across the lines into strips (also about one inch wide). Your strips will have segments marked with the lines. A preschooler can place small stickers between the lines on a paper strip. Then she can cut on the lines. The strips should be about one snip wide.
Preschoolers can also cut apart strips of stickers.
Draw thematic shapes onto construction paper squares. (I trace stencils.) Older preschoolers can cut out these more challenging shapes.
Scissors I like to use:
- Squeeze Scissors
- Loop Scissors
- Fiskars Preschool Scissors
Halloween Stickers and Stamps
Just using stampers helps a child develop more control over his small hand muscles. Develop more control by inviting a preschooler to stamp shapes in between the lines on an orange lined strip.
Cut black construction paper into squares. A preschooler can peel and stick a large sticker on the paper square. Challenge him to cut out the sticker, too.
Children can place small stickers on the lines of the thematic shapes you drew.
Invite preschoolers to cut paper straws into short lengths. They will enjoy cutting the straws and making small pieces. Add lengths of yarn; children can string the straw pieces onto the yarn. (Chenille craft stems are also good for stringing straw pieces.)
For more fine motor practice, add pony beads to the fine motor tray. Preschoolers can string the beads on chenille craft stems.
Watch the Video
More Halloween Activities | <urn:uuid:33f36722-5037-4ce7-b51d-bae3828ee71e> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://www.pre-kpages.com/halloween-fine-motor-activities-preschool/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627997508.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20190616002634-20190616024634-00175.warc.gz | en | 0.93147 | 742 | 3.0625 | 3 | 1.408676 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Operating system: Windows
Publisher: ESET, spol. s r.o
Antivirus check: passed
Last revision: Last week
ESET NOD32 is a popular means of protection against viruses and spyware. Antivirus has everything you need to ensure a high level of security for your system. Flexibly customizes and learns your computer behavior to fit your computer.
If you do not have the key, you can install and activate the trial version. To do this, you will need to enter your email address. Immediately after the first launch, the antivirus starts updating the signature databases. Anti-virus can be minimized by delegating the protection of your system to the anti-virus tray. However, setting NOD32 parameters will give you more control over what is happening and will make the antivirus work according to your preferences.
Open the settings and follow each item carefully. It will take time, but will pay off in time more comfortable for you work antivirus. Here you can strengthen protection and make alerts more or less frequent. And even teach the antivirus how to use it.
NOD32 monitors the file system in a continuous mode, and checks each new file that appeared on the hard disk before it was opened. There is removable media control, and in the settings you can assign an action to be performed when the media is connected to the computer.
HIPS is an interesting feature that allows you to control the behavior of programs. You can set up rules for evaluating program activity, as well as determine how to handle emerging threats. Antivirus can make decisions automatically, but it can also display detailed alerts and requests for you. There is also a training mode in which the antivirus remembers the decisions you have made to choose them automatically in similar situations. You can set the learning period in the settings (the default is 14 days).
Having NOD32 in your system, you can feel safe when working on the Internet and with e-mail (in the mail client). There are rootkit and other virus detection modules that try to hide from the user's eyes and from the antivirus. If you like to play games, you can put the antivirus into the game mode to free up more computer resources for the game.
In general, this antivirus does not have any obvious drawbacks. If we compare it with, say, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, they are almost the same in functionality.
- Check for new files when they arrive on your hard drive;
- Tracking program activity, which allows you to identify new viruses (which are not in the database), as well as to prohibit programs such as changing the search engine in the browser, etc.
- a gamer's game mode;
- E-mail check in the mail client;
- user protection when surfing the Internet;
- a neat interface. | <urn:uuid:e1b36ef2-8484-4133-bd0a-c5f31bd77b7e> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://softradar.com/eset-nod32/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224652494.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20230606082037-20230606112037-00621.warc.gz | en | 0.937979 | 590 | 2.640625 | 3 | 1.993796 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Software |
The argument of organic versus non-organic food is an ongoing one in health communities, among scientists and food conscious people. Is organic really that much better? Is the difference even worth it? While we can’t speak definitively for a switch to all organic produce for everyone, there are significant benefits that come from going all-natural.
1. Less Toxic Chemicals for Your Body
A big pull for many people to switch over to organic foods is the elimination of harmful pesticides during the harvesting process. One of the main chemicals that can be found in conventionally harvested foods is cadmium. Cadmium is a toxic metal found in many pesticides that can cause cancer and negatively affect your brain, heart, kidney, and reproductive health. According to studies, there is about 48% more cadmium found in non-organic foods
, which could be harmful to your health if accumulated over time. Keeping exposure to cadmium as minimal as possible is ideal, because by nature, it accumulates easily and takes a lot for your body to remove it. The amount found in any given fruit or vegetable is within regulation, but the lower levels of cadmium in organic foods are a huge upside to making the switch over from conventional foods.
2. Higher Antioxidants
Antioxidants combat waste produced by cells called free radicals. Free radicals, when left unattended, damages our cell walls—resulting in a poorly functioning cell or even the death of a cell. The cellular damage done by free radicals can lead to cancer and bone deterioration, specifically, putting your bodily wellbeing at risk. There are thousands of different substances which can serve as antioxidants, and organic produce provides more of them for us than their less-natural counterparts. In fact, some studies even showed that the difference is as much as 40%
more antioxidants in organic fruits and vegetables than the daily suggested serving of conventional produce. Antioxidants are also known to help prevent heart disease and cancer.
3. Better for the Environment
Aside from the typical health benefits, contributing to a healthier Earth is yet another reason to stick to organic food products. The harvesting process for conventional produce uses excess amounts of pesticides and preservatives, which not only damage the crops’ health benefits, but also seep into the soil as well as the water runoff. This can affect any plants, food or water sources it comes into contact with. When we drink water or eat the produce that are grown using contaminated water, it can cause long term effects on our bodies and the natural environment beyond those farms. Organic foods, on the other hand, use natural fertilizers and stay away from the harmful processes used in conventional farming. This keeps down toxic presence in our food and water sources and promotes a healthy Earth overall. It all adds up, and making a small switch to choosing organic food can be a great act of love for Mother Earth.
Seeking out organic options the next time you go to the store is really worth it and will better your health and the environment around you in the long run. Another great option you can try is venturing to your nearest farmers market. There, you’ll find the healthiest, freshest produce options and you’ll be supporting the local community, too. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Do you have any smart, organic-eating tips? Let us know in the comments below! | <urn:uuid:7c330800-429d-4dfe-bd8a-4a6cbb703cad> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.changeyourenergy.com/blog/2208/is-eating-organic-really-better-for-me | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141169606.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124000351-20201124030351-00589.warc.gz | en | 0.955891 | 692 | 2.78125 | 3 | 2.5293 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
What is Fashion?
To start to talk about fashion management we Have to start with this exact question: What is Fashion? And according to My Course in University first we should ask about any definitions of Fashion from famous ppl who have been involved into this sophisticated marvellous world.
Seneca, philosopher said: “We live not according to a reason, but according to fashion”
That brings us to first definition: Fashion is a Desire.
“Theres never a new fashion but its old”, – said english poet Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century).
So, second definition states that Fashion is Past and Future.
Oscar Wilde, poet, novelist, critic (19th century) states: “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable, that we have to alter it every six months”
This quote reveals something that determines any changes, that come on following period Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter in Fashion industry nowadays. The definition is: Fashion is a Planned obsolence. Planned seasonality gives life to trends and its a huge opportunity for companies in fashion to show this trends/changes during fashion shows. And its an artificial way to raise their profits.
Coco Chanel, French Fashion designer: “Fashion is not something, that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening” (19-20th century)
Here comes the next definition: In a business logic, Fashion applies to a different sectors and product categories, as for increasing sales and increasing equity.
“Fashion fades, Style is eternal”, – famous phrase of French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent
Fashion is a challenge between Trend and Style. Theres always some kind of a tricky game, during it, companies tend to win on selling Trends, for customer its not always that great. If theres a Win for a trend (a short -term tendency, strongly related to a season), customer risks to become a fashion victim. And Style, thats something that lasts across seasons, defines personality, way of life and unique features. For companies its an important signature, that stays no matter what, strongly revealing the identity of Brand. For a customers, its a great skill to have their own personal style. The main task is to be able to adapt and filter The Trend through The Style.
“Fashion is like a fruit, you couldnt eat it a day before and you cant it it a day after, its just about today”, – Alber Elbaz, Israeli fashion designer (20 century)
He spotted that Fashion is about relevance and being contemporary.
Also, Fashion is a dream and inspiration. The most sophisticated determination for me comes from phrase of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren (20 century):
“I dont design clothes. I design dreams”
As he brings his ideas, dreams to life each season with a hard process of work and challenges, he gets rewarded it through Fashion. Ralph Lauren In His Own Words | <urn:uuid:b4278a3b-01d3-4f93-8366-53fc1801260a> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | https://fashionthoughtsweb.wordpress.com/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917125532.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031205-00522-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949214 | 639 | 2.515625 | 3 | 2.5049 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Fashion & Beauty |
The Tatars find themselves among 100+ indigenous ethnicities who populate the territories of modern Russian Federation. Based on 2010 census, the Tatars form the largest non-Slavic ethnic group comprising of 3.9% of total population of Russian Federation. Although the Tatars are scattered across the large areas within Russia as well as worldwide, most of them (~ 5 million) reside in Tatarstan. With its capital in Kazan, Tatarstan is a home of the Tatar culture, arts and lifestyle.
The modern Tatars trace their roots to the early nomads (Saka / Scythians), who had roamed vast territories of the EurAsian steppes, and the Volga Bulgars (Tatars used to be called Bulgars), who had settled in their indigenous territories (modern Tatarstan) in the 8-9th centuries CE (after splitting from the short-lived Old Great Bulgaria established by the semi-nomadic Onogur Bulgars in 630 CE in the area of northern shores of Black Sea). These days, the Tatars are a stateless nation: their indigenous territories are the part of the state of Russian Federation.
Over the years, the early Tatars (Bulgars) spread out through the EurAsian continent. The largest Tatar population live on Volga and Kama rivers banks (Tatarstan): they became referred as Volga Tatars. Lipka Tatars reside in Belarus, Lithuania and Poland. Astrakhan Tatars live by the Caspian Sea. Siberian Tatars populate vast areas between Ural Mountains and Yenisei River. Crimean Tatars are indigenous people of Crimean Peninsula.
After World War I, a vast group of the Tatars migrated to the other parts of the world. Nowadays, Tatar diasporas (comprising of roughly 3 million Tatars) are thriving in Finland, Australia, China, Belgium, USA, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan.
The Tatars speak the Tatar tongue (Turkic language family) and have a culture, customs and traditions that are influenced by pan-Turkic and Islamic norms and mindsets. The Tatars share language similarities and cultural origins with many Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. The Tatar language is mutually intelligible with Turkic languages such as Azerbajani, Bashkir, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Uzbek, etc.
Below are some images of Tatar girls of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries who are pictured wearing Tatar traditional outwear. You can view more modern Tatar types in this video or enjoy Tatar folk tunes and colorful Tatar ethnic costumes while watching this traditional Tatar folk dance. The Tatar boots / Shchitekler have always been essential in forming identity and the image of the Tatar people. | <urn:uuid:afa78f00-6df9-4d09-b7c1-4eb282f8051d> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://uniqueleathermosaic.com/kazan/who-are-the-tatars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499826.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20230130165437-20230130195437-00840.warc.gz | en | 0.924605 | 577 | 3.0625 | 3 | 2.549666 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
Malbec and Argentina Make for a Perfect Song and Dance
Malbec is a variety of purple grape used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West France region. It is increasingly celebrated as an Argentine varietal wine and is being grown around the world.
Called Auxerrois or Côt Noir in Cahors, called Malbec in Bordeaux, and Pressac in other places, the grape became less popular in Bordeaux after 1956 when frost killed off 75% of the crop. Despite Cahors being hit by the same frost, which devastated the vineyards, Malbec was replanted and continued to be popular in that area where it was mixed with Merlot and Tannat to make dark, full-bodied wines, and more recently has been made into 100% Malbec varietal wines.
A popular but unconfirmed theory claims that Malbec is named after a Hungarian peasant who first spread the grape variety throughout France. However the French ampelographer and viticulturalist Pierre Galet notes that most evidence suggest that Côt was the variety's original name and that it probably originated in northern Burgundy. Despite a similar name, the grape Malbec argenté is not Malbec, but rather a variety of the southwestern French grape Abouriou. Due to the similarities in synonyms, Malbec has also been confused with Auxerrois blanc, which is an entirely different variety.
The Malbec grape is a thin-skinned grape and needs more sun and heat than either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to mature. It ripens mid-season and can bring very deep color, ample tannin, and a particular plum-like flavor component to add complexity to claret blends. Sometimes, especially in its traditional growing regions, it is not trellised and cultivated as bush vines (the goblet system). Here it is sometimes kept to a relatively low yield of about 6 tons per hectare. The wines are rich, dark and juicy.
As a varietal, Malbec creates a rather inky red (or violet), intense wine, so it is also commonly used in blends, such as with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to create the red French Bordeaux claret blend. The grape is blended with Cabernet Franc and Gamay in some regions such as the Loire Valley. Other wine regions use the grape to produce Bordeaux-style blends. The varietal is sensitive to frost and has a proclivity to shatter or coulure.
Malbec is very susceptible to various grape diseases and viticultural hazards-most notably frost, coulure, downey mildew and rot but the development of new clones and vineyard management techniques have helped control some of these potential problems. When it is not afflicted with these various ailments, particularly coulure, it does have the potential to produce high yields. Too high a yield, as was the circumstance in Argentina until recently with their heavy use of flood irrigation, the wines become more simplistic and lacking in flavor. Malbec seems to be able to produce well in a variety of soil types but in the limestone based soils of Cahors it seems to produce its most dark and tannic manifestation. There are distinct ampelographical differences in the clones of Malbec found in France and in Argentina, with Argentine Malbec tending to have smaller berries
While acreage of Malbec is declining in France, in Argentina the grape is surging and has become a "national variety" of sort that is uniquely identified with Argentine wine. The grape was first introduced to the region in the mid 19th century when provincial governor, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, instructed the French agronomist Miguel Pouget to bring grapevine cuttings from France to Argentina. Of the vines that Pouget brought were the very first Malbec vines to be planted in the country. During the economic turmoil of the 20th century, some plantings of Malbec were pulled out to make way for the jug wine producing varieties of Criolla Grande and Cereza. But the grape was rediscovered in the late 20th century as the Argentine wine industry shifted its focus to premium wine production for export. As the Argentine wine industry discovered the unique quality of wine that could be made from the grape, Malbec arose to greater prominence and is today the most widely planted red grape variety in the country. As of 2003 there were over 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of Malbec in Argentina.
The grape clusters of Argentine Malbec are different from its French relatives have smaller berries in tighter, smaller clusters. This suggest that the cuttings brought over by Pouget and later French immigrants was a unique clone that may have gone extinct in France due to frost and the phylloxera epidemic. Argentine Malbec wine is characterized by its deep color and intense fruity flavors with a velvety texture. While it doesn't have the tannic structure of a French Malbec, being more plush in texture, Argentine Malbecs have shown aging potential similar to their French counterparts. The Mendoza region is the leading producer of Malbec in Argentina with plantings found throughout the country in places such as La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, Catamarca and Buenos Aires.
Return from Malbec to types of red wine
Return from Malbec to red wine home | <urn:uuid:fd587ef7-e4d1-4fb6-9082-5de4585ae1fe> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://www.red-wine-home.com/malbec.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296945292.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20230325002113-20230325032113-00469.warc.gz | en | 0.964151 | 1,164 | 2.59375 | 3 | 2.623589 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Food & Dining |
African countries such as Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been devastated by civil war for decades. Although the conflicts are over and the countries are slowly rebuilding themselves, one deadly legacy remains – landmines.
Landmines can lurk underground for decades, primed to explode and destroy the limbs and lives of rural people, and hamper any kind of development. But demining the land is a slow, dangerous and expensive process – particularly in these vast African states.
Until now. A Danish engineer has developed an astonishing new system of locating and destroying landmines that is cheap, safe and quick. All it requires is trained deminers – and lots of rats.
Most of us think of engineers as people who fiddle around with machines, electronic circuits, chemical reactions or cement. But Bart Weetjens is an engineer with a difference – part of a new wave. He studied design engineering at the University of Antwerp, and then worked at a couple of jobs that most people would have thought were pretty cool – designing coaches and then leisure goods.
But he was frustrated. He wanted to use his considerable skills to address real problems in the real world, and he had a romantic notion that he wanted to live and work in Africa. But he still wasn’t sure where exactly in Africa he wanted to work, and what exactly he wanted to do.
Then in 1993 he found a muse in the form of a tall, beautiful blonde. Princess Diana was a tireless campaigner for the removal of landmines, and her message fell on at least one pair of receptive ears. Weetjens had found his vocation.
Landmines are the most hideous and insidious of weapons – and that’s saying a lot, because there aren’t any nice and gentle weapons. The problem with landmines is that once they’ve been laid, they’re there for a long, long time.
Weetjens would have been very aware of this in his native Belgium. Amazingly, the Belgian bomb disposal unit gets about 700 calls a year to remove and defuse landmines and unexploded ordnance from the First and Second World Wars. The Second World War ended more than 60 years ago, and Belgium is a small, densely populated, technically advanced first world country. But on average two unexploded devices are found there every day.
Then think of vast rural countries such as Angola, Mozambique or the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is estimated that about 200 million unexploded landmines lie buried across the world – mostly in Africa and the Middle East. And this is only an estimate because minefields, by their nature, are not exactly well documented.
Weetjens relates how Diana got the message across that landmines were not only awful weapons that maim and kill people. They are also an effective barrier to development. People can’t farm, or fish or prospect with landmines around. So in many once war-torn African countries they have to be removed before recovery can begin.
Having decided that landmines were the problem he wanted to solve, Weetjens began work. He attended conferences, read widely and tried to find out all he could about demining. One of the biggest problems, he discovered, is that demining is expensive and depends heavily on high-level skills that mostly must be imported into developing countries.
Before Weetjens there were two ways of finding mines. Using metal detectors, the traditional method, was costly, high-tech, slow and dependent on foreign expertise. Using dogs to sniff out mines was faster and more cost-effective – particularly in places like Afghanistan. But dogs didn’t work well in Africa. Norwegian People’s Aid brought 20 expensive trained demining dogs into Mozambique, but half of them were dead in six months. They were simply not adapted to Africa’s climate, and its interesting array of external and internal parasites.
Then Weetjens came across an article describing how two US scientists had successfully trained gerbils to detect explosives, and the penny dropped. Whatever a dog or gerbil could do a rat could do as well – possibly even better. And certainly cheaper. But he was met with derision when he mooted the concept.
From when he got the idea in 1995, it took two years to get funding to implement the programme and then, with the help of a rodent specialist, he set out to find the perfect rat. This turned out to be the giant pouched rat, which is found all over Africa. It is resistant to local diseases, is relatively long-lived - surviving easily to the age of about eight in captivity - and is much less aggressive than the more familiar city rat.
It is also quite a lot bigger, being the size of a cat, which makes it easy to see as it scuttles over minefields. Like other rats, it is highly intelligent, has an excellent sense of smell, and is easy to train.
It took another three years to breed up a stable of rats and to train them. The project was based at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, near Dar es Salaam. This site was chosen because Tanzania is a relatively stable country, and the university has a long relationship with the University of Antwerp.
The first part of the programme was to recruit and train rat trainers, as the aim of the project was to produce a locally sustainable solution that would minimise, if not totally eliminate, dependence on imported expertise and technology.
The rats were first trained to detect the smell of explosives in small contained areas, using classic sound association and food reward techniques. Once they had got the hang of it, they were trained on a specially built 24-hectare minefield. With 1 553 defused landmines of 14 different types, the field is the most varied minefield in the world, so it’s a good training ground.
The real test was when the rats and their trainers were moved to Mozambique in 2003 to work their skills in the field – with real, live landmines. But this turned out to be easier than the test field. Ten years in the ground had increased the mines’ concentration of tell-tale vapour, making them easier to smell out.
To demine a field, it is divided into squares bisected by corridors that have been cleared with metal detectors. The trainers walk in the demined corridors and the rats, wearing little harnesses and leashes, run along laid-out lines, sniffing the ground.
If they find a mine, they dig, showing the trainer where it is. The rats only weigh a couple of kilograms at most so they can’t set the mines off. Each area is covered by two or three different rats, and the results are collated before the mines are destroyed in a controlled detonation.
It takes about half an hour to detect all the mines in a 100 m2 block using rats, whereas it would take two days to clear the same area in the traditional, more expensive way using metal detectors.
With a sigh of relief, Weetjens realised the technology worked, so he applied for accreditation with International Mine Action Standards. The technology was accredited in 2004, and the programme as a whole in 2006.
Each rat and trainer pair needs to be tested every six months, and the standards are high – 100%. Not only can the team not miss a single landmine, which obviously could have dire consequences in the real world, they can’t get a false positive identification.
Although the animals and trainers are accredited as pairs, the beauty of rats is that they are not quite as dependent on one trainer as dogs are. But that doesn’t mean they don’t build up a relationship with their human colleagues. The trainers and other team members have developed a definite fondness for the rats. And, as they are well-fed, well-groomed and kept clean, they are actually rather cute – with their little twitchy noses and bright black eyes.
The project is not only ground-breaking in its effective removal of landmines. It also challenges some of our most cherished prejudices. It’s shown us that rats can be clean and useful animals that save lives and make a positive contribution to society. It’s also shown that engineers can be people who work with ideas as opposed to machines, and that technology can be adapted to suit the needs of people, instead of the other way round. | <urn:uuid:ec76f148-c0ce-4d5a-9ffd-7024e25a7145> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=784:rats151008&catid=47:africanews&Itemid=116 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257830066.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071030-00153-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972897 | 1,770 | 2.609375 | 3 | 2.965323 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
There is growing and often hidden epidemic – 4.2 million young people experience unaccompanied homelessness in the course of a year, according to a new study from Chapin Hall a research center at the University of Chicago. This study provides new evidence for understanding the scale, scope, and urgency of youth homelessness in America.
The scale of the issue is startling – 1 in 30 teens (ages 13-17) experience some form of homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year. As children age, the problem is more prevalent. One in 10 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 experience homelessness.
The study also found that some populations are more likely to experience homelessness than others. For example:
- African American youth are 82 percent more likely and Hispanic non-White youth are 33 percent more likely to experience homelessness.
- LGBTQ youth are 120 percent more likely to experience youth homelessness than other people.
- Unmarried parenting youth had a 200 percent higher risk for homelessness.
In addition to shedding light on who is most often affected, the new report corrects some misconceptions (showing it is an issue in rural as well as in urban areas), and the impacts that homelessness can have on youth education and development (youth experiencing homelessness often do not show up to school or frequently switch between schools, and as a result do not have high school diplomas).
The researchers recommend that policymakers build prevention efforts in systems where youth likely to experience homelessness such as the child welfare, juvenile justice, and education systems. Statistics show that nearly one-third of youth experiencing homelessness had experiences with foster care and nearly half had been in juvenile detention, jail, or prison.
Advocacy & Communication Solutions (ACS) is honored to have partnered with Cleveland Ohio’s Housing First Initiative to help implement its local and trade earned media campaign in December 2017 to educate the community about its milestones to date and to announce that it is on pace to end long-term homelessness by 2020. As a result, Housing First secured the following earned media:
- WCPN Sound of Ideas: Net Neutrality and Housing First – A look at Housing First, a collaborative in Cuyahoga County that announced it is on pace to end long-term homelessness in the region by 2020. http://wcpn.ideastream.org/programs/sound-of-ideas/net-neutrality-housing-first
- WVIZ ideas: Long-Term Homelessness Dwindles Down in Cuyahoga County –
Housing First says that it is on track to end “long-term homelessness” in Cuyahoga County by 2020. The group looks to finish its 13th project in 2019, bringing the total number of residential units to 781. http://www.ideastream.org/programs/ideas/long-term-homelessness-dwindles-down-in-cuyahoga-county
- Crain’s Cleveland Business (appeared online and in print): Organizations near milestone in housing for Cuyahoga County homeless – A $12.9 million apartment building in Brooklyn Centre may be the final puzzle piece in solving chronic homelessness in Cuyahoga County. Housing First, a collaboration of community organizations in Cuyahoga County fighting long-term homelessness, has announced it is on pace to end the problem in the county by 2020. With the construction of this new apartment building, slated to be completed in 2019, the group said the county will have enough permanent supportive housing to sustainably serve all individuals and families with disabilities who are struggling with long-term homelessness. | <urn:uuid:c88d005d-85a5-454c-a163-6cf5bd0e0f3f> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.advocacyandcommunication.org/new-study-uncovers-a-startling-statistic-4-2-million-kids-experience-homelessness-nationwide/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337473.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20221004023206-20221004053206-00177.warc.gz | en | 0.960148 | 747 | 2.765625 | 3 | 2.913345 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Politics |
A thread is a basic unit of CPU utilization; it comprises a thread ID, a program counter, a register set, and a stack. It shares with other threads belonging to the same process its code section, data section, and other operating-system resources, such as open files and signals. A traditional (or heavyweight) process has a single thread of control.If a process has multiple threads of control, it can perform more than one task at a time.
Many software packages that run on modern desktop PCs are multithreaded. An application typically is implemented as a separate process with several threads of control. A web browser might have one thread display images or text while another thread retrieves data from the network, for example. A word processor may have a thread for displaying graphics, another thread for responding to keystrokes from the user, and a third thread for performing spelling and grammar checking in the background.
In certain situations, a single application may be required to perform several similar tasks. For example, a web server accepts client requests for web pages, images, sound, and so forth. A busy web server may have several (perhaps thousands) of clients concurrently accessing it. If the web server ran as a traditional single-threaded process, it would be able to service only one client at a time. The amount of time that a client might have to wait for its request to be serviced could be enormous.
One solution is to have the server run as a single process that accepts requests. When the server receives a request, it creates a separate process to service that request. In fact, this process-creation method was in common use before threads became popular. Process creation is time consuming and resource intensive, as was shown in the previous chapter. If the new process will perform the same tasks as the existing process, why incur all that overhead? It is generally more efficient to use one process that contains multiple threads. This approach would multithread the web-server process. The server would create a separate thread that would listen for client requests; when a request was made, rather than creating another process, the server would create another thread to service the request.
Threads also play a vital role in remote procedure call (RPC) systems. RPCs allow interprocess communication by providing a communication mechanism similar to ordinary function or procedure calls. Typically, RPC servers are multithreaded. When a server receives a message, it services the message using a separate thread. This allows the server to service several concurrent requests. Java's RMI systems work similarly. Finally, many operating system kernels are now multithreaded; several threads operate in the kernel, and each thread performs a specific task, such as managing devices or interrupt handling. For example, Solaris creates a set of threads in the kernel specifically for interrupt handling; Linux uses a kernel thread for managing the amount of free memory in the system.
The benefits of multithreaded programming can be broken down into four major categories:
1. Responsiveness. Multithreading an interactive application may allow a program to continue running even if part of it is blocked or is performing a lengthy operation, thereby increasing responsiveness to the user. For instance, a multithreaded web browser could still allow user interaction in one thread while an image was being loaded in another thread.
2. Resource sharing. By default, threads share the memory and the resources of the process to which they belong. The benefit of sharing code and data is that it allows an application to have several different threads of activity within the same address space.
3. Economy. Allocating memory and resources for process creation is costly. Because threads share resources of the process to which they belong, it is more economical to create and context-switch threads. Empirically gauging the difference in overhead can be difficult, but in general it is much more time consuming to create and manage processes than threads. In Solaris, for example, creating a process is about thirty times slower than is creating a thread, and context switching is about five times slower.
|Topics You May Be Interested In|
|Paging In Operating System||Windows Xp- History|
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4. Utilization of multiprocessor architectures. The benefits of multithreading can be greatly increased in a multiprocessor architecture, where threads may be running in parallel on different processors. A singlethreaded process can only run on one CPU, no matter how many are available. Multithreading on a multi-CPU machine increases concurrency.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Operating System Concepts ( Multi tasking, multi programming, multi-user, Multi-threading )
- Different Types of Operating Systems
- Batch Operating Systems
- Time sharing operating systems
- Distributed Operating Systems
- Network Operating System
- Real Time operating System
- Various Operating system services
- Architectures of Operating System
- Monolithic architecture - operating system
- Layered Architecture of Operating System
- Microkernel Architecture of operating system
- Hybrid Architecture of Operating System
- System Programs and Calls
- Process Management - Process concept | <urn:uuid:5e61184b-7e9b-482f-b924-0d79da50322c> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://www.padakuu.com/article/59-threads-overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251779833.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20200128153713-20200128183713-00086.warc.gz | en | 0.927981 | 1,088 | 4.09375 | 4 | 2.567465 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Software Dev. |
You reason that you should do something, and thus you do it.
1. Note taking on more than you can handle.
2. Reasonably estimating the time required to perform each of the tasks at hand.
3. Actually doing what needs to be done.
- A minute now is as precious as a minute later. You can't put time back on the clock.
- If you're not ahead of schedule, then you're behind schedule. Because, if you try to remain right on schedule, then any mishap or misjudgment will cause you to fall behind---perhaps right at the deadline, when no recovery is possible.
- Understand, and be honest with, yourself. All else follows from this.
- Be both athlete and coach: Keep one eye on what you are doing, and one eye on yourself.
- Take command of, and responsibility for, yourself.
- Face your insecurities head-on. Some common signs of insecurity: Asking a question to which you already know the answer; being artificially social with teachers or other students, when the real reason is to temporarily kill the pain.
- Form a positive self-image: Those students who are first entering secondary school will probably have doubts about how well they will do. Try to do well immediately to instill an expectation of continuing to do well. Settle for nothing less. Nevertheless, try not be restricted by your past performance and experiences, good or bad. Learn from the past, but don't be bound by it. Seek out your weaknesses and attack them. Be realistic about your limitations; but, don't let this lead to becoming satisfied with them.
- He/She wants to learn the material.
- He/She wants to get a good grade.
- He/She doesn't care.
- He/She wants students to learn the material.
- He/She wants grading to be fair and reflect students' knowledge and abilities.
- He/She doesn't care.
- Learn the material.
- Learn the teacher.
- Keep in mind that your work is being graded by a human being. Thus:
Write legibly, orderly, and coherently.
Supply any commentary necessary to make it clear what you are attempting to do.
- Making the teacher's job easier will more likely lead to you getting the benefit of doubt when it occurs.
- Don't think that getting the right answer to a homework problem implies that you have mastered the corresponding material. All you have done is solve one particular problem; that does not mean you have necessarily learned how to solve all such problems (such as the ones to appear on your exams). It's up to you to view the homework problems from this wider perspective.
- If available, always go over the solutions provided by the teacher, even if you did well on the assignment. He/She may demonstrate methods (perhaps more efficient) or provide useful information that you hadn't thought of.
Roughly prioritise material as to its importance (primary, secondary, tertiary), and concentrate your studying on the most significant topics. Remember, the teacher only has a limited amount of time to test what you know and can do. Thus, keep in mind when preparing for an exam that the problems cannot be too complicated if they are to fit within the allotted time.
- Study in ways that are suited to you.
Study with a group or alone based upon which is really best for you.
Do your most strenuous and important work during those times of the day that you work best.
Summarise or outline the course or text material in your own words. Writing a summary not only forces you to examine the subject matter in detail, but provides a compendium to review just prior to the exam.
Play it safe: Memorise somewhat more than what the teacher says is required. Bring a calculator even if it's not suggested. Etc.
Study old exams if the teacher is known to give similar exams. But, don't be fooled into thinking that since you were able to work through an old exam, it means you understand all the course material in general, and can perform in a test situation.
Bring your own paper and a watch.
Fighting exam anxiety: Convince yourself that all you can do is all you can do; but, don't let that lead you to become complacent. Just be determined to be "on" for the duration of the exam. (Give yourself a pep-talk to this effect prior to each exam.)
- Starting the exam:
Read the instructions thoroughly and carefully.
Skim over the entire exam prior to beginning work.
Don't necessarily do the problems in order. Instead, get those problems out of the way you feel confident you can do quickly and well. Observe how the problems are weighted, and direct your efforts to where you believe you can pick up points most easily. This does not necessarily mean attempting the most heavily weighted problem first; rather, it means first doing the problem for which you can accumulate points at the fastest rate. Indeed, there is a good chance that this is not the most heavily weighted problem, since many instructors dislike giving any one problem significantly greater or fewer points than the average, thereby underweighting the harder problems and overweighting the easier ones.
Before writing on any given problem, think. A small investment in time at the beginning can save time overall (for you might thereby choose a more efficient method of solving the problem).
Do precisely what is requested. In particular, don't waste time doing things that will not receive credit. For example, unless explicitly required, do not rewrite the exam problems on your paper.
Pace yourself through the exam. Example: On a 50-minute exam worth a 100 points, you should be accumulating 2 points per minute; thus, a 26-point problem should be completed in 13 minutes. Do this calculation at the start of the exam if the problem weights are given.
Show your work and make clear your reasoning in order to have a chance to receive partial credit.
As with homework, and even more importantly, neatness counts.
Always check over your answers if you have time.
- Unify and simplify your knowledge: A textbook presents the subject in a particular form, as does a teacher. By their very natures, however, textbooks and teachers tend to present subjects sequentially. Take the extra step of understanding the material in your terms, which may involve recognising relationships that could not be conveniently expressed in the order presented in the text(s) and lessons.
- Remember, almost every logically consistent topic is simple at its foundation. Try to recognise the simple underlying relationships in the subject at hand; these are often left unstated by instructors and textbooks.
- Try to learn general principles and methods. Learning by examples (putting the new in terms of the familiar) can only take you so far.
- Learn as many methods of problem-solving as you can. This is especially helpful for exams, when time is of the essence.
- Ask yourself questions. Why didn't the teacher or text(s) do this or that? Explore your own ideas. Try to understand the subject content in detail.
- It is often said that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Do you know the subject matter well enough to explain it clearly and completely to someone else?
- Learn by observing others. Notice what works for them and consider incorporating those methods into yourself. Ask yourself "Why didn't I think of that?", and try to develop the related ability.
- Attempt to be methodical, neat, legible, deliberate, precise, knowledgeable, and reliable on the one hand, and creative, spontaneous, imaginative, smart, clever, articulate, and flexible on the other. The first mentality thrives on order, and inherently tries to do well what it already knows how to do; the second mentality thrives on disorder, and inherently tries to expand upon its abilities. Adopt the best of these two mentalities. Remember, every tool is a potential crutch. The first mentality may rely too heavily on already-mastered skills; but, the second mentality may fail to carefully apply those same skills.
- Think about and question everything, even the statements appearing here (and, yourself!). But, realise that it is equally foolish to be different merely for the sake of being different, as it is to mindlessly conform to the norm.
- For maximum efficiency, have several projects going at once. Then, if you get tired, frustrated, or bored working on one item, you can easily move onto something else, thereby staying productive as well as giving pending problems a chance to work themselves out subconsciously.
- Anticipate. For example, you may need to ask the instructor about the present assignment, but he/she is only guaranteed to be available at certain times; therefore, you should look over the assignment early.
- Forget pulling "all-nighters". These merely amount to borrowing from tomorrow, at which time you will find yourself considerably less functional. All-nighters are really an indication of not having properly planned your activities.
- If possible, bring your textbook(s) to class.
- Take your lessons notes in pencil, since any modifications can then be made quickly and neatly. | <urn:uuid:bc3a439d-3dd3-40ca-b15f-f87fc21b0c98> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | http://cikgurozaini.blogspot.com/2011/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247481428.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20190217010854-20190217032854-00197.warc.gz | en | 0.955442 | 1,920 | 3.328125 | 3 | 2.616759 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Researchers at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London have reportedly identified genes that influence tooth development in the first year of life, a discovery that may lead to future innovations in the field of dental care.
In the study, scientists analyzed the genetic code of 6,000 people in the UK and Finland and tracked them from birth until adulthood. They identified five genes linked to both the occurrence of first tooth eruption and the number of teeth at age one.
Additionally, the researchers found that one of the genes was associated with a 35 percent elevated risk of requiring orthodontic treatment by age 30.
The study's authors believe that the identification of the genes may help scientists understand the development of dental disorders.
"We hope that these discoveries will increase knowledge about why foetal growth seems to be such an important factor in the development of many chronic diseases," said lead researcher Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin.
Low-income children who have their first dental exam by age one are less likely to visit emergency rooms for oral health problems, according to a Children's Dental Health Project report.
For more information on discount dental plans call 1-888-632-5353
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A thermometer is used to measure the temperature of human beings, animals as well as objects. It is a medical device that measures the degree of hotness of any object, and primarily used for measuring the temperature of body. Using a thermometer, you can measure the temperature in different units such as Kelvin (K), Celsius (°C) or Fahrenheit (°F).
Thermometers can be used for practically anything including air, food, etc. Among different types, clinical thermometers are perhaps the most extensively used and popular as well. They are designed to measure the temperature of the human body and one of the most used devices at clinics or at home. They have a mercury scale for measuring the temperature but digital thermometers are also easily available now.
It’s easy to use a clinical thermometer and anyone can understand it readings and measure the exact heat levels of the body. It has two temperature scales – Celsius scale & Fahrenheit scale and body temperature is generally measured in the former. By using this kind of thermometer, you can measure temperatures ranging from a minimum of 35 °C (94 °F) upto a maximum of 42 °C (108 °F).
Usages of clinical thermometer
Most of us know that thermometers are meant to measure the body temperature. We are however not aware of its alternative. The device can also be used for measuring the body temperature of animals as well as gaging female fertility.
Let’s look at its usages –
- Human Body Temperature
This thermometer measures the body temperature from 95 to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (or 35 to 40 degrees Celsius) to indicate the overall health condition. After all, high or low readings in the device may indicate the presence of fever.
- Animal Body Temperature
Like humans, this device is also helpful in measuring body temperatures in animals. This is how we can know whether animals are suffering from fever due to illness or infections.
Predicting Female Fertility
Apart from measuring body temperatures, thermometers are also used to predict fertile periods. It measures BBT or basal body temperature to inform whether ovulation has happened.
Care to take while using a clinical thermometer
Thermometers are a sensitive device which require some care while being used and stored. You can also check thermometer price, compare the various types available and understand the right ways to use it.
Here are some points to consider while using the thermometer –
- Never use a thermometer before washing it properly
- Wash the device using an antiseptic
- Wash it before and after use
- Before using, shake or jerk it to bring the mercury level down to normal
- Before use, make sure the level is below 35 °C or 94 °F.
- It’s breakable and sensitive, so keep it away from hitting any hard object
- Keep it away from any open flame and never store it in direct sunlight
- And lastly, never ever hold it by the bulb | <urn:uuid:a2aac03b-b29f-4cd4-8b78-3ea5d72863e2> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | http://www.healthorganic.net/health/what-are-the-usages-of-a-clinical-thermometer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578596571.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20190423094921-20190423120921-00082.warc.gz | en | 0.920169 | 611 | 3.859375 | 4 | 1.43306 | 1 | Basic reasoning | Health |
range of frequency.
YHADEISH at biomed.med.yale.edu
Sat Feb 6 00:49:21 EST 1993
In a recent post (Fri, 5 Feb 1993 14:41:59 GMT), Xstern Peiter
(xpei at gwdgv1.gwdg.de) writes:
> May anyone so kind tell me that what is the range of frequency
> when people speaks. What is the frequency differences between man and
> women, and between children, boys and girls. What is the difference in
> hamonics. Thanks in advance.
You are welcome, in advance. :-) As you probably know already, we humans use
principally the fundamental tone and the first harmonic--- which people who
work on the physics of speaking call the first and second formants,
respectively--- to distinguish between different vowel sounds. For example,
the energy in the second formant is much smaller relative to the first in
vowels like /ee/ as opposed to vowels like /ai/ or /oh/. However, the
relationship between the two formants are not constant over the growth of an
individual person, as you rightly suggest in your post. The only reference
that I know of for information on this subject is a chapter out of a book
entitled _Child phonology: perception and production_, G. Yeni-Komshian and J.
Kavanaugh (eds). New York: Academic Press. The chapter is entitled "On the
development of vowel production in young children", and it is by Phillip
If I am not mistaken, Phillip Lieberman was originally trained as an engineer
or a physicist or something, and later became interested in the physics of
speech production. He became quite an expert in this area and published
several good articles on the subject, although many of them relate more to the
question of whether or not the Neanderthals were capable of producing language,
like Homo sapiens sapiens (as you probably know, there was a school of thought
in anthropology that claims it was this difference, our ability to speak, that
made us "win out" over our bigger brained, more robust brethren). In any case,
I think you will find his (1980) book, _The Biology and Evolution of Language_,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA or London, England: Harvard University Press to
be of some interest, particularly chapters 8 and 9.
Anyway, I hope this helps. I'm not involved in the neurobiology of language,
but it seemed to me that your question was addressing the physics side of the
issue--- so there's my $0.02. Take care.
Yukiharu "Yuki" Hadeishi - Lurker at Large
Internet: yhadeish at biomed.med.yale.edu
The Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program will have
absolutely nothing to do with any of my opinions...
More information about the Neur-sci | <urn:uuid:b265e1e1-c54b-44cb-8363-b2215264100c> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/neur-sci/1993-February/011757.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375094924.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031814-00190-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934316 | 632 | 3.109375 | 3 | 2.628752 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Mattel’s “PlayBack” recycling program will recover and recycle old toys into new ones.
PlayBack will help cut back on the significant amount of plastic waste that stems from the global toy industry. It also forms part of Mattel’s existing pledge to use 100 percent recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastics by 2030, including both products and packaging.
The company — best known for popular brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, MEGA, and Matchbox — is the second-largest toy manufacturer in the world by revenue after Lego, and has produced toys for kids and young people for over 76 years.
According to CNN Business, the program will initially be exclusive to Barbie, Matchbox, and MEGA toys. Mattel PlayBack will first launch in the U.S. and Canada with a view to expanding to France, Germany, and the UK with a third-party partner at a later date.
North American customers can print a free postage label from Mattel’s website and send unwanted toys back to the manufacturer. Mattel will then sort, process, and either recycle, downcycle, or convert the component materials into energy.
“We get to keep these valuable materials out of a landfill and have the opportunity to learn from the circular model,” Pamela Gill-Alabaster, Mattel’s global head of sustainability, told CNN earlier this week.
How do toys affect the environment?
In general, plastic is a huge problem, and recycling can only take care of so much excess waste. Plastic items also account for approximately 90 percent of the sprawling toy manufacturing industry, which makes upwards of $20.4 billion dollars in sales annually.
In 2020 alone, toy sales increased by an additional 16 percent, as reported by Forbes. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has prompted a boost for games and puzzles, dolls and action figures, and outdoor play, in particular. (Even the dreaded Monopoly had a resurgence.)
Many children are particularly drawn to bright plastic toys but may tire of them rapidly; a survey by British Heart Foundation found that 28 percent of UK parents have discarded toys that are in perfect working order.
According to a report by ecoBirdy — a company that recycles discarded plastic toys into colorful furniture for young people — the overwhelming majority of toy industry plastic currently ends up in landfill, incinerators, or the ocean.
What are toy companies doing about plastic waste?
Toy manufacturers (such as Mattel) are shifting towards a circular economy model, which can be employed by consumers, too.
This involves reducing both production and consumption, while simultaneously emphasizing the reuse, repair, and rehoming of items wherever possible, before finally recycling component materials into new items.
Lego, the largest toy company by revenue, aims to have 100 percent sustainable bricks by 2030. According to the company, renewable energy has powered its operations since 2017, but creating Lego’s distinct plastic components responsibly remains a challenge.
It currently produces more than 100,000 tons of plastic bricks every year, and there are currently more Lego people on the planet than humans. However, since 2018 the company has managed to replace some of its plastic items with sugarcane-based plant plastic.
“At the LEGO Group we want to make a positive impact on the world around us,” Tim Brooks, LEGO’s Vice President of Environmental Responsibility, explained in a statement at the time. “[We] are working hard to make great play products for children using sustainable materials.
“We are proud that the first LEGO elements made from sustainably sourced plastic are in production,” he added.“This is a great first step in our ambitious commitment of making all LEGO bricks using sustainable materials.”
For ideas about how to cut back on playroom and toy waste in the first place, check out LIVEKINDLY’s guide here. | <urn:uuid:0a8690ee-5e20-4f93-93f6-3c2326916136> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.livekindly.com/mattel-playback-recycling-program/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100484.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20231203030948-20231203060948-00052.warc.gz | en | 0.9447 | 814 | 2.5625 | 3 | 2.720227 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Today’s post honors Phillip Gibbs and James Green, killed shortly after midnight on May 15, 1970 by police at Jackson State College in Mississippi. On May 4 of that year, Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder were killed by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University.
This post will also be the Memorial Day essay for Discover the Region, where some of my writings will now be published.
Like all language, organized information persuades. It “directs our thinking,” as biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote about classification. Information arrangement shapes perception and interaction. Names on memorials are examples of organized information where arrangement defines a visitor’s experience. The thoughtful chronology of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial builds a space for individual remembrance. A World War I memorial does the same, but with a different arrangement strategy, reflecting the difference in the two wars. In contrast, the random arrangement proposed for the World Trade Center memorial almost derailed the project. Yet, in another context, random builds community at the Memorial Temples of Burning Man.
By listing names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM) in chronological order, designer Maya Lin gave surviving Vietnam Vets personal spaces for contemplation, spaces that make the VVM our most powerful memorial. Names are arranged by date of casualty, not date of death. Those who died later of wounds received in battle are listed on the day of the battle along with their buddies who died that day or went missing. When a surviving soldier visits the VVM, he need only remember one name to look up in the index. He finds the panel and sees the names of his friends who died in a battle he fought. They remain together where he can visit them and remember his own experience.
Architect EdwinLutyens influenced Lin with his World War I Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. This open structure of 16 huge columns, with intersecting arches and a truncated tower in Thiepval, France lists more than 72,000 names on its huge columns, names of British soldiers missing from a single battle. Like the VVM, the memorial gives survivors an individual place of remembrance, but the two use different arrangements to achieve the same goal. The VVM honors over 58,000 dead or missing during a 20 year war. The Somme memorial lists those missing from a five month battle, most from a one day massacre when British troops surged into waiting German lines.
In World War I, Britain recruited Pals Battalions. Men who signed up together could serve the entire war with their buddies. Cities and towns mustered their own fighting units, sending them off to France with names like the Sheffield City Battalion. On July 1, 1916, many of these towns lost nearly a generation of young men.
The names on the Somme memorial are arranged by British Army Order of Precedence. That’s how military units appear on the parade ground. These units came from individual towns, so the arrangement has the effect of organizing missing soldiers by their home towns. Even today, with only a few remaining World War I vets, relatives and neighbors have their own place of remembrance.
Michael Arad, designer of New York’s National September 11 Memorial, ignored individual places of remembrance when he selected random as the arrangement. This would have dispersed names from each company all over the monument. Instead of a personal place to remember fallen coworkers, survivors would have had to hike to see each name. The arrangement infuriated surviving families and they eventually refused to contribute to the memorial fund. At that point, the design committee reconsidered and offered “meaningful adjacencies.” Families can now place their loved one’s name within a group or next to an individual. Many names will appear with the companies they worked for, but they might also be with special friends. In one case, a married couple who worked at different companies will now be forever together on the memorial.
The designers of the National September 11 Memorial paid dearly for an arrangement error, losing money, prestige and the community’s good will. They went from simplistic random to perhaps the most complex arrangement on any memorial with individualized name placement and multiple types of groupings. If the designers had originally selected an obvious arrangement, such as geographic by floor, survivors would have had their places of remembrance. They would not have needed strong family associations to fight against the arrangement and ultimately to fight for a more detailed names design.
In the right context, however, even random can build private spaces of remembrance. David Best did this at Nevada’s Burning Man art festivals. His Memorial Temples in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 reflect the Somme memorial as arched open structures, topped with a tower and filled with names. Burners inscribe the names they want to remember anywhere on the memorial. The effect is random, but each inscription describes a private remembrance. For the week of the festival, Burners have a personal place to grieve, a place they have chosen. When the Temple burns on Sunday, individual memories and the combined memories of all Burners float into the evening sky. | <urn:uuid:8444b4ca-9862-4ffa-a55e-c80416a1eee8> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://www.isisinform.com/names-on-a-memorial-the-power-of-information-arrangement/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917118851.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031158-00022-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955169 | 1,051 | 2.828125 | 3 | 2.936887 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
PITTSBURGH -- Comic books are full of superheroes and a dazzling variety of characters, but in the early days of the industry one thing was conspicuously rare: black characters. Now, an exhibit in Pittsburgh chronicles some early artists and a publisher who started to break the comic color barrier in the 1930s and 1940s.
The exhibit called "Beyond the Funny Pages" coincides with Black History Month and is being shown through the end of February at the City/County building. It chronicles the contributions of Matt Baker, the first black to work in the industry; Zelda "Jackie" Ormes, the first black female comic artist; and Orrin Evans, the first black comic publisher.
The Toonseum, which celebrates comic art, is helping curate the exhibit.
"Even today, the funny pages lack diversity," said Toonseum Director Joe Wos. But decades ago, the situation was even tougher.
Baker was so talented that he was hired in the early 1940s by New York's prestigious Eisner & Iger Studio, an otherwise all-white organization. He later drew for Marvel Comics, Gunsmoke Westerns and Playboy magazine.
Amber and Dean Bierkan visited the exhibit Friday and noted that the struggles of black artists are still relevant today. They were struck by Baker's achievements.
"And he had to draw white men and women," Dean Bierkan marveled. "That was the market."
When Orrin Evans came up with the idea of a comic book filled with all-black characters, he faced a backlash. In 1947, Evans published a single issue of "All-Negro Comics" and said in the introduction that he hoped his project would give black artists an opportunity to use their talents.
After that, the big companies that controlled the comics industry "pretty much locked him out. He couldn't get paper. Nothing," Wos said. A planned second issue never happened.
Wos said it appears the big comic publishers were threatened by the subject matter and the fact that Evans was an independent publisher.
The comics venture failed, but Evans had a successful career as a journalist for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
Ormes, the first black female comic artist, is credited with convincing editors at the Pittsburgh Courier in 1937 to let her draw a comic strip "Dixie to Harlem." It chronicled Torchy Brown's move from the Deep South to New York City, mirroring a real-life shift many were experiencing. Ormes later created a black comic character named Ginger who discussed civil rights, poverty and other controversial topics in the late 1940s and early 1950s. That led to questioning by the FBI and allegations that Ormes was a Communist, the exhibit says.
Chay Tyler, who helped curate the exhibit, said he hadn't previously known much about the history of blacks in the comic industry.
"A lot of it was a surprise to me. Because when I was growing up, I'd never seen a black comic book, period," said Tyler. | <urn:uuid:1368d030-bb15-4c03-a07c-47cdd9ecac2b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.goerie.com/article/20140209/NEWS06/302099908/Pa-exhibit-highlights-early-black-comic-artists | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980835 | 622 | 2.84375 | 3 | 2.9727 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Art & Design |
Heraldic memorial, commemorative work of art decorated with the armorial bearings of the deceased. Memorials, whether in the form of stained-glass windows, effigies, monumental brasses, or tablets on church walls and in graveyards, provide an heraldic education of great value, contributing to the study of both history and art.
Two types of heraldic memorial are especially notable. The first is the stone slab customary on the continent of Europe. An achievement of arms (representation of shield, helmet, crest, mantling, etc.) generally covers the slab, which also may bear a Gothic tracery design; the inscription either surrounds the edge of the slab or is placed above or beneath the arms. The second type of memorial is the hatchment, in which England and Belgium are particularly rich.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
hatchmentheraldic memorial to a deceased person. The word is a corruption of
achievement, the correct term for the full armorial display of shield, helmet, crest, mantling, wreath, and such additaments as mottoes, supporters, coronets, and compartment as are appropriate. This kind of memorial seems to…
HatchmentHatchment, heraldic memorial to a deceased person. The word is a corruption of achievement, the correct term for the full armorial display of shield, helmet, crest, mantling, wreath, and such additaments as mottoes, supporters, coronets, and compartment as are appropriate. This kind of memorial…
HeraldryHeraldry, the science and the art that deal with the use, display, and regulation of hereditary symbols employed to distinguish individuals, armies, institutions, and corporations. Those symbols, which originated as identification devices on flags and shields, are called armorial bearings. Strictly…
Decorative artDecorative art, any of those arts that are concerned with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities. Ceramics, glassware, basketry, jewelry, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and other such goods are the…
ArtArt, a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination. The term art encompasses diverse media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, decorative arts, photography, and installation. The various visual arts exist within a continuum that…
More About Heraldic memorial1 reference found in Britannica articles
- In hatchment | <urn:uuid:ef774b2b-3ec2-4d19-a101-90145e65069c> | CC-MAIN-2019-13 | https://www.britannica.com/topic/heraldic-memorial | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-13/segments/1552912202588.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20190321234128-20190322020128-00407.warc.gz | en | 0.936503 | 523 | 3.421875 | 3 | 1.988646 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Art & Design |
Balneotherapy: benefits for osteoarthritis?
Written by: Loris Vitry (holistic coach)
Validated by: Cathy Maillot (Osteopath)
Caution: If you have any medical questions or concerns, please speak to your doctor. Even if the articles on this site are based on scientific studies, they do not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that can result from various factors.
Among them are: genetic causes, overweight, trauma, overworked joints, but especially chronic stress.
The latter is very often considered as the trigger, through the impact it can have on physiological factors.
Millions of people in France and around the world suffer from osteoarthritis.
This disease is moreover more frequent during old age.
Several treatments are effective against this disease, including balneotherapy.
What is osteoarthritis?
What is balneotherapy?
How do you apply it?
What are the benefits?
Here is a complete guide on the subject for you.
What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a condition that affects the joints.
It occurs when there is a loss of cartilage in the joints.
Suddenly, to fill this gap, the bone will try to remedy the loss.
To do this, it will gain volume.
Except that instead of fixing the problem, it will only produce the opposite effect by making it even worse.
This could cause a deformation of the bone and trigger joint inflammation, hence the inconstancy of the joints.
Specialists were of the opinion that osteoarthritis was the result of straining the cartilage.
However, today we are leaning towards a disease of the entire joint which is moreover the most common and affects both men and women.
This degradation of the cartilage located at the bone endings and constituting the joint varies from person to person.
In some cases it can be done gradually over time while in others there are periods of increase that are referred to as flare-ups.
On the other hand, there is another kind of cartilage degradation that occurs more quickly extending over a period of up to two years.
This form of degradation affects: the spine, knees, hips and even fingers.
We speak in this case of rapid destructive osteoarthritis.
What is balneotherapy and how is it applied?
Balneotherapy literally means “bath care”.
It is an ancient and widely used treatment that harnesses the virtues of water to heal ailments and numbness in the joints.
It consists of staying for a specific period of time in a swimming pool full of mineral water, in the event that you are not allergic to chlorine.
However, some precautions should still be taken.
Once in the bath, your weight will be halved by the action of the water so you will not feel the same way the burden of osteoarthritis.
It is a principle that balneotherapy uses, because its objective is to promote the reduction of the pressures exerted on the joints.
In addition, the water temperature must be between 31 and 34 degrees Celsius.
This leads to muscle relaxation since it is a temperature that acts on joint inflammation.
The massage performed by touching the water with the skin leads to relaxation and relief in the brain or mind.
The application of balneotherapy is done in different ways.
Currently, there are two that are quite recommended.
These are the bath as mentioned previously and hydro massage with jets.
Regarding the latter method, it is a question of using the devices in a targeted manner.
The jets will be directed at separate parts of your body to ease tension.
Channel pressure can be adjusted according to the desired effect.
Certain types of water can be used during application especially soft water.
Spring water too, although it is not credited by the Ministry of Health as having virtues, and sea water when it comes to underwater showers.
It is also possible to use tap water.
What are the benefits of balneotherapy on osteoarthritis?
The virtues attributed to balneotherapy on osteoarthritis are numerous.
It promotes physical and psychological relaxation.
Indeed when the body is immersed in water, gravity exerts an action on the latter.
This facilitates relaxation and the heat emanating from the water promotes blood circulation.
This plays a major role in cell regeneration and therefore in muscle repair.
This helps eliminate muscle strictures, relieve osteoarthritis and alleviate the effects of stiff legs.
By practicing balneotherapy you also gain muscle amplitude and improve your quality of life.
In addition, the action of water improves movements by making the joints react by reducing the weight of the body.
It allows a gradual recovery.
Some important tips and precautions
Osteoarthritis does not necessarily manifest itself in pain; and the evil is not always recurrent.
There may be relatively large phases during which the sick individual will not experience any pain.
In addition, it is possible to no longer have pain.
Indeed, the pain caused by osteoarthritis can vary from one person to another.
Which means that once you have pain it doesn’t automatically mean that the osteoarthritis is getting worse.
The fact that the water can reach a temperature of up to 34 degrees Celsius implies certain precautions.
Thus, balneotherapy is a contraindication for certain diseases.
This is for example the case for people suffering from cardiovascular problems or hypertension, insofar as it is not advisable to use heat.
In addition, there are three types of osteoarthritis which are triggered by the following mechanisms: mechanical stress, obesity and aging.
Currently specialists agree on the fact that there is a genetic vulnerability to osteoarthritis.
Vulnerability that would have a link with the mechanisms listed above.
In short, osteoarthritis is a disease causing the degradation of your cartilage.
This condition can be combated nowadays thanks to several treatments, the most effective of which is balneotherapy.
This is a therapy that represents all of the cures that are dispensed with fresh water in baths.
It includes various techniques including a whirlpool pool in which you immerse yourself completely and hydro massage which works by the use of water jets.
The benefits of this practice make it possible to fight against stress, reduce joint pain while facilitating movements thanks to the feeling of total lightness and the dilation of the pores of the epidermis.
All this to eliminate toxins, which will promote blood circulation.
However, some precautions should be taken before practicing this treatment as soon as you suffer from certain health concerns that can cause complications during contact with water.
Period blockage: can stress delay your period?
How to stay calm when faced with everyday problems? | <urn:uuid:5f86c0ec-8f74-4ace-89f4-0e959076438e> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://stress.app/blog/balneotherapy-benefits-for-osteoarthritis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949181.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20230330101355-20230330131355-00470.warc.gz | en | 0.945559 | 1,426 | 2.578125 | 3 | 2.186346 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Health |
A microscope image of the tungsten photonic crystal structure reveals the precise uniform spacing of cavities formed in the material, which are tuned to specific wavelengths of light. Image: Y.X. Yeng et al.
A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers has developed a way of making a high-temperature version of a kind of materials called photonic crystals, using metals such as tungsten or tantalum. The new materials—which can operate at temperatures up to 1,200 C—could find a wide variety of applications powering portable electronic devices, spacecraft to probe deep space, and new infrared light emitters that could be used as chemical detectors and sensors.
Compared to earlier attempts to make high-temperature photonic crystals, the new approach is "higher performance, simpler, robust, and amenable to inexpensive large-scale production," says Ivan Celanovic ScD '06, senior author of a paper describing the work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper was co-authored by MIT professors John Joannopoulos and Marin Solja?i?, graduate students Yi Xiang Yeng and Walker Chen, affiliate Michael Ghebrebrhan and former postdoc Peter Bermel.
These new high-temperature, 2D photonic crystals can be fabricated almost entirely using standard microfabrication techniques and existing equipment for manufacturing computer chips, says Celanovic, a research engineer at MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies.
While there are natural photonic crystals—such as opals, whose iridescent colors result from a layered structure with a scale comparable to wavelengths of visible light—the current work involved a nanoengineered material tailored for the infrared range. All photonic crystals have a lattice of one kind of material interspersed with open spaces or a complementary material, so that they selectively allow certain wavelengths of light to pass through while others are absorbed. When used as emitters, they can selectively radiate certain wavelengths while strongly suppressing others.
Photonic crystals that can operate at very high temperatures could open up a suite of potential applications, including devices for solar-thermal conversion or solar-chemical conversion, radioisotope-powered devices, hydrocarbon-powered generators, or components to wring energy from waste heat at powerplants or industrial facilities. But there have been many obstacles to creating such materials: The high temperatures can lead to evaporation, diffusion, corrosion, cracking, melting, or rapid chemical reactions of the crystals' nanostructures. To overcome these challenges, the MIT team used computationally guided design to create a structure from high-purity tungsten, using a geometry specifically designed to avoid damage when the material is heated.
NASA has taken an interest in the research because of its potential to provide long-term power for deep-space missions that cannot rely on solar power. These missions typically use radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs), which harness the power of a small amount of radioactive material. For example, the new Curiosity rover scheduled to arrive at Mars this summer uses an RTG system; it will be able to operate continuously for many years, unlike solar-powered rovers that have to hunker down for the winter when solar power is insufficient.
Other potential applications include more efficient ways of powering portable electronic devices. Instead of batteries, these devices could run on thermophotovoltaic generators that produce electricity from heat that is chemically generated by microreactors, from a fuel such as butane. For a given weight and size, such systems could allow these devices to run up to 10 times longer than they do with existing batteries, Celanovic says.
Shawn Lin, a professor of physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who specializes in future chip-making technology, says that research on thermal radiation at high temperatures "continues to challenge our scientific understanding of the various emission processes at sub-wavelength scales, and our technological capability." Lin, who was not involved in this work, adds, "This particular 2D tungsten photonic crystal is quite unique, as it is easier to fabricate and also very robust against high-temperature operation. This photonic-crystal design should find important application in solar-thermal energy-conversion systems."
While it's always hard to predict how long it will take for advances in basic science to lead to commercial products, Celanovic says he and his colleagues are already working on system integration and testing applications. There could be products based on this technology in as little as two years, he says, and most likely within five years.
In addition to producing power, the same photonic crystal can be used to produce precisely tuned wavelengths of infrared light. This could enable highly accurate spectroscopic analysis of materials and lead to sensitive chemical detectors, he says.SOURCE | <urn:uuid:8181a8ab-9aea-4e86-98fb-25dbe5ff3f24> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://www.rdmag.com/news/2012/02/turning-heat-power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738661900.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173741-00182-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929011 | 993 | 3.671875 | 4 | 2.928717 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
China’s Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005)
The principal objectives of the plan include:
1. Sufficient utilization of clean energies like natural gas, hydropower and nuclear power
2. Promoting new energy and renewable energy like solar PV and wind
3. Advancing clean coal technology
4. diminishing and decreasing reliance on coal targets
5. Achieving sustainable development of energy
Renewable Energy Promotions Law
Under the direction of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s Center for Renewable Energy Development (CRED)— the Renewable Energy Development and Utilization Promotion Law.
meet short-term energy needs while strengthening long-term sustainable development objectives.
-to reduce air pollution, safeguard human health and the environment, and provide power to off-grid rural areas as well as contribute to mitigating climate change.
-synthesize market economic with energy security initiatives. Incentive policies to create market opportunities for renewable energy on the local, enterprise, and public promotion levels
-CRED will work with various Chinese government ministries, environmental committees and utility companies, as well as a variety of Chinese experts and international organizations, in drafting the new law
Preferential Tax Policies for Renewable Energy
As of 2003, foreign investment in both biogas and wind energy production also benefits from a reduced income tax rate of 15%, as opposed to 33%. Renewable energy enterprises and bio-energy development projects can also request income tax reduction or exemptions. In addition wind turbines and their main components, as well as photovoltaic modules, benefit from preferential customs duty rates. As of September 2007, the Chinese government was developing a series of preferential tax policies to encourage the development of energy conservation and renewable energy. The new incentives include income tax cuts for the producers and consumers of renewable energy, as well as a reduction of the import tax for "green" equipment.
Reduced VAT for renewable energy
In 2001 value added tax (VAT) for wind power cut in half, to 8.5% (normal rate 17%). In the same year, a circular determined that VAT collected for using municipal solid waste for power generation would be refunded back to the producer. In 2003, the VAT for biogas production was also reduced to 13%.
tax and subsidization policy designed to promote hydropower and new energy industries.
For instance, production value-added tax (VAT) will be changed to consumption VAT.
the Tenth Five-Year Plan emphasizes the commercialization of PV and wind technologies, diesel and battery systems, bioelectricity, geothermal energy, and fuel forests in rural areas.
-Inclusive of small hydropower, wind, and solar energy projects
-Wind farms are planned for Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Hubei, and Guangdong provinces with a combined capacity of 500 MW.
-Electricity production goals: Reach 13 metric tons of coal equivalent (Mtce) of electricity using new and renewable energy (excluding small hydropower and traditional use of biomass), with corresponding CO2 reduction of 10 metric tons (Mt) and SO2 reduction of at least 0.6 Mt.
-Remote power: Provide power for 1.3 million families (5-6 million people) in remote areas, and provide employment for 200,000 people.
-Solar water heating: Increase annual solar water heating to 11 million square meters (m2), with the cumulative amount of 64 million m2. There will be 5-10 large-scale enterprises with internationally competitive ability.
-Solar electricity: Increase production capacity of solar cells to 15 megawatts (MW) each, with a cumulative capacity of 53 MW.
-Wind power: Increase installed capacity of grid-connected wind power to 1.2 gigawatts, with manufacturing capacity at 150-200 MW to meet domestic market demand.
-Geothermal energy: Increase the production of geothermal energy to 20 million m2.
-Bioenergy: Increase gas supplies from highly efficient bioenergy, including large- and mid-scale biogas from industrial organic waste water, farm waste, and biomass gasification systems to almost two billion m3. | <urn:uuid:3ba0814d-6584-4c44-8a95-c93251d2a2ca> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.iea.org/policiesandmeasures/pams/china/name-162896-en.php?s=dHlwZT1yZSZzdGF0dXM9T2s,&return=PG5hdiBpZD0iYnJlYWRjcnVtYiI-PGEgaHJlZj0iLyI-SG9tZTwvYT4gJnJhcXVvOyA8YSBocmVmPSIvcG9saWNpZXNhbmRtZWFzdXJlcy8iPlBvbGljaWVzIGFuZCBNZWFzdXJlczwvYT4gJnJhcXVvOyA8YSBocmVmPSIvcG9saWNpZXNhbmRtZWFzdXJlcy9yZW5ld2FibGVlbmVyZ3kvIj5SZW5ld2FibGUgRW5lcmd5PC9hPjwvbmF2Pg,, | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514576047.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20190923043830-20190923065830-00330.warc.gz | en | 0.91124 | 868 | 2.640625 | 3 | 2.783831 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
The mysterious asteroid Vesta may well have more surprises in store. Despite past observations that Vesta would be nearly bone dry, newly published research indicates that about half of the giant asteroid is sufficiently cold and dark enough that water ice could theoretically exist below the battered surface.
Scientists working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the University of Maryland have derived the first models of Vesta’s average global temperatures and illumination by the Sun based on data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope.
“Near the north and south poles, the conditions appear to be favorable for water ice to exist beneath the surface,” says Timothy Stubbs of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The research by Timothy Stubbs and Yongli Wang, of the Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute at the University of Maryland, was published in the January 2012 issue of the journal Icarus.
If any water lurks beneath Vesta, it would most likely exist at least 10 feet (3 meters) below the North and South poles because the models predict that the poles are the coldest regions on the giant asteroid and the equatorial regions are too warm.
If proven, the existence of water ice at Vesta would have vast implications for the formation and evolution of the tiny body and upend current theories.
The surface of Vesta is not cold enough for ice to survive all the time because unlike the Moon, it probably does not have any significant permanently shadowed craters where water ice could stay frozen on the surface indefinitely.
Even the huge 300 mile diameter (480-kilometer) crater at the South Pole is not a good candidate for water ice because Vesta is tilted 27 degrees on its axis, a bit more than Earth’s tilt of 23 degrees.
By contrast, the Moon is only tilted 1.5 degrees and possesses many permanently shadowed craters. NASA’s LCROSS impact mission proved that water ice exists inside permanently shadowed lunar craters.
The models predict that the average annual temperature around Vesta’s poles is below minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit (145 kelvins). Water ice is not stable above that temperature in the top 10 feet of Vestan soil, or regolith.
At the equator and in a band stretching to about 27 degrees north and south in latitude, the average annual temperature is about minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit (145 kelvins), which is too high for the ice to survive.
“On average, it’s colder at Vesta’s poles than near its equator, so in that sense, they are good places to sustain water ice,” says Stubbs in a NASA statement. “But they also see sunlight for long periods of time during the summer seasons, which isn’t so good for sustaining ice. So if water ice exists in those regions, it may be buried beneath a relatively deep layer of dry regolith.”
Vesta is the second most massive asteroid in the main Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Orbiter is the very first mission to Vesta and achieved orbit in July 2011 for a 1 year long mission.
Dawn is currently circling Vesta at its lowest planned orbit. The three science instruments are snapping pictures and the spectrometers are collecting data on the elemental and mineralogical composition of Vesta.
The onboard GRaND spectrometer in particular could shed light on the question of whether water ice exists at Vesta.
So far no water has been detected, but the best data is yet to come.
In July 2012, Dawn fires up its ion thrusters and spirals out of orbit to begin the journey to Ceres, the largest asteroid of them all.
Ceres is believed to harbor huge caches of water, either as ice or in the form of oceans and is a potential habitat for life. | <urn:uuid:8ed07c3e-080f-4bfc-b501-a7a99c01106b> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://www.universetoday.com/93027/does-water-ice-lurk-beneath-the-poles-of-vesta/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578530527.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20190421100217-20190421122217-00154.warc.gz | en | 0.927709 | 817 | 3.890625 | 4 | 2.840367 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Introduction: Beats by Da Vinci Nicholas Martin and Andres Santillan
Step 1: Step 1: Materials List
1. 4 arm length of 28 gauge AWG wire x2
2. 4 small plastic cups 3. Neodymium magnets 4. Electrical tape 5. 3.5 mm stereo jack 6. Marker (Expo) 7. Duct tape 8. Bendy Straws 9. Electrical tape
3. Neodymium magnets
4. Electrical tape 5. 3.5 mm stereo jack 6. Marker (Expo) 7. Duct tape 8. Bendy Straws 9. Electrical tape
5. 3.5 mm stereo jack
6. Marker (Expo) 7. Duct tape 8. Bendy Straws 9. Electrical tape
7. Duct tape
8. Bendy Straws 9. Electrical tape
9. Electrical tape
Step 2: Step 2: Assembly, Sanding, and Coiling With Video
Once you have gathered all materials, it is time to assemble. First, assemble the diaphragm out of the plastic cups. To do so, all you do is take one of your cups and place it on the table upside down. After doing so, make the voice coil with 80 wounds out of the 28 gauge AWG wire, leaving tails of wire 3 inches on one end and 14 inches on the other of the coil. The easiest way of doing so is wrapping the wire around a Expo marker. After you have coiled your wire, take it of the marker by sliding it off. Then, sand off about 4-5 centimeters on each end of the wire. The reason you do this is because the wire is not conductive with the red enamel on. I recommend sanding before coiling so you don't risk damaging the coil. After sanding and coiling, get the cup you put on the table from before and place the voice coil in the center at the bottom of the cup. Then place three neodymium magnets in the middle of the coil to strengthen the magnetic field that is created by the voice coil. The voice coil turns into a temporary magnet due to current flowing through the wire, and the neodymium magnets are permanent magnets that help make the magnetic field stronger. When all of the components are put together with the cup as a diaphragm of the headphones, the voice coil will vibrate when plugged into a music source. The vibrations will cause the diaphragm to push the air and will be able to emit sound due to the movement of the air. Attach the sanded ends of the wire from before to the terminals of the aux plug, one wire per terminal. Put the wire through the straws to protect the wire. Then tape everything closed. After that is all completed, you should notice two wires aren't connected to anything, just twist the wires together and put electrical tape over it. After that take the remaining two cups and just slide them over the first cups to create a cover to the headphones. Now to keep the headphones connected take your headband and tape the tips to the opposite end of the wire connected to the stereo jack. For the finishing touches wrap every inch of it except the inside of the headphones in duct tape. If there is any confusion on how it is all placed the coiling video shows where the magnets and coil go and the magnet.
Coiling Video Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2mO9E3j947nTzA1T...
Sanding Video Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2mO9E3j947ndkowc...
Step 3: Step 3: Magnet Positioning and Diaphragm Assembly With Picture
In order to get audio you need to put a magnet in the middle of the coil for it to get a magnetic field. We chose 3 magnets per headphone so the quality of the sound will be produced better. You need a permanent magnet to be in the middle so it can create a stronger magnetic field because the magnetic field will be moving in the same direction.
Step 4: Step 4: Plug and Play
After using these headphones they ended up great they were very close to my previous headphones which are very high quality. Overall the headphones were very easy to tell what people were saying music was easy to hear
Step 5: Step 5: Troubleshooting Issues
If your headphones do not make sound then check your connections to the stereo jack which is the most likely issue. If that does not fix it look to see if the voice coil broke, and if that doesn't work check for a split in the wires.If there is still issues try to recreate the headphones and disassembling them to see if it works the second time. The last is very unlikely to happen but is the most likely to fix the problem
We have a be nice policy.
Please be positive and constructive. | <urn:uuid:70bffd5d-e869-430e-962c-a6d83fa0cbc3> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | http://www.instructables.com/id/Beats-by-Da-Vinci-Nicholas-Martin-and-Andres-Santi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125945637.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20180422174026-20180422194026-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.916782 | 1,026 | 2.625 | 3 | 1.666144 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Hardware |
is also referred to as the Southern Giant Clam or Smooth Giant Clam, and is the second largest of all the Tridacna spp., reaching a size of 24" in the wild. Unlike most other Tridacna spp.
that have a large byssal opening, Derasa Clams have a narrow gap on the underside of their thick, smooth shell. They can easily be confused with their close relative Tridacna gigas
, especially when they are very small in size. T. derasa
can be identified by having six to seven vertical folds in their shell which they can close completely, where T. gigas
has only four or five vertical folds, and is unable to completely close their hinged shell.
Tridacna derasa have a broad range in the wild and are found in the Indo-Pacific, Central Pacific and South Pacific as well as the Coral Sea. They occupy outer reef habitats on both sandy and hard packed substrates, and can be found either solitary or in small aggregations at depths ranging from 10 to 60 feet. All Derasa Clams entering the aquarium trade are cultured in the Central Pacific and South Pacific Ocean. Although they can be found in a variety of colorations and patterns in the wild, the ones aquacultured for the aquarium trade are primarily gold, brown, orange, and yellow, with vibrant blue or green trim edging that surrounds the mantle.
T. derasa will arrive unattached to any rock or substrate, and prefer to be placed in the sand or in a recess of a rock, as they do not attach as firmly to the substrate or rockwork like most other members of the genus. In the home aquarium, Derasa Clams require moderate to intense lighting to thrive as they contain the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae, and receive the majority of their nutrition from the light through photosynthesis. Smaller T. derasa that are 2" or less in size are much more sensitive to very intense lighting as their membrane is much thinner than larger specimens.
For this reason care should be taken to properly photo-adapt them to the existing reef aquarium lighting in a similar manner to newly introduced stony and soft corals. When adapting a new Derasa Clam to very intense lighting, it is ideal to set them on a small rock or in a plastic dish with coarse substrate at the bottom of the aquarium. Over time, the clam can then be slowly moved up higher in the aquarium. When maintained in the proper environment, smaller Derasa Clams can double or triple their size in less than a year.
Tridacna clams are also filter feeders and constantly filter the water for small particulates. Derasa Clams larger than 2" do not require supplemental feedings, but smaller T. derasa that are less than 2" should be fed a phytoplankton or greenwater supplement several times per week if maintained in a nutrient poor reef aquarium.
Tridacna derasa are the hardiest and most adaptable of all the Tridacna spp., and require moderate to intense lighting and good water flow in the home aquarium. Proper water chemistry is very important, and they will thrive when calcium levels of 380- 450 mg/L, alkalinity level of 8-11 dKH, and magnesium level of 1280-1350 ppm are maintained. | <urn:uuid:9b1cffa5-b09c-478d-9eb6-58e5f57238d6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/2973/?pcatid=2973 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571210.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810191850-20220810221850-00619.warc.gz | en | 0.943728 | 703 | 2.796875 | 3 | 1.532645 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Science & Tech. |
“Parents act as mirrors for their children. Children learn who they are in the reflection of another person’s watchful gaze.”
Dr. Katie Penry, a licensed clinical psychologist and mother of two young children, is on the podcast today teaching us the brain research behind why we need to look up from our phones and engage more with our little children.
And she doesn’t just tell us WHY to do this…she also tells us HOW! Listen in as she explains each of the following takeaways:
1) Decide on some sacred spaces and places where you will not use your phone. (This matters more than arbitrary time limits for yourself.)
2) Tell your kids what you are doing when you are looking at your phone.
3) Use your phone’s non-notification settings to help you be present at important times of day.
Listen to the podcast as an introduction to Dr. Penry’s work, and then head to her website to sign up for her email course called the “Look Up Challenge”: afriendlyaffair.com/lookupchallenge
Fascinating Facts from the Interview:
-Almost 80% of your child’s brain development happens from age 0-3 years, through consistent verbal and non-verbal interaction with their parents
-Look at your baby and attune to who they are and what they love–react to each other–Harvard Psychologists call this “Serve and Return”
-Daniel Stern, a renowned American psychologist, found that 70%-80% of the time that your baby is alert, he/she is looking at you.
-Babies are born able to see the exact distance from their biological mother’s eye to nipple. (!!!)
You can read the full transcript from this episode here.
-Dr. Katie Penry’s FREE email course, the #LookUpChallenge”: https://afriendlyaffair.lpages.co/look-up-challenge/
-Sign up to receive a monthly PDF of all the podcast takeaways: 3in30podcast.com
-Dr. Katie Penry’s website: https://www.afriendlyaffair.com/
-Dr. Katie Penry’s Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/afriendlyaffair/
-Children’s book about the life of Nelle Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird: https://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Spitfire-Story-Harper-Mockingbird/dp/0062456709 | <urn:uuid:e3985f8e-e781-495f-9b3d-c3a0afb2e382> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://3in30podcast.com/captivate-podcast/phones/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243991207.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20210514183414-20210514213414-00216.warc.gz | en | 0.914432 | 556 | 2.59375 | 3 | 2.177129 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Health |
|Local forecast by
Home > Glossary
Here are the results for the letter k
- Smoke- Smoke in various concentrations can cause significant problems for people with respiratory ailments. It becomes a more universal hazard when visibilities are reduced to ¼ mile or less.
- K AMS
- Cold Air Mass
- K Corona
- In solar-terrestrial terms, of the white-light corona (that is, the corona seen by the eye at a
total solar eclipse), that portion which is caused by sunlight
scattered by electrons in the hot outer atmosphere of the sun.
- A measure of the thunderstorm potential based on vertical temperature lapse rate, moisture content of the lower atmosphere, and the vertical extent of the moist layer. The temperature difference between 850 mb and 500 mb is used to parameterize the vertical temperature lapse rate. The 850 dew point provides information on the moisture content of the lower atmosphere. The vertical extent of the moist layer is represented by the difference of the 700 mb temperature and 700 mb dew point. This is called the 700 mb temperature-dew point depression. The index is derived arithmetically and does not require a plotted sounding.
K-index = (850 mb temperature - 500 mb temperature) + 850 mb dew point - 700 mb dew point depression
- Katabatic Wind
- A wind that is created by air flowing downhill.
- A front where the warm air descends the frontal surface (except in the low layers of the atmosphere).
- Keetch-Byrum Drought Index
- An index used to gage the severity of drought in deep duff and organic soils.
- Kelvin Temperature Scale
- An absolute temperature scale in which a change of 1 Kelvin equals a change of 1 degree Celsius; 0ºK is the lowest temperature on the Kelvin scale. The freezing point of water is +273ºK (Kelvin) and the boiling point of +373ºK. It is used primarily for scientific purposes. It is also known as the Absolute Temperature Scale.
- Kelvin Waves
- Fluctuations in wind speed at the ocean surface at the Equator result in eastward propagating waves, known as Kelvin Waves. Kelvin Waves cause variations in the depth of the oceanic thermocline, the boundary between warm waters in the upper ocean and cold waters in the deep ocean. They play an important role in monitoring and predicting El Niño episodes.
- Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves
- Vertical waves in the air associated with wind shear across statically-stable regions. Can appear as breaking waves and as braided patterns in radar images and cloud photos.
- The internationally recognized unit used by the Atmospheric Environment Service for measuring atmospheric pressure. Abbreviated kPa.
- Kinetic Energy
- Energy that a body has as a result of its motion. Mathematically, it is defined as one-half the product of a body's mass and the square of its speed (KE = 1/2 * mass * velocity squared).
- An electron tube used as a low-power oscillator or a high-power amplifier at ultrahigh frequencies.
- (abbrev. Kt) Unit of speed used in navigation, equal to 1 nautical mile (the length of 1 minute latitude) per hour or about 1.15 statute miles per hour, or 0.5 meters/sec).
- Slang for lumpy protrusions on the edges, and sometimes the underside, of a thunderstorm anvil. They usually appear on the upwind side of a back-sheared anvil, and
indicate rapid expansion of the anvil due to the presence of a very strong updraft. They are not mammatus clouds. See also cumuliform anvil and anvil rollover.
- Kp Index
- A 3-hourly planetary geomagnetic index of activity generated in
Gottingen, Germany, based on the K Index from 12 or 13 stations
distributed around the world
- (Knot)- Unit of speed used in navigation, equal to 1 nautical mile (the length of 1 minute latitude) per hour or about 1.15 statue miles per hour, or 0.5 meters/sec).
You can either type in the word you are looking for in the box below or browse by letter.
Browse by letter:# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | <urn:uuid:e9108ec7-36a0-40f4-8993-2bf847bf8212> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://w1.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=k | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698542246.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170902-00202-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.87178 | 936 | 3.3125 | 3 | 1.711326 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Every softball player starts somewhere. For most, it’s the backyard or the neighborhood park where they’ll first pick up a bat and glove, learning the basics as they hone their skills.
And those early moments, however small, are especially critical. This is when young players learn good habits, good form and a good stance — not to mention a healthy love of the game.
To teach your child the fundamentals of hitting a softball here is a step-by-step guide. Remember, for young players there’s no substitute for regular one-on-one practice. So it’s important to stay patient and focus on the fundamentals. Over time, your child’s swing will improve and their confidence will grow, helping to ensure they’ll enjoy playing for years to come.
STEP ONE: FIND THE RIGHT BAT
Keep in mind that smaller players need smaller bats. Begin with the lightest youth softball bat you can find that meets your local league guidelines, and work your way up from there. When in doubt, use the arm test: Have your child hold the bat with their arm extended outward, parallel to the ground. If the bat is an appropriate size, and weight they should be able to hold it for about 30 seconds without their arms drooping.
Always consult with your coach or local league official before purchasing a bat, since many leagues may already supply bats or place restrictions on the use of specific types of bats for game play. For example, composite bats may not be approved.
Tip: A bat’s “drop” is its length-to-weight ratio, denoted as a negative number. The lesser the number value, the lighter the bat. The lighter the bat, the easier it is to swing. Most youth bats range between -10 (heavier) and -13.5 (lighter).
STEP TWO: HELP THEM GET A GRIP
Ask right-handed batters to wrap their left hand around the bat handle below their right (opposite for left-handers). Their grip should be snug but not too tight, and the middle knuckles should align. Keep in mind that the littlest batters might benefit from “choking up,” holding the bat a little higher up on the handle away from the knob.
STEP THREE: IT’S ALL IN THE STANCE
Next, show your future slugger how their body should face the pitcher, perpendicular to the plate. It is helpful to have a practice home plate or an object representing the plate available. Their knees should be slightly bent, and their feet should be shoulder-width apart. Make sure their hips, knees and shoulders are square.
Instruct your player to keep their lead shoulder facing the pitcher, with the tip of the bat pointing upward to the sky (many players have a tendency to put the bat on their shoulder and point it behind them). Tell your kids to “hide their hands,” which is an easy way for them to remember that the bat should be held behind their head,not drooping downward toward their chest.
STEP FOUR: SWING IT THROUGH
Now, have your child stand in position and practice swinging all the way through, carrying the bat level and through a full twisting motion. Remember to focus on two things: developing a level swing and training your child to watch the ball through the plate.
The secret to a successful “whole” swing is in the hips. So try to get them in the habit of twisting their whole body, rather than just swinging the arms. As they take a small step toward the pitcher, their hips should begin to rotate, and their hands should follow their hips through the strike zone and extend out over the plate.
When your child is done swinging, their hips should be facing the pitcher and their back foot should pivot, not come off the ground.
STEP FIVE: SKIP THE SOFTBALL
Start out with a practice softball, whiffle ball or tennis ball. These lightweight balls are easy to hit and help instill confidence into your budding ballplayer. An alternative ball helps them master form, stance and a full swing — good habits they’ll need for practice and play. Over time, you can incorporate an actual softball into your backyard training.
STEP SIX: TEE OR NO TEE?
Again, early batting practices are a great time to learn about a proper batting stance and swing. So it makes sense to start practicing these techniques with a batting tee first, rather than hitting balls thrown by a pitcher.
Master these steps, and you and your child will be ready to start making memories on and off the field together. | <urn:uuid:2e9782c6-4b30-4084-b590-d3a645557d30> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://protips.dickssportinggoods.com/sports-and-activities/softball/softball-101-teach-child-swing-softball-bat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600402130531.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20200930235415-20201001025415-00129.warc.gz | en | 0.940011 | 968 | 3.1875 | 3 | 1.616631 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Sports & Fitness |
Introduction to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Site Characterization Project
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) embraces more than one-quarter (approximately 350 statute miles) of the California coast. Its 6,094 square statute miles (4,024 square nautical miles) extend from Rocky Point (just north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge) to Cambria (just north of Morro Bay), and from mean high tide to a seaward boundary an average of 35 statute miles offshore (Figure 1).
The MBNMS is often and justifiably described by superlatives. It is the nation's largest marine sanctuary, and by volume, the world's largest as well (second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef in area). It spans a coastline of striking contrasts and unmatched beauty, encompassing windswept coastal bluffs of the north sanctuary, broad sand beaches and dunes of Monterey Bay, and spectacular cliffs and countless creeks of the Big Sur coast. MBNMS waters bathe a great variety of habitats, including lush kelp forests, productive coastal lagoons, and bizarre deep sea communities in waters as deep as 3,250 meters.
Due to a combination of oceanographic and geologic attributes, the MBNMS supports some of the most diverse and speciose biological assemblages in the world. For many migratory species, such as the gray whale, king salmon and brown pelican, the MBNMS is also a critical link to other habitats which fall beyond the sanctuary's boundaries. The impressive sum of these natural resources has attracted more than a dozen research facilities to the area; in fact, it is now recognized as home to one of the greatest concentrations of such institutions in the world.
The goal of this MBNMS site characterization is to describe the spectacular diversity and richness within its protective boundaries, including its physical and biological features as well as the many human influences which continue to shape this region. Like the sanctuary itself, multiple influences have shaped the site characterization product found here, beginning with the project guidelines proposed in 1994 by the Sanctuaries and Reserves Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Table 1), project scoping meetings, interviews and written contributions from many MBNMS researchers and resource managers (Figure 2). In total, more than 100 individuals and 30 regional institutions have directly contributed to the contents of the project (Table 2.).
The result of these many influences is a document meant to be used as a resource for information about the current status of MBNMS natural resources. Based on input from early meetings, our target audience is resource managers, researchers and educational institutions, i.e. those with some science background, though not necessarily in the subject of interest, and with access to other resources cited in this text.
The general public is encouraged to use this document as well, though some sections may use terminology or refer to concepts which require further outside reading. Note that the MBNMS office is working jointly with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to publish a book about the MBNMS for the general public; A Natural History of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary should be available at the Monterey Bay Aquarium by the end of 1996.
This site characterization should be looked at as a "living" document, i.e. one which will be continuously modified and improved over time. In addition to a few sections which were beyond the scope of this Phase I effort, and will therefore be thoroughly covered in Phase II (e.g. Archaeological, Cultural and Historical Resources), all sections and the bibliography will need continual updates to remain current and useful to our audience. Fortunately, thanks to the recent explosion in internet interest and use, these changes can be made relatively easily and accessed immediately in this medium. | <urn:uuid:5a356f13-70b5-4f1e-95f0-e69bde404153> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://montereybay.noaa.gov/sitechar/intrsite.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501171807.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104611-00449-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934439 | 773 | 2.875 | 3 | 2.804168 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Systems Architecting- Fundamentals- M224
This one-day tutorial provides practice in the basics of systems architecting, covering the concepts and the best known methods: architecture frameworks, use of multiple views, design patterns, DODAF, dynamic optimization. System architecting is a creative art that develops the arrangement of components and relationships to build a system. Only partially understood, it is clear that system architecting involves heuristic rules and patterns that are recognizable by architects but difficult to codify. This tutorial shows the basic thought patterns behind system architecting, with some practice in identifying and using patterns effectively to develop an architecture.
What you will learn:
- Four key architecting activities
- The relationship of architecting to engineering
- The top-down architecting method of Capabilities Engineering
- The bottom-up architecting method of Dynamic Optimization
- How to use design patterns
- How to use the DODAF
- Architecting issues and solutions
- Introduction – System architecting concepts. How architecting fits in to systems engineering. Terms and definitions. Roles of a technical leader in relation to architecture development.
- Architectures and Architecting – What is an architecture, and what is it made of? How do we use it? Understanding the components of an architecture. Origin of the terms within systems development. Defining architectures in operational, technical, and standards terms. Use of multiple views to convey the complexity of an architecture.
- Architecting Methods – Capabilities engineering as a top-down method to define architectures from above. Defining the desired operational capabilities for a system, business, or enterprise, then allocating elements of those capabilities into an architecture. Dynamic optimization as a bottom-up method for systems of systems, businesses and enterprises, when the end goal is not visible. Dynamic methods to create architectures that self-organize to grow and change over time. Measurement and optimization of architectures. Class exercise in defining the footprint for a system.
- Architectural Tools – Summary of current methods to work with architectures. Design Patterns – Patterns as the basic tool for creativity. What are patterns? How do we recognize them? Pattern definition language. Hierarchies of patterns. Class exercise in extending patterns to new contexts. Using patterns in architecting. Architecture frameworks: DOD Architecture Framework (DODAF). Zachman Framework. Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF). Hierarchies of architectures. Why frameworks exist, and what they hope to provide. Using the DODAF – Diagram types within the DODAF. Operational Views, System Views, Technical Standards Views. Relationship of the views to each other. Effective order to create them. How the many views contribute to an understanding of the problem and the solution. Processes to use the DODAF effectively. Class exercise in creating DODAF views of an architectural change.
- Architecture Issues in Design – Summary of how architectural issues affect the design of a system, with discussion of current methods to handle them. Interface control as an architectural design tool. Challenges with selecting Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) architectural components. Architecture issues in technical management and in Test & Evaluation.
This course is not on the current schedule of open enrollment courses. If you are interested in attending this or another course as open enrollment, please contact us at (410) 956-8805 or at [email protected] and indicate the course name and number of students who wish to participate. ATI typically schedules open enrollment courses with a lead time of 3-5 months. Group courses can be presented at your facility at any time. For on-site pricing, request an on-site quote. You may also call us at (410) 956-8805 or email us at [email protected].
Eric Honour, international consultant and lecturer, has a 40-year career of complex systems development and operation. Founder and former President of INCOSE. He was elected an INCOSE Fellow (2010). He has led the development of 18 major systems, including the Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation systems and the Battle Group Passive Horizon Extension System. BSSE (Systems Engineering), US Naval Academy, MSEE, Naval Postgraduate School, and PhD candidate, University of South Australia.
Contact this instructor (please mention course name in the subject line) | <urn:uuid:0712afd1-4e39-476a-ba81-e120bf4bb19a> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://www.aticourses.com/training_classes/systems-architecting-fundamentals-m224/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195528869.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20190723043719-20190723065719-00053.warc.gz | en | 0.909276 | 883 | 3.171875 | 3 | 2.767443 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Recap from: Elearning! Magazine’s Insights Article
Why is most corporate learning not optimally effective? Many long-time L&D experts including Elliott Masie, Clark Quinn and Will Thalheimer have frequently lamented that much of the corporate learning they see is not really effective learning, because it is not mentally challenging.
Like them, I’ve found the issue is not that learning professionals don’t know how to create learning that is challenging enough to be effective. Instead, it’s usually the harsh reality of the time, resource and cost constraints within which most learning professionals work.
Every organization provides training to its workforce primarily to improve performance and drive business growth. So let’s discuss some brain science and how to leverage it to create learning that really engages learners and actually improves performance.
BRAIN SCIENCE FOR LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS: A.G.E.S.
A.G.E.S. is an outgrowth of neuroscientific research that examines the link between training retention and how strongly each learner’s brain is activated during training. The A.G.E.S. model focuses on four key categories that reduce distraction during training and dramatically improve retention:
Attention (focus) – Are your employees prone to multi-tasking during training? For the brain to fire at the level required to transfer learning from short-term memory to long-term memory (that is, necessary for retention to happen), learners need to pay close attention during a learning task. Deep focus is a critical factor for learning retention. Employees will engage if they intuitively understand how the learning is relevant to their success. Engagement is making the learning (and the brain!) active, not passive.
Generation (each learner makes his or her own meaning) – This means taking the “active” learning described above to the next level. Learners must generate their own mental links as they learn, not just passively listen. Training will be highly retained when learners create their own mental context to embed the knowledge.
This is most effectively done by involving multiple senses during learning. Not watching or reading, but thinking, listening, speaking and doing. If our training uses multiple senses (like playing an interactive game), we are activating different sets of the brain’s neural circuits to more tightly embed the meaning each learner creates during that learning.
Emotions (better recall) – The stronger the emotions each learner feels during training, the higher their retention of the material will be. These emotions can be either positive or negative. How can your training engender feelings of success? Or fear of failure? Are the majority of your employees inherently competitive? Trigger that competitiveness to create learning experiences that makes them want to win. Or avoid losing.
Spacing (learning blocks) – Remember how you “crammed” for that big test in school? This was effective in massing a large amount of knowledge, but only for short-term memory. Long-term recall/retention improves dramatically when we learn over several sittings. The longer employees must remember the knowledge that makes them successful, the more learning must be spaced out.
How often does your training initiative include a reinforcement strategy that extends well beyond the foundation training? Unfortunately, most strategic corporate training initiatives are more of a “Big Bang” with little to no reinforcement. Spaced repetition is key to learning effectiveness and retention.
The A.G.E.S. model in neuroscience is essential to create more effective learning. The best part: there are now technology solutions built around A.G.E.S. that can enable your organization to produce “A.G.E.S.-level learning” within the time, resource and cost constraints you face.
—Bryan Austin is vice president at mLevel, which produces award-winning game-based learning. More info: www.mlevel.com. | <urn:uuid:84578119-bc3d-4d0c-82e1-e27027005e73> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://mlevel.com/index.php/2015/12/16/brain-science-and-learning-effectiveness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243989693.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20210512100748-20210512130748-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.95045 | 816 | 2.828125 | 3 | 2.796928 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Drunk driving continues to be one of the leading causes of car accidents in Portland. Each year, DUI-related crashes leave thousands of drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians suffering serious and potentially debilitating injuries. Many drivers fail to realize the dangers they expose themselves and others too when they drink and get behind the wheel. The following outlines some of the physical and cognitive impairments caused by drinking, as well as the potentially risky behaviors drivers are more likely to engage in while drunk.
Impacts of Driving Under the Influence
Driving is a complex skill. Even modest amounts of alcohol can cause significant enough impairments to make car accidents and injuries more likely to occur. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), having three or four glasses of wine or beer over the course of an hour impacts driving abilities and is likely to result in a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, which is above the legal limit. Even lesser amounts can impact body functions needed to operate a motor vehicle safely. The NIH warns that the most common and potentially dangerous effects of alcohol include:
- Impaired vision: This can make it difficult to see which lane you are in or other drivers on the road. It can also make it harder to recover from glare due to passing headlights and street lamps.
- Reduced reflexes and reaction times: Being under the influence slows your reflexes, inhibiting your ability to respond to changes in road or traffic conditions.
- Impaired judgment: Poor judgment leads you to not acknowledge how intoxicated you are and to make dangerous choices while driving.
- Decreased concentration: Traffic lights, passing scenery, other motorists, and distractions in the vehicle can all cause drunk drivers to not pay attention to the road for extended periods.
Alcohol Increases Risks of Other Dangerous Driving Behaviors
According to traffic crash reports from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), alcohol is a factor in roughly half of all car accidents that occur in our area each year. In addition to impairing physical and cognitive abilities needed to operate a motor vehicle safely, being under the influence also makes you more likely to engage in other potentially dangerous driving behaviors. These include:
- Speeding and going too fast for conditions: Being under the influence makes it harder for drivers to regulate their speed.
- Disregarding traffic signs and signals: Impaired vision and slowed reaction times leads to running red lights, failing to yield, and not following other traffic signals.
- Driving distracted: Drunk drivers are more likely to be distracted by texting and talking to other passengers or by reaching for items and changing stereo or GPS settings.
- Improper passing: This increases the risk of deadly side impact and head-on collisions.
Let Us Help You Today
Drunk drivers routinely cause serious harm to others on the road. When a DUI related car accident impacts you or a loved one, the Johnston Law Firm is here to help. To request a consultation, call (503) 546-3167 or contact our Portland drunk driving accident attorneys online today. | <urn:uuid:6604f802-1442-426e-9d44-f72dc442db3f> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://johnston-lawfirm.com/drunk-driving-increases-the-likelihood-of-other-dangerous-behaviors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320306346.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20220128212503-20220129002503-00172.warc.gz | en | 0.942756 | 620 | 3.0625 | 3 | 2.532996 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Crime & Law |
Landfills and meat industry: New food sources for the Medes Islands yellow-legged gull
The diet of the yellow-legged gull in the Medes Islands (Girona, Spain) has changed extremely over the last decades, according to a study that analyzes the changes in the diet of this species over the last twenty years. Regarding these gulls, which eat strictly marine resources, landfills and meat industries ̶ which are abundant in the area ̶ are nowadays the source for food of about 50% of their diet.
The growth of human population in the study area –apart from the abundance and availability of organic waste in landfills– would explain the current feeding pattern of the gulls, a species with a high ability to adopt to those habitats that have changed due to human activity. Parallelly, the high availability of food has triggered the populations of gulls, a situation that involves some problems related to direct and indirect interaction between seabirds and people.
The study, published in the journal Ecological Indicators, is led by members of the Group on Seabird Ecology of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona. Among the participants are the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and the Animal Health Research Centre (CReSA) of the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA).
Searching for food resources
Human activity has altered the features of the environment since ancient times. A way to introduce significant changes in the ecosystem and the wild fauna is the input of food subsidies to the natural environment, that is, food leftovers humans do not eat, and which are eaten by other species. Over the last decades, the consumption model of humans has led to an increase in the production of food subsidies, which have become an essential food source for many wild fauna populations, such as the wild boar –frequent in the town and city streets– or seabirds that eat fishing discards. Often, the increase in the availability of anthropogenic resources is strongly related to the populational growth of species that know how to take and eat these. Such species, therefore, can become superabundant and can generate several problems such as nuisances in the city, transmission of diseases, accidents on the road or airports, etc.
The yellow-legged gull: feeding from landfill waste
The Larus michahellis yellow-legged gull is a completely adapted species to the use of human-origin food subsidies. This bird, which was originally marine, is nowadays abundant in places with many humans, from the coast side to inland.
"This species has a great feeding and behavioral plasticity, and this allows it to feed from sandwiches in school courtyards, to food remains from meat industries, through fishing discards and waste in landfills," notes researcher Jazel Ouled-Cheikh, first author of the article and member of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the UB, IRBio and ICM-CSIC. "These food habits –adds the expert– turn it into a potential disease vector, apart from favoring demographic explosions, and therefore, it is necessary to study and understand the species to manage the populations and prevent potential conflicts."
In the study, the Group on Seabird Ecology details how the diet of the yellow-legged gull of the Medes Islands (Girona) has changed over the last twenty years. Through the analysis of stable isotopes, the study determines the elementary compounds of the feathers of the gulls to estimate and quantify their diet. The analyzed samples come from samples of chicks conducted in situ in the Medes Islands during the breeding season of the species during the 2004-2018 period. The temporary perspective of the study is extended thanks to the analysis of samples of feathers of dissected models from the Darder Museum in Banyoles and the Natural History Museum of Barcelona; a first-year juvenile gull which died in 1916 and three more juvenile that died in the nineties, taken near the Medes Islands.
The findings of the study reveal several significant changes in the diet of the yellow-legged gull during the study period: "Specifically, the seagull diet has gone from being based on a 70% marine contribution –mainly fish–in 1916, to values of about 30%", says the expert Jazel Ouled-Cheikh. "However, the contribution of elements from landfills (meat products and other leftovers) was relatively low in 1916. The contribution of this resource to the diet of seagulls grew during the 1990s, until stabilizing around 50% in the present."
The study also evaluates the contribution of terrestrial invertebrates to the diet of this seabird, an intake that also increases progressively throughout the study period, reaching current values of 30%.
"These variations in the diet of the yellow-legged gull population of the Medes Islands over time could be explained basically by two oscillating and closely related factors: the population size of the study colony and the availability of different food subsidies in the environment," says the tenure-track 2 lecturer Raül Ramos (UB-IRBio).
The availability of different food subsidies changes enormously in both time and space. The yellow-legged gull, like many other opportunistic species, can adapt to these variations by modifying its feeding strategy. Thus, individuals from different places may have very different diets depending on the local availability of these resources. "Therefore, the individuals can adapt their schedules and diet to the temporal patterns presented by the human activities that generate these subsidies. For example, they are able to change their diet on weekends when there is no fishing and, therefore, no fishing discards," says Francisco Ramírez, member of IRBio and ICM-CSIC. "From an ecological point of view, this plasticity gives them a certain advantage over other more specialized, and often competing, species that can be affected."
A new scenario for seabirds
This situation of changes will be further exacerbated by teh European Union-driven policies that will reduce the accessibility of seagulls to food subsidies. In this context, it is important to highlight the community guidelines such as the Landfill Directive, which will lead to a significant reduction in the available waste at landfills. Likewise, the present and future application of the European Landing Obligation policy –the ban on dumping discards, the main food source for many seabirds today–could end the image of seabirds following the route of the fishing boats to eat from them.
"If we consider the lack of food availability of the seagull (at least two of the three sources described in the study: landfill remains and fishing discards), in addition to the difficulty of covering the energy demand of these birds exclusively with the consumption of terrestrial invertebrates, everything points to a greater presence of seagulls in urban areas in the not-that-distant future, without forgetting the problems this situation involves," warn the researchers.
"It is essential, therefore, to continue monitoring the Medes Islands gull colony, which is one of the most important in the Mediterranean. This monitoring must consider both the eating habits of this population of gulls and the movements of the specimens (using GPS devices, for example), as well as the study of their role as a reservoir of pathogenic microorganisms that they can transmit," says Marta Cerdà, researcher at IRTA-CReSA. "Only in this way will we be able to have quality scientific data to find the reasons that push this species to interact more and more intensely and closely with human society, and all the associated risks that this brings." | <urn:uuid:143d636b-6a31-4662-b80b-20725562fd25> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://phys.org/news/2021-09-landfills-meat-industry-food-sources.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363659.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20211209030858-20211209060858-00162.warc.gz | en | 0.945962 | 1,595 | 2.96875 | 3 | 3.047697 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
HUNSLET was built by the Hunslet Engineering Company, Leeds, England in 1902. It is not known who ordered the locomotive. However, it is known that she was shipped from the factory to Durban for Roger Jenkins, a firm of mechanical and electrical engineers acting as agents for Hunslet. The Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company Limited (VFP) bought Hunslet in 1912. It is not known from whom the VFP bought Hunslet.
Hunslet was used to haul coal trains from Modrea railway station to Brakpan power station, a distance of 4km. From 1922, Hunslet served at Vereeniging power station. Hunslet’s nickname was "Mitzi". In May 1953, while stationed at Vereeniging power station, Hunslet was loaned to Vaal power station until Vaal’s DUBS locomotive was repaired.
Hunslet was returned to Vereeniging power station in January 1954. In 1958 Hunslet was loaned to Grootvlei power station, then under construction, to serve as a stationary boiler for steam-cleaning the boiler tubes and steam pipes of the power station’s No 1 boiler. Hunslet was returned to Vereeniging power station again, until the station closed in 1967. With the closure of Vereeniging power station, Hunslet was sent to Rosherville power station. A dedicated locomotive maintenance team, located at Rosherville central workshops, kept Hunslet in first-class condition.
In accordance with conditions first stipulated in the Power Act of 1910 and included in the Electricity Act of 1922, all assets of the VFP were expropriated and taken over by ESCOM in 1948. ESKOM was formerly known as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM).
Originally, Hunslet had coal boxes on each side of the cab. But as these proved to be inadequate, a new coal-bunker was constructed at the rear of the cab in 1946. The old coal boxes became tool-boxes. In summer, as the water in Hunslet’s saddle tank became heated, it caused the two injectors to dribble. This indicated that the water did not condense the steam quickly enough. No such problem was experienced in winter.
Hunslet is on permanent loan from ESKOM to the South African National Railway And Steam Museum also known as SANRASM in Krugersdorp. A ride on this steam locomotive is still possible. Enthusiastic volunteers operate the museum. Their efforts ensure that Hunslet "steams" for the public approximately twice each year.
Type: Port Elizabeth Harbour Board
Work’s No: 790
Wheel Formation: 2-6-0
Tractive Force (lbs): 11700
Year of manufacture: 1902
This information on HUNSLET comes from research material compiled by Mr. Rick Searle, a retired ESKOM employee. | <urn:uuid:4b86015a-b3e1-4fc7-b167-81f1a95f9802> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | http://steam-locomotives-south-africa.blogspot.com/2009/07/blogentry-2009-07-12-04.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221217901.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20180820234831-20180821014831-00087.warc.gz | en | 0.973316 | 629 | 2.65625 | 3 | 2.051794 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Transportation |
Accidents, Errors, and Explosions
Nuclear bombs are the most dangerous objects in the world. But in spite of precautions, nuclear bombs have been accidentally dropped from airplanes, they’ve melted in storage unit fires, and some have simply gone missing.
Crashes And Explosions
A missing (dummy) bomb
Three of the engines on a U.S. B-36 bomber caught fire during a training flight. The bomber dumped a dummy nuclear bomb—it used lead to simulate plutonium—off the coast of British Columbia before crashing. The bomb was missing until 2016 when a diver stumbled across what may be the remains of the bomb while searching for sea cucumbers.
A bomb in the St. Lawrence River
An American B-50 accidentally dropped a bomb over the St. Lawrence River, about 300 miles northeast of Montreal. The bomb detonated on impact. Luckily, it was missing its plutonium core and only the conventional high explosives detonated. The explosion scattered nearly 100 pounds of uranium in the surrounding area.
A crash and a miracle
During a training exercise, a B-47 bomber crashed into a nuclear weapons storage facility at the Lakenheath Air Base in Suffolk. The bomber exploded and the crew died. Bomb disposal officers who examined the weapons in the storage facility said it was a “miracle” that one of the bombs didn’t explode. The plutonium cores to the bombs were stored in a different building nearby. If the B-47 had crashed into that building instead, the explosion could have scattered plutonium all over the surrounding area.
A bomb dropped on Albuquerque
A B-36 aircraft accidentally dropped a hydrogen bomb over Albuquerque while transporting it to nearby Kirtland Air Force Base. According to reports, a crewmember had accidentally pulled the bomb release lever to steady himself during turbulence. There was no nuclear detonation, but the conventional high explosives left a crater 12 feet deep and 25 feet wide on land owned by the University of New Mexico, and radioactive material was scattered within a one-mile radius of the site.
A missing bomb in Georgia
Two aircraft, A B-47 bomber and an F-86 fighter jet, collided over Savannah, Georgia, during a training simulation. The B-47 was carrying a nuclear weapon. The bomb was jettisoned near Tybee Island. Luckily, the bomb’s conventional high explosives didn’t detonate, and the nuclear material wasn’t installed in the bomb for this training exercise. The Air Force searched for months but never found the bomb.
A fire the U.S. wants to forget
A B-47 strategic bomber at the U.S. air base at Greenham Common, England, caught fire. There were rumors that the aircraft contained a nuclear weapon. In 1960, scientists detected high levels of radioactive contamination around the base. The U.S. government has yet to confirm whether or not a nuclear warhead was on the bomber at the time of the accident.
A farmhouse bombed
A B-47E aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon left South Carolina for an overseas base when the bomb accidentally jettisoned. Nuclear materials were not installed in the bomb, but the conventional high explosives destroyed a house in the Mars Bluff area, injuring several people.
A burning bomber in the sky
A B-47 bomber from Dyess Air Force Base was carrying a nuclear warhead when the plane caught fire upon take-off and crashed from 1,500 feet in the air. The bomb’s conventional high explosives detonated, creating a crater 35 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep. The nuclear material was recovered from the crash site.
A melted missile
A missile caught fire at McGuire Air Force base. It burned for 45 minutes—the missile melted, and the nuclear warhead dropped into the melted remains where it also caught fire and melted. This created a serious and long-lived contamination problem at the base that lasted well into the 1980s.
A safety switch saves the day
A B-52 bomber carrying two hydrogen bombs with yields in the multi-megaton range crashed in Goldsboro, N.C. The weapons plunged to the ground. One weapon’s parachute failed to deploy, and it broke apart upon landing. Its uranium was never found. The other weapon’s parachute deployed successfully, but when it landed it nearly detonated. Only a single safety switch prevented a nuclear blast—the other five switches failed.
A system failure at high altitude
A B-52 carrying two nuclear weapons experienced a system failure at 10,000 feet. The nuclear weapons were separated from the plane when it crashed, but they did not explode.
An accidental bombing in Spain
A B-52 bomber carrying hydrogen bombs collided with its refueling aircraft, sending three of the four bombs crashing into Palomares, Spain and dropping the last in the sea. One of the bombs landed without detonating. The conventional high explosives went off in the other two bombs, contaminating farms in the area with radioactive uranium. The fourth bomb wasn’t recovered from the sea until three months later.
An Arctic accident
A B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs caught fire during a flight near the Arctic Circle. The plane tried to land at Thule Air Force Base in Greenland, but crashed seven miles from the runway. The conventional high explosives in all of the bombs detonated, and radioactive contamination spread across the surrounding crash site. All four weapons were destroyed.
A deadly maintenance mistake
A Titan II missile exploded after a maintenance man dropped a wrench socket that pierced its metal skin and caused a fuel leak. The explosion blew the 740-ton silo door off and threw the warhead 600 feet from the silo, but the nuclear warhead did not detonate. Nonetheless, one man died, and twenty-one were injured.
An underwater explosion
An explosion in a missile tube caused a fire on a Soviet ballistic missile submarine carrying 16 ballistic missiles, each armed with 2 nuclear warheads. Five of the crew members died. The sub was evacuated and rescued by a tow boat, but it flooded, the towing cable snapped, and it sank 18,000 feet underwater.
An international collision
A British nuclear submarine collided with a French nuclear submarine in the Atlantic Ocean while conducting routine patrols. The subs collided at a low speed, and no one was harmed. Both vessels carried nuclear weapons.
A war with the moon
An American early warning radar reported dozens of Soviet missiles flying toward the U.S. The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) went on high alert—before declaring it a false alarm. The first sign the report was wrong: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was in New York at the time. It turned out the rising moon had reflected radar waves back into a Greenland-based radar.
A phone switch almost starts a war
The U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command—which was responsible for overseeing U.S. nuclear bombs and missiles—lost contact with an early warning radar system in Greenland, and could not contact NORAD in Colorado. Worried that the U.S. was under attack, officials ordered their entire alert force to prepare for takeoff. Then an American plane near Greenland was able to contact the radar operators and confirm there was no attack. It turned out that the crisis was caused by a single failed AT&T switch in Colorado.
A satellite that looks like a missile
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a New Jersey radar base reported that a missile had launched from Cuba. According to the report, the missile would hit Florida in two minutes. The missile never appeared—because it had never been launched. The radar had picked up a satellite orbiting the earth in the exact orbit and position as a hypothetical missile fired from Cuba to Florida.
An undetected underwater nuke
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union deployed four nuclear-armed submarines to Cuba. The U.S. dropped harmless low-charge explosives to force the subs to the surface. The captain of one sub, thinking they were being bombed, wanted to launch a nuclear attack. Luckily, another officer onboard was able to convince the captain to wait for instructions from Moscow—and averted nuclear war.
A bear in a time of crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a guard at a military base in Duluth, Minnesota shot at an intruder climbing the fence. The shot triggered an alarm that set off warnings at all neighboring military bases. At Volk Field base in Wisconsin, the alarm was wired incorrectly—it ordered nuclear-armed fighter planes to take off. In Duluth, the “intruder” turned out to be a bear—but the fighters were already on the runway. A staff member had to chase the planes in a truck to stop them from taking off.
An exercise attack
A training tape simulating a large-scale Soviet nuclear attack was accidentally inserted into a NORAD computer by a technician. Right away, the nation’s ICBM force was placed on its highest alert. Nuclear bombers prepared for take-off, and the President’s National Emergency Airborne Command Post took off (though without President Carter). Six minutes later, satellites did not show any incoming attack and officials stood down.
A faulty computer chip
U.S. early warning systems showed a Soviet attack. Bombers were ordered to the runway and had their engines running ready for take-off, and the President’s National Emergency Airborne Command Post was on the runway ready for take-off. When the warning systems didn’t show further signs of an attack, the alert was called off. The false alarm was later revealed to be caused by a faulty computer chip.
A lucky guess
A Soviet early warning satellite reported that the United States had launched five Minuteman missiles at the U.S.S.R. But it struck Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov as odd that the U.S. would only launch five missiles. Without knowing for certain, he reported the incident to his superiors as a false alarm. After another 20 minutes, when the missiles did not appear, it became clear that he had made the right call.
An experiment nearly gone wrong
Scientists in Norway launched a rocket to study the Aurora Borealis. The scientists had warned neighboring states about the launch, but Russia’s missile warning system identified the rocket as a submarine-launched nuclear missile. The Russian president was notified and presented with the means to authorize a retaliatory strike. Things were tense for several minutes. But Russian radars did not show any additional U.S. missile launches, and the incident was declared a false alarm.
Mysteries and Mistakes
A bomber vanishes
A B-47 bomber left MacDill Air Force Base in Florida carrying the cores of two atomic bombs. After it failed to refuel over the Mediterranean Sea, the plane went missing. It was never found.
A missing plane, pilot, and weapon
A U.S. A-4E aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon rolled off the deck of an aircraft carrier and disappeared under the ocean. The pilot died, and the plane and weapon were later located at a depth of 16,000 feet. Neither the plane nor the weapon were ever recovered.
A submarine disappears
A submarine with nuclear weapons on board—the USS Scorpion—and its crew vanished in the Atlantic Ocean. It sank a few hundred miles southwest of the Azores. Initially, the Soviets were suspected of foul-play, but subsequent investigation of the wreckage did not confirm those suspicions. It’s still a mystery why the Scorpion sank.
A day and a half of missing missiles
Six U.S. nuclear-armed missiles were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 at Minot Air Force Base, headed to Barksdale, Louisiana. The plane and the missiles sat unguarded at Minot overnight. Once in Louisiana, the plane remained unguarded for 9 hours before anyone realized there were live nuclear weapons aboard. It took 36 hours for anyone to notice that six nuclear-armed missiles were missing.
A circuit card error
The launch control center at Warren Air Force Base lost contact with 50 nuclear ICBMs for almost an hour. While the missiles were out of contact, the remote launch centers that control them would have been unable to detect or cancel any unauthorized launch if it were to have happened. The cause: a circuit card had been installed incorrectly in a computer during a routine maintenance. | <urn:uuid:fc7819ed-b434-4099-a861-1931df766407> | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/timelines/accidents-errors-and-explosions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039742567.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20181115054518-20181115080518-00187.warc.gz | en | 0.963965 | 2,557 | 3.125 | 3 | 2.883346 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
At the $250,000 income level that is at the center of President Obama’s tax increase proposal, up to 55% ($139,133) of the $250,000 families earn goes to taxes and what they are expected to contribute toward the cost of college each year.
After paying $73,696 in federal, state (Pennsylvania), local and FICA taxes, parents with a household income of $250,000 are expected under the federal college aid formula to contribute an additional $65,437 per year toward the cost of college. For a college student to be eligible for need-based financial aid, the student must demonstrate a need for aid using the formula, the college’s Cost of Attendance – Expected Family Contribution = Financial Need. The student of a married couple earning $250,000 per year has an expected family contribution (EFC) of $65,437 per year based on the parent's income alone, forgetting any assets they may count in the aid calculation, raising the student’s EFC even higher.
Since the most expensive colleges today are now right at or slightly over $60,000 per year, the student's EFC of $65,437 will exceed the cost of attendance and, therefore, the student will not be eligible for any need-based college aid. However, the student will not be expected to pay more than the cost of attendance (sticker price), so the family’s out-of-pocket cost is $60,000 per year at the most expensive colleges in the country. If the student chooses to attend a college with a lower sticker price, then the lower sticker price becomes the family’s out-of-pocket cost - assuming the student doesn’t receive any merit aid or scholarships.
Using the highest college sticker price of $60,000, along with the tax owed on $250,000 of $73,696, the total comes to $133,696, 54% of the family’s gross income.
Compare that to the 32% ($23,868) that is expected to be contributed toward the cost of college and paid in taxes on an annual income of $75,000. This $75,000 family has an EFC of $9,142 per year, and is expected to pay $14,726 in total federal, state, FICA and local taxes.
$75,000 = $23,868 = 32%
$250,000 = $139,133 = 55%
These facts highlight the real burden on middle class families from $75,000 - $250,000 to pay for college each year for just one child. It seems, at 55% of gross income, that those families making $250,00 are already doing their fair share of paying higher taxes and the full sticker price of college, let alone potential new taxes. The way the syytem works, lower income families benefit from the higher tax and tuition revenue generated from the $250,000 families by getting a college education at a lower out-of-pocket cost. The tax dollars fill the state and federal coffers and in turn provide state and federal college aid subsidies to the lower income families, while the same $250,000 family pays full sticker price for college. So the $250,000 families indirectly subsidize lower income families twice, with taxes and full tuition revenue to the colleges. Colleges clamor for what are called “full-pay families” for this very reason.
I am not suggesting that families making $250,000 per year cannot afford college, particularly a lower priced college. However, I do think it is important to know who is already paying what in taxes, and how much they are expected to contribute toward the cost of college. Taxes and college affordability are important points in both presidential candidate's campaigns.
Our current president wants to raise taxes on parents with $250,000 of income and higher. The status of this major tax question hangs in the air until the presidential election is decided in November. But don't wait for November because one thing is certain today, the time has come for all middle class families to have an integrated college planning strategy based on: College selection, financial aid, tax aid and financial planning. What’s more, when tuition and tax bills come, the bills don’t care if you are registered Republican or Democrat, or where you stand relative to the fiscal cliff - they just need paid! How you pay those bills each year will definitely have a lasting impact on your retirement savings too.
So we all need to know ahead of time where our children may be able to get into college and get aid, and what our best strategy is to pay for the colleges that are the best fit for our children. It’s time to get started. Carpe diem.
Ps: In response to some of the comments made, I'll note that students of parents making $120,000 per year, when attending lower priced in-state universities, often do not qualify for any need-based aid either.
Follow me on Twitter @troyonink. I have a new book coming out soon. | <urn:uuid:fb43afe0-ffb3-4a08-b57e-d7dc42ee9d7f> | CC-MAIN-2018-39 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2012/07/30/if-you-earn-250000-politicians-expect-55-for-taxes-and-college-costs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-39/segments/1537267156724.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20180921013907-20180921034307-00302.warc.gz | en | 0.958372 | 1,064 | 2.625 | 3 | 2.850676 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it numerous disruptions to our way of life, changing the world as we knew it. While businesses and communities are heavily impacted, the educational sector has also suffered significantly, most important of which is the impact on child education.
According to multiple sources, Nigeria has over 25 million children out of school due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This translates to over 17% of the country’s total population lacking access to quality education in a period characterized by little to no activity. For children in low-income families or underserved areas, a lack of access to radios, televisions, computers and internet service has left many students unable to engage in or access remote learning.
It is against this backdrop that the partnership between The Coca-Cola Foundation and Bunmi Adedayo Foundation on the Tech-Relevant Teacher Project, has brought tremendous hope to hundreds of impacted families in Nigeria.
The Tech-Relevant Teacher (TRT) Project seeks to train 200 low-cost and middle schools (school heads and teachers) in virtual teaching skills and technologies, and introduce virtual learning to schools who do not have the resources and skills by supporting them with hardware and content production suites.
The TRT Project is a four-month exercise (between February and May 2021) that will directly impact 600 beneficiaries (200 School Heads, 200 Math Teachers and 200 English teachers) and indirectly reach over 1,400 teachers. The training will be held virtually while the mentoring will be a combination of physical learning and virtual. 30 schools will be empowered with the required equipment to set up content production suites at the end of the programme in May, to aid continuous high-quality output from the teachers.
According to Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Head, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability for Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, the sheer magnitude of underserved out-of-school kids called for timely action from the company.
“We are fully aware of the effects of the pandemic on education, especially low-cost and public education. Not only has it halted the development of young students, but it has also rendered obsolete, many public service teachers who are grappling with the idea of remote teaching. This is why Coca-Cola is proud to support an innovative initiative like the Tech-Relevant Teacher (TRT) Project. This will ensure that underserved children have access to quality education at this difficult time, while teachers are empowered and furnished with relevant competencies in virtual learning to keep them afloat”, she explained.
Femi Martins, Programme Director, Bunmi Adedayo Foundation, noted the barrier between children in low-cost schools and their peers in privately-owned schools, explaining how the project seeks to “leverage technology to enhance learning and teaching across target schools”. According to him, digital literacy for students and teachers is increasingly being recognized as an indispensable element of child education, and with Coca-Cola’s support, the project seeks to significantly reduce the digital divide in the country.
Schools interested in enrolling in the programme are required to visit the TRT Project Portal. | <urn:uuid:ad3e0c2e-38b6-4e4e-a2cc-6ec856062ab4> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://www.brandessencenigeria.com/bridging-the-gap-how-coca-cola-is-securing-virtual-learning-for-over-200-schools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178364764.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20210302190916-20210302220916-00078.warc.gz | en | 0.953281 | 645 | 2.578125 | 3 | 2.953279 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
Development in Rural Areas
Before the Karakorum Highway was built in the late 1970s, the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral were isolated from the rest of Pakistan. Most people lived from subsistence agriculture. When AKDN first came to the area, it made community mobilization, experimentation and innovation hallmarks of the early programme. Later, when solutions were found for development challenges, these programmes scaled up with the help of national and international partners.
Often described as a process of “learning by doing”, the AKRSP approach of working in partnership with communities has made remarkable changes in the lives of the 1.3 million villagers who live in Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan region – among some of the highest mountain ranges of the world, including the Karakorum, Himalayas, Hindukush and Pamirs.
Most of these beneficiaries are widely dispersed across a region covering almost 90,000 square kilometres, an area larger than Ireland. Among many notable achievements have been a significant increase in incomes, the construction of hundreds of bridges, irrigation channels and other small infrastructure projects, the planting of over 30 million trees and reclamation of over 90,000 hectares of degraded land, the mobilization of over 4,500 community organizations and the creation of savings groups which manage over US$8 million.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement has been its pioneering community-based, participatory approach to development. For over 25 years, AKRSP has successfully demonstrated participatory approaches to planning and implementation of micro-level development in rural areas, including the mobilization of rural savings and provision of micro-credit; the application of cost-effective methods for building rural infrastructure; natural resource development; institution and capacity building; and successful partnership models for public-private sector initiatives.
The development model adopted by AKRSP has itself been widely replicated both within AKDN and outside it. A network of Rural Support Programmes now exists all over the country with the mandate to design and implement strategies for alleviation of rural poverty. In South Asia and other parts of the world programmes based on this model have been set up to promote grassroots development through involvement of local communities.
The overall goal of the organization is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people of northern Pakistan by supporting:
It also received an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy, or "Green Oscar", for its programme of mini-hydels, or micro-hydroelectric plants, in the Northern Areas and Chitral. The Ashden Award cited the AKRSP for the sustainable and eco-friendly solution: "Unlike dams, which invariably damage the local eco-system, the micro-hydel technology used by AKRSP involves simply digging a narrow channel to divert water along a hillside and into a pipe, creating enough pressure to turn a turbine and so produce 20 -100kw of power." The impact in areas off the electricity grid has been significant. Over 180 micro-hydel units supplying electricity to 50 percent of the population of Chitral have been built. The projects are implemented, maintained and managed by the communities themselves.
© 2007 The Aga Khan Development Network. This is the only authorised Website of the Aga Khan Development Network. | <urn:uuid:e36cdec2-5104-43e9-a1c9-3e2fa46e3202> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://www.akdn.org/rural_development/pakistan.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936462232.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074102-00277-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947769 | 656 | 2.640625 | 3 | 2.926134 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Industrial |
Coins of the Bar Kokhba War
- Published: Mar 21, 2013, 8 PM
Judaea was one of the most troubled regions of the Roman Empire, and was the site of two great wars in which Jews tried to oust their Roman overlords.
The first conflict, known as the Jewish War or the First Revolt, was fought from A.D. 66 to 70; the second conflict, known as the Bar Kokhba War, raged from A.D. 132 to 135.
Though both wars were costly and humiliating to the Romans, they were far more harmful to Judaea and its people. The coinage of the Bar Kokhba War is extraordinary in many ways and continues to captivate collectors with its variety of denominations and types.
Curiously enough, the war occurred during the most stable and prosperous era in Roman history, the Pax Romana, highlighted by the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117 to 138), who otherwise behaved rather beneficently toward his subjects in the provinces.
Few can deny that Hadrian judged poorly when he “refounded” Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony bearing his own family name, and when he announced his intention to erect a temple for Jupiter on the site of the holy Jewish Temple that had been leveled by the armies of Titus during the First Revolt. The Temple ground was held sacred, and the emperor’s plans to honor the chief god of the Romans helped to spark a Jewish revolt.
Military aspects of the revolt were led by Simon Bar Kosiba (Bar Kokhba), who is named “Simon, Prince of Israel” on some revolt coins. The spiritual leader was Rabbi Akiba, who is not named on coins. The role of another important man, named “Eleazar the Priest” on some coins, is not certainly known.
The first attacks by rebels in the fall of A.D. 132 caught the Romans off guard, forcing the Roman governor Tinius Rufus to evacuate Jerusalem and to take with him the 10th Legion. Thus began what the rebels described on their coins as “Year One of the Redemption of Israel.”
Soldiers from around the empire converged on Judaea during a three-year period to fight the rebels, with thousands of Roman troops dying as a result. However, perhaps a million Jews perished, and the Holy Land suffered great destruction, with more than 1,000 villages and outposts said to have been destroyed.
The rebels issued no gold coins, but produced an abundance of silver and base metal coins by withdrawing Roman coins from circulation and overstriking them with dies of their own creation. The surfaces of the Roman coins were hammered or filed to remove as much of the original design as possible, yet elements of the host coin’s designs usually survived these processes.
Researchers have determined that the host coins were not heated when they were overstruck, and that hinged dies were used, as the die axes are always vertical, usually aligned at 12 o’clock, but sometimes at 6 o’clock. Also, it is clear that some kind of collar was used in the minting of the silver coins, a technique previously not observed for the striking of ancient coins.
We are fortunate that the rebels’ coins bear inscriptions that range from the informative to the patriotic. Though the language is Hebrew, the letters are Palaeo-Hebrew, a script which had been out of general use for more than 500 years, perhaps chosen because of its archaic nature.
Some of the informative inscriptions record the year of issue. Those of the first year are inscribed “Year One of the Redemption of Israel” and those of the second have the legend “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel.” Most issues do not bear dates, and thus are assigned to the third and final year of the war.
Though the quantity of first-year issues was modest, volume increased significantly in the second-year, and the undated issues of year three were produced in large enough quantities that they are readily available to collectors today.
Additionally, “irregular” or “barbarous” coins are known. They presumably were struck at branch mints or under stressful conditions in army camps or besieged cities, as die links are known between the irregular and the regular issues.
Bar Kokhba coinage includes six distinct coin types, two in silver and four in bronze. The large “silver” denomination, called a sela, was overstruck on tetradrachms issued by the Romans in Eastern provinces. Strictly speaking, the sela is a billon coin since its host coins were struck in debased silver.
The designs of the sela did not change during its three years of issuance. Its obverse showed the Temple of Jerusalem containing the Ark of the Covenant, and its reverse shows ceremonial object(s): a lulav (a bound bundle of twigs and foliage), usually flanked by an etrog (a citrus fruit).
The small silver denomination, called a zuz, was overstruck on Roman denarii and provincial drachms of good silver. (A double-weight zuz is known by only one example, and must have been experimental.)
The zuz was produced with a pair of dies bearing combinations of two obverse and four reverse designs. The obverse bore a cluster of grapes or a wreath enclosing an inscription. The reverse features either a palm branch; a one-handled jug (usually flanked by a small palm branch); a pair of trumpets; or a lyre, a string musical instrument in the form of a chelys (stout, rounded body) or a cithara (tall, rectangular body).
The bronze coinage included one large denomination, two medium denominations and one small denomination, each with distinct designs. The large bronze was struck only in the first two years and is the rarest and most desired by collectors. It has on its obverse a patriotic inscription in a wreath, and on its reverse an amphora surrounded by a patriotic inscription that names the year of issue.
One of the medium bronzes has on its obverse a palm branch in a wreath and on its reverse a lyre. The other medium bronze — which is far more common than the other medium bronze — has on its obverse a vine leaf and on its reverse a palm tree. The small bronze coin shows on its obverse a grape cluster and on its reverse a palm tree.
Bar Kokhba coins are well documented in a die study by the late Leo Mildenberg, The Coinage of the Bar Kokhba War. This meticulous work illustrates an impression of every known die and records every die link that was known to Mildenberg at the time of publication in 1984. David Hendin’s Guide to Biblical Coins, now in its fifth edition, offers an accessible review of the Bar Kokhba coinage, and the book remains in print. ¦
US Coins Jan 22, 2020, 5 PM
US Coins Jan 22, 2020, 3 PM
US Coins Jan 22, 2020, 1 PM
US Coins Jan 22, 2020, 1 PM | <urn:uuid:b1365858-3fcc-4b5e-a1b5-c9c9e74d308e> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/coins-of-the-bar-kokhba-war.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250610919.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20200123131001-20200123160001-00159.warc.gz | en | 0.975721 | 1,492 | 3.046875 | 3 | 2.88803 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
MORRIS, Ill. (June 8, 2014) - Dresden Generating Station's technical experts identified water containing tritium in on-site monitoring points through the station's environmental monitoring program.
"Our monitoring program functioned as designed, alerting us to the presence of tritium early so we can address the issue quickly and effectively," said Dresden Site Vice President Shane Marik.
Exelon officials notified state and federal regulatory officials today.
On Saturday, June 7, the station's environmental team identified tritiated water in one of the station's 83 environmental monitoring wells located near a water storage tank. The station will be working around the clock to excavate the area around the tank, find the location of the leak, and make repairs.
Samples taken from the station's on-site waste water treatment facility also showed low levels of tritium. The station has not detected any unusual levels of tritium offsite.
Dresden's waste water treatment plant operates in the same manner as all waste treatment facilities following all state and federal regulations. The sanitary wastewater from the plant is cleaned, disinfected and discharged to the Kankakee River.
These sample points are part of the station's extensive environmental monitoring program designed to detect unusual levels of tritium in the environment and are tested on a monthly basis.
"We are keeping our commitment to and are firm believers in sharing new tritium findings with the public," said Marik. "We care about the environment and will be doing everything humanly possible to quickly find the leak source and fix it."
Tritium concentrations are measured in picocuries per liter of water. A picocurie is one-trillionth of a curie, which is a radiological measurement.
Tritium occurs naturally in the environment in very low concentrations. Most tritium in the environment is in the form of tritiated water, which easily disperses in the atmosphere, bodies of water, soil and rock. Today, manmade sources of tritium include commercial and research reactors.
Tritium is used in life science research, and in studies investigating the metabolism of potential new drugs. A tritium fact sheet from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can be downloaded at: http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/tritium.html.
Dresden Generating Station is approximately 60 miles southwest of Chicago. The station's two nuclear energy units can produce a total of more than 1,800 megawatts at full power - enough carbon free electricity to power more than 1.2 million typical homes. Dresden Unit 1, which began commercial operation in 1960 and was retired in 1978, has been designated a Nuclear Historic Landmark by the American Nuclear Society. | <urn:uuid:3c88909d-05de-4e7b-b0a3-97eb71d72f93> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.exeloncorp.com/newsroom/Pages/pr_20140608_nuclear_DresdenIdentifiesTritium.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400226381.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20200925115553-20200925145553-00485.warc.gz | en | 0.945493 | 577 | 2.765625 | 3 | 2.402763 | 2 | Moderate reasoning | Science & Tech. |
Dealing with Common Core backlash
As debate over the Common Core continues to spread in major media outlets, local administrators must address parent and community concerns to keep the focus on student learning.
“The need for parent communication with the Common Core caught many administrators by surprise, because this idea of having standards and revising curriculum isn’t new for district administrators,” says Sandra Alberti, director of field impact at Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit started by Common Core creators to help educators implement the standards.
Once the standards became part of the broader public dialogue, many parents were also caught off-guard, since schools were no longer the only source of information about what was happening in the classroom, Alberti adds.
Conflicting information from so many sources makes communication from the district even more important. Here, education experts offer advice for addressing parents’ questions about the Common Core:
Listen and respond to concerns
“Many times the questions are âWhy are we changing?’ and âWhy are things different?'” Alberti says. “As educators we often go on the defensive when faced with those questions, but they are legitimate.”
The best approach is to give comprehensive, factual information. Steer clear of saying things like “Don’t worry about it,” or “We’re doing it because the state told us we had to,” Alberti says.
Teachers are often the direct contact point for parents to ask questions, and must be prepared.
“It’s especially important to make sure parents have an open line of communication with their child’s teacher, have the resources they need to help with homework, and the information they need to make sure their students are on track to achieving their goals,” says Paul Ferrari, program director for college and career readiness engagement at the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Teachers can send tip sheets home so parents can understand and help students through each new instructional unit. The information should cover why students are learning the material and how it connects to past lessons.
Host parent forums
Many school leaders have opened their doors to the community so people can see teachers applying the standards and how students are engaged in critical thinking, Ferrari says.
Teachers also are giving presentations to dispel parents’ misconceptions by showing them how the Common Core is transforming classrooms. Two of the biggest misconceptions is that the core is a curriculum (it’s a set of standards), and that the assessments will require more hours of testing than in reality, says Peter Kannam, co-founder and chief external officer of America Achieves, an education nonprofit that supports the Common Core.
Showcase student work
“The thing we’ve found the most successful is showing what kids are expected to do, and their work,” Kannam says. “Student work is so powerful.”
For example, in a small forum, teachers and administrators can discuss with parents what is expected in third grade writing standards, and show an example of an essay written with those guidelines.
“Don’t just talk about the standards at a high level, but show parents what their child is doing,” Kannam adds. Teachers also should review student work in their conferences with parents to show how the standards apply to the real world.
Provide written materials
Old-fashioned printed documents that answer frequently asked questions and provide general facts about the Common CoreÑand why it is being implementedÑare beneficial for parents, Kannam says.
Administrators can provide this information through mailings, school websites and papers sent home with students. Downloadable resources are available through many websites, including Student Achievement Partners, the National PTA, the Council of Great City Schools, and Great Kids.
Engage local media
Administrators should contact local newspapers, television stations and other media outlets who may want to write about how the district is implementing the new standards and why they are important for student learning.
“The most important thing for administrators is to express why we’re doing this,” Kannam says. “It’s really connected to getting all of our students to be successful in a changing world. When parents get good information and can understand the Common Core, there is a much more positive response.” | <urn:uuid:08a4141d-feaa-4a00-b051-b959799b5775> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://districtadministration.com/dealing-with-common-core-backlash/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655882634.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20200703153451-20200703183451-00394.warc.gz | en | 0.960839 | 904 | 2.84375 | 3 | 3.008807 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Education & Jobs |
LONDON — The British government says it may take part in a study that tries to deliberately infect volunteers who have been given an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus in an effort to more quickly determine if the vaccine works.
The approach, called a challenge study, is risky but proponents think it may produce results faster than typical studies, which wait to see if volunteers who have been given an experimental treatment or a dummy version get sick.
"We are working with partners to understand how we might collaborate on the potential development of a COVID-19 vaccine through human challenge studies," the U.K. Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy said in a prepared statement. "These discussions are part of our work to research ways of treating, limiting and hopefully preventing the virus so we can end the pandemic sooner."
Challenge studies are typically used to test vaccines against mild diseases to avoid exposing volunteers to a serious illness if the vaccine doesn't work. While the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms in most people and seems to be especially mild in young, healthy people, the long-term effects of the disease aren't well understood, and there have been reports of lingering problems in the heart and other organs even in those who don't ever feel sick.
In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health has downplayed the need for challenge studies given the speed with which vaccines are being developed, but said Thursday it is taking some preliminary steps in case the more controversial approach eventually is required. Those preliminary steps include examining the ethics of a challenge study, and funding research to create lab-grown virus strains that potentially could be used.
But even if needed, "human challenge trials would not replace Phase 3 trials" of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a statement from NIH that called the standard, rigorous studies its priority.
Tens of thousands of volunteers have already signed up around the world to test leading candidates and the coronavirus still is spreading widely enough in many locations that manufacturers are confident of answers by year's end about at least some of the shots.
In July, the NIH's vaccine working group published a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine pointing out the risks of doing a challenge study with a virus that so far has no good treatment and is wildly unpredictable, occasionally killing even some young, otherwise healthy people.
"A single death or severe illness in an otherwise healthy volunteer would be unconscionable and would halt progress" toward a vaccine, the group warned.
To minimize chances of that happening, scientists planning a challenge study first would have to grow in a high-security lab a strain of the new virus that's not very strong. Then they'd have to determine a dose that wouldn't make volunteers too sick, which the NIH group warned would be laborious and time-consuming.
The Financial Times newspaper reported Wednesday that the government planned to sponsor a challenge study that is set to begin in January. The FT said the government will announce the trial next week, citing people involved in the project without naming them.
Dr. Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at the University of Oxford, says he supports the idea. The concept stretches back to 1796, when scientist Edward Jenner found that exposing patients to cowpox disease protected them against future infections of smallpox, the first step in eradicating the deadly disease.
He told the BBC that there was a "long history" of challenge studies and that the risk to young and healthy people is low. Besides that, Horby said that there are now some treatments for COVID-19 in the event a person in the challenge becomes unwell.
"It has real potential to advance science and get us to a better understanding of the disease and vaccines faster," Horby said.
In May, the World Health Organization issued a report on the ethical considerations for conducting a challenge study. The U.N. health agency laid out criteria necessary for justifying such research, including minimizing all potential risks to participants by, among other things, making sure participants were young and healthy, providing supportive care if things went wrong, and mandating "rigorous informed consent."
Alastair Fraser-Urquhart, an 18-year-old volunteer organizer at 1Day Sooner, a group that advocates for challenge study volunteers, told the BBC he wanted to take part because of the potential to save thousands of lives and bring the world out of the pandemic.
"It was just something that made instant sense to me really," he said.
AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report from Alexandria, Virginia. | <urn:uuid:5483efac-4fd7-4416-83c5-bb471801d094> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://www.startribune.com/uk-may-take-part-in-covid-19-vaccine-challenge-studies/572522081/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107904287.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20201029124628-20201029154628-00125.warc.gz | en | 0.960316 | 939 | 3.046875 | 3 | 3.038805 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Health |
The mighty Rhine river has always been a natural Western border for Germany, and in 1945 it represented the last major obstacle for the Allied armies in the West. Deep, wide and vast flowing, crossing the Rhine by any other means than a bridge is a hazardous undertaking on any day, but under constant enemy fire it becomes almost impossible.
Hitler had ordered that all the Rhine bridges were to be blown up to deny the Allied armies a passage into the Western industrial heartland of Germany, but these same bridges were also vital to allow the retreating remains of the German army to cross the Rhine. This means that often bridges were destroyed at the last moment, and in a hurry. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen was no exeption, and in what was almost a repeat of the events at Nijmegen 6 months earlier, the attempt to blow the bridge in the face of the approaching Americans failed.
The book is written by Steven J Zaloga, who is well known in the modeling world as a leading expert on Allied (Armoured) Forces and the NWE theatre in WWII. In well defined chapters the reader is first introduced to the main players on both sides, the make-up of the opposing forces and the tactical plans at the start of March 1945. The book starts with an introduction which outlines the strategic situation in NWE Europe, detailing the strenghts and weaknesses of both Allied and German forces after the heavy fighting during the winter.
The main body of the book details the campaign surrounding the capture of the Remagen bridge, and the eventual outbreak of the bridgehead which would be part of the encirclement of the Ruhr. The book finishes with a short chapter on the aftermath and repercussions of the capture of the Bridge, and there is a brief look at the remains of the bridge and surrounding area after the war.
The chapter about the German attempts to destroy the bridge after it's capture is particularly interesting, as it details the various 'super weapons' that were used, including the V-2 and the Arado 234B2 jet bomber, as well as the Karl Morser.
Illustrations consists of black and white photographs on almost every page, several '3-dimensional birds-eye view' photographic maps and two colour illustrations by Peter Dennis. Whilst these illustration are quite nice in themself, having been printed over two pages, with the resulting 'split' in the middle, does not do them any justice. The maps on the other hand are a great addition, and help to 'visualise' the approaches and how different action related to each other much clearer than an ordinairy overhead view map would.
- ISBN 1846030188
- Softback cover
- 96 pages
- 70 B/W Photographs
- 5 colour overhead view maps
- 3 3-D birds-eye view maps
As with so many WWII battles, this is not the first, nor will it be the last book that has been published on this subject. The action at Remagen does seem to have been 'overtaken' in history by the more well known exploits of Patton to the South and Montgomery to the North, dispite the fact that without the capture of the bridge the encirclement of the Ruhr area, and the conseqent capture of some 300.000 German soldiers and effective destruction of Armygroup B, would have taken much longer. Steven Zaloga uses an easy to read style which descibes the action in chronological order. The emphasis is largely on facts and figures, rather than graphic descriptions of the individual actions.
The photographs are clear and as almost all include at least one AFV or other military vehicle, they are a good reference source for modellers. There are some nice shots of various M4's, as well as numerous photo's of knocked out German AFV's.
In all this is a reference book that is a worthwhile addition to any reference library. Recommended. | <urn:uuid:d3dbe8ff-0c6e-40d7-9f54-d5582fd153b8> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2003 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575541307797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20191215070636-20191215094636-00341.warc.gz | en | 0.965272 | 812 | 2.53125 | 3 | 2.921186 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists have re-created an entire city in miniature to model the way a tsunami crashes onshore, and have found that buildings can exacerbate the oncoming rush of water.
The findings, presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, show that even if a city overall tolerates the force of a massive tsunami well, certain buildings and alleyways may concentrate the rushing wave, generating 80 to 100 times the speed of waves without buildings.
"When we think about designing structures or planning for city layouts, understanding the real, detailed tsunami flow through the built environment is very, very important," said study co-author Patrick Lynett, a civil engineer at the University of Southern California.
Science news from NBCNews.com
In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Japanese tsunami, building engineers routinely noticed that there were often two buildings standing, while one located in the middle behind it was completely washed away. Lynett and his colleagues wanted to understand why that occurred. Such an understanding is particularly important given studies showing that the West Coast is more vulnerable to tsunamis than previously thought.
To understand how a tsunami affects a coastal city, Lynett and his team created a 1:50 scale replica of the entire town of Seaside, Ore. They then flooded it with a simulated tsunami 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) high and 5 seconds long that mimicked the relative height and duration of a 200-year tsunami, Lynett told OurAmazingPlanet. [ Image Gallery: Monster Waves ]
As water broke over the tiny buildings, the team noticed that certain hotspots concentrated the effects of the waves. A U-shaped hotel on the coast seemed to focus the impact of the tsunami, Lynett said. "We call it the tsunami-catcher because it really amplifies the speed," he said.
Buildings arranged in a T, with two buildings in front of the wave and another building behind them, also seemed to emphasize the wave's impact.
Overall, some parts of the city experienced 80 to 100 times the maximum speed and momentum that would occur without any buildings in the landscape, Lynett added. In addition to T-shaped building layouts, narrow alleyways could lead to much higher speeds of rushing water.
The findings suggest that engineers designing seaside buildings should use some of the same modeling approaches used to assess wind forces on skyscrapers, Lynett said.
"This is an argument here that, when we're trying to understand the fluid flow through a city, shadowing and concentration of fluid flow through the built environment becomes very important."
- Waves of Destruction: History's Biggest Tsunamis
- Tsunami Simulation Shows Wave's Path Of Destruction | Video
- WATCH LIVE: Latest News from the AGU Meeting
© 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet. | <urn:uuid:5cdc4def-a2b6-4270-aa98-b843ac80aa78> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50074634/ns/technology_and_science-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375096944.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031816-00083-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954168 | 587 | 3.734375 | 4 | 2.969498 | 3 | Strong reasoning | Science & Tech. |
His Body Did Not Rest in Peace
by Hugh T. Harrington and Lisa A. Ennis
Despite serving throughout the Revolutionary War, General "Mad" Anthony Wayne never achieved the fame or notoriety to make his name truly memorable. He was a dedicated and courageous officer but other than having the sobriquet "Mad" associated with his name he did not participate in activities that would make him stand out conspicuously among a host of other officers. However, the story involving his grave and corpse takes second place to that of no other prominent man in the history of this country. Students of the Revolution and the Northwest Territory may speak of Germantown, Stony Point, Paoli and Fallen Timbers but the truly remarkable, even bizarre, events surrounding Anthony Wayne occurred after his death.
Left - Anthony Wayne as he appeared during the Revolution (19th century woodcut after a painting by Chappel.)
Below - Wayne circa 1795-1796 by British Artist James Sharples.
On November 19, 1796 General Wayne arrived, by boat, at Presque Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania from Detroit. He was suffering from what has been described as "a severe fit of the gout."1 He was taken to the quarters of the commander of the military post, Captain Russell Bissell, for medical treatment. General Wayne asked that Dr. J.C. Wallace, stationed at Pittsburgh 100 miles away, be summoned. The General was attended by Dr. George Balfour who on December 10th "dispairs of his recovery."2 The gout reached his stomach and caused Wayne to suffer agony for several weeks.3 At 2 a.m. on December 15, 1796, at the age of 51, General Wayne died in the arms of Dr. Balfour. Dr. Wallace had not yet arrived. The General had requested that his burial take place two days after his death and that he be buried, wearing his uniform, in a plain wooden coffin at the foot of the flagstaff of the post's blockhouse.4 The top of the coffin was marked with his initials, his age and the year of his death in brass tacks.5
And thus his body remained for 12 years. In the fall of 1808, however, General Wayne's daughter, 38 year old Margaretta, while seriously ill, suggested that her brother, 37 year old Colonel Isaac Wayne, bring their father's remains back to the family burial plot in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The following spring, Colonel Wayne made his way, traveling by sulky, a light two wheeled cart, to Erie, Pennsylvania in the northwestern corner of the state. He enlisted the services of Dr. Wallace, the same man who had been summoned at his father's final illness, to handle the arrangements of disinterring the remains. Colonel Wayne, preferring to remember his father as he had been in life, did not attend the disinterment.6
What happened next is a series of events that can only be described as bizarre. The General's coffin was opened and to the surprise of all it was discovered that his body had not decomposed. It was in an excellent state of preservation with the exception on one leg and foot that were partially gone. Clearly, the body could not be removed to Radnor, Pennsylvania in a sulky. Dr. Wallace's solution to the problem was to boil the body in water thus enabling him to separate the flesh from the bones, then they easily packed the bones in a trunk for their journey to the new burial location in Radnor.7
Dr. Wallace had the help of at least four assistants8 as well as the company of other spectators. The wife of Captain Dobbins and her family were living at the Garrison at the time and she, along with several of her lady friends, observed the body. She took a lock of the General's hair. Apparently, many years later, as she neared her hundredth year she had a clear recollection of the event. She said that the hair pulled out of the head had the appearance of plaster of paris. The body was not hard, she said, but rather more the consistency of soft chalk.9 Henry Whitney, in his letter of October 24, 1809, said that he was told, "the flesh on his back bone was 4 inches thick solid and firm like new pork."10
One of the General's boots had disintegrated along with most of the foot and leg. The other boot was in good condition. One James Duncan noticed that the boot would fit his own foot so he took possession of the boot and had a boot maker make a match for it. He wore his "new" boots until they wore out.11
A large kettle was procured and as the body could not be boiled in one piece it was cut into convenient pieces and dropped into the boiling water. As the flesh separated from the bones it was carved away by Dr. Wallace and his assistants who scraped the bones clean. The bones were then packed in a trunk. The water in the kettle, along with the flesh, knives and instruments used in the operation, were put back into the coffin in the original grave.12
It is said that Isaac Wayne regretted the decision to handle his father's body in such a manner. Had he known of the state of preservation he would have preferred to have left the body in Erie and erect a monument there to his father's memory.13
Left - One of "Mad" Anthony Wayne's graves - this one in Radnor, PA.
Colonel Isaac Wayne then returned the bones of his father to Radnor, Pennsylvania where they were interred at St. David's Episcopal church. The Philadelphia newspaper the United States Gazette of July 6, 1809 describes a meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati that took place on July 4th in which decried "the honorable honourable but neglected remains of this once highly revered member of our Society, now lie on the dreary, inhospitable beach of lake Erie" where "shameful to relate, this patriot and warriour (sic), hath not a "Hic jacet" inscribed on a small stone, nor even a little memento, of any kind, erected to his glorious memory." The Society of the Cincinnati "resolved that a sum of five hundred dollars be appropriated to erect a monument to the memory of General Anthony Wayne"14
On June 5, 1811 the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati put a monument over the grave, which still stands though badly weathered.15 A ceremony took place at the new gravesite. An immense crowd gathered for the occasion that included a funeral procession a mile long. At 4 and 5 AM troops of cavalry mustered in Philadelphia for the long march to Radnor. Among the military units in attendance was the First Regiment of Cavalry of the City and County of Philadelphia, the First Troop of Light Horse, the Second Troop of Light Horse, and the Montgomery County Troop of Light Dragoons.16 Isaac Wayne and other members of the family met the procession ten miles from the burial site. The Reverend David Jones, a chaplain, who served with Wayne during the Revolution, gave the oration.17
The tale of Anthony Wayne's graves does not end with the flesh in one grave and the bones in another. On November 10, 1853 the old abandoned blockhouse was apparently set on fire by arsonists and burned to the ground.18 In later years the old parade ground was leveled off and the site of the grave was lost.19 In about 1878 a Dr. Germer, of Erie, investigated the location of the General's original burial place. He caused the grave to be opened a second time. He discovered the lid of the coffin with the brass tacks giving the initials and date of death.20 Most of the rest had rotted away. The State of Pennsylvania, in 1880, rebuilt the blockhouse as a memorial to Anthony Wayne.21 The blockhouse has since been rebuilt several times, the last being 1984. The original coffin lid, some remnants of clothing and Dr. Wallace's equipment are on display.22
The kettle, which was used to boil the body of Anthony Wayne, is no longer known to exist. In the 1950's a kettle was displayed by the Erie County Historical Society as that used to process the body of Anthony Wayne. In recent years it was revealed that this was an invention to hype the society's exhibits. The Historical Society has no record of having the historic Wayne kettle among its collection.23
It is a common practice to move the remains of a deceased person from one grave to another. Sometimes whole cemeteries are moved when the area is required for some building project.. In most cases actual remains are carefully, and respectfully, removed for reburial. In other cases decomposition has been complete and there is nothing to move. In such cases a symbolic sampling of the earth at a suitable depth of the grave is removed for reburial. However, no instance of removal of a burial can rival the bizarre nature of that of Major General "Mad" Anthony Wayne.
1Letter of Major Isaac Craig to James McHenry, Secretary of War, dated Pittsburgh, December 9, 1796, PMHB, vol XV, no. 2, 1891 p. 247-248.
2Letter of Major Isaac Craig dated December 16th gives report of a person who left Presque Isle on Dec 16. PMHB, p. 247-248.
3Stille, Charles J., Major-General Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line in the Continental Army, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1893, p. 343.
4Stille, Charles J., Major-General Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line in the Continental Army, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1893, p 343.
5History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co, 1884, p. 211.
6History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 211
7History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 211.
8Letter dated Oct. 24, 1809 from one Henry Whitney says that four men were hired at 50 dollars each and that the doctor received 70 dollars for his services; The Valley Publishing Company, Sheffield, PA, October 30, 1981 from Erie County Historical Society & Museums.
9History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 212.
10Letter of Henry Whitney, October 24, 1809.
11History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 211
12History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 211.
13History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 212.
14United States Gazette, July 6, 1809.
15United States Gazette, June 10 1811.
16United States Gazette June 4, 1811.
17Stille, Charles J., Major-General Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line in the Continental Army, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1893, p. 351, this supplementary chapter written by Joseph J. Lewis.
18Erie Gazette, November 10, 1853.
19Stille, Charles J., Major-General Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line in the Continental Army, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1893, p 344.
20History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 212
21History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, Chicago, Warner, Beers & Co., 1884, p. 212.
22Letter of October 26, 2000 to the authors from the Erie County Historical Society & Museums.
23Letter of October 26, 2000 to the authors from the Erie County Historical Society & Museums.
Wayne, Anthony. "Orderly Book Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion, Col. Anthony Wayne, 1776." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 29 (1905), pp. 470-478; 30 (1906), pp. 91-103, 206-219. [Reprinted in Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, 11 (1963-1964), pp. 93-112, 177-205.]
Wayne, Anthony. "Letters of General Wayne to General Irvine, 1778-1784." Historical Magazine, 6 (October, November 1862), pp. 322-323, 336-342.
Sherman, Andrew M. "The Mutiny of Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania Troops in Morris County, New Jersey, Winter of 1780-1781." American Irish Historical Society Journal, 17 (1918), pp. 93-98.
Kyte, George W. "General Wayne Marches South." Pennsylvania History, 30 (July 1963), pp. 301-315.
Johnston, Henry P.. "The Storming of Stony Point" New York, James T. White & Co., 1900. | <urn:uuid:d573480a-fb22-4b15-8427-d90055804882> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.americanrevolution.org/wayne.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818690376.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170925074036-20170925094036-00376.warc.gz | en | 0.967224 | 2,754 | 3.03125 | 3 | 2.88736 | 3 | Strong reasoning | History |
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