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Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome is one of the most common sleep disorders today and has reached epidemic proportions becoming more numerous then diabetes. Northern California Sleep Apnea Dentist Dr. Abramson is a specialist in working with patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. At this time it is estimated to affecting up to 17% of all adult population with men out numbering women 2 to 1 up until women reach menopause when the ratio becomes even. This is truly a public health crisis. In sleep apnea syndromes reduction or complete cutting off of the airway in sleep, hypopnea or apnea, and resultant lowering of oxygen in the blood cause the brain to call the body to “wake up and breathe”. The brain directs a release of adrenaline to jolt the body to awaken interrupting one’s sleep. These interruptions in sleep, arousals, can occur every 2 minutes to every 30 seconds on average in severe apnea. In obstructive sleep apnea the interruptions in sleep do not allow one to get into the refreshing deep stages of sleep and not only causes loss of sleep, but selective loss of deep restful sleep and REM sleep which is important for the health of our body and memory function and attention. In addition, sleep apnea syndromes cause many other medical conditions secondarily, and even sudden death. |Take the Snore Quiz and find out if you are at risk for having obstructive sleep apnea| - high blood pressure, - heart failure, - lung dysfunction, - heart attacks, - attention deficit disorder, - gastric reflux, - heart arrhythmias, - night time urination - and mood disorders.

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Fastener applications are demanding. Whether fasteners are being used in the petrochemical industry, in medical or mining applications, for assembly of marine or nuclear components or in the aerospace, automotive or construction world, vacuum processing allows us to repeatedly achieve the highest quality and metallurgy. Most fastener materials, including stainless steels and superalloy grades, benefit from or actually require vacuum processing for heat treatment instead of being run under protective atmospheres. In general, there are three main sets of applications where vacuum heat treatment is used: - Processes that can be done in no other way than in a vacuum; - Processes that can be done better in a vacuum from a metallurgical standpoint; - Processes that can be done better in a vacuum from an economic standpoint. The absence of surface reactions or the ability to precisely control them is the main difference between vacuum heat treatment and all other forms of heat treatment. Vacuum processing can also remove contaminants from parts, and in some instances, degas or convert oxides found on the material’s surface. A vacuum system (Fig. 1) provides a space in which the pressure can be reduced and held below atmospheric pressure at all times. One of the primary advantages of vacuum heat treatment is its versatility. In addition to being self-contained, vacuum heat treatment provides a “safe” environment for the surface of the parts being treated and uses consistently reproduced cycles and recipes. When not in use, like an electric light, it is simply turned off saving energy. When turned back on, minimal conditioning time is required. Vacuum processes are run in a variety of equipment (Fig. 2) designed to accommodate various workload sizes. Processes for vacuum hardening of fasteners will be discussed by type of material. Hardening by Oil Quenching (Plain Carbon and Alloy Steels) Oil quenching typically takes place in horizontal vacuum furnaces equipped with integral quench tanks (Fig. 3) as well as vertical vacuum furnaces (Fig. 4). The design of the quench tank is similar to its atmosphere counterpart; fixed or variable speed oil circulation via agitators or pumps located on one or both sides of the tank and internal baffles to guide the respective oil flow around and through the load. Cold or preheated oil, in the 50°C – 65°C (120°F – 150°F) range, are the most common and special (hot) oils, which run at 135°C – 175°C (275°F – 350°F), have been used with success. Heaters control the oil temperature and the oil is cooled via double wall construction or external heat exchangers usually employing air, for safety reasons. Compared to normal quench oils, vacuum quench oils are distilled and fractionated to higher purity levels. This allows for a better surface appearance on quenched parts. It is common that the partial pressure of nitrogen above the quench oil is between 540 mbar (400 Torr) and 675 mbar (500 Torr). Usually, higher partial pressures above the quench oil can be advantageous in obtaining full hardness on both unalloyed or very low alloy materials. Low partial pressures above the quench oil produce higher hardness values, as well as lower distortion on parts consisting of medium or highly alloyed steels. Medium alloy steels (Table 2) and most case hardening steels are hardened either by oil quenching or high-pressure gas quenching (up to 20 bar). [a] Austenitizing temperature in vacuum is often 15°C (25°F) – 30°C (50°F) higher than atmosphere processing. [b] Cooling nomenclature: OQ = oil quench; PQ = pressure quench. Hardening by Gas Quenching (Alloy Steels) The most popular method of quenching used for hardening in vacuum furnaces is inert gas pressure quenching used at pressures of 2 – 20 bar. Nitrogen and argon are the most common quenching gases. Cooling in argon produces the slowest heat transfer rates, followed by nitrogen, then helium and finally hydrogen. Nitrogen is the most attractive gas mixture from a cost perspective, however, limitations exist with certain alloys (e.g. titanium). Theoretically, there is no limit to the improvement in cooling rate that can be obtained by increasing gas velocity and pressure. Practically, however, very high pressure and very high-velocity systems are complex and costly to construct. In particular, the power required for gas recirculation increases faster than benefits accrue. The trend today is to “dial in” the quench pressure, that is, use only the highest pressure required to properly transform the material. This has been made possible due to recent changes in both material chemistry and pressure quench design (e.g. alternating gas flows, directionally adjustable blades, variable speed drives). Gas quenching is now being used to produce full hardness in many materials that in the past have been traditionally oil quenched. Martensitic Stainless Steels. All grades of martensitic stainless steel fastener grades can be processed in vacuum furnaces. Austenitizing temperatures and general heat treatment considerations are similar to those used in atmosphere furnaces (Table 3). Since the austenitizing temperatures are usually below 1100°C (2000°F), vacuum levels in the range of 10-3 mbar (10-3 Torr) are very often used which result in clean and bright part surfaces. To avoid evaporation of certain alloying elements, vacuum levels in the range of 0.1 – 1.3 mbar (10-1 to 1 Torr) are required, resulting in some sacrifice of brightness. Due to the differences in the hardenability of the various martensitic stainless alloys, there is a limitation on the section sizes that can be fully hardened by recirculated nitrogen gas quenching; other types of cooling gas (e.g. helium) can be used but the economic benefits must be carefully considered. The actual values of section size limits depend on the type of cooling system and the capability of the specific furnace employed. [a] Rapid heating rates can cause distortion and/or cracking. In vacuum heating rates of 8°C (15°F)/minute – 15°C (25°F)/minute are recommended for small parts or intricate shapes. [b] Certain parts will benefit from an initial preheat at the temperatures shown. [c] Cooling nomenclature: OQ = oil quench; PQ = pressure quench. [d] As quenched (oil) data shown. Precipitation Hardening of Stainless Steels Determining the heat treatment temperature for precipitation-hardened stainless steels (Fig. 5) depends on a number of factors such as the alloy grade, the type of parts being treated, and the required mechanical properties (Table 4). It is not uncommon, for multiple heat treatment steps to be specified. In other cases, the material is purchased in the so-called Condition “A” requiring only an aging operation to be performed (this is typically not done in a vacuum). For optimum creep and creep rupture properties, the high side of the solution annealing temperature range is typically used. A low-end annealing temperature is used to obtain optimum strength during relatively short-term service at high temperatures. A final aging heat treatment produces a finely dispersed precipitate throughout the microstructure significantly increasing the room-temperature yield strength. [a] Cooling nomenclature: WQ = water quench; OQ = oil quench; PQ = pressure quench; AQ = air cool. Superalloys cover a wide range of materials, typically nickel, cobalt or iron-based alloys and are generally intended for high-temperature applications with most of them being hardened using a solution treating and aging process (Table 5). Solution treating involves heating the alloy to a temperature in the range of 980°C (1800°F) or higher, followed by gas quenching. In most cases, gas quenching with nitrogen at a pressure of 2 bar or less is sufficient. Aging at an intermediate temperature for an extended period of time follows. In some cases, the complete solution treatment and aging cycles are programmed into the furnace instrumentation so that unloading is not required between cycles. Certain superalloys, however, require other specialized treatments to develop required properties. [a] Cooling nomenclature: FC = furnace cooling; AC = air cooling; RAC = rapid air cool; OQ = oil quench; PQ = pressure quench. [b] Air cooling equivalent is defined as cooling at a rate not less than 22°C (40°F) per minute to 595°C (1100°F) and not less than 8°C (15°F) per minute from 595°C to 540°C (1100°F – 1000°F). Below 540°C (1000°F) any rate may be used. [c] To provide adequate quenching after solution heat treatment, cool below 540°C (1000°F) rapidly enough to carbide precipitation. Oil or water quenching may be required on thick sections. The automotive, aerospace, medical device and construction industries rely heavily on the use of fasteners to secure component assemblies. For example, medical devices (e.g. dental & orthopedic implants, instruments) employ literally hundreds of different types of fasteners to hold their assemblies together. Even though the components in the medical devices are small or even tiny, when a fastener fails, the device will almost always fail as well. The correct fastener ensures that the device goes together and stays together for the intended life of the assembly and that the device performs as desired. Fasteners can overcome challenges in assembly, solve quality problems and significantly reduce the total cost of the device. Fasteners for Construction Oval head, tapered head, round head (countersunk) bolts, square head bolts (Fig. 1) and hex head bolts (Fig. 2) are typical products for the construction industry, manufactured from various grades of stainless steels (e.g., 400 series, PH grades such as 17-4, 17-7, 15-7, 13-8 and duplex grades) and alloy steels (e.g., 4140, 4340, 300M). Liner bolts are an example of applications where the bolt is designed to wear down with the liner. With standard bolts, there is often a 3mm (1/8″) clearance between the bolt and the liner; creating point contact. To stabilize the assembled joint, liner bolts are designed to conform to the tapered surface of the liner hole when assembled, creating a solid surface to tighten against. Martensitic stainless steels are hardened by austenitizing, quenching and tempering much like low alloy steels. Austenitizing temperatures between 980°C (1800°F) and 1010°C (1850°F) are typical. As-quenched hardness increases with austenitizing temperature to about 980°C (1800°F) and then decreases due to the presence of retained austenite. For some grades the optimum austenitizing temperature may depend on the subsequent tempering temperature. Slow heating rates or preheating before austenitizing is recommended to prevent cracking in high carbon grades (e.g. 440°C) and in intricate sections of low carbon types. Preheating at 790°C (1450°F), followed by heating to the austenitizing temperature is a common practice. The hardening of martensitic grades of stainless steels because of their high hardenability and high alloy content is essentially the same as for plain carbon or low-alloyed steels. Air-cooling from the austenitizing temperature is usually adequate to produce full hardness, but oil quenching is sometimes used, particularly for larger sections. Parts should be tempered as soon as they have cooled to room temperature, particularly if oil quenching has been used, to avoid delayed cracking. Tempering at temperatures above 510°C (950°F) should be followed by relatively rapid cooling to below 400°C (750°F) to avoid embrittlement of ferritic grades at 475°C (885°F). Precipitation hardening grades (e.g. 17-4, 17-7, 15-7, 13-8) typically require full annealing followed by austenite conditioning, transformation cooling, and age (precipitation) hardening. Hardening improves strength and toughness and typically takes place in the 480°C (900°F) to 620°C (1150°F) range. Carburizing (Fig. 3) as well as low and high-temperature nitriding processes have been developed for austenitic stainless steels and are rapidly gaining acceptance, especially for improving resistance to wear and corrosion. It should be noted that softcore hardness could limit these processes in heavily loaded applications. Fasteners for Medical Devices Medical devices fall into two broad categories, surgical/non-implant devices, and implantable devices. Surgical and dental instruments are examples of non-implant medical devices typically manufactured from austenitic stainless steels where good corrosion resistance and moderate strength are required. Examples include canulae, dental impression trays, guide pins, hollowware, hypodermic needles, steam sterilizers, storage cabinets, and work surfaces and thoracic retractors to name a few. These applications often use a variety of stainless steels that can be easily formed into complex shapes. Specific grades of austenitic stainless steel and high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steels are used for some surgical implants. Examples include aneurysm clips, bone plates and screws, femoral fixation devices, intramedullary nails and pins, and joints for ankles, elbows, fingers, knees, hips, shoulders and wrists. The vast majority of orthopedic implants worldwide are manufactured from titanium (e.g. Ti-6Al-4V alloy) or cobalt-based alloys (e.g. ASTM F75, a cobalt-based alloy or cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloys). They are manufactured from castings, forgings, or bar stock. Medical application examples (Fig Nos. 4 – 6) include pins, bone plates, screws, bars, rods, wires, posts, expandable rib cages, spinal fusion cages, finger and toe replacements, hip and knee replacements and maxio-facial prosthetics. Other Uses for Titanium Alloys Titanium and its alloys have experienced rapid growth in the industrial (38%), commercial aerospace (29%) and military aerospace (23%) segments. The benefits of titanium include its strength, strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, non-toxicity, biocompatibility, excellent fatigue and fracture resistance, non-magnetic characteristics, life, cost, flexibility and elasticity that rival that of human bone. Non-medical applications include: - Manned and unmanned aircraft (e.g. commercial & military aircraft, rotorcraft) - Artillery (e.g. howitzers) - Military Vehicles (e.g. tanks, hovercraft) - Naval and marine applications (e.g. surface vessels, submarines) - Turbines (e.g. power generation) - Chemical processing plants (e.g. petrochemical, oil platforms) - Architecture (e.g. sculptures) - Automotive (e.g. motorcycles, performance automobiles) - Pulp and paper industry (e.g. washing & bleaching systems) - Consumer electronics (e.g. batteries, watches) - Sports equipment (e.g. bicycle frames, golf clubs) The heat treatment of titanium and titanium alloys is complex and demands an understanding of the end use application, desired microstructure, and process variables. Heat Treat Examples: Types of Titanium Alloys Titanium alloys are classified in four (4) main groups based on the types and amounts of alloying elements they contain: - Alpha (α) alloys– cannot be strengthened by heat treatment; low-to-medium strength, good notch toughness, and good creep resistance (superior to beta alloys) at somewhat elevated temperatures. They are formable and weldable. - Near alpha phase alloys – medium strength and good creep resistance - Alpha-beta (α – β) alloys –strengthened by heat treatment; medium to high strength, high formability, good creep resistance (but less than most alpha alloys), alloys with beta content less than 20% are weldable. The most familiar alloy in this category is Ti-6Al-4V. - Beta (β) alloys –strengthened by heat treatment; high strength, and fair creep resistance. Some alloying elements (e.g. Al, Ga, Ge, C, O, N) raise the alpha-to-beta transition temperature (alpha stabilizers) while others (e.g. Mo, V, Ta, Nb, Mn, Fe, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Si) lower the beta transition temperature (beta stabilizers). Types of Heat Treatments While pure titanium is soft and relatively weak, heat treating can significantly enhance its properties. Titanium and titanium alloys are heat treated in order to: - Reduce residual stresses developed during fabrication (stress relieving); - Produce an optimum combination of ductility, machinability, and dimensional and structural stability (annealing); - Increase strength (solution treating and aging); - Optimize specific properties such as fracture toughness, fatigue strength, and high-temperature creep strength or create specific conditions in the material. Standard heat treatments are typically done in vacuum style furnaces or in inert (argon) atmosphere furnaces and include: - Annealing –increases fracture toughness and ductility (at room temperature), as well as dimensional stability and improved creep resistance. Annealing may be necessary following severe cold work and to enhance fabrication and machining. - Homogenizing – for improved chemical homogeneity in castings. - Solution Treating and Age Hardening (Aging) –a process of heating into the beta or high into the alpha-beta region, quenching, and then reheating again to the alpha-beta region. A wide range of strength levels is possible, fatigue strength increases while ductility, fracture toughness, and creep resistance is enhanced. - Stress Relief –used to reduce residual stresses during fabrication or following severe forming or welding to avoid cracking or distortion and to improve fatigue resistance. Strength and ductility will not be adversely affected and the cooling rate is not critical. - Tempering – When titanium is quenched from an elevated temperature, reheated to a temperature below the beta transus, held for a length of time and again quenched, it is said to have been tempered. Three variables exist in tempering: the phases present, the time held, and the tempering temperature. Custom heat treatments include: - Beta Vacuum Annealing & Vacuum Aging – improves fatigue and yield strength as well as elongation in alloys such as Ti-5553 (Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr). - Brazing – induction, resistance and furnace brazing in an argon atmosphere or in vacuum; torch brazing is not applicable. Cleanliness is important to avoid contamination. - Creep Forming – takes advantage of the fact that titanium moves and takes a set at temperature. - Degassing – involves removing of entrapped gases such as hydrogen (to under < 50 ppm) to avoid embrittlement. - Diffusion bonding – primarily in powder metallurgy where individual particles fuse together from intimate contact of their surfaces. - Hydriding/Dehydriding – the deliberate addition of hydrogen to embrittle the material followed by the removal of the hydrogen after crushing the material into powder. These are the basic steps in the production of titanium powders. - Isothermal Transformation – involves quenching an alloy from the all beta region into the alpha-beta field, holding and then continuing to quench to room temperature. Treatment in this way causes precipitation of the alpha phase from the beta. - Sintering – typically involving hot isostatic pressing and laser sintering of powder particles to form near net shape components. What’s Important – Practical Considerations The heat treatment of all types of fasteners is best done in a vacuum furnace (Fig. 7). Heat treat furnace capacity is an important consideration since parts are either volume limited or weight limited. Load support is a critical issue in many applications to prevent creep or other dimensional changes, especially on intricate or complex part geometries. Vacuum pumping systems must be capable of reaching high vacuum levels, 1 x 10-5 Torr or lower before starting to heat. This vacuum level must be maintained while heating (requiring very slow ramp rates) as well as when at temperature. Diffusion pumping systems must be properly maintained for maximum efficiency and to avoid backstreaming. Temperature measurement and control must be exact, usually ± 5.5°C (±10°F) or better throughout the entire working zone of the furnace. Work thermocouples are needed; part temperature, not just the furnace temperature, must be known. Caution: when heating parts one must be aware of issues involving eutectics. For example, heating titanium over 1730°F (943°C) in contact with a nickel alloy or stainless steels results in eutectic melting. Vacuum furnace interiors must be pristine when processing fasteners for the medical, nuclear and aerospace industry; for medical applications, all-metal hot zones (Fig. 8) are popular and dedicated furnaces are desired, but graphite lined furnaces also used for other processes are typical throughout the industry as a practical necessity. Thus, fixtures and furnaces must be “baked out” (i.e., cleaned) before use, typically at 1315°C (2400°F). Vacuum processing of fasteners is a highly repeatable process that will produce the best surface finish and metallurgy of all the heat treatment methods. While there is always a cost premium, its benefits with respect to metallurgy, properties and repeatability make it a technology to consider. Fasteners are at the heart of many industries and heat treatment plays a critical role in the manufacturing process. Whether made of alloy or stainless steel, titanium, tungsten carbide or superalloys, a heat treat recipe is available to maximum both mechanical and metallurgical properties for every application. - Herring, Daniel H., Vacuum Heat Treating BNP Media Group, 2012. - Modern Steels and Their Properties, Handbook 268, Bethlehem Steel, 1949. - Heat Treater’s Guide: Practices and Procedures for Nonferrous Alloys, Candler, Harry (Ed), ASM International, 1996. - Herring, Daniel H., Using Vacuum Technology for the Heat Treatment of Fastener Materials, China Fastener World (CFW40), 2013. - Herring, Daniel H, Vacuum Heat Treatment, Volume I, BNP Media, 2012 - Herring, Daniel H, Vacuum Heat Treatment, Volume II, BNP Media (in preparation) - Jones, Christie L., Fastening Solutions for Medical Devices, White Paper, SPIROL International Corporation. - Herring, Daniel H., Practical Aspects Related to the Heat Treatment of Titanium and Titanium Alloys, Industrial Heating, February 2007. - Herring, Daniel H., Vacuum Heat Treatment, BNP Custom Media, 2012.

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An industrial dispute may be defined as a conflict or difference of opinion between management and workers on the terms of employment. It is a disagreement between an employer and employees' representative; usually a trade union, over pay and other working conditions and can result in industrial actions. When an industrial dispute occurs, both the parties, that is the management and the workmen, try to pressurize each other. The management may resort to lockouts while the workers may resort to strikes, picketing or gheraos. As per Section 2(k) of Industrial Disputes Act,1947, an industrial dispute in defined as any dispute or difference between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labor, of any person. This definition includes all the aspects of a dispute. It, not only includes the disagreement between employees and employers, but also emphasizes the difference of opinion between worker and worker. The disputes generally arise on account of poor wage structure or poor working conditions. This disagreement or difference could be on any matter concerning the workers individually or collectively. It must be connected with employment or non-employment or with the conditions of labor. From the point of view of the employer, an industrial dispute resulting in stoppage of work means a stoppage of production. This results in increase in the average cost of production since fixed expenses continue to be incurred. It also leads to a fall in sales and the rate of turnover, leading to a fall in profits. The employer may also be liable to compensate his customers with whom he may have contracted for regular supply. Apart from the immediate economic effects, loss of prestige and credit, alienation of the labor force, and other non-economic, psychological and social consequences may also arise. Loss due to destruction of property, personal injury and physical intimidation or inconvenience also arises. For the employee, an industrial dispute entails loss of income. The regular income by way of wages and allowance ceases, and great hardship may be caused to the worker and his family. Employees also suffer from personal injury if they indulge into strikes n picketing; and the psychological and physical consequences of forced idleness. The threat of loss of employment in case of failure to settle the dispute advantageously, or the threat of reprisal action by employers also exists. Prolonged stoppages of work have also an adverse effect on the national productivity, national income. They cause wastage of national resources. Hatred may be generated resulting in political unrest and disrupting amicable social/industrial relations or community attitudes.

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BOSTON — If sea level rise projections become reality and high tides a century from now resemble what today are major floods, the Aquarium Blue Line Station would likely be underwater while across the harbor the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital will be better prepared to weather frequent incursions of harbor water, according to Boston Harbor Association executive director Julie Wormser. “By mid-century, every year the T’s going to have to deal with a foot and a half of seawater. By the end of the century it’s dealing more with 5 feet of seawater,” said Wormser, who said the Aquarium Station would need to be moved. She said, “People have mentioned doing giant sea dams across our Boston Harbor Islands. I don’t know what that would do for all the money we spent on the cleanup, for one, but it also would sap all of our money to do anything else. What do you do with the water? You can’t keep back the tide?” Officials from San Francisco, Louisiana and the Netherlands traveled to the JFK Library yesterday, carrying with them schematics and animations that depicted flooding scenarios that in the case of the Netherlands nearly swallowed the whole country, and discussed ways to reroute floodwaters and build large, protective sandbars. In the Netherlands, parkland has been built to serve as temporary retaining ponds, or polders, during major floods; rivers have been reconfigured; and a city provided beach parking and reinforced the sand dunes at the same time by constructing an underground garage by the shore, said Royal Dutch Embassy Senior Economist Dale Morris. “They get it. They get it. We don’t. It’s as simple as that,” said William Golden, executive director of the new National Institute for Coastal and Harbor Infrastructure, who said the impending sea level rise will be “the biggest business opportunity for engineering firms in this country.” He said, “The Dutch are coming over here and they’re eating your lunch.”

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Definition of peperomia in English: A small fleshy-leaved tropical plant of the pepper family. Many are grown as houseplants, chiefly for their decorative foliage. - Genus Peperomia, family Piperaceae - Some of my favorite windowsill plants include many varieties of trailing ivy, African violets, primroses, pansies and violets, geraniums, gloxinias, cyclamens, coleus, kalonchoes, peperomias, and heartleaf philodendrons. - Currently, there are over 100 species of Peperomia cultivated in the United States, although many are in the hands of collectors. - There are many species of peperomia but all are grown for their decorative leaves. Definition of peperomia in: - US English dictionary What do you find interesting about this word or phrase? Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.

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Mount Toba, ancient volcano located in the Barisan Mountains, north-central Sumatra, Indonesia. A massive eruption sometime between 71,000 and 74,000 years ago expelled an estimated 2,800 cubic km (about 670 cubic miles) of ash and lava. That event is considered by many volcanologists to be the largest volcanic eruption in all of human history, and some scientists maintain that it sent the planet into a severe ice age that nearly caused the extinction of modern humans. Ice-core evidence suggests that average air temperatures worldwide plunged by 3–5 °C (5.4–9.0 °F) for years after the eruption. Some model simulations estimate that this temperature decline may have been as much as 10 °C [18 °F] in the Northern Hemisphere in the first year after the event. The remnants of the volcano’s caldera contain present-day Lake Toba. Ancient volcano, Sumatra, Indonesia

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The Tower of London boasts many historical gems within its depths. Head to Beauchamp (pronounced “Beecham”) Tower—a part of the inner defensive wall that once held high-ranking prisoners—and you’ll see graffiti carved into its walls. The writings and images are from prisoners from the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom were confined for political or religious reasons. The various carvings are much different from the type of graffiti you’d typically come across today. They’re beautiful, intricate, and poignant, as these are self-created epithets made by prisoners leaving a last message for the world of the living before going to their execution. The script is neat, fluid, and at times, downright fancy. The images are complex—some prisoners even carved out elaborate designs featuring animals, plants, and in one case, a mysterious zodiac wheel. Browse the graffiti, which is now protected behind clear, protective panels, and you’ll see the marks of many memorable prisoners. Thomas Abel, the chaplain to Queen Katherine of Aragon, carved his name and a bell into the wall after he was imprisoned by King Henry VIII. Arthur and Edmund Poole, two brothers accused of plotting to secure the throne for Mary Queen of Scots, left various marks within the prison. You can even see the work of Lord Guildford Dudley, the Lady Jane Grey’s husband. Know Before You Go Beauchamp Tower is part of the Tower of London. The Tower of London is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m on Sunday and Monday. Admission for adults (18 - 64) is £24.70. You can save money by buying your tickets online or by combining London tourist attractions.

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The outbreak of monkeypox in individuals who have handled exotic pets in the Upper Midwest and Northeast poses little danger to the general population -- there is no evidence it has spread from one human to another. But if it is not contained, the disease could become rooted in animal populations in this country. That could lead to periodic outbreaks like the one the United States is experiencing now or, even worse, the disease could mutate and become easily transmissible among humans. The episode has raised troubling questions about the adequacy of the nation's defenses against imported animal diseases. Most of all, it raises warning flags about the sale of exotic wild animals for pets. So far some 50 people in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey have come down with symptoms consistent with monkeypox: blisterlike rashes, fever, swollen glands, dry coughs and headaches. Laboratory tests have confirmed that several were definitely infected with the monkeypox virus, a weaker and less contagious cousin of smallpox. Most of these people had direct contact with infected prairie dogs or, in at least one case, with a rabbit that apparently got the disease from an infected prairie dog. The prairie dogs themselves may have been infected by a Gambian giant pouched rat imported from Africa, where monkeypox has long existed.

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It’s always fascinated me that the mountains of Venus are capped with snow made of heavy metal minerals. Frosts made of shiny, lustrous material, giving a metallic glint to the tops of mountains hidden beneath kilometres of acrid cloud. I always thought it was such a poetic concept. Specifically, those minerals are mostly lead sulfide (galena) and bismuth sulfide (bismuthinite) which sublime from the planet’s hot lowlands to be deposited on the mountaintops. Heavy metal snow. Venus is just full of underappreciated surprises. If you’re still curious, there’s much more to read here. Really, Venus is just my favourite planet of this whole ragtag bunch of oddballs we call a solar system. While I may find Titan fascinating, be incredibly curious about Mercury, wonder what that weird red colour comes from on Jupiter and, of course, be rather fond of Earth… Venus just enthralls me. I don’t know entirely why, but I suspect it always will On an unrelated note, it bothers me somewhat that while virtually all surface features on Venus have female names, the tallest mountain on Earth’s sister world is named after a man. Perhaps it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. The tallest most dominant feature which, by necessity, is frequently referenced in articles about the Venusian surface topography. I mean seriously, how masculine can you get? Admittedly, Maxwell Montes (the 11 km tall, highest peak on Venus) is named for James Clerk Maxwell whose theory work underpinned the radar which allowed us to see beneath the Venusian clouds. But still… Personally, and with no disrespect intended to Maxwell, I’d move to rename it with the same convention as the other Venusian mountains. All of the mountains on Venus are named after goddesses. I rather think Juno Montes would be a much better name for it. Irrespective of names though, it’s a pity that no one’s sent any probes below the clouds of Venus in over 30 years. I really do hope we go back sometime…

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Double-faced cell innovation will boost solar power efficiencies Apr 19 2017 Electroblog Print Article Apr 19 2017 Electroblog The power-generation potential of solar cells has received a significant boost following the development of a highly efficient bifacial cell. The cell design was facilitated by nano-electronics and digital technology organisation Imec and bifacial solar cells are capable of capturing light on both front and back sides which means they can take advantage of a variety of sources of light that are not necessarily direct. Examples of this indirect light included light reflected from the ground and buildings, diffused light during cloudy weather and sunrise and sunset light. Imec says tests indicate that during a lifetime operating period these cells might generate 10-40% more electricity than traditional monofacial cells. This will depend however on their bifaciality, the PV installation properties and their location. This may result in an estimated levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) reduction for photovoltaic (PV) installations of up to 30% The Imec bifacial n-PERT solar cells are created using what it says is an industrially compatible process which provides a front-side conversion efficiency of 22.8%. They have thin and narrow (< 20 µm) nickel-silver (Ni/Ag) plated fingers on both the n+ and p+ side of the cell and feature contacts that are fabricated in a patented process of simultaneously plating both cell sides. This cell plating is performed on cassette level (simultaneous plating on a full cassette of wafers in a chemical bath) without the need for an electrical contact to be made to the substrates. This results in a solar cell batch with an average conversion efficiency of 22.4% with the best cell demonstrating a record efficiency of 22.8%. These evaluations were measured internally based on an ISE CalLab calibrated reference cell with a GridTOUCH system under standard test conditions using only front side illumination and a non-reflective chuck. By Paul WhytockPaul Whytock is European Editor for Electropages. He has reported extensively on the electronics industry in Europe, the United States and the Far East for over twenty years. Prior to entering journalism he worked as a design engineer with Ford Motor Company at locations in England, Germany, Holland and Belgium.

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No-one can feel safe and content when the people around them are frightening, abusive or even violent towards them. It’s natural to take it for granted that the people with whom you share your life – your family and friends, neighbours and carers – will treat you with kindness and respect. Regretfully, this is not the case for everyone. Abuse within the home Many people have good reason to be concerned, even fearful, about the treatment they receive within their own homes, and the majority of abusers are well-known to their victims. Domestic abuse and child abuse wreck lives and break up families. Elder abuse is widespread and yet many perpetrators do not recognise their behaviour as abusive. People who need support services – whether at home or in a residential setting – should receive kindness and respect from those who are paid to care for them and yet abuse also takes place in residential settings. If you wish to raise concerns about a care service or residential home, contact the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales. Abuse outside the home Sometimes it’s not the people you share your life with that are the problem but those you encounter when you leave your home. Anti-social behaviour and nuisance neighbours can make your life a misery but there is no need to suffer in silence. If you are being harassed or threatened, or your property or possessions are being vandalised, contact the police. You can report noise problems the environment department of your local council. Hate crime should always be reported. Call the police on 101 or report it to the police online. If you are unhappy or feel unsafe with the people around you but are scared to make a fuss, you might prefer someone to speak up on your behalf. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, always call 999.

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Culture is a shared set of values and perceptions -- and a very powerful concept. Culture can be limited to small groups, such as an office or a company, or it can be wide enough to span continents as is the case when people refer to "Western Culture," which encompasses the commonalities of numerous nations. Each individual runs into culture in our towns, regions, nations, ethnic backgrounds and of course, work. Business intersects with culture at many junctures and a smart businessperson considers all of these when making important decisions. America is a country of immigrants. As such, people of widely varied races and ethnic backgrounds form the modern workforce. While America certainly has elements of an overarching American culture, it is equally characterizes by the variations of its various ethnicities and subcultures. Employers and employees must respect the cultural variations, and the different perceptions and human needs they create. This ranges from being sensitive when discussing religion, culture and politics to being thoughtful about scheduling and allowing for people's time off to accommodate their holidays and celebrations. It also includes working with people for whom English may not be a first language and trying to help them succeed in your workplace. Every company has a culture and they are far from uniform. When dealing with clients, vendors and business partners, you have to consider the company culture when addressing its representatives. For example, your office may be small, relaxed and friendly, but your client's culture may be very formal and traditional. Starting an email with a "Hey, Bob..." could be seen very poorly. Similarly, when making a sales pitch, a strong emphasis on personalities and understanding may not go over well with a formal company. Instead, a very well organized PowerPoint presentation accompanied with written reports will get you further. Company cultures give everyone in the organization a common platform and approach for their work. The shared outlooks of a company's culture determine employees' attitudes, effectiveness and sense of team. Some cultures develop around the way a company works, and other times, leaders work to shape and implement a company culture. Creating a strong and effective company culture stems largely from the communication strategies of owners and top management. Companies who want a creative and proactive company culture not only have to communicate this to employees, but to reinforce it in their daily communication styles. For example, managers of empowered company cultures often say things like, "Great thinking -- can you take the lead on implementing that?", "How would you solve this problem?" and "I'd like you to come up with three great ideas and come show them to me later." Culture And Marketing When companies interact with their customer bases, they have to consider that not every market works the same way. The marketing and sales approaches that work in an upscale suburb might be completely ineffective and even inappropriate to an inner-city area with ethnic minorities or a rural area with a different socio-economic composition. Particularly in retail sectors, companies have to construct their marketing and communication strategies to be culturally sensitive and appealing to a numerous ethnic groups and demographics. This may include using Spanish billboards in some areas orChinese signage in stores in other areas as well as changing certain stores' product mixes to meet the needs and tastes of the local populations. Working with overseas clients, business partners, vendors and offices means understanding the cultures with which you're working. To sell effectively or create a strong working platform, you have to make sure good communication is actually occurring and communication only occurs when both parties reach a common understanding. When meeting with foreign clients, be sure to develop presentations that mesh with their business culture. Also be prepared to interact in a way that shows respect for their ways of doing business. Effective international communication usually involves some careful preparation by studying a culture as well as a lot of face-to-face communication, which may include video conferences. - Entrepreneur: Empowerment - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board: Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace - BNet: Interational Journal of Business Strategy: Adapting to Promote Commitment in International Marketing Strategies - Agent's Sales Journal: One Producer's Diversity Marketing Strategy - University of Minnesota: Reinventing Internal Communications - Ryouchin/Digital Vision/Getty Images

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John John Florence Habitats 1. Habitat is a word for the natural climate or environment for something; e.g.- the habitat for a frog would be a dam, bushy, water an plantation. 2. Bark, rubbish, pollution and . Pictures! the structure of the kidney: the long tentical is called the renal pelvis. and what the renal pelvis goes into is the renal pyramid. the outer layer of your kidney is the renal capsule. this is very delicate and very soft. the 5 things i learned was that the oesophagus is your food artery and the diaphragm is the muscle in the middle of your body. and the hydrogen peroxide is called h2o2. the thoracic cavity is the top half of your body. the alveoli is the little airbags in your lungs. by lwiiiss miiillsss the three things i learnt was that the systemic circuit pumps blood around you body. also i learnt that the pulmonary systems also turns the blood into rich blood. And also the valves look like spider webs and they are very strong. by lewiisss millsssss What is the glycemic index- the glycemic index describes the difference in by ranking carbohydrates according to how quickly and how much they increase blood glucose levels. Some low-GI foods are cereal based on oats, barley and bran. If you were a vegetarian you can still get protein without meat. There are something called legumes. Legumes is essential for a healthy diet, and include lentils, beans and peas such as chickpeas or green peas. Legumes are low fat and have more protein than any other plants, with about 26 per cent of legume calories in protein. The most interesting thing I found was that you can get plant protein! Another thing was that potatoes was not a low-GI food. What happens if I don’t get enough protein? Well, when you don’t have enough protein you start to lose a lot of muscle and start to become very weak and useless. You also lose alot of energy. Average vegetarians get enough protein by eating lots of vegetables and fruit. It is very vital that you get enough protein in the day so you can be fit and have energy to get through the day. by lewis mills the most thing that i ate in the 5 days was wheat bix. i ate 5 wheat bix in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. my average daily intake was around 2000 calories. my daily in take should be around 1460 calories a day. i have gone a bit over but i do exercise. by lewis mills The heart is like a pump to pump our body in the body. We need blood to carry nutrients and oxygen to every cell in the body and carry away the waste and carbon dioxide. The heart moves the blood through the blood vessels just like a delivery route. I love skating because its a endless game. You can just never say alright i have learned everything there is, you just can do that so thats what keeps me intrigued and motivated. and also when who land a gnarly trick you get the best feeling the 2 new things i have found is that there is a new skateboard called a p2 board which makes the board lighter and a quicker pop and also it lasts way longer. it is made of thin maple ply. another is that bowls are cool They didn’t believe that the earth revolved around the sun because….. 1. They believed that the earth was the centre of the universe. 2.they believed that if gods son was a human and he was on earth and god was the centre of everything that everything must orbit the earth. 3.the people of the church did not belive Galileo because they thought that everything revolved around the earth. by Lewis Mills

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Area 10,831 square mi (28,051 square km) Population 778,100 (2014) Highest Point 9,870 ft (3,008 m) Lowest Point 0 m GDP $14.31 billion (2014) Primary Natural Resources petroleum, wood uranium, gold, manganese. EQUATORIAL GUINEA is located in west-central Africa just north of the equator. It is made up of Rio Muni on the African mainland and the islands of Bioko, Annobon, Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico. Rio Muni is bordered by CAMEROON to the north and by GABON to the east and south. The Campo River forms part of the northern boundary with Cameroon, and the Rio Muni River forms part of the southern boundary with Gabon. These two rivers, along with the Mbini River, located in the center of Rio Muni, are the three largest rivers in the country. Rio Muni contains 93 percent of Equatorial Guinea’s total landmass, and 80 percent of the population lives here. The major urban areas in Equatorial Guinea include Malabo and Luba on Bioko Island and Bata, Mbini, Ebebiyin, Mongomo, and Evinayong on the mainland of Rio Muni. Both Bioko and Annobon islands are volcanic. Equatorial Guinea has a tropical climate that is hot and humid year-round. Along the coastal plain, the city of Bata is cooler and drier than the rest of the country. Rio Muni is mainly hilly terrain averaging about 2,000 ft (610 m) in elevation with some 4,000-ft (1,220-m) peaks. Bioko Island, which was called Fernando Po until the 1970s, lies about 25 mi (40 km) from Cameroon and is the largest island in the Gulf of Guinea, covering 780 square mi (2,017 square km). It was discovered in 1471 by Portuguese explorer Fernando Póo, who was seeking a route to INDIA. PORTUGAL controlled the island until 1778, when it ceded this, surrounding islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between NIGER and the Ogoue River to SPAIN in the Treaty of Pardo in exchange for territory in South America (mainly territories in BRAZIL). Bioko is made up of three extinct volcanoes, the largest of which, Pico Basile, reaches up 9,870 ft (3,008 m). The coastline is 120 mi (195 km) long, very steep to the south from the volcanoes rising up, and much lower in the northwest, with good harbors at both Malabo and Luba. Also along the northwestern coast between Malabo and Luba are several scenic beaches. Indigenous to Bioko Island are the Bubi people constituting 15 percent of the population. The Bubi are descendants of slaves liberated from western Africa by the British during the 19th century. Originally, it is believed that the first inhabitants of Equatorial Guinea were Pygmies who still live in isolated areas of northern Rio Muni. The majority of the people of Equatorial Guinea are of Bantu origin, most of these being from the Fang tribe, which makes up 80 percent of the total population of Equatorial Guinea. Spain granted Equatorial Guinea independence on October 12, 1968. After gaining independence, they suffered for 11 years under a repressive dictatorship that suppressed the local economy. Equatorial Guinea’s economy was mainly based on developing the rich volcanic soil for agricultural use. They grow cacoa, coffee, plantains, cassavas, sweet potatoes, and palm oil. They are slowly developing their fishing industry with the help of Spain, NIGERIA, and MOROCCO. Oil and gas discovered offshore is now the main export and will continue to drive the economy for years to come.

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Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Laboratory, has made his career pointing out the mindless (and often mind-blowing) mistakes we make when choosing what, when and how much to eat. In one of his best-known studies, Wansink gave moviegoers at a Philadelphia theater 14-day-old popcorn instead of a fresh batch (Wansink & Kim 2005). As rated by the participants themselves after the movie, this popcorn was nasty stuff: stale, soggy, verging on disgusting. But did the moviegoers storm the popcorn stand demanding refunds? No. They ate it. And if they were given a large container instead of the medium size, they ate 34% more. The unsuspecting participants made their eating choices based on external cues (container size, the sound of others eating) and the expectation that the popcorn would taste good. They even ate about 60% as much popcorn as those who received a fresh batch. It’s another case of mindless eating. Why do we do it? Wansink says it’s because we’re responding to external cues: our peers, the lighting, the sounds, our history of eating popcorn. I say it’s because we’re wired to. Our brains are on survival mode, always. If food is available, and we are not paying attention, we will shift into automatic and eat all of it. The brain will revert to primitive mode and remember we didn’t always know where the next meal would come from–or when–and therefore we must eat every bit of the currently available one. In automatic, we’re not deciding to eat. We’re not choosing our calories or our food source. We’re just eating. Mindlessly. Automatically. The solution? PAY ATTENTION! Give every mouthful your undivided focus. Align your meal with your goal of good health. If you’re having a treat, DECIDE to do it. And limit it. And then mindfully thank your self. Believe you are doing the right thing. Belief is the rocket fuel of success!

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Personal Qualifications & Qualities for a Forensic Scientist Forensic scientists apply scientific knowledge and methods, especially in chemistry and biology, to help police investigate and solve crimes. These scientific specialists collect and analyze various types of physical evidence, including blood and other body fluids; DNA; and human tissue. They also collect weapons-related evidence. Aspiring forensic scientists should have strong educational preparation that includes college degrees in a scientific field. They also should have inquisitive minds and a willingness to spend long hours in a job that lacks the drama and excitement portrayed on television shows such as "CSI." Becoming a forensic scientist begins with the right education, which means the minimum of a bachelor's degree. The American Academy of Forensic Sciences advises students to major in a scientific field, such as chemistry, physics or biology. AAFS further recommends studying the courses offered by a particular degree program before deciding on a major. A good course of study should include at least 24 credit hours -- about eight courses -- in chemistry or biology. In addition, aspiring forensic scientists need strong math skills. The popularity of forensic science as a profession has led to growth in degree programs in forensic science. However, Florida State University School of Criminal Justice and Criminology warns that a forensic science degree is less marketable in a tight job market than a chemistry or biology degree. AAFS says to make sure that a forensic science degree program emphasizes science coursework, noting that the content of a degree is more important than the title. In addition to a college degree, forensic scientists need strong written and verbal communication skills. These abilities are vital, because they help forensic scientists convey complex scientific information to police investigators, attorneys, jurors and other nonscientists. AAFS recommends taking English composition courses while in college and developing public speaking skills through membership in a group such as Toastmasters. Forensic scientists are detail-oriented deep thinkers, willing to spend many hours at crime scenes and crime labs, examining and testing various types of evidence to help reconstruct what happened in a particular crime. Therefore, AAFS points out that forensic scientists should have intellectual curiosity. In addition, because they work in the criminal justice system, they should have personal integrity, and should not have criminal records, including youthful indiscretions, according to Florida State University. Shane Hall is a writer and research analyst with more than 20 years of experience. His work has appeared in "Brookings Papers on Education Policy," "Population and Development" and various Texas newspapers. Hall has a Doctor of Philosophy in political economy and is a former college instructor of economics and political science.

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May 20, 2008 -- Most Americans who have celiac disease probably don't know it. A new study shows that the criteria used to diagnose the disorder may be too stringent, leaving many people undiagnosed and untreated. It is estimated that one in every 100 Americans may be affected by celiac disease. But "only 5% of these people have ever been diagnosed," says Peter H. Green, MD, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University Medical School in New York City. Green moderated a news briefing to discuss the new research at Digestive Disease Week 2008 in San Diego. Also at the briefing, researchers reported early success in developing new treatments for celiac disease. What Is Celiac Disease? People with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten protein found in wheat, rye, and barley products, such as many breads and cereals. They must follow a strict gluten-free diet to control their symptoms, which can include diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, anemia, and oral ulcerations. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system attacks the protein. This damages the intestinal lining, hampering the ability to absorb vital nutrients from food and eventually leading to malnutrition. Currently, a biopsy of the small intestine is considered the gold standard for diagnosing celiac disease, Green says. Doctors look for damage of the villi -- little finger-like protrusions in the small intestine important for absorbing nutrients. Biopsy May Miss Celiac Disease The new study involved 145 patients suspected of having celiac disease. Of those, 71 were positive on the antibody blood test. Of those, 48 met the criteria for celiac disease on biopsy. The remaining 23 patients were divided randomly into two groups. One group was placed on a gluten-free diet, and the other continued eating a regular diet that included gluten. After one year, patients on the gluten-free diet were free of symptoms. But symptoms worsened in people who continued to eat the regular diet. And their intestinal linings showed signs of inflammation and deterioration. The fact that they got worse shows they had celiac disease, says researcher Markku Maki, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Tampere in Finland. Plus, when these patients then eliminated gluten from their diet, their symptoms got better and their intestinal lining healed, he tells WebMD. Green says researchers are working on a better blood test to detect celiac disease. There are other reasons celiac disease is often missed, he adds. "It's a problem of physician education, as doctors are taught it's a rare childhood disease," he says. In fact, celiac disease can appear at any point in life. Then, there's the fact that the symptoms are so varied. Patients may go to one doctor for bloating and diarrhea, another for joint pain, and another for unexplained anemia, and no one puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, Green says. New Pill for Celiac Disease Once celiac disease is diagnosed, "the only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. But gluten is so ubiquitous that it is difficult to completely get it out of the diet," Green says. Inadvertent consumption of gluten is the major causes of symptoms in people who know they have the disease, he says. That's why researchers are closely watching early studies of two new treatments that may help protect patients with celiac disease from exposure to gluten. The first study looked at an experimental pill called larazotide, also known as AT-1001. It blocks gluten from crossing into the intestinal lining where it can cause harm. The study of 69 patients showed that those who were given gluten and larazotide had less nausea, bloating, and other symptoms of celiac disease than those who were given gluten and a placebo. However, the drug did no better than placebo at preventing gluten from leaking through the intestine lining over the 14 days of active treatment, which was the study's primary goal. "What was surprising was that leakage improved in all patients over the first week," says Daniel Leffler, MD, clinical research director at the Celiac Disease Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "It shows that just being in a study helps people practice healthier habits and improves outcomes," he tells WebMD. Also, there were some signs that the drug helped to curb gluten leakage in the weeks after treatment ended, "suggesting the drug has some efficacy," he says. "The results are somewhat promising," Leffler says, adding that the researchers are proceeding with a larger, longer trial. The study was funded by Alba Therapeutics, maker of the drug. Yet another treatment that shows promise is a pill that contains two enzymes engineered to digest gluten, Green says. The very fact that the pharmaceutical industry is becoming interested in celiac disease is "exciting for patients," he says. "Probably one of the reasons that condition is so underdiagnosed is because there is no medication and doctors aren't being educated."

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Pearls are considered as highly prized jewellery since thousands of years. There was always huge demand for saltwater pearls. However, now it is obtained mainly through cultivation. Following are the main sources of saltwater pearls. The coasts of Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the major pearl producing areas of the world. These waters have been producing creamy white pearls for over 2,000 years. During May-September which is diving season, many small boats are working on these waters. Pearls are obtained from oysters; they are washed and sold to India. After necessary processing poor-quality pearls are sent to Far East and better pearls are sent mostly to Paris. From Paris it is mostly exported to the US. Gulf of Manaar This is in the arm of Indian Ocean and lies between India and Sri Lanka. For above 2,500 years, this is one of the important sources of pearls in this area. The government of Sri Lanka controls all the fishing and auctions of the oyster. The oysters are then opened by just leaving them on ground to rot. People then search the decomposed matters for pearls. Pearls from here go to Bombay for further processing. Divers in armoured suits usually fish for only pearl oysters in the northwest, west, and north coasts. Silvery white to yellowish pearls are produced here. Recovery of shell is also a big industry here. This refers to south Pacific and the Indian oceans, and these pearls are generically called as “Tahitian Pearls.” These pearls can grow large and are generally round. Tahiti is one of the major centres of pearl. Japanese waters nowadays rapidly becoming very polluted for natural existence of any Pinctada. Cultured pearls of white colour constitute much bigger industry in this area. Mexico and Panama Until 20th century, major sources of pearls were from here; today they are producing Tahitian-type cultured pearls. California and Florida Occasionally they are found in the USA. Mostly they are conch pearls or abalone. California also produces few black pearls. Venezuelan oysters usually produce small pearls only. Now they are not producing many pearls. Pearls found here are whiter than most.

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In this Great Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, usually people speak about the theology of the Virgin Mary, who she was, who she is in the Church, her role within the Church, and we’ve spoken about these things many times. Much less do we concentrate on the Gospel today, which doesn’t speak about the Virgin Mary at all, but rather mentions another Mary who is the sister of Martha, who also had the brother Lazarus, whom we hear Jesus raised from the dead on the fourth day after his death, on the Saturday a week before his own resurrection. We celebrate this, obviously, on Lazarus Saturday at the beginning of Holy Week. We see that in this particular story—and it’s interesting that the Church places it on this day, the Dormition of the Virgin Mary—we see that Mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to his words, listening to his teachings, and not doing what is expected of her, which is to serve, because especially at the time of Christ, in the Jewish society, the women were there to serve; they were not there to learn Scripture, to learn the Law. That was for the men, and so the women would stay [away]. It was the same thing at the synagogue: the men would go into the synagogue and study; the women would have to stay outside or in a special section for them. Their job was to serve the people, to run the household, but not to learn the Scripture and not to learn the faith and to engage in the faith as much as the men were. It was a very patriarchal society. We see that Mary is doing the opposite of what is expected of her, and Martha gets annoyed with her, because she is left alone to serve all the guests that were in her house. Of course, there were many, many people there coming to see Christ. So Martha goes to Christ and she complains about her sister and says, “Do you not care that my sister is sitting here, doing nothing and listening to you and not doing her job as a woman of the household?” And what does Christ do? He rebukes her, and he responds with something we would not expect a first-century rabbi to say. Christ does this many times: goes against the cultural grain, the traditions of his people, to prove a point. Christ tells her, “Martha, you are very anxious about many, many things, but there is only one thing that is needful, and Mary has chosen it.” So he is reminding Martha that, yes, there is work to be done; yes, there are obligations to be fulfilled; yes, everybody has a role within society to a certain degree, but in the end, the beginning, at the forefront of our lives, on the front burner, as a priority, we have to have our spirituality, our relationship with God, our understanding of our faith, our understanding of Scripture, our understanding of who Christ is and what he has come to do. This is something that we as Christians today understand, logically. We say, “Yes, that is something that we should try to do as Christians,” but it’s much more difficult to put it into practice. It’s easy to say it. It’s easy to understand it. It’s easy to say that we are Christians and that we believe in certain things, but it’s much harder to place those beliefs, that morality, that set of things that we try to do, to put into practice what we believe—it’s much harder to put those things into practice in our daily lives and to put them at the forefront, in front of everything else that we do. Really what happens is—and I include myself in this—is that we usually push that spirituality, that priority to the back burner, and we get overwhelmed with the everyday, mundane necessities of life: We need to go to work, we need to pay the bills, we need to take our children to school, we need to take our children to extra-curricular activities. We need to do all these things that clutter up our lives, and in the end we have no time for peace, for quiet, for calmness, and for personal prayer. One of the things that helps us to try to move away from this chaos that we live in today is a tradition that unfortunately in our day and age—and at least I’ve noticed it amongst our people, especially the Greek Orthodox—is that a tradition that is again falling away is the Jesus prayer. Many of you may be wearing what we call a komboskini, a prayer rope. I wear one on my right hand as well. Some of you have it on; some of you do not. Some of you have never seen one, but many people who wear it—I’ve seen amongst the youth sometimes—somebody gave it to them or they bought one in Greece or they got one from a monastery. They think that it’s simply a religious bracelet or a Greek bracelet, something that tells them that they’re Orthodox, but really they don’t understand the significance of it. Really, the komboskini, the prayer rope, is made up of little knots that are hand-made. This cannot be made by a machine, because it is too difficult to be done. There are seven little crosses in every knot, that is seven different prayers that are read by the person who’s making it. Usually there are about 33 knots on the wrist, which is 33 years of Jesus’ life. If you multiply 33 times seven, that’s 231 prayers that somebody put into one komboskini that our children or one of us wears. So we are carrying around 231 prayers for us that someone else took the time to do. I make these myself, and I make them for people as well. It’s a good way for me to focus my time and my mind on prayer as well. It takes approximately, depending on how fast you go, maybe an hour and a half to two hours to make one of these. So somebody has to take time out of their day, to have peace in their mind and their heart, and to pray for that person to make one of these. So when we wear these, we shouldn’t be wearing them as fashion statements, and we shouldn’t just be wearing them to say that we’re Orthodox. Rather, we should be using them. And how does one use them? Well, there’s the tradition, in monastic circles… If you go to a monastery and you speak to a monk or a nun, they will tell you very well and very easily what the Jesus prayer is, because this is what they do, day in and day out, 24 hours a day, sometimes even in their sleep, and that is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And they repeat this, over and over again, for every knot that they use. And they count, and they do it so often that it gets to the point where they don’t even need the prayer rope any more. It just becomes a prayer that repeats in their heads at all times, and especially at times when they need it. This is something that we can apply to our daily lives. I speak about this to the youth group, I speak about it to the kids at camp, and I speak about it even to you adults, because it is something that helps us in our daily lives. It’s a simple tradition that we can incorporate into our very busy lives, so that even sometimes when we’re driving in the car, we can use it and pray. Even when we are at work or we have a few minutes to spare, we can pray. Even when we are waiting in line at the supermarket, we can pray. These things may seem funny to us, or they may seem unlikely that we may actually pray at these times, but when this very simple prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.”—begins to play in our heads over and over, we will see that it begins to calm us. It begins to push out all those negative thoughts and all those negative distractions that we have in our minds that plague us every day, but do not allow us to have a peace of mind and a calmness within our hearts and our souls. We see that, especially at times, at least for myself, I have anxiety or I get upset or something bothers me or there’s high stress, I find that that prayer kicks into my mind right away, and it helps calm me at that moment so that I can make the proper decisions, and I can be peaceful and calm and treat my neighbor with love and compassion and not be agitated. So this is one of those things, one of the many traditions that we have in our Church, that allows us to keep Christ at the forefront of our minds, the forefront of our hearts, because as people we are forgetful. We forget. We forget about Christ, we forget about our faith, we forget about the teachings of the Church in our daily lives, because we are bombarded by so many secular things, so many worldly things. Really, in the end, it doesn’t matter what we say we believe. It doesn’t matter that we say we’re Christians on the final Day. It only matters what we do, and that’s why Christ’s last words at the end of the gospel are what? The woman says, “Blessed is the woman who bore you, the womb that bore you, and the breasts that suckled you.” And he says, “Rather, blessed are the people who hear the word of God and keep it.” So it’s not enough just to hear. We all hear. We all know what’s right and wrong. We all hear what we should believe. We come to church sometimes, we listen to the priest talk and talk and talk, we listen to the prayers, and we know what we’re supposed to do. But to actually do those things is the difficult part, and I think all of us can identify with that, how difficult it is to actually apply those teachings, that ethic, that morality to our daily lives, to every single decision that we make. So the only way that we can do that is if we keep Christ in our minds and our hearts, and the Jesus prayer is an excellent way of doing that, so that we can always be guided by that faith in everything that we do. If we do not, then we become just like everybody else. We become just like everybody else who may not believe in anything, who follow other religions, who follow other philosophies or follow nothing at all and basically live their lives according to their own philosophies and their own religion and their own belief system. But for us, we claim that we follow the true God, and we try to conform our lives to what he has to say about things and how what is good for us, so this is one way that we can try to do it. Blessed are those who not only hear the word of God, but keep it in action. Amen.

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By Duane Schultz The five Americans were trapped in a small, dark, empty wine cellar in an isolated French villa on the coast of Algiers. Upstairs, directly overhead, French police stomped back and forth across the rug that covered the trapdoor. The police were so close that the Americans could hear them questioning the owner of the house, Henri Tessier, and the senior American counselor to the Vichy French regime in Algiers, Robert Murphy, about their presence. It was Tuesday afternoon, October 23, 1942. Tessier had instructed his Arab servants to stay away from the house for the rest of the day. That had made them suspicious enough, but when they spotted several sets of footprints crossing the sandy beach heading toward the house, they reported their suspicions to the police. Murphy and Tessier pretended to be drunk. Murphy told the investigating officers that they had been having a party. There were women in the bedrooms upstairs, he whispered, and he pleaded with them not to embarrass a “senior American diplomat” who was only having a little fun. The group in the cellar was led by Maj. Gen. Mark Clark. When he heard the voices, he kneeled at the bottom of the stairs, pointing his carbine toward the trapdoor. Years later he said that he was “prepared to shoot if necessary.” A few hours earlier, in a meeting in the dining room upstairs with General Charles Mast, commander of the French XIX Corps in northern Algeria, Clark had persuaded Mast not to resist the planned American invasion of North Africa. Codenamed Operation Torch, it was scheduled to take place in three weeks. But if Clark and his group were captured by the French police they would be turned over to the Germans. “If we fell into Nazi hands,” Clark said, “it would be far from pleasant, and, of more importance, it would jeopardize the whole operation.” They had to get out of the house and back to the British submarine that was waiting for them offshore. With Clark were Brig. Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, Colonel Archelaus L. Hamblen, Colonel Julius Holmes, and U.S. Navy Captain Jerauld Wright, an authority on naval gunnery, along with three British commandos. Five days earlier the group had left England for Gibraltar, where they were taken aboard HMS Seraph, an S-class submarine of the British Royal Navy; its commander, Lieutenant Norman Limbury Auchinleck Jewell, was known as Bill. When Clark told Lieutenant Jewell they would be looking for a house with white walls and a red tile roof some 12 miles west of a fishing village called Cherchell, Bill said casually, “I am sure that we can get you in there and get you off again.” He had arranged for three commandos of the Royal Marines—Captain C.P. Courtney, Captain R.T. Livingstone, and Lieutenant J.P. Foote—to serve as bodyguards. To enable the group to reach the shore and later return safely to the submarine, the commandos acquainted the Americans with their collapsible two-person kayaks. The boats were constructed of hickory wood frames covered with canvas. Because they could be folded to take up less space, they would be easy to hide onshore. “I had never been aboard a submarine before,” Clark wrote, “and I soon realized that they were not made for a lanky six-foot-two man.” He had to crouch, and going to the latrine found himself nearly on all fours. When the Seraph submerged, the air grew so stale it made the men groggy. They passed the time playing bridge or trying to sleep. They arrived at their destination at 4 am on October 21. Two Algerian fishing boats were anchored where they had expected to land. There was no choice but to spend the day submerged in deep water until 10 pm. The fishing boats were gone, but now there was no signal light from the villa indicating that it was safe to come ashore. While they waited and watched for the light, someone suggested that they change into civilian clothes. “Hell no!” Clark said. “We’ll go ashore as American officers and nothing else. It will help the people we are dealing with to remember who we are and whom we represent.” That settled, Clark strapped $2,000 in Canadian gold coins and American dollars into a money belt inside his pants for use in an emergency, and a little after midnight on October 22, when the signal light finally appeared from the house, the group made their way to shore through the heavy surf, emerging soaking wet. Robert Murphy was waiting for them on the beach. “Welcome to North Africa,” he said. Clark, who had prepared a formal statement that he had practiced in French, instead blurted out, “I’m damn glad we made it.” The meeting with General Mast seemed to go well. Mast was eager to cooperate with the planned American invasion but insisted on knowing the strength of the landing force. He knew that if it was not sufficiently large, the Germans might be able to defeat it on their own. And if the Germans won, Mast would be in trouble for not having fought alongside them. Clark knew this was a crucial point that could make or break the agreement with the Vichy government, so he greatly exaggerated the size of the American force. “I had to keep a poker face,” Clark recalled, “while saying that a half a million Allied troops would come in, and I said that we could put 2,000 planes in the air as well as plenty of U.S. Navy.” He knew that only 112,000 troops would be in the landing force. He later wrote in his diary that he had been “lying like hell.” Clark’s ruse worked, and Mast agreed that the Vichy French troops under his command would not fight the Americans. After a lunch of chicken served with a hot peppery sauce, red wine, and oranges, Mast left while his aides worked out the details of the agreement. Everyone seemed pleased with the outcome of the mission until an urgent telephone call that afternoon announced that French police were on their way to the villa. Clark and his party hustled into the wine cellar just as the police car pulled up outside. While the police were still upstairs, Captain Courtney began to choke while trying to suppress a cough; they all knew the noise would give them away. Courtney whispered to Clark, “General, I’m afraid I’ll choke.” Clark hissed back, “I’m afraid you won’t.” Clark handed him a piece of chewing gum, which managed to stop the cough. Later, Courtney complained that American chewing gum was tasteless. Clark laughed and told Courtney that was because he had been chewing the gum himself for hours before he gave it to him! There is no record of Courtney’s reply. The French police left after about half an hour, warning Murphy that they still had their suspicions and might be back to continue their search of the house. Murphy opened the door to the cellar and told Clark that they had better leave. He suggested that they hide in the woods until they could return to the submarine. Clark agreed; there was no reason to stay there any longer. When they tried to get back to the submarine, the surf was so strong that Clark took off his trousers, concerned that the money belt containing the gold would weigh him down. But they could not get into the kayaks because of the high waves. Finally, by 4 am on October 23, the sea had calmed down enough to try again to reach the submarine. But before they got into the kayaks again, what historian Jon Mikolashek described as “a bizarre exchange took place. Wet and [still] fearful that the gold would weigh him down, Clark rolled up his pants and ordered General Lemnitzer to drop his pants and give them to him. What followed next is a prime example of rank. Lemnitzer, now pantless, ordered a colonel to do the same. Eventually, the epic of the pants reached lowly Lieutenant Foote, who outranked no one and was forced to paddle to the submarine without any pants.” The boats finally reached the submarine, but before they could be hauled on board one of them was tossed by the waves and slammed against the sub, cracking the wooden frame. The commando manning it leaped aboard, but the kayak drifted away and sank, carrying the coins, some secret papers, and Mark Clark’s pants. Clark radioed Robert Murphy and asked him to search for the lost articles in case they washed up on the beach. The pants were later retrieved, but not the papers or the gold. Murphy had the trousers cleaned and pressed, and he radioed Clark that they would be waiting for him upon his return. The next day, October 24, the sub surfaced so that Clark could send a radio message to supreme commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower touting the success of his mission and describing how, with the arrival of the French police, they all had to hide in a wine cellar. To avoid any possible misunderstanding, however, Clark emphasized that they hid “in an empty—repeat empty—wine cellar.” When they arrived back in London, Clark briefed Eisenhower on the mission. Clark was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, and he and Ike were invited to Buckingham Palace to meet King George VI. When introduced, the monarch said, “I know all about you. You’re the one who took that fabulous trip. Didn’t you get stranded on the beach without your pants?” On the same day, General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, called Clark’s wife, Maurine (called Renie), to assure her that her husband had returned from his mission. He warned her not to talk about it. “General Marshall made it very clear,” she wrote later, “that it was a secret that had to be kept. Adding that it had not yet been decided whether the story would be made public ever.” Renie Clark had always been eager to promote her husband’s accomplishments. And, fortunately for her, three days after the Torch landings began on November 8, Marshall changed his mind about publicizing Clark’s secret mission. Clark was promoted to lieutenant general on November 11, at that time the youngest three-star general in the U.S. Army. A War Department press release cited his diplomatic skill as well as his courage in undertaking the secret mission to Algiers. In response to a clamor from the press for more details, Marshall decided it would be good for public morale to release more stories of a personal nature to the public. And to start this new campaign he gave Clark permission to tell the press about his mission to Algiers, which included the story of his lost pants, which by then had been returned by Murphy, cleaned and pressed as promised. The report of a general losing his pants on a cloak-and-dagger mission behind enemy lines immediately became headline news back in the United States. Mark Clark was suddenly a household name, a celebrity. The story captured the public imagination to such an extent that parents named their newborn sons after him, and thousands of people sent letters and gifts. Clark’s biographer, Martin Blumenson, wrote, “Every war produced an act of personal daring, ingenuity, and devotion that gave individuals a permanent place in history: Nathan Hale had been the first such American. Clark was the latest.” The celebrity Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons called Clark ”America’s Dream Hero.” Time magazine noted that Clark was the “only U.S. general in World War II to lose his pants in enemy territory!” Once the secret was out, Renie Clark did everything she could to enhance her husband’s newfound status. She went on war bond tours with Hollywood movie stars. “I talked five nights a week for nine months in 1943,” she wrote. “It was a roadshow, a new city each night, a one-hour talk in each city.” And she did the same in 1944. She was so effective that the War Department awarded her a Distinguished Service Citation for having sold more than $25 million worth of war bonds. The prominent Redpath Speakers Bureau hired her to give public, paid lectures, which gave her an even larger audience. A compelling and magnetic speaker, Renie toured the country for Redpath, telling and retelling the tale of her husband’s dangerous secret mission, “one of the great adventures of all time.” She talked relentlessly about his bravery and how he was winning the war. She read from his letters to adoring crowds and even displayed the famous trousers. And with that theatrical gesture she went too far; General Marshall did not like the idea of his officers being praised for losing their pants. Marshall made his objections clear to Eisenhower, who in turn informed Clark that his reputation was being damaged by his wife and that he was becoming the butt of jokes. Clark was mortified. Even though he relished the attention and adulation, he was furious. “I do not want you to refer to me in any way in your talks,” he wrote to Renie. “Positively no quotes from me, for some I have seen lately have been embarrassing.” But the damage had been done, and it fueled the already notable resentment among high-ranking officers that had started before the war when Clark was promoted from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general, skipping the rank of colonel. Less than a year later he was promoted to major general. Many officers senior in age and rank took offense. Clark was also considered to be arrogant, vain, and overly ambitious for personal fame. Omar Bradley wrote some 40 years after the war that he thought Clark had been “too eager to impress, too hungry for the limelight, promotions and personal publicity.” Even George Patton, no stranger to arrogance and vanity, believed Clark “was more preoccupied with bettering his own future than winning the war.” Both Marshall and Eisenhower warned Clark on several occasions about being so overtly self-promoting. It was hard not to notice that Clark insisted that the general’s star insignia painted on his jeep had to be bigger than what most other generals had and that he kept a public relations staff of almost 50. Their job was to make sure that photographers were available for important moments like a visit to the front lines. Photos were to be taken of Clark’s better side (the left) and news reports had to mention Clark’s name at least three times at the outset. The episode with the pants brought Mark Clark to the attention of the American public, which needed heroes in 1942, and also perhaps a bit of comic relief after the defeats early in the war. The story was good for morale, and it undoubtedly helped Renie and other celebrities sell war bonds, which definitely helped the war effort. Despite Clark’s admonitions to his wife, however, the story of the pants continued to reappear in the news until after the end of the war. An article in the New York Times on September 21, 1943, titled “Not Selling Clark ‘Pants,’” was based on an interview with Mrs. Clark. There had apparently been public pressure for her to hold an auction for the famous pants, the proceeds of which would go to the war effort. When a reporter asked if she would sell the item, she said she was “going to give them to the Smithsonian Institution” in Washington, D.C. On January 9, 1944, another New York Times piece, this one called “Pants for Posterity,” noted that a spokesman for the Smithsonian said they had received many requests from visitors to see “the well-known britches [but] we have had no offers of the pants, and we, on our part, have made no steps to get them.” The writer, Jay Walz, added (perhaps in an off-the-cuff remark) that “the Smithsonian has no prejudice against pants,” and noted that the museum had collected some worn by George Washington. Shortly after the war, on August 25, 1945, an article by Geoffrey Hellman and E.B. White in The New Yorker quoted another Smithsonian official: “[The pants] were offered, but were rejected as not being a complete exhibit.” End of story. The notoriety acquired by losing his pants does not detract from Clark’s leadership in Operation Flagpole; it was a test of courage that he passed. On the day before he left England to fly to Gibraltar to board the submarine Seraph, Clark had written to Renie, “I am leaving in twenty minutes on a mission which is extremely hazardous. If I succeed and return, I will have done great things for my country and the Allied cause.” He was not exaggerating about the danger or the importance. Later he admitted that he had “hardly ever been less certain of the success of an operational mission in my life.” More than 50 years after the war, historian Rick Atkinson described the mission as both “courageous and daft,” but added that it became “one of the most celebrated clandestine operations of the war.” Duane Schultz, a psychologist, has written more than two dozen nonfiction and fiction books and numerous magazine articles on World War II. His more recent books include Crossing the Rapido: A Tragedy of World War II, Into the Fire: Ploesti, and Patton’s Last Gamble: The Disastrous Raid on POW Camp Hammelburg. He can be reached at www. duaneschultz.com.

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Taima, which means ‘stop’ in Inuktitut, is exactly what researchers at The Ottawa Hospital want to do – stop the spread of tuberculosis in Canada’s Arctic. Tuberculosis in Nunavut is 26 times the Canadian average. Since 2011, the Taima TB research team, led by Respirologist Dr. Gonzalo Alvarez, has been working with Inuit and government partners on innovative technologies and strategies to help stop the spread of this contagious disease in their communities. Taima TB has successfully introduced: - A new test that can diagnose TB in just two days instead of the previous procedure that took more than a month. - A new treatment for latent TB that means patients take only one treatment a week for 12 weeks, instead of taking hundreds of pills over nine months. - A targeted TB screening strategy for those at highest risk. - Community and youth-specific TB education tools. Help us continue to provide innovative patient care and research. Donate now

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Burmese Modernism By Ranard, Andrew Modernistic painting in Burma first assertively appeared in the 1940s and with greater force in the 1950s, emerging as a full-fledged movement in the 1960s. An element of Burmese painting is its lateralism, whereby realist or modernist styles have persistently drawn from a surviving wellspring of traditional arts. In the 1940s–1960s, artists sought an indigenous development that did not mimic foreign aesthetics. They began to look backwards into the ancient mural painting in Pagan 800 years earlier, which in many ways anticipated Surrealism and abstraction. However, by the late 1970s, modernism began to wane. When Burma began to open to the outside world in 1987, an older mastery in Realist and Impressionist painting—introduced by Ba Nyan (1897–1945), who studied in London in the 1920s—dominated the country’s painting style. From the late 1990s onwards, modernism in Burma experienced a vigorous resurgence.

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So I've taken two differential topology/geometry classes both from a mathematics department. I see all over this forum a whole lot of talk about indices being up or down and raising/lowering etc. My professors barely ever mentioned these things though I did notice that when they worked in local coordinates they always wrote the indices on certain objects up and other objects down. For example, inner products of vectors always seem to have repeated indices that are up on one object and down on the other like: inner product of x and y = sum_i (x_i*y^i) I've never really understood what we gain from this notation. At least for my example of an inner product no information seems to be gained by writing the indices this way. When talking about more complicated things than inner products I'm at a loss as to how I should arrange the indices and what benefit there is from doing things this way. I initially thought that the notation was up on objects that transform covariantly and down contravariantly (or vice versa) but I'm at a loss as to what this means for objects with mixed indices. It's also not at all clear to me what it means to "raise" or "lower" the indices on some object. If anyone is willing, I'd like clarification both on how the notation actually works as well as on the "philosophy" behind why this notation was chosen.

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The Gambang is a very old ensemble important in certain Hindu ceremonies, especially funeral ceremony ( Ngaben ).There are not many active Gambang groups left in Bali, however, their survival is ensured as a matter of importance. The Gambang is made up of 2 Gangsa (metalophones) and 4-5 instruments with hard bamboo slats set in a strange order to facilitate modes unique to the Gambang. This order corresponds to the forked mallets used to strike them, each mallet has 2 heads spaced according to the instrument used. The left hand plays the left side of the instrument and the right plays the right side. The intervals formed are approx. 4ths and 5ths in a scale known as Kidung, which is basically a seven tone system, however, it differs from the 7 tone Pelog scales common in Bali and Java.. This Kidung style is pre Majapahit thought to come from the Bali Aga culture of the indigenous Balinese. However, the movement around these islands has been happening over a long period so the origins are hard to establish. The Kidung style along with it's various modes are intrenched in Balinese music today. The Gangsa plays the beat and basic melody while the bamboo instruments play the chordal backing and rhythmic changes. 'Their is a general belief that the Gambang doesn't play Kotekan because of its origin and age. It seems this ensemble may be the forefather of the more modern gamelans. Listening closely I could hear the reyong repetitive parts being played by the Penjilah instruments, the gangsa sangsih and polos sounds of the Angklung by the Pemetit and the jegogan sounds by the large Penangga Bali and Gangsa .’-- Richard . I Ketut Suardana has formed the Yayasan "Suara Dana", which means 'gift of music'. Ketut is a successful silversmith with a love of traditional Balinese music. He has set up the Yayasan at his own expense to revive old music, translating it to Indonesian and rehearsing a group of dedicated players. He has bought the instruments for 2 complete Salonding ensembles, a Gambang ensemble, a Gender Wayang and even a Rare Saron Luang ensemble. He has also built a large attic to house and rehearse these instruments in Celuk,Bali. The Gambang group plays at many important ceremonies around Bali. He is always keen on having more experienced players join the group with the aim of improving the group itself. The group he has assembled to play the music are mostly locals and family members. they include; Members: Penanga Bali: I Komang Mustika Pemero : I Ketut Pujaadi Pemetit: I Wayan Asmana Gangsa: I Nyoman Suarjaya Pengenter: I Ketut Grantipala PenyIlah: I Rai Sudarsana Gangsa: I Ketut Suardana More about tuning: Gambang - Bali. A pair or quartet of bamboo xylophones played with double, forked, mallets. The bars of Balinese gambang are placed in a non-scalar order to facilitate particular double-stop intervals. Gambang is used for cremation rites and draws it's repertoire and scales from ancient Kidung literature. The Gambang playing at Pura Besakih, the most important temple in Bali Gambang in Dlod Pangkung Sukawati Gianyar BALI This Traditional Gambang in the village of Dlod Pangkung in Gianyar consists of elderly members of the village. The youth are not interested in learning the Gambang so this will be the last in this village. This music is played from memory, handed down many years ago by their predecessors . The group was joined by a Hindu High Priest (Pedanda) from Sanur ( also in his eighties) and his friends who sing Pupuh with the Seka Gambang . Pemetit: I Ketut Dayuh Penyilah: I Wayan Targia Gangsa: I Made Lanus Penoro: I Nyoman Mengol Penanga: I Ketut Cemok

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Machu Picchu isn't a "lost city," as many tourist brochures would have you believe. It was simply a summer hangout for the Inca king. Undiscovered by Spanish conquistadors, it wasn't until 1911 that American explorer Hiram Bingham broadcast Machu Picchu's secrets to the world. The site is now Peru's most-visited tourist attraction. Completed around 1450, Machu Picchu is an undisturbed masterwork of Inca craftmanship nestled high in the remote Andes. Supporting as many as 750 residents during the summer months, the seasonal retreat is a carefully-planned patchwork of homes and temples held up by a mammoth network of underground walls. Acres of terraced farms notched into the Andean mountainsides provided the settlement with food. Most amazingly, the entire city is constructed from interlocking walls of smooth, polished stones. Without using mortar, the Inca fit the stones together like an immense jigsaw puzzle. Their work was so precise that, even after centuries of earthquakes, in many places it's still impossible to slip a piece of paper between the seams of two Machu Picchu stones. The mystery of Machu Picchu is how the Inca were able to move such large stones to such a remote location. Although the rock was quarried locally, workers would still have needed to hoist 20-ton stones up steep mountain cliffs -- an especially grueling task when you consider that the Inca didn't use wheels. Ultimately, the coming of the Spanish conquistadors was so devastating to the Inca that within a generation after the arrival of Europeans, nobody was left alive to recall the secrets of their mountaintop city.

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Celebrated annually on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday where the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the armed forces are remembered. It was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War in honor of the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. This honor was extended to all Americans who died while in military service. It is thought of as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season an idea that I think blurs the real reason for the holiday but that seems to happened with most holidays. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries. I visited my father’s grave this weekend and placed a flag at his marker. Although it is for remembrance of those that died in service, I like to think of veterans in general for Memorial Day even though we also have Veterans Day in November. Although my father is no longer living and he served in the Navy during World War 2, he did not die in that service. I am writing his war story in my blog USS Hornet (CV-12), A Father’s Untold War Story. History of the holiday The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers’ graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War. A claim was made in 1906 that the first Civil War soldier’s grave ever decorated was in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861, implying the first Memorial Day occurred there. Though not for Union soldiers, there is authentic documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia, decorated Confederate soldiers’ graves in 1862. In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers’ graves on July 4, 1864. As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Following President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, there were a variety of events of commemoration. The sheer number of soldiers of both sides who died in the Civil War, more than 600,000, meant that burial and memorializing took on new cultural significance. Under the leadership of women during the war, an increasingly formal practice of decorating graves had taken shape. In 1865, the federal government began creating national military cemeteries for the Union war dead. The first widely publicized observance of a Memorial Day-type observance after the Civil War was in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865. During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Charleston Race Course; at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves. Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers. The freedmen cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled, “Martyrs of the Race Course.” Nearly ten thousand people, mostly freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the war dead. Involved were about 3,000 school children newly enrolled in freedmen’s schools, mutual aid societies, Union troops, black ministers, and white northern missionaries. Most brought flowers to lay on the burial field. Today the site is used as Hampton Park. Years later, the celebration would come to be called the “First Decoration Day” in the North. David W. Blight described the day: “This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the war had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.” However, Blight stated he “has no evidence” that this event in Charleston inspired the establishment of Memorial Day across the country. On May 26, 1966, President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Earlier, the 89th Congress adopted House Concurrent Resolution 587, which officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day began one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York. According to legend, in the summer of 1865 a local druggist Henry Welles, while talking to friends, suggested that it might be good to remember those soldiers who did not make it home from the Civil War. Not much came of it until he mentioned it to General John B. Murray, a Civil War hero, who gathered support from other surviving veterans. On May 5, 1866, they marched to the three local cemeteries and decorated the graves of fallen soldiers. It is believed that Murray, who knew General Logan, told Logan about the observance and that led to Logan issuing Logan’s Order in 1868 calling for a national observance. In the North Copying an earlier holiday that had been established in the Southern states, on May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans’ organization for Union Civil War veterans, General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for “Decoration Day” to be observed annually and nationwide. It was observed for the first time that year on Saturday May 30; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle. According to the White House, the May 30 date was chosen as the optimal date for flowers to be in bloom. Memorial events were held in 183 cemeteries in 27 states in 1868, and 336 in 1869. The northern states quickly adopted the holiday. Michigan made “Decoration Day” an official state holiday in 1871 and by 1890, every northern state had followed suit. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Women’s Relief Corps, the women’s auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which had 100,000 members. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been reinterred in 73 national cemeteries, located near major battlefields and thus mainly in the South. The most famous are Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. Memorial Day speeches became an occasion for veterans, politicians, and ministers to commemorate the War and, at first, to rehash the “atrocities” of the enemy. They mixed religion and celebratory nationalism and provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation. People of all religious beliefs joined together and the point was often made that the German and Irish soldiers had become true Americans in the “baptism of blood” on the battlefield. By the end of the 1870s, much of the war-time rancor was gone, and the speeches usually praised the brave soldiers, both Blue and Gray. In the South Evidence exists that shows General Logan had adopted and adapted for the North the annual Confederate Memorial Day custom that had been in practice in the South since 1866. The U.S. National Park Service attributes the beginning to the ladies of Columbus, Georgia. The separate tradition of Memorial Day observance which had emerged earlier in the South was linked to the Lost Cause and served as the prototype for the national day of memory. Historians acknowledge the Ladies Memorial Association played a key role in its development. Various dates ranging from April 25 to mid-June were adopted in different Southern states. Across the South, associations were founded, many by women, to establish and care for permanent cemeteries for the Confederate dead, organize commemorative ceremonies, and sponsor appropriate monuments as a permanent way of remembering the Confederate cause and sacrifice. The most important was the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which grew from 17,000 members in 1900 to nearly 100,000 women by World War I. They were “strikingly successful at raising money to build Confederate monuments, lobbying legislatures and Congress for the reburial of Confederate dead, and working to shape the content of history textbooks.” On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus, Mississippi laid flowers on the graves of both the Union and Confederate dead in the city’s cemetery. The early Confederate Memorial Day celebrations were simple, somber occasions for veterans and their families to honor the dead and tend to local cemeteries. By 1890, there was a shift from the emphasis on honoring specific soldiers to a public commemoration of the lost Confederate cause. Changes in the ceremony’s hymns and speeches reflect an evolution of the ritual into a symbol of cultural renewal and conservatism in the South. By 1913, the theme of American nationalism shared equal time with the Lost Cause. Name and date Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address: Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day. Starting in 1987 Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date. Inouye continued introducing the resolution until his death in 2012. I tend to agree with him. Don’t get me wrong, I like days off from work like the next person and a three-day weekend is great but on Tuesday when your co-workers ask about your Memorial Day, they want to know about the barbeque or the trip to the beach, not about you putting flags on graves or attending a parade.

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Energy from hot rocks below the Earth’s crust will help to replace fossil fuels and speed Europe’s path to carbon neutrality. LONDON, 8 May, 2020 − The Romans were the first people to exploit Europe’s geothermal energy, using underground springs warmed by hot rocks for large-scale public bathing pools and as central heating for their houses. Two thousand years later, the European Union is using modern technology to renew its efforts to exploit the same resource to make electricity and provide district heating as part of its plan to replace fossil fuels and become carbon-neutral by 2050. With wind and solar power and biogas already well-developed, expanding rapidly and already competing with fossil fuels, the EU has decided that geothermal energy should also now be exploited as a fourth major renewable resource. The European Commission’s Green Deal aims to exploit what officials admit has been the neglect of a potentially large renewable energy industry, which they think should be harnessed to reduce carbon emissions. As a result, the Commission is spending €172 million (£151m) on 12 different developments, described in what it calls a Results Pack. “The cost of harnessing geothermal energy has tumbled in recent years, making it far more competitive with coal and gas. Shallow boreholes using heat pumps have cut the cost of harnessing it by 20-30%” Some countries in Europe with active volcanoes, notably Italy and Iceland, have been exploiting hot rocks for decades to heat water, produce steam and drive turbines to make electricity. More recently engineers in Iceland, exploring further and drilling down to 4,650 metres (15,250 feet), have reached rocks at 600°C, potentially providing vast quantities of renewable energy. The EU believes that, with hot rocks found everywhere below the Earth’s crust, it is only a question of boring deep enough. It says the technologies being developed in Europe to exploit this heat can be used anywhere in the world, and have great potential for the international efforts to wean countries off fossil fuels. Its Results Pack says heating and cooling accounts for about half of all the continent’s energy consumption. Currently about 75% of that is provided by fossil fuels. However, drilling deep enough would mean all Europe’s buildings could be heated and cooled using subterranean energy. Like wind and solar, the cost of harnessing geothermal energy has tumbled in recent years, making it far more competitive with coal and gas. Shallow boreholes using heat pumps have cut the cost of harnessing it by 20-30%. Rare metal bonus One of the most interesting of the 12 examples in the Pack is a way of extracting heat for energy while at the same time obtaining rare and expensive metals from far below the Earth’s crust. This is being developed at the University of Miskolc in Hungary. Cold water is pumped 4-5 kilometres into a borehole at high pressure. It passes through natural fissures in the hot rock and comes to the surface through another drill hole as hot vapour. This gas is used to produce electricity and for heating. The rocks with their many cracks form a natural underground heat exchanger, but the scheme offers an added bonus. As the cold water is pumped through the cracks it gradually dissolves the rock, making the cracks larger and the system more efficient, and over time increasing the output of both electricity and heat. But also important, as a potential resource, is the fact that the return borehole brings up precious metals in the vapour. Using patented gaseous diffusion techniques, the vapour can yield the metals with a near-100% recovery rate. The metals’ market value dramatically improves the return on investment, the paper says. − Climate News Network Our daily service Climate News Network is a free and objective service publishing a daily news story on climate and energy issues. Sign up here to get our latest articles sent straight to your Inbox.

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- Provide broad knowledge and understanding of the organization, institutions, culture, and processes of society. - Make clear the interrelatedness of Sociology and other social disciplines. - Provide the viewpoints and tools essential for significant, systematic, and study and interpretation of social problems. - Prepare students for advanced study in graduate and professional institutions and for work. - Incorporate technology into the discipline. - Help students master the nine core competencies.

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25 years on at America's most contaminated nuclear waste site - 11 June 2014 - From the section Magazine Hanford, Washington, has long been the most contaminated nuclear waste site in the US. But critics say poor management has put the site in further danger. When Susan Leckband moved to eastern Washington state to take a job 30 years ago, radioactive contamination was not on her mind. "I loved my job," she says. But it was only a handful of years before the place she worked, Hanford, turned from a plutonium production complex to a massive environmental clean-up site. For Leckband, the question is not about the past, but the progress made on cleaning contaminated buildings and soil. "It's important to the entire Pacific North-West... the food crops, the salmon, the Indian tribes - it's a huge, huge obligation," she says. Situated on a plain along the Columbia River, the Hanford site is where the US produced plutonium used in the Manhattan Project, for the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki, and for a Cold War stockpile. Despite being a professional place of destruction, Hanford was teeming with life by the end of World War Two. In her book Plutopia, historian Kate Brown describes how Richland, the largest town near the site, was one of the first "nuclear" communities, a structured suburb for Hanford workers with high security clearances. Working at Hanford, even when many didn't know the full extent of what was being produced, was considered patriotic. Sixty years later, Hanford is in the midst of America's largest nuclear waste clean-up operation, which has already cost $40bn (£24bn) and is expected to continue for decades. And despite some progress, the site's most complicated and potentially dangerous waste issue - 56 million gallons (255 million litres) of high-level radioactive waste sitting inside tanks at the centre of the site - is facing more problems. In the mid-1980s, activists and reporters began to unwind Hanford's history, detailing safety lapses and environmental hazards across the site. "They made the plutonium, but they did it in a very dirty manner," says Tom Carpenter, director of watchdog organisation Hanford Challenge. By 1989, Hanford was no longer a bomb factory, but a site in need of serious clean-up. Twenty-five years later, the region around Hanford is once again booming. Clean-up has taken the place of the business of plutonium production. The US Department of Energy (DOE), which manages the clean-up effort as part of an agreement with Washington state and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), counts among its accomplishments at Hanford seven reactors cocooned for future dismantling, nine billion gallons of treated groundwater, and hundreds of cleaned or demolished buildings. "It's staggering how much material we've moved," says Dennis Faulk, a Hanford project manager with the Environmental Protection Agency. But critics of the way Hanford has been managed are worried that contamination could become worse. In February, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden accused the DOE of a "never-ending pattern of failing to disclose what it actually knows about conditions at Hanford". Wyden is most recently concerned about the tanks holding by-products of plutonium production, buried just below the surface at the centre of the site. The original containers, single-shell tanks built in the 1940s and 1950s, had already leaked at least 1 million gallons of liquid waste into the ground. Hanford officials built double-shell tanks in the 1970s and 1980s and began transferring the radioactive waste into the newer vessels. But in October 2012, the energy department announced one of the double-shell tanks was leaking into the space between the two shells. Waste in that tank has not entered the environment. Wyden released an engineering review that said six other double-shells had similar construction flaws. He accused the agency of hiding what they knew, as the report had been made months after the initial leak announcement, but no other warnings from the DOE had followed. Meanwhile, Hanford officials have recently submitted a plan to start emptying the leaking tank in two years. Then, in late March, two dozen workers fell ill because of chemical vapours near the tanks. Workers again noticed vapours around the tanks in May. Tom Fletcher, assistant manager of Hanford's tank farms, told the BBC in February that what Senator Wyden released was "one data point" and that visual inspections on the six tanks conducted after that report showed no abnormalities. The composition of the waste in the leaking tank makes it more likely to corrode, Fletcher says. No other double-shell tank holds such a mixture and full inspections on the tanks will now be done more frequently, But in general, the double-shells must do their job for several more decades until a waste treatment plant - currently under construction - immobilises in glass all 56 million gallons of waste in the tanks. The treatment plant was scheduled to become operational by 2019, but construction has been slowed or entirely halted on two key parts of the plant for additional testing. Once the treatment plant goes into operation, parts of it must be run entirely by robotics because of the high radioactivity of the waste. Regulators call it a "black-box" system. Hanford Challenge represents two whistleblowers, Walt Tamosaitis and Donna Busche, who say they have been punished for expressing concerns about the treatment plant's design. Carpenter says the whistleblowers are speaking up now because once the plant begins operations, there will be no chance to fix potentially dangerous errors. Both Tamosaitis and Busche have been fired by URS, one of the contractors at Hanford. The energy department says it has asked its inspector general to "review the circumstances surrounding the termination of Ms Busche", a safety manager who alleged continuing harassment since she first brought up concerns in 2011. Meanwhile the waste remains in the aging tanks. Tom Fletcher said when the time comes to start retrieving the waste for the treatment plant, Hanford will be ready. "We have those technologies now," he says, explaining that the leaking double-shell tank would be treated much the same way the single-shell tanks currently are. Hanford and its contractors are also facing pressure from a source closer to home. In March Washington Governor Jay Inslee threatened legal action if the energy department did not accept a new state proposal on cleaning up the waste tanks or develop a new one with "sufficient detail". Inslee wants to create a series of deadlines to solve the technical problems at the waste plant, making sure it begins working by 2028. And the Washington governor also wants Hanford to build new double-shell tanks, a proposal that energy officials have heard before, but not adopted. Now retired, Susan Leckband continues to serve on Hanford Communities, an advisory board for the clean-up effort, but she is frustrated by the slow pace. What's been done already, she says, is low-hanging fruit. "Can we do a better job?" she says.

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Sandia’s Z machine is Earth’s most powerful pulsed-power facility and X-ray generator. Z compresses energy in time and space to achieve extreme powers and intensities, found nowhere else on Earth. In approximately 200 shots Z fires every year, the machine uses currents of about 26 million amps to reach peak X-ray emissions of 350 terawatts and an X-ray output of 2.7 megajoules. The Z machine is located in Albuquerque, N.M., and is part of Sandia’s Pulsed Power Program, which began in the 1960s. Pulsed power is a technology that concentrates electrical energy and turns it into short pulses of enormous power, which are then used to generate X-rays and gamma rays. Produced in the laboratory, this controlled radiation creates conditions similar to those caused by the detonation of nuclear weapons, which is why from its earliest days pulsed power has been used to study weapons effects. Pulsed power has been explored for decades—with relatively small machines at first, and now in some cases more than three times the area of a tennis court, called accelerators. As accelerators were being developed for use in weapons research, a different kind of technology, the laser, was also being perfected and used for similar purposes. Fusion Research & Lasers For many years lasers were seen as the frontrunner technology for fusion research. Fusion — the process by which two atomic nuclei are joined together — is a powerful reaction currently being explored as a potential source of energy. Lasers are useful in fusion research because of their great ability to focus tightly on a small area. This is crucial to fusion experiments because in order to compress and heat the starting materials enough to fuse atoms, power must be concentrated sharply on the target. Compared to laser beams, the particle beams produced by early accelerators were difficult to focus to a small area. But during the 1980s Sandia developed complex accelerators designed specifically to study controlled fusion, and within the Pulsed Power Program, simulation of weapons effects started to contend with fusion in importance. One of Sandia’s accelerators started making big progress in the realm of fusion, not with particle beams, but with another technology known as the Z pinch. The Z pinch had been studied at Sandia since the 1960s as part of the weapons program, but its potential for fusion was not explored because particle beams seemed better suited for that purpose. With the Z pinch revelation, Sandia moved the focus of its fusion research away from particle beams, and in 1997 it reconfigured one of its accelerators to explore the potential of Z pinches instead. Accelerators, in particular the one that came to be known as the “Z machine,” suddenly became an unexpected and very strong candidate in the fusion arena. For the past decade, images of the spectacular Z machine in action have garnered as much attention in the popular press as its scientific breakthroughs have among researchers. Today the facility continues to be a major tool in the development of Sandia’s weapons effects, weapons physics, and fusion technologies, all of which make invaluable contributions to science, national security, and fusion energy research.

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Albert Einstein’s discovery of E = mc2 is without a doubt one of the world’s most famous equations. When Keith Wilson and Monte Westfall, successful administrators of the Lawrence Virtual School, and I began working on our workshop about equity for Education Elements’ Personalized Learning Summit(May 10-12, 2017), we chose this very equation as the title but added a new twist. For our purposes E = mc2 is transformed to Equity = Meaningful Change for Children.” Our workshop’s connection with Albert Einstein does not stop with his famous equation. Einstein represents the students we serve, who are often misunderstood, less than excited to be in school, yet have great potential. According to some accounts, teachers found Einstein lazy, felt he was not bright, and were frustrated by his disdain for the protocols of school. He is said to have been dyslexic, ADHD, and on the spectrum for Asperger’s Syndrome. Today, despite these childhood labels, he is remembered for his contributions to science, and his brilliance. Many of today’s children who attend our schools are misunderstood, much like Einstein. The Lawrence Virtual School works with a diverse group of students who identify themselves as: LGBTQ+ students, English Language Learners, special needs students, talented and gifted students, semi-pro athletes, professional actors and actresses, students with physical and mental illnesses, and students of color, to name a few. Successfully educating this diverse group of students requires personalization of the school experience, the creation of positive relationships, a rigorous curriculum, and staff flexibility. In preparing our “E = mc2” workshop, we were adamant about creating an experience for workshop participants that mirrored the personalized experiences we ask our teachers to provide their students daily. None of us had attended a totally personalized workshop, and the notion of presenting this kind of experience at a national-level was seductive yet risky. After many long conversations about the workshop, we realized we had to “up our game” and become more prepared than we would have in a traditional presentation. During the ideation process for this event, we questioned and dissected every activity and choice to ensure audience personalization. After hours of discussion we had our “eureka” moment that the ingredients to this “secret sauce” are: participant voice and choice in the topics, meaningful connections, practical ideas, student-centered conversations, fun, inspiration and a bit of chocolate. Personalization requires giving up control, becoming a guide - not an expert, and acknowledging the desires of the participants. I won’t deny that we are a bit nervous and apprehensive about this kind of workshop, yet we know we can depend on each other and together we will provide a successful experience. We are excited to put in the extra effort to take the risk, and to deliver our first totally personalized workshop, where the audience is the driver. Keith, Monte and I hope you will join us for “Equity = Meaningful Change for Children” Friday May 12th 9:30am at the Personalized Learning Summit in San Francisco.About the workshop presenters: Keith Wilson and Monte Westfall are the administrators of a virtual school that serves 1200 Kindergarten through 12th grade students in Kansas. The program they provide could be a model for virtual schools across our country. Personalization, creativity, rigor and relationships are the key components to the Lawrence Virtual School’s many successes. Jerri Kemble is the Assistant Superintendent of Innovation and Technology, the department that houses the Lawrence Virtual School. @Techsavvysupt

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Presentation on theme: "Decay Behavior of Parent and Daughter Atoms. Deriving the age equation The change in the number of parent atoms is proportional to the total number of."— Presentation transcript: Deriving the age equation The change in the number of parent atoms is proportional to the total number of parent atoms. N: Number of atoms t: Time - d N / d t α N Decay rate is different for each type of parent and is called the decay constant. λ: Decay constant So: - d N / d t = λ N Solving this equation and setting N=N 0 at t=0 we get: N = N 0 exp(- λt) The Age Equation λ = Decay constant D = Daughter Product N = Parent Remaining In geology we want to know the age of the rock from something we can measure. Generally we measure the amount of the parent isotope and the amount of the daughter. So we want the previous equation in terms of daughter and parent. Rearranging the previous equation one can find that: Some Radioactive Elements Used in Geologic Dating ParentFinal DaughterDecay const(/yr)Half Life (yr) Uranium(U)-238Lead-2069.8485 x 10 -10 4.47 billion Uranium(U)-235Lead-2071.55125 x 10 -10 704 million Thorium(Th)-232Lead-2084.9475 x 10 -11 14 billion Potassium(K)-40Argon(Ar)-40 Calcium(Ca)-40 4.96 x 10 -10 0.581 x 10 -10 1.25 billion Rubidium(Rb)-87Strontium(Sr)-876.54 x 10 -12 106 billion Carbon(C)-14Nitrogen(N)-141.29 x 10 -4 5730 What minerals are used? Potassium 40 is found in: potassium feldspar (orthoclase) muscovite amphibole glauconite (found in some sedimentary rocks; rare) Uranium may be found in: zircon urananite monazite apatite sphene 40 Ar/ 39 Ar Dating method 40 K decays into Ca and Ar. Ca exists in most rocks already so better to measure Ar which is less likely to contaminate the sample. Instead of measuring the parent K in the sample, K is irradiated and produces 39 Ar which is measured. Much more precise to measure Daughter and Parent at the same time. Very small amounts of sample can be used (grams to mg). By step heating one can sometimes determine if the sample has been disturbed or altered. Uranium Lead Dating Long half-life Decay constants well known Two isotope system ( 235 U and 238 U) Zircons exclude the daughter (Pb) when forming and hold the parent very tightly. Zircons have high melting temperature and resistant to alteration

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On Thursday, Battalion Chief Kwame Cooper presented highlights of a comprehensive two-year case study on what occurred in the Los Angeles City (CA) Department (LAFD) that prompted more than 25 work environment discrimination lawsuits between 2006 and 2009. In “Firehouse Pranks or Professionalism? The LA Story,” he showed the importance of effectively leading diverse commands at the local fire station level. He emphasized the importance of recognizing potential hostile work environment issues and the responsibility of supervisors to take immediate action to prevent harm to any member of the department. Reviewing the history of the LAFD, founded in 1886, he noted the first African-American firefighter was hired in 1892. However, in 1902, African-American firefighters were segregated to a single fire station. Not until 1955 did integration begin in the department. The first female firefighter was hired in 1983, and the first African-American chief was hired in 2007. Cooper discussed in detail an incident in which firefighters, as a prank, secretly added dog food to an African-American firefighter’s food. The firefighter eventually sued. In the ensuing controversy, city paid a large settlement and the fire chief resigned under pressure. The LAFD was deeply affected, with tension among firefighters, low morale, less community involvement, and public distrust. Cooper offered a comprehensive review of the strategic steps the incoming fire chief took to provide leadership and commitment to confront and eliminate discrimination within the department. Issues addressed included work environment/hazing/discrimination. The employee complaint process instituted an internal affairs department independent of the chain of command, and guidelines were created for the discipline process. The recruit academy implemented consistent performance standards to address diversity recruitment and retention issues. The academy’s performance would be analyzed through retention statistics. Cooper and the class discussed questions such as at what point does a prank go too far, and who’s responsible for addressing the situation in the firehouse. Although the chief of the department may create policies, Cooper noted, it’s the company officers who must implement them. “The company officers run the department.” he said. Class attendees offered their comments, perspectives, and experiences, and Cooper reviewed recent court cases involving allegations racial/sexual harassment and discrimination. Cooper commented, “This is aconversation that we as firefighters need to have out in the open.” Kwame Cooper is a 29-year veteran of and battalion chief with the Los Angeles City (CA) Fire Department and an instructor with the National Fire Academy.

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The formation of a gastrula from a blastula. Gastrulation is a phase in the embryonic development of most animals. It consists of a complex and coordinated series of cellular movements which occurs at the end of cleavage. The details of these movements vary among species, but usually result in the formation of an embryonic stage called a gastrula. The gastrula has two primary germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm in diploblastic animals, and three primary germ layers with the development of the mesoderm in triploblastic animals. Related category• DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY Home • About • Copyright © The Worlds of David Darling • Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy • Contact

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Your task today is to add inverted commas (speech marks) to the following text. Remember to check the sentence for all the correct punctuation. Follow these tips below to help you complete the sentences; 1) Put the speech marks around the parts that are spoken 2) Make sure the spoken parts start with a capital letter 3) Punctuation needs to be inside the speed marks - see example below 4) Do all names have a capital letter 5) Don't punctuation at the end of the sentence The first one has been done for you. 1. dan can i come round to your house please asked miss parker = "Dan can I come round to your house please?" asked Miss Parker. 2. can i have an ice cream please asked josh 3. what are you watching on tv charlie asked jack 4. stop theres a car coming yelled mr cawley 5. good morning everyone said mrs stamp 6. can you stop banging up there shouted billy 7. its lunch time announced mrs babbage 8. please can i have blue option replied lily 9. i dont want to go to break whispered layla 10. if you dont hurry up and get ready to go home your going to be sleeping here jordan joked mr tribbeck 1. Can you write some of your own sentences with speech? 2. Can you write a paragraph of a story and include speech within it? Remember to send us your work!

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Monday, September 24, 2012 HealthTeacher recently released the first-ever interactive, pro-social mobile game to address one of the nation’s leading issues affecting youth: bullying. This game titled “Awesome Upstander!” encourages young kids to race through a school cafeteria and bathroom to help rescue a target from a bully. Along the way, players must collect enough friends to stand up to the bully together. “Awesome Upstander! offers a highly entertaining play experience for kids while teaching them they have the power to diminish bullying by banning together as upstanders," said John Herbold, VP Product of HealthTeacher. "Kids tell us Awesome Upstander! is fun to play, and parents say it gives them peace of mind knowing their children are learning how to deal with an issue affecting the emotional and physical safety of their kids." Filled with challenges, levels, hidden objects and fun sound effects, Awesome Upstander! is designed to engage kids just like other popular interactive games while promoting social good. At the Awesome Upstander! website www.awesomeupstander.com, teachers can download supporting material for their classroom, and parents can download resources for teaching their kids about upstanding at home. Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, Miss. partnered with HealthTeacher last year, providing high quality health education resources for teachers, school nurses, and school counselors in 18 counties in central MS. HealthTeacher is an online resource of lessons and interactive tools that help kids live well. Lessons cover relevant youth health issues and are designed to engage students and fold seamlessly into the classroom setting. Baptist is the only hospital in Mississippi offering this program. “As the 2012/2013 school year kicked-off, we continue to work with the funded school districts providing HealthTeacher access and training,” added Shay Lewis, Health Education Coordinator for Mississippi. “The new interactive anti-bullying game is a powerful tool for engaging kids and teaching them how to make a stand against bullying. The video game can be played at home or in the classroom setting and works hand in hand with HealthTeacher’s lesson plans centered on the topic of bullying.” According to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 1.6 million children in grades 6 through 10 in the United States are bullied at least once a week and 1.7 million children bully others as frequently. Bullying most often occurs where adult supervision is low or absent: schoolyards, cafeterias, bathrooms, hallways, and stairwells. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Bullying in Schools” report, only 10 to 20 percent of non-involved students provide any real help when another student is victimized. Bullying has been a hot topic in Mississippi during the last few years. In 2010, the Mississippi legislature passed Senate Bill 2015, requiring public schools to adopt an anti-bullying policy, prohibiting bullying or harassing behavior in schools. Mary Ann Simpkins, Director of Community Education for HealthTeacher stated that “Awesome Upstander! is a great teaching tool for supporting MS anti-bullying policies and addressing the real-life issues of bullying in our schools. We all want our children to thrive and succeed in a safe environment, free of danger or barriers to learning. It is important to educate all kids about the importance of standing up for someone being bullied and to encourage them to be an upstander, not a bystander.” Dr. Susan Lipkins, child psychologist and leading expert in the development of Awesome Upstander!, believes playing this game can set the standards for teaching elementary-aged kids how to be an upstander, a person who knows how to intervene in a bully situation in a safe and positive manner. According to Dr. Lipkins, "Bystanders are the answer...we're all bystanders. And when bystanders are empowered and they learn how to prevent and intervene in bullying, I think we're going to see a change." Awesome Upstander! is brought to you by HealthTeacher, the interactive leader in youth health. AwesomeUpstander! can be played online for free at www.awesomeupstander.com, or purchased in the Apple App Store or Google Play for $.99. ABOUT AWESOME UPSTANDER! Awesome Upstander!, the first-ever anti-bullying game for young kids, is the most fun way to learn how to deal with bullies. Awesome Upstander! is a side-scrolling adventure where players must race through school cafeterias and bathrooms to rescue a target from a bully. To successfully rescue the target, players must collect enough friends to become upstanders and stand up to the bully together. ABOUT BAPTIST HEALTH SYSTEMS’ HEALTHTEACHER PARTNERSHIP Baptist joined forces with teachers throughout 34 school districts in central Mississippi to make it easy for them to teach good health habits to children. Funded by Baptist Health Foundation, the project includes health education materials and professional development for K-12 schools, preschools, after school programs, and community organizations. The 2007 Healthy Students Act requires that all schools implement 45 minutes of Health Education per week, and 150 minute of physical education/physical activity per week in grades K-8. It also requires half Carnegie Unit of Health Education and Physical Education in high school for graduation. Baptist Health Systems is the parent company of Baptist Medical Center, The Mississippi Hospital for Restorative Care and a number of related healthcare services and programs. For over 100 years, Baptist Medical Center has served Mississippi and the surrounding states as a Christian-based, non-profit comprehensive medical Center. HealthTeacher is the interactive leader in youth health, creating games, apps, and educational resources to make health awesome for kids. HealthTeacher's research based products are designed to get kids moving and to develop healthy behaviors that last a lifetime. Reaching over 6 million kids through its fast-growing network of 11,000+ schools, HealthTeacher’s interactive products are used by teachers, parents, and kids to address important youth health issues, including physical activity, nutrition, and social and emotional well-being. To learn more, visit www.healthteacher.com. What can we help you find?close ×

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The Punjab State Human Rights Commission is an expression of state’s concern for the protection and promotion of human rights. It came into being in March 1997. Inquire, on its own initiative or on a petition presented to it by a victim or any person on his behalf, into complaint of- - violation of human rights or abetment thereof or…. - negligence in the prevention of such violation by, a public servant - intervene in any proceeding involving any allegation of violation of human rights pending before a court with the approval of such court; - visit, under intimation to the State Government, any jail or any other institution under the control of the State Government, where persons are detained or lodged for purposes of treatment, reformation or protection to study the living conditions of the inmates and make recommendations thereon; - Review the safeguards provided by or under the Constitution or any law for the time being in force for the protection of human rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation; - Review the factors, including acts of terrorism that inhibit the enjoyment of human rights and recommend appropriate remedial measures; - Study treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation; - Undertake and promote research in the field of human rights; - Spread human rights literacy among various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for the protection of these rights through publications, the media, seminars and other available means; - Encourage the efforts of non-governmental organisations and institutions working in the field of human rights; - Such other functions as it may consider necessary for the promotion of human rights. - Summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath; - Discovery and production of any document; - Receiving evidence on affidavits; - Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office; - Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents; - Any other matter which may be prescribed. - Yes. The Commission has its own investigating staff for investigation into complaints of human rights violations. Under the Act, it is open to the Commission to utilise the services of any officer or investigation agency of the Central Government or any State Government with the concurrence of the center government or the State Government. - Yes. The autonomy of the Commission derives, inter-alia, from the method of appointing its Members, their fixity of tenure, and statutory guarantees thereto, the status they have been accorded and the manner in which the staff responsible to the Commission – including its investigative agency – will be appointed and conduct themselves. The financial economy of the Commission is spelt out in Section 32 and 33 of the Act. - The Chairperson and Members of the Commission are appointed by the Governor on the basis of recommendations of a Committee comprising the Chief Minister as the Chairperson, the Speaker of the legislative assembly, the minister in charge of the Department of Home in the State, the leaders of the opposition in the Legislative assembly as Members. - The Commission while inquiring into complaints of violations of human rights may call for information or report from the Central Government or State Government or any other authority or organization subordinate thereto within such time as may be specified by it; provided that if the information or report is not received within the time stipulated by the Commission, it may proceed to inquire into the complaint on its own; On the other hand, if, on receipt of information or report, the Commission is satisfied either that no further inquiry is required or that the required action has been initiated or taken by the concerned Government or authority, it may not proceed with the complaint and inform the complainant accordingly. - Where the inquiry discloses the commission of violation of human rights or negligence in the prevention of violation of human rights by a public servant, it may recommend to the concerned Government or authority the initiation of proceedings for prosecution or such other action as the Commission may deem fit against the concerned person or persons; - Approach the Supreme Court or the High Court concerned for such directions, orders or writs as that Court may deem necessary; - Recommend to the concerned Government or authority for the grant of such immediate interim relief to the victim or the members of his family as the Commission may consider necessary. - They may be in Punjabi or English . However, the State Commission may entertain complaint in any other language. The complaints are expected to be self contained. No fee is charged on complaints. The Commission may ask for further information and affidavits to be filed in support of allegations whenever considered necessary. The Commission may, in its discretion, accept telegraphic complaints and complaints conveyed through FAX. - Commission shall not inquire into any matter after the expiry of one year from the date on which the act constituting violation of human rights is alleged to have been committed. - Commission shall not inquire into any matter which is pending before any other commission duly constituted under law. For the time being in force. - Matters which are vague or anonymous - Matters of frivolous or trivial nature - Personal matters like disputes between landlord and tenant, conjugal disputes, disputes relating to property inheritance, partitions etc. - Violation of human rights by members of Central Armed Forces (they may be looked into by the National Human Rights Commission under section 19 of the Act) - When allegations are not against any public servant of the State Government. - When allegations do not make out any specific violation of human rights. - When matter is covered by a judicial verdict/decision of the State Commission - When the matter is outside the purview of the State Commission on any other ground. - The authority/State Government has to indicate its comments/action taken on the report/recommendations of the Commission within a period of one month in respect of general complaints. To know the composition of the Commission, please check the Member section of this website or click the link below:- Chairperson & Members SCO NO. 20-21-22, SECTOR 34-A, CHANDIGARH - 160034, INDIA Ph.: 0172-2635414, 0172-2635436, 0172-2635424-26 (Investigation) Fax: 0172-2635435, 0172-2635401 (Chairperson), 0172-2635430 (Secy.)

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Recovery or off-season The main features of this phase are maintaining an active approach with at least three low- to moderateintensity aerobic swims completed each week, specialized programs to target weaknesses in individual fitness profiles, and dietary control to maintain body composition. There are few studies that have directly addressed the issue of the most effective program for swimmers to follow during the off-season or in short breaks from training and competition. There is, however, a significant body of literature that details the Lime course of training adaptations with training and loss of fitness during detraining (Counsilman & Counsilman 1991; Mujika & Padilla 2000). A typical strategy for the off-season involves a marked 50-70% reduction in the frequency, volume, and intensity of training. For a highly trained swimmer, who normally completes 10 training sessions per week, this would equate to approximately three sessions of low- to moderateintensity training. Apart from maintaining the underlying cardiovascular and metabolic adaptations, regular training will also help retain neuromuscular patterns and the all important "feel for the water."

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Primary Source Education Modules The Ransom Center's primary source education modules combine digitized archives and artifacts from the Center’s collections with inquiry-based methods to teach understanding and analysis of primary source material. Each activity is printer-friendly and includes all of the materials you will need, including suggested procedures, worksheets, applicable educational standards, and facsimiles of documents and artifacts that can be downloaded for classroom and student use. With an estimated 45 million artifacts in its collections, the Ransom Center is a remarkable research facility. Providing resources online is an important step in reaching students and teachers who may never have the opportunity to visit the Center’s building. Teaching with artifacts such as the Gutenberg Bible can enrich student learning by stimulating critical thinking and historical literacy. By studying objects and primary sources such as letters, books, and early drafts of well-known literature, students of any age can use observation, analysis, and personal experience to connect with different historical time periods and intellectual movements.

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Individual differences | Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology | puppet therapy for children is also effective with adults, training adults to communicate with puppets,including ventriloquy opens vistas of improvement. Children relate better to puppets than to therapists and are more likely to imitate their appropriate behaviour (Webster-Stratton et al., 2001). Use of puppets in play therapyEdit Use of puppets in cases of sexual abuseEdit Therapist Sydney Kislevitz uses ventriloquy puppets to transcend abuse this rapid technique of recovery evolves - Webster-Stratton, C, Mihalic, S., Fagan, A., Arnold, D.,Taylor, T & Tingley. C. (2001). Blueprints for violence prevention. Book 11: The incredible years:Parent, teacher and child Training series. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

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National Council of Women of Canada - Blog A blog (a blend of the term web log) is a type of or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Most blogs (including this one) are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pates, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. As of 16 February 2011 (2011 -02-16)[update], there were over 156 million public blogs in existence. The above from Wikipedia! Monday, April 11, 2011 Canada's Reality Check Think Canada is a great place to live? Use this checklist to ensure nothing less than a Canada with Human Rights for ALL its citizens! Does your candidate support: * policies and programs that are transparent and accountable? * a national child care program that is universal, accessible, affordable, good quality, secure, public and non-profit? * a federal housing strategy that will create affordable, stable, accessible and safe housing for women and children? * a federal poverty reduction strategy that invests in Canada's social infrastructure to reduce the impact of poverty on ALL women and children? * economic security for women that includes good jobs, equal wages, and decent EI and social assistance entitlements? * a federal strategy to end violence against women and girls, based on human rights principles, to ensure that they are no longer 'over-policed and under-protected'? * repeal of the unnecessary and expensive criminal justice reforms, and spend those billions of tax dollars on social, economic, health and educational services instead of prisons?

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METOC EFFECTS ON VARIOUS LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Identify the publication that outlines the contents of antisubmarine (ASW), space and electronic warfare (SEW), strike warfare (STW), antisurface warfare (ASUW), and antiair warfare (AAW) briefs. It is beyond the scope of this text to discuss all the information considered important for the various METOC briefs listed below. Significant information regarding these briefs, for the most part, is confidential. Refer to the text Environmental Effects on Weapon Systems and Naval Warfare, (S)RP1, for a discussion of these topics: l Environmental factors affecting ASW operations . Environmental effects on special warfare l Environmental effects on SEW . Environmental effects on chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) operations . Environmental considerations for STW l Environmental considerations for ASUW l Environmental considerations for AAW l Target environmental conditions Now lets discuss those elements of importance during the planning and execution of minewarfare BRIEFING OF METOC EFFECTS ON LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Brief the effects that water depth, currents, tides, and bottom characteristics have on MIW operations. Understand the impact of the magnetic, acoustic, pressure, and biological environments on MIW operations. There are environmental considerations unique to the planning of MIW operations and this section will be devoted to this topic. For further discussion of MIW operations, refer to the technical manual, Composite Warfare Oceanographic Support Modules (CWOSM), Part 1, TM 04-92. Water depth is a factor to be considered in the spacing of mines, sensitivity setting, mine type, and mine impact velocity (air-laid mines). . Bottom mines In deep water (180 ft or greater), detonation will not cause much of a disturbance in the upper layers of the ocean. . Moored mines Depth may exceed the mooring range required for the mine to be effective. l Sensitivity and actuation width Important for bottom mines since an increase in depth will result in a decrease of the sensitivity and actuation width of a . Damage width Water depth affects the damage width in the same way as in actuation width. Increasing water depth causes a reduction in the damage width of a mine. l Mine burial upon impact The depth at which terminal velocity is reached depends on the initial velocity when launched and the depth of the water. Subsurface currents may set in different direction as mines descend, and current velocity may also vary These factors must be considered during planning of MIW operations. l Burial Burial on the sea floor can result from scour (water velocity increases around the mine, setting sand and sediments in motion, burying the mine). Once the mine is completely buried, scouring stops. . Sand ridge migration Currents may cause large sand dunes to migrate along the bottom in the direction of the current. The dunes can be as high as 12 to 20 ft. . Mine dip (vertical movement of mines) An increase in mine depth from the normal vertical position above the mooring point. Current action creates forces against the mine, increasing the depth, Dip is directly proportional to current speed; therefore, dip will increase with faster currents. During flood and ebb

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Basic differences in Earth physics[change | change source] Because the Earth was only half as old as now, there were some basic differences from today. Heat in the Earth's interior was greater than today. This was mainly due to the higher abundance of radioactive isotopes, which decay as time passes. Temperatures at the surface were also higher, due to radiation from the Earth's interior, and due to a methane and carbon dioxide-based greenhouse atmosphere. During the previous eon, the Archaean, the oceans were hot (55–85 °C). This was only partly balanced by the fact that the Sun's radiation was lower at that time. Paleontological evidence on the Earth's rotational history suggests that ~1.8 billion years ago, there were about 450 days in a year, implying 20 hour days. Further back, the Earth day had about 17 hours, and there were 514±33 days per year. The Earth–Moon distance for the earliest Palaeoproterozoic was 51.9±3.3 Earth radii (compared to 60.27 at present). Supercontinent[change | change source] Climate[change | change source] Drop in methane[change | change source] There are clear indications that the era saw a drop in atmospheric methane: - "The collapse of methane from formerly high levels in the Archaean atmosphere probably plays a large role, not only the oxygenation history, but also the occurrence of Palaeoproterozoic ice ages. The data point to 2.4–2.3 billion years ago as host to a ‘Great Oxidation Event’, during which Earth's surface environment changed profoundly and irreversibly". The buildup of oxygen[change | change source] Oxygen was produced by the cyanobacteria, but it was mostly used up by chemical sinks. These were the unoxidized sulfur and iron. Until roughly 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen was probably only 1% to 2% of its current level.p323 Banded iron formations, which provide most of the world's iron ore, were formed by the oxygen forming compounds with iron; most accumulation ceased after 1.9 billion years ago. Red beds, which are colored by hematite, indicate an increase in atmospheric oxygen after 2 billion years ago; they are not found in older rocks.p324 Ice ages[change | change source] There were three major ice ages, with ice deep into the tropics. Undoubtedly, they happened as a result of reduced greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the rise of oxygen production. There is what researchers call "a puzzling interval of ~1,400 million years with no verified glaciation between early Palaeoproterozoic glaciations at 2400–2200 mya in North America, South Africa, Scandinavia and Australia and the Neoproterozoic glaciations that affected all continents at 800–600 mya". Meteorite strikes[change | change source] There were major bolide impacts during the era, two of which caused the largest impact crators on Earth. There are also three smaller (equal or more than 30 kilometers diameter) in the time zone of 3.0 to 1.2 billion years ago. Origin of eukaryotes[change | change source] The origin of the eukaryotic cell was a milestone in the evolution of life, since they include all complex cells and almost all multi-cellular organisms. The timing of this series of events is hard to determine; Knoll suggests they developed approximately 1.6–2.1 billion years ago. Some acritarchs are known from at least 1650 million years ago, and the possible alga Grypania has been found as far back as 2100 million years ago. References[change | change source] - Reddy S.M. and Evans D.A.D. 2009. Palaeoproterozoic supercontinents and global evolution: correlations from core to atmosphere. Geological Society. 203, 1–26. - Giorgio Pannella 1972. Paleontological evidence on the Earth's rotational history since early precambrian Astrophysics and Space Science 16.2 p212 - Williams G.E. 2000. Geological constraints on the Precambrian history of Earth's rotation and the moon's orbit. Reviews of Geophysics 38:37–59. - Rogers J.J.W. and Santosh M. 2002. Configuration of Columbia, a Mesoproterozoic supercontinent. Gondwana Research. 5, 5-22 - Zhao, Gochun et al. (2002). "Review of global 2.1–1.8 Ga orogens: implications for a pre-Rodinia supercontinent". Earth-Science Reviews 59: 125–162. - Cloud P.E. 1968. Atmospheric and hydrospheric evolution on the primitive Earth. Science 160:729–736. - Holland H.D. 2006. The oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 361:903–915. - Stanley, Steven M. 1999. Earth system history. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-2882-6. - Evans D.A., Beukes N.J., Kirschvink J.L. 1997. Low-latitude glaciation in the Palaeoproterozoic era. Nature 386:262–266. - Williams G.E. 2005. Subglacial meltwater channels and glaciofluvial deposits in the Kimberley Basin, Western Australia: 1.8 Ga low-latitude glaciation coeval with continental assembly. Journal of the Geological Society 162:111–124. - Grieve R. and Therriault A. 2000. Vredefort, Sudbury, Chicxulub: three of a kind? Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 28:305–338. - Knoll, Andrew H. 2004. Life on a young planet: the first three billion years of evolution on Earth. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12029-3 - Knoll, Andrew H.; Javaux E.J; Hewitt D. and Cohen P. (2006). "Eukaryotic organisms in Proterozoic oceans". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Part B 361 (1470): 1023–38. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1843. PMC 1578724. PMID 16754612. |Precambrian (4.567 gya – 541 mya)| |In the left column are Eons, bold are Eras, not bold are Periods. gya = billion years ago, mya = million years ago| |Hadean (4.567 gya – 4 gya)||Chaotian Zirconian| |Archaean (4 gya – 2.5 gya)||Eoarchaean (4 gya – 3.6 gya)| |Proterozoic (2.5 gya – 541 mya)||Palaeoproterozoic (2.5 gya – 1.6 gya) Siderian (2.5 gya – 2.3 gya) Rhyacian (2.3 gya – 2.05 gya) Orosirian (2.05 gya – 1.8 gya) Statherian (1.8 gya – 1.6 gya)| |Phanerozoic (541 mya – today)| |In the left column are Eras, bold are Periods, not bold or italics are Epochs, Italics are stages. kya = thousand years ago, mya = million years ago| |Palaeozoic (541 mya – 252.17 mya)||Cambrian (541 mya – 485.4 mya)| |Mesozoic (252.17 mya – 66.0 mya)||Triassic (252.17 mya – 201.3 mya) Lower Triassic (252.17 mya – 247.2 mya) Middle Triassic (247.2 mya – 237 mya) Upper Triassic (237 mya – 201.3 mya)| |Cainozoic (66.0 mya – today)||Palaeogene (66.0 mya – 23.03 mya) Palaeocene (66.0 mya – 56 mya) Eocene (56 mya - 33.9 mya) Oligocene (33.9 mya – 23.03 mya)|

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Gifted Students and Social Stigma Gifted Students and Social Stigma Philosopher Benedict Spinoza said, "Man is a social animal" (Kaplan 278). The desire for social acceptance, whether recognized or denied, is part of human culture. People yearn for it, obsess over it, and alter themselves to obtain it. Humans can spend their entire lives unsuccessfully attempting to achieve a level of social status they believe will validate them. Acceptance is denied for superficial reasons varying from clothing to cliques. However, it is also denied due to innate elements of personality. Stigmatizing others for a natural characteristic not only seems unwarranted but also unfair. Yet, a stigma is imposed daily on gifted adolescents who neither deserve, nor know how to deal with, the disparagement. One group particularly stinted in terms of social acceptance is gifted students. Intellectually exceptional students are socially stigmatized. Often, their intelligence inversely correlates to their social abilities. The more precocious the gift the less adept the social skills. And the spectrum of the stigma extends from negative peer perceptions to an inability to interact socially with their peers, the extreme of which can result in suicide. The origin of the social stigma is often educators and parents, those ideally associated with student guidance and support. The advanced ability of most gifted children is identified at a young age. And, in the current educational system of teaching the fundamentals and helping students to just get by, gifted students are not challenged. Director of the Area Service Center for Gifted Education in southern Chicago, Joyce Van Tassel states, "The system itself does not demand much of these students. We're worried about minimum competency and back to basics these days, but these kids already know the basics" (Johnson 27). Because intelligent children are already competent in terms of educational basics, they proceed to question the nature of things. They want to know what something is but also why it is that way. Teachers can take this curiosity to be offensive and oftentimes the student is viewed negatively by their peers due to an adoption of the teacher's negative attitude, thus beginning the social stigma (Johnson 27). Another standard, "educational" treatment of gifted students is to separate them from the class. Because the gifted student has surpassed the majority the teacher isolates the child with a separate advanced activity and returns to the majority. In these situations the gifted student and his/her peers become accustomed to this "different" status. The gifted student becomes an outsider in relation to the group by default, due to his/her above average abilities. Educational treatment of the gift denies the student the opportunity to learn to socially interact at a young age. Gifted students never become accustomed to peer interaction because this system is perpetuated upward throughout the grade levels. And unfortunately, in an educational atmosphere where grades are a primary focus, poor interpersonal skills are more likely to be tolerated than poor work-related skills (Wolfle 3). It becomes a norm for the student to work alone and his/her social and psychological needs are ignored. The students themselves report that one prevailing stigmatism of being gifted is being neglected, not only as academics but also as people. Sadly, the truth is that as long as gifted students maintain high grade point averages and therefore raise school achievement records, they are largely overlooked (Johnson 27). They are the prize-winners but never the attention-getters. These students tend to be introverted, on-task, non-discipline issues in class. In a typical classroom the students that are loud, at-risk or discipline problems are the ones that receive the teacher's attention and often they usurp it for the entire period (Wolfe 2). While harried teachers appreciate gifted students they do not... Bibliography: Wallace, Margaret. "Nuturing Nonconformists." Educational Leadership. 57.4. (1999): Please join StudyMode to read the full document

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Forecasts for the growth of the Internet of Things (a.k.a. IoT or IoE, as in the Internet of Everything) suggest tens of billions of devices will be connected as spending grows to exceed a trillion dollars by 2020, according the 2017 NMC Horizons Report for Higher Education. As IoT becomes entrenched on our campuses (I wrote about this for University Business last month), it’s not surprising that it is also finding its way into our classrooms as well. IoT College Courses Last spring, the McCormick school of engineering at Northwestern University in Illinois introduced a new course offering: EECS 395/495: The Internet of Things, focused on exploring the ecosystem surrounding this new paradigm. Drs. Lawrence Henschen and Goce Trajcevski developed and delivered the course, in which students worked in groups to develop IoT-based projects. Some of these projects could have commercial potential and some could have applications on our campuses. One project involved using cameras and object recognition to identify students losing interest during a lecture based on changes in head and body positioning, according to Dr. Henschen. Additionally, several groups worked on projects intended to increase the efficiency of garbage collection using sensors in collection bins. This project raised interest in the local community. One student is still actively engaged in research on her project, which seeks to bring automation to gauging and adjusting to a crowd’s interest in music, explained Henschen. DJ’s are quite adept at this as they regularly take the pulse of club goers and adjust what they play. This project utilizes beacons that look for Bluetooth wireless devices to sense how many people are “on the floor”. Combining this data with other information like noise levels can help to enable the automation of changes in the music being played to encourage more people to dance. Courses like the Northwestern offering are becoming increasingly common in engineering schools across the country. At UC Berkeley School of Information, students can take Info 290 – Internet of Things: Foundations and Application. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst offers CS390N: The Internet of Things, and Purdue Polytechnic has CNIT 58100-IOT: The Internet of Things, which “explores the top-level problems that IoT promises to solve, the business drivers, the attributes of IoT enabled enterprise and consumer markets, and how IoT is different from the contemporary Internet.” MIT is offering a course through its edX platform titled, “Internet of Things: Roadmap to a Connected World” and it is being taught by none other than the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, along with other tech luminaries. Privacy and Security Concerns IoT really is everywhere. Of course, it's not simply “all good”. There are plenty of security consideration to pay attention to. Not only is a questionable volume of of data about us being captured and shared, IoT is also rapidly increasing the number of highly vulnerable end points on our networks. As IoT use continues to grow, we need to keep security and privacy considerations at the forefront of our implementation efforts.

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This material must not be used for commercial purposes, or in any hospital or medical facility. Failure to comply may result in legal action. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a disease that causes damage to your brain, spine, and nerves. CJD results in loss of mental, emotional, and physical abilities. CJD is fatal over time. - Medicines are given to decrease pain, anxiety, and muscle spasms. - Take your medicine as directed. Contact your healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not helping or if you have side effects. Tell him or her if you are allergic to any medicine. Keep a list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs you take. Include the amounts, and when and why you take them. Bring the list or the pill bottles to follow-up visits. Carry your medicine list with you in case of an emergency. Follow up with your healthcare provider as directed: Write down your questions so you remember to ask them during your visits. Walking and home safety: Use a 4-pronged cane or walker to help you keep your balance when you walk. Remove loose carpeting from the floor to reduce your risk for a fall. Use chairs with side arms and hard cushions to make it easier to get up and out of a chair. Put grab bars on the walls beside toilets and inside showers and bathtubs. These will help you get up and prevent falls. You may want to put a shower chair inside the shower. Contact your healthcare provider if: - You have a fever. - You are depressed and feel you cannot cope with your condition. - You are anxious or nervous even after you take medicine. - You have severe muscle twitching or pain even after you take medicine. - You have questions or concerns about your condition or care. Seek care immediately or call 911 if: - You have trouble breathing. - You have sudden changes in your vision. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2018 Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes. All illustrations and images included in CareNotes® are the copyrighted property of A.D.A.M., Inc. or IBM Watson Health The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

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Trisomy 13 (also called Patau syndrome) Trisomy 13 is a severe syndrome with multiple malformations due to additional genetic material on the 13th chromosome. The cause is unknown. Babies are usually identified at birth and the diagnosis is confirmed with genetic testing. Babies are small at birth and have characteristic facial appearance. Trisomy 13 occurs in 1 of 5000 births and the incidence increases with increased maternal age. The risk of recurrence in future pregnancies is 1%. Common Associated Conditions Babies with trisomy 13 will have a characteristic group of problems that may include the following: microcephaly (small head size), cleft lip (facial defect), omphalocele (abdominal defect), spina bifida (spine defect), microphthalmia (small eyes), anophthalmia (absent eyes), scalp defects, polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) and cryptorchidism (undescended testicles). Short-term Treatment and Outcomes Babies will be given comfort care, and 80% will not survive past the first month of life. Most will not live past the first week, regardless of medical intervention. Despite good caloric intake, many babies with chromosomal defects will show slow growth. Parents will be offered genetic testing and counseling. A very few children are less severely affected and will overcome many of the difficulties; those babies will provided with regular child care visits for immunizations and anticipatory guidance, with screening at frequent intervals for vision and hearing difficulties, scoliosis, developmental delays and symptoms of other conditions that can be treated. Long-term Treatment and Outcomes The 5% of children who do survive past the first year will all exhibit developmental and growth delays. Families will need support and resources to provide the needed care for their child and may need respite care to be able to take care of themselves and give needed attention to siblings. Early intervention programs and special education will be very important to the relatively small number of children with trisomy 13 who survive the difficult early months. The list of possible complications is very great because so many body systems are involved with the trisomy 13 condition. Infection and difficulty feeding will be big issues in caring for these babies. Implications for Children's Development The birth of a severely affected child is very difficult and families will find support from other families who have experienced similar circumstances. Support groups can be found on the internet as well as in many communities. Children who do survive may make some developmental gains such as rolling over, recognizing their parents and expressing pleasure or pain in some way. A few may progress to be able to enter school with the help of early intervention and special education adaptations. Decision-making for children with chromosomal defects is very difficult and parents need information and support. Hospice or palliative care staff can be very helpful to provide comfort and compassionate care. Parental education and support are essential, and local, regional and national organizations are very helpful. Listed below is an organization that provides practical information and support for families with a child with trisomy 13.

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Chris Adams, Internal Medicine Green is good Green is good Green is good As unlikely as it sounds, green tomatoes may hold the answer to bigger, stronger muscles. Using a screening method that previously identified a compound in apple peel as a muscle-boosting agent, a team of University of Iowa scientists has now discovered that tomatidine, a compound from green tomatoes, is even more potent for building muscle and protecting against muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy, or wasting, is caused by aging and a variety of illnesses and injuries, including cancer, heart failure, and orthopedic injuries, to name a few. It makes people weak and fatigued, impairs physical activity and quality of life, and predisposes people to falls and fractures. The condition affects more than 50 million Americans annually, including 30 million people over age 60, and often forces people into nursing homes or rehabilitation facilities. “Muscle atrophy causes many problems for people, their families, and the health care system in general,” says Christopher Adams, associate professor of internal medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics in the UI Carver College of Medicine. “However, we lack an effective way to prevent or treat it. Exercise certainly helps, but it’s not enough and not very possible for many people who are ill or injured.” More muscle, less fat In a new study, published online April 9 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Adams searched for a small molecule compound that might be used to treat muscle atrophy. He zeroed in on tomatidine using a systems biology tool called the Connectivity Map, which was developed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. Adams discovered that tomatidine generates changes in gene expression that are essentially opposite to the changes that occur in muscle cells when people are affected by muscle atrophy. After identifying tomatidine, Adams and his team tested its effects on skeletal muscle. They first discovered that tomatidine stimulates growth of cultured muscle cells from humans. “That result was important because we are looking for something that can help people,” says Adams, who also is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the UI . Their next step was to add tomatidine to the diet of mice. They found that healthy mice supplemented with tomatidine grew bigger muscles, became stronger and could exercise longer. And, most importantly, they found that tomatidine prevented and treated muscle atrophy. Interestingly, although mice fed tomatidine had larger muscles, their overall body weight did not change due to a corresponding loss of fat, suggesting that the compound may also have potential for treating obesity. Designing healthier foods An attractive aspect of tomatidine is that it is a natural compound derived from tomatoes. It is produced when alpha-tomatine, which is found in tomato plants and in green tomatoes in particular, is digested in the gut. “Green tomatoes are safe to eat in moderation. But we don’t know how many green tomatoes a person would need to eat to get a dose of tomatidine similar to what we gave the mice. We also don’t know if such a dose of tomatidine will be safe for people, or if it will have the same effect in people as it does in mice,” Adams says. “We are working hard to answer these questions, hoping to find relatively simple ways that people can maintain muscle mass and function, or if necessary, regain it.” Adams and his team previously used this same research strategy to discover that ursolic acid, a compound from apple peels, promotes muscle growth. “Tomatidine is significantly more potent than ursolic acid and appears to have a different mechanism of action. This is a step in the right direction,” Adams says. “We are now very interested in the possibility that several food-based natural compounds such as tomatidine and ursolic acid might someday be combined into science-based supplements, or even simply incorporated into everyday foods to make them healthier.” In an effort to accelerate this research and translate it to people, Adams and his colleagues have founded a biotech company called Emmyon. The company recently received funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop strategies for preserving muscle mass and function during the aging process. The company is also using tomatidine and ursolic acid as natural leads for new medicines targeting muscle atrophy and obesity. In addition to Adams, the UI team included Michael Dyle, Scott Ebert, Daniel Cook, Steven Kunkel, Daniel Fox, Kale Bongers, Steven Bullard, and Jason Dierdorff. The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AR059115-04, 1F31AG04603801, HL07638-27, F30AG04496401 and F30AG04330401), the Department of Veterans Affairs Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development Service, the UI Research Foundation, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa. The UI Research Foundation has filed patent applications related to this research. Several members of the research team are inventors on these applications and hold equity in Emmyon.

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Obesity and overweight Obesity and overweight are defined as abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat that may affect your health. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are the tools used most often in assessing overweight and obesity. Health professionals often use the body mass index (BMI) calculation — your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared (kg/m2) — to work out if you are a healthy weight, overweight or obese. - Healthy weight: BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 - Overweight: BMI of 25 to 29.9 - Obesity: BMI of 30 or above Are the BMI cut-off points always accurate? BMI does not distinguish between weight due to muscle and weight due to fat, so it does not take into account differences in body composition. An elite sportsperson may have a high muscle mass, and a BMI above 25, but not be carrying excess body fat. If you have a BMI in the overweight range (between 25 and 29.9), your doctor can advise you whether you are truly overweight. If you have a BMI over 30, you are likely to be obese, depending on your body composition; again seek your doctor’s advice. For some groups, BMI may need to be interpreted differently or may not be suitable. - Aboriginal people. These BMI measures may not be suitable for Aboriginal people, whose healthy BMI range may be different from that for people of European descent. This is due to their relatively long legs in relation to weight, which is a factor known to influence BMI. - Asian people. Similarly, for Asian people, cut-off points for health risks appear to be lower than for people of European descent. - Pacific Islanders. For Pacific Islanders, including Maori and Torres Strait Islanders, higher BMI cut-off values may be considered. - Children. A BMI calculator for children uses different cut-off points to define overweight and obesity as it needs to take into account a child’s age. If you are concerned about your child’s weight, see your doctor. Waist circumference measurement can provide a good indication of total body fat and also helps doctors find out if you are carrying too much fat around your middle (central or abdominal obesity). Waist circumference can also be used by doctors to help predict your risk of certain conditions associated with obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes. To reduce the risk of disease: - men should aim for a waist circumference of less than 94 cm; and - women less than 80 cm. These figures apply to Caucasians. Asian and Indigenous people should have smaller waist measurements, and Pacific Islanders may need higher cut-off values. Talk to your doctor about what’s appropriate for you. Consuming more food energy than can be used up in daily activity and normal body function (metabolism) generally results in excess energy being stored as body fat. In terms of what you eat, ‘energy-dense’ foods (those that have a lot of kilojoules in a small volume) can be associated with weight gain, especially if you eat a lot of them. These foods tend to be high in sugar and/or fat, for example, soft drinks, chips and pastries. As for the other side of the equation — how much energy you expend — not being active (often simply not moving enough, let alone not formally exercising) is an important cause of obesity. On top of these factors are additional contributing risk factors, including: - genetic make-up, that is, how easily you tend to store fat; - underlying illnesses; - certain medicines that can contribute to weight gain; - age; and - lifestyle and social factors (your risk of being overweight is higher if your family members and friends are overweight). Being overweight or obese increases your risk of: - high blood pressure; - type 2 diabetes; - coronary heart disease and heart attack; - high cholesterol; - sleep apnoea; - some types of cancer; - gastro-oesophageal reflux disease; - infertility and sexual problems; - urinary incontinence; - mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and psychological distress; - low back pain; and - mobility problems. Body fat distribution is also an important predictor of disease. Abdominal fat, central (or truncal) obesity and abdominal obesity are all terms used to describe carrying extra weight around your middle, rather than on your hips and thighs. In other words, if you have central obesity, you are ‘apple shaped’ rather than ‘pear shaped’. Carrying extra fat around the abdomen, rather than being pear shaped, puts a person at much greater risk of: - heart disease; - stroke; and If you think you are carrying too much body fat, see your doctor. Your doctor can: - calculate and interpret your BMI in terms of your body composition to find out if you need to lose body fat, and how much, or whether you need to simply take steps to avoid gaining body fat; - advise you about which foods to eat, and refer you to a dietitian for further food advice; - check your health in general and in terms of how your weight may be affecting your health; - advise you on an exercise programme that is appropriate for your age and health; and - discuss various weight loss options with you. Even losing a modest amount of weight (5 to 10 per cent of body weight) can help reduce your risk of some obesity-related health problems. For some people, changes that help prevent further weight gain and improve your fitness levels and nutrition can improve your health. Making simple daily lifestyle changes to increase your energy expenditure (physical activity and exercise) and reducing your energy intake (by improving your eating habits) are the key to weight loss. By combining improved nutrition, physical activity and behavioural change, you are more likely to successfully lose weight. Maintain a healthy body weight by being physically active and eating according to your energy needs. Think about how much you move on most days — if it’s not much, start moving in simple ways, for example: - take the stairs not the lift; - walk to the shops instead of driving; - do some gardening; - take the dog for a walk; or - turn off the television for a while and go to the park. Get a pedometer and start measuring how many steps you accumulate each day. Continuous exercise at a comfortable pace is best for controlling body fat, e.g. 30 minutes of brisk walking every or most days is recommended as a way to avoid gaining excess fat when combined with healthy eating. Remember, you don’t need to take part in a structured sport to be more active. At least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 150 minutes of vigorous activity, is needed per week (combined with reduced dietary intake) to lose significant weight. However, the amount of physical activity required to lose weight varies from person to person. Remember that increasing your activity level should be combined with reducing your energy intake. As well as helping you lose weight, physical activity benefits your general and heart health. Becoming aware of how different types of foods affect your energy intake is important — see your doctor or a dietitian for advice on which foods and eating habits are likely to result in excess body fat and which are not. When trying to lose weight, it’s important to reduce the amount of kilojoules you consume. A healthy diet means enjoying a wide variety of nutritious foods every day from the following food groups: - vegetables, legumes and beans; - grain foods (mostly wholegrain), including breads, pasta, rice and noodles; - lean meats, fish, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans; and - dairy foods, mostly reduced-fat varieties. It’s important to also: - drink plenty of water; - limit added fats and foods containing saturated fat; - choose low-salt foods; - limit your intake of high-energy drinks (including soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juice and tea/coffee with added sugar); - if you drink alcohol, limit your intake; - avoid highly processed foods; and - eat only a moderate amount of sugars and foods containing added sugars. Other weight-loss strategies include: - reducing portion sizes; - eating more slowly; and - having a regular eating pattern. One of the most important factors is that you can stick with your improved eating plan in the long term. And remember, better eating habits can help improve your health, even if you only lose weight very slowly. Behavioural change therapy Treatments aimed at changing behaviours that can lead to weight gain are an important part of weight loss and weight maintenance. Strategies may include: - overcoming barriers to change; - setting goals; and Your doctor may suggest you join a support group or see a psychologist to help you change your behaviour. Weight loss medicines There are several weight loss medicines (both prescription and non-prescription) available that can be used together with healthy eating and physical activity to help some people with weight loss or weight maintenance. As with all medicines, there are side effects associated with weight loss medicines. Ask your doctor whether weight loss medicines may be suitable for you. Weight loss surgery In some circumstances, weight loss surgery, or bariatric surgery, may be an option to achieve or maintain weight loss. Ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of weight loss surgery and whether a weight loss procedure may be suitable for you. Once you have lost weight, it can be hard to keep it off. Programmes to maintain weight loss are recommended to prevent your good work being undone. There is a lack of evidence from clinical trials showing any complementary therapies to be effective and safe for weight loss. 2. Australian Government; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC); Department of Health. Summary guide for the management of overweight and obesity in primary care (December 2013). https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/n57 (accessed May 2015). 3. MayoClinic.com. Obesity (updated 13 May 2014). http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/basics/definition/con-20014834 (accessed May 2015).

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Since I just wrote about harvesting your summer veggies, I got to thinking that most people don’t know that they should also be “harvesting” their flowers as well. In fact, removing dead flowers is just as important as harvesting your fruits and vegetables. Why is that you might ask? Because removing dead flowers, known in garden speak as “deadheading,” promotes new flower growth and new flower growth means a longer growing season for you to enjoy because many annuals and perennials will keep on blooming if they are continually deadheaded. How so? The goal of a flower plant is to produce seeds after flowering. Inside the flower is where the seeds are produced for the next generation of plants. So, once the seeds have been produced the plant “thinks” it has done its job reproducing, and flower production stops. But, if you deadhead the flower blooms, you kind of trick the plant into thinking that it’s not done with reproducing and it will usually produce more flowers. Different plants require different methods of deadheading, it depends on the plant, and you can snip, prune, cut, or pinch to remove the dead bloom. Just make sure that you don’t just remove the petals, but also the developing seedpod. This is usually located at the center or just behind the flower. But when to pick flowers? Here are some general tips for some of this season’s most popular flowers: - It is usually best to remove spent blooms as soon as the flower has died. Popular summer flowers like zinnias, cosmos, and marigolds will flower all summer if you continually remove the spent flowers. - Cut the stem back to the next bud or set of leaves. - Another popular flower, impatiens, don’t need deadheading since they drop their flowers naturally. - Sweet William can be cut back after blooming and will produce a second set of blooms, just shear the plants back to half their height after the blooms begin to die. - Want to save some seeds? Simply stop deadheading by late summer to allow some seeds to form. Judi Gerber is a garden and agriculture writer, a horticultural therapy consultant, and a certified Master Gardener with the UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles, Common Ground Garden Program.

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Over the coming months we will take forward the wider sustainable development and environment agenda. Margaret Beckett is working on a comprehensive Defra 5-year programme to be released this year and a new sustainable development strategy for early next year. This will deal with, amongst other matters, issues of waste, recycling, sustainable agriculture, all aspects of biodiversity; and fishing, and will set out policies in each key area. For example, on the marine environment, I believe there are strong arguments for a new approach to managing our seas, including a new marine bill. But tonight I want to concentrate on what I believe to be the world's greatest environmental challenge: climate change. Our effect on the environment, and in particular on climate change, is large and growing To summarise my argument at the outset: From the start of the industrial revolution more than 200 years ago, developed nations have achieved ever greater prosperity and higher living standards. But through this period our activities have come to affect our atmosphere, oceans, geology, chemistry and biodiversity. What is now plain is that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialisation and strong economic growth from a world population that has increased sixfold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that began as significant, has become alarming and is simply unsustainable in the long-term. And by long-term I do not mean centuries ahead. I mean within the lifetime of my children certainly; and possibly within my own. And by unsustainable, I do not mean a phenomenon causing problems of adjustment. I mean a challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence. The problem and let me state it frankly at the outset - is that the challenge is complicated politically by two factors. First, its likely effect will not be felt to its full extent until after the time for the political decisions that need to be taken, has passed. In other words, there is a mismatch in timing between the environmental and electoral impact. Secondly, no one nation alone can resolve it. It has no definable boundaries. Short of international action commonly agreed and commonly followed through, it is hard even for a large country to make a difference on its own. But there is no doubt that the time to act is now. It is now that timely action can avert disaster. It is now that with foresight and will such action can be taken without disturbing the essence of our way of life, by adjusting behaviour not altering it entirely. There is one further preliminary point. Just as science and technology has given us the evidence to measure the danger of climate change, so it can help us find safety from it. The potential for innovation, for scientific discovery and hence, of course for business investment and growth, is enormous. With the right framework for action, the very act of solving it can unleash a new and benign commercial force to take the action forward, providing jobs, technology spin-offs and new business opportunities as well as protecting the world we live in. But the issue is urgent. If there is one message I would leave with you and with the British people today it is one of urgency. Let me turn now to the evidence itself. The scientific evidence of global warming and climate change: UK leadership in environmental science Apart from a diminishing handful of sceptics, there is a virtual worldwide scientific consensus on the scope of the problem. As long ago as 1988 concerned scientists set up an unprecedented Intergovernmental Panel to ensure that advice to the world's decision-makers was sound and reliable. Literally thousands of scientists are now engaged in this work. They have scrutinised the data and developed some of the world's most powerful computer models to describe and predict our climate. UK excellence in science is well documented: we are second only to the US in our share of the world's most cited publications. And amongst our particular strengths are the environmental sciences, lead by the world-renowned Hadley and Tyndall centres for climate change research. And from Arnold Schwarzenegger's California to Ningxia Province in China, the problem is being recognised. Let me summarise the evidence: · The 10 warmest years on record have all been since 1990. Over the last century average global temperatures have risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius: the most drastic temperature rise for over 1,000 years in the northern hemisphere. · Extreme events are becoming more frequent. Glaciers are melting. Sea ice and snow cover is declining. Animals and plants are responding to an earlier spring. Sea levels are rising and are forecast to rise another 88cm by 2100 threatening 100m people globally who currently live below this level. · The number of people affected by floods worldwide has already risen from 7 million in the 1960s to 150 million today. · In Europe alone, the severe floods in 2002 and had an estimated cost of $16bn. · This summer we have seen violent weather extremes in parts of the UK. These environmental changes and severe weather events are already affecting the world insurance industry. Swiss Re, the world's second largest insurer, has estimated that the economic costs of global warming could double to $150bn each year in the next 10 years, hitting insurers with $30-40bn in claims. By the middle of this century, temperatures could have risen enough to trigger irreversible melting of the Greenland ice-cap - eventually increasing sea levels by around seven metres. There is good evidence that last year's European heat wave was influenced by global warming. It resulted in 26,000 premature deaths and cost $13.5bn. It is calculated that such a summer is a one in about 800 year event. On the latest modelling climate change means that as soon as the 2040s at least one year in two is likely to be even warmer than 2003. That is the evidence. There is one overriding positive: through the science we are aware of the problem and, with the necessary political and collective will, have the ability to address it effectively. The public, in my view, do understand this. The news of severe weather abroad is an almost weekly occurrence. A recent opinion survey by Greenpeace showed that 78% of people are concerned about climate change. But people are confused about what they can do. It is individuals as well as governments and corporations who can make a real difference. The environmental impacts from business are themselves driven by the choices we make each day. To make serious headway towards smarter lifestyles, we need to start with clear and consistent policy and messages, championed both by government and by those outside government. Telling people what they can do that would make a difference. I said earlier it needed global leadership to tackle the issue. But we cannot aspire to such leadership unless we are seen to be following our own advice. So, what is the UK government doing? We have led the world in setting a bold plan and targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We are on track to meet our Kyoto target. The latest estimates suggest that greenhouse gas emissions in 2003 were about 14% below 1990 levels. But we have to do more to achieve our commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2010. Our targets are ambitious and we must continually review and refine how we can meet them. In 2000, we published our Climate Change Programme, which set out a comprehensive range of policies aimed at reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Tomorrow, we'll be setting out the details of this review to see if it is achieving the necessary progress towards our short-term and long-term emissions targets, and if not, to see how we can do better. In the longer term, The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's seminal report on energy concluded that to make its contribution towards tackling climate change, the UK needed to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050. This implies a massive change in the way this country produces and uses energy. We are committed to this change. There are immense business opportunities in sustainable growth and moving to a low carbon economy The UK has already shown that it can have a strongly growing economy while addressing environmental issues. Between 1990 and 2002 the UK economy grew by 36%, while greenhouse gas emissions fell by around 15%. But business itself must seize the opportunities: it is those hi-tech, entrepreneurial businesses with the foresight and capability to tap into the UK's excellent science base that will succeed. Tackling climate change will take leadership, dynamism and commitment - qualities that I know are abundantly represented in this room. As part of next year's G8 process I want to advance work on promoting the development and uptake of cleaner energy technologies begun under the French presidency in 2003 and continued by the US this year. We need both to invest on a large scale in existing technologies and to stimulate innovation into new low carbon technologies for deployment in the longer term. There is huge scope for improving energy efficiency and promoting the uptake of existing low carbon technologies like PV, fuel cells and carbon sequestration. This technology is coming out of the laboratory and becoming reality in new fuel cell cars, combined heat and power generators and in new low carbon fuels. The next generation of photovoltaics are unlikely to need the now familiar panels: smart windows could generate the power required for new buildings. And carbon sequestration: literally capturing carbon and storing it in the ground, also has real potential. BP are already involved in an Algerian project which aims to store 17 million tonnes of CO2. What we need to do is build an international consensus on how we can speed up the introduction of these technologies And there are already many great examples of companies here in the UK showing the way: · Ceres Power based in Crawley and utilising technology developed at Imperial College have developed a new fuel cell that has unique properties and is a world leader, and · just a few weeks ago Ocean Power Delivery transmitted the first offshore wave energy from the seas off Orkney to the UK grid. And these are not isolated examples. Understandably, climate change focuses minds on big, industrial, energy users. But retailers are also working with suppliers to reduce the impacts of goods and services that they sell. I want to see the day when consumers can expect that environmental responsibility is as fundamental to the products they buy as health and safety is now. Government has to work with business to move forward, faster. For example, we will help business cut waste and improve resource efficiency and competitiveness through a programme of new measures funded through landfill tax receipts. We will follow up the report of the Sustainable Buildings Task Group to raise environmental standards in construction. The Carbon Trust is helping business to address their energy use and encourage low-carbon innovation. In total, efficiency measures are expected to save almost 8 million tonnes of carbon from business by 2010, more than 10% of their emissions in 2000. Our renewables obligation has provided a major stimulus for the development of renewable energy in the UK. It has been extended to achieve a 15.4% contribution from renewables to the UK's electricity needs by 2015, on a path to our aspiration of a 20% contribution by 2020. In the short term, wind energy - in future increasingly offshore - is expected to be the primary source of smart, renewable power. Our position on nuclear energy has not changed. And as we made clear in our energy white paper last year, the government does "not rule out the possibility that at some point in the future new nuclear build might be necessary if we are to meet our carbon targets." In short, we need to develop the new green industrial revolution that develops the new technologies that can confront and overcome the challenge of climate change; and that above all can show us not that we can avoid changing our behaviour but we can change it in a way that is environmentally sustainable. Just as British know-how brought the railways and mass production to the world, so British scientists, innovators and business people can lead the world in ways to grow and develop sustainably. I am confident business will seize this opportunity. Cutting waste and saving energy could save billions of pounds each year. With about 90% of production materials never part of the final product and 80% of products discarded after single use, the opportunities are clear. Local, practical sustainability: new schools, new housing and re-invigorating 'Agenda 21' But government can give a lead in its own procurement policy. New sustainable schools There is a huge school building programme underway. All new schools and City Academies should be models for sustainable development: showing every child in the classroom and the playground how smart building and energy use can help tackle global warming. The government is now developing a school specific method of environmental assessment that will apply to all new school buildings. Sustainable development will not just be a subject in the classroom: it will be in its bricks and mortar and the way the school uses and even generates its own power. Our students won't just be told about sustainable development, they will see and work within it: a living, learning, place in which to explore what a sustainable lifestyle means. The economic and social case for new housing is compelling. But we must also ensure that our approach is environmentally sustainable. This means action at both the national and local level. Heating, lighting and cooling buildings produces about half of total UK carbon emissions. In 2002 we raised the minimum standard for the energy performance of new buildings by 25%. And next year we'll raise it by another 25%. The challenge now is to work with the building industry to encourage sustainability to be part of all new housing through a new flexible Code for Sustainable Buildings. The new developments proposed in specific parts of the south east including the Thames Gateway represent a huge opportunity for us to show what can be achieved in terms of modern, smart, 21st century, sustainable living: not just in terms of reduced energy use, but also through better waste management, sustainable transport and availability of quality local parks and amenities. Re-invigorating Agenda 21 Many local communities understand the links between the need to tackle national and global environmental challenges and everyday actions to improve our neighbourhoods and create better places to live. In 1997, I encouraged all local authorities to work with their communities and produce Local Agenda 21 plans by 2000. There was an overwhelming response: from County Durham to Wiltshire and from Redbridge to Cheshire, local people showed what could be done. Next year, as a key part of our new Sustainable Development Strategy, I want to reinvigorate community action on sustainable development. Action in the EU From this base, of domestic action we move out to action Europe-wide. We believe, as I know many of you do, that trading is the most cost effective way to reduce emissions. The emissions trading scheme which we have advocated and pushed in Europe is of great importance to our goals, and to those of Europe. The establishment of a carbon trading market throughout the world's most important economic area next year will be an enormous achievement, and will change the way thousands of businesses think about their energy use. Cutting carbon emissions is the way the future will be, and we have repeatedly said that there are advantages to British industry from early action In Britain and throughout the world, the expected rapid growth in demand for transport, including aviation, means that we must develop far cleaner and more efficient aircraft and cars. I am advised that by 2030, emissions from aircraft could represent a quarter of the UK's total contribution to global warning. A big step in the right direction would be to see aviation brought into the EU emissions trading scheme in the next phase of its development. During our EU Presidency we will argue strongly for this. And the UK is taking a strong lead globally From Europe, we need then to secure action world-wide. Here it is important to stress the scale of the implications for the developing world. It is far more than an environmental one, massive though that is. It needs little imagination to appreciate the security, stability and health problems that will arise in a world in which there is increasing pressure on water availability; where there is a major loss of arable land for many; and in which there are large-scale displacements of population due to flooding and other climate change effects. It is the poorest countries in the world that will suffer most from severe weather events, longer and hotter droughts and rising oceans. Yet it is they who have contributed least to the problem. That is why the world's richest nations in the G8 have a responsibility to lead the way: for the strong nations to better help the weak. Such issues can only be properly addressed through international agreements. Domestic action is important, but a problem that is global in cause and scope can only be fully addressed through international agreement. Recent history teaches us such agreements can achieve results. The 1987 Montreal Protocol - addressing the challenge posed by the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer - has shown how quickly a global environmental problem can be reversed once targets are agreed. However, our efforts to stabilise the climate will need, over time, to become far more ambitious than the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto is only the first step but provides a solid foundation for the next stage of climate diplomacy. If Russia were to ratify that would bring it into effect. We know there is disagreement with the US over this issue. In 1997 the US Senate voted 95-0 in favour of a resolution that stated it would refuse to ratify such a treaty. I doubt time has shifted the numbers very radically. But the US remains a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the US National Academy of Sciences agree that there is a link between human activity, carbon emissions and atmospheric warming. Recently the US Energy Secretary and Commercial Secretary jointly issued a report again accepting the potential damage to the planet through global warming. Climate change will be a top priority for our G8 Presidency next year Recently, I announced that together with Africa, climate change would be our top priority for next year's G8. I do not under-estimate the difficulties. This remains an issue of high and fraught politics for many countries. But it is imperative we try. I want today to highlight three key parts of my G8 strategy. First, I want to secure an agreement as to the basic science on climate change and the threat it poses. Such an agreement would be new and provide the foundation for further action. Second, agreement on a process to speed up the science, technology, and other measures necessary to meet the threat. Third, while the eight G8 countries account for around 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is vital that we also engage with other countries with growing energy needs - like China and India; both on how they can meet those needs sustainably and adapt to the adverse impacts we are already locked into. Given the different positions of the G8 nations on this issue, such agreement will be a major advance; but I believe it is achievable. The G8 presidency is a wonderful opportunity to give a big push to international opinion and understanding, among businesses as well as governments. We have to recognise that the commitments reflected in the Kyoto protocol and current EU policy are insufficient, uncomfortable as that may be, and start urgently building a consensus based on the latest and best possible science. Prior to the G8 meeting itself we propose first to host an international scientific meeting at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter in February. More than just another scientific conference, this gathering will address the big questions on which we need to pool the answers available from the science: · "What level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is self-evidently too much?" and · "What options do we have to avoid such levels?" This can help inform discussion at the G8. The situation therefore can be summarised in this way: If what the science tells us about climate change is correct, then unabated it will result in catastrophic consequences for our world. The science, almost certainly, is correct. Recent experience teaches us that it is possible to combine reducing emissions with economic growth. Further investment in science and technology and in the businesses associated with it has the potential to transform the possibilities of such a healthy combination of sustainability and development. To acquire global leadership, on this issue Britain must demonstrate it first at home. The G8 next year, and the EU presidency provide a great opportunity to push this debate to a new and better level that, after the discord over Kyoto, offers the prospect of agreement and action. None of this is easy to do. But its logic is hard to fault. Even if there are those who still doubt the science in its entirety, surely the balance of risk for action or inaction has changed. If there were even a 50% chance that the scientific evidence I receive is right, the bias in favour of action would be clear. But of course it is far more than 50%. And in this case, the science is backed up by intuition. It is not axiomatic that pollution causes damage. But it is likely. I am a strong supporter of proceeding through scientific analysis in such issues. But I also, as I think most people do, have a healthy instinct that if we upset the balance of nature, we are in all probability going to suffer a reaction. With world growth, and population as it is, this reaction must increase. We have been warned. On most issues we ask children to listen to their parents. On climate change, it is parents who should listen to their children. Now is the time to start.

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Included in this document are 18 cards containing problems and answers. All problems given are graphs, and students must find the domain and range, which are written in various forms (discrete, continuous, and verbal descriptions). This activity corresponds to Texas Algebra 1 TEK A.2A: determine domain and range of linear functions (Readiness Standard). This can be completed individually or in pairs, as a test review, homework assignment, classwork activity, or station. Students should be given all 18 cards, scissors, and tape or glue. They cut apart the outside of the cards on the solid line, and match the problem on the bottom of one card to the answer on the top of another. They should end where they began, which is why the activity is self checking. My students love these activities, because they can check themselves as they go, and work at their own pace. We loop them together and make a giant paper chain to hang in the hallway! This product is part of a bundle! Linear Domain and Range Bundle

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The Stone Quarry (L100, L101, L104; Fig. 3) was established in a region of soft limestone. Severance channels around different size blocks of bedrock were found, as well as hewn sides that remained after the building stones were extracted. The quarry, which was exposed in the two areas, is a continuation of a more extensive quarry that was excavated to the west (Permit No. A-5287). Installations. Two small rectangular rock-hewn installations, whose nature is unclear, were exposed inside the quarry (M in Area A and N in Area B). The burial caves were documented in the wake of partially excavating their openings and were sealed upon completion of the excavation. The Western Cave (L102, Area A, c. 3.8×5.2 m; Figs. 4, 5) was hewn in limestone bedrock and its opening (width 2.3 m, height 0.9 m, depth 0.5 m) faced north. It included an antechamber (c. 2×2 m) and four kokhim (I–III, VI), some of which had an arched ceiling (II, VI). Two other hewn kokhim (IV, V) were probably in the cave, judging by an intentional blockage of fieldstones in its western side. The Eastern Cave (L105, Area B, c. 2.80×4.65 m; Figs. 6, 7) was quarried in limestone bedrock and its opening, set in the center of a hewn façade (max. width 1.1 m, height 0.7 m), faced northeast. A hewn channel (length 3 m, max. width 0.35 m, max. depth 0.15 m) was located at the foot of the opening. Inside the cave was a standing pit (I; 1.90×2.05 m) and four kokhim (II–V), two of which (IV, V) were not completely hewn. The ceramic finds, mostly recovered from the area of the quarry, included a bowl (fig. 8:1), cooking pots (Fig. 8:2, 3) and a base of a stand (Fig. 8:4), dating to the Early Roman period, and bowls (Fig. 8:5, 6) and jars (Fig. 8:7, 8), dating to the Ottoman period. The stone quarry and the installations incorporated in it cannot be dated. The burial caves dated to the Early Roman period, based on their shape and their location in an extensive burial field from this period.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 31 (UPI) — U.S. researchers found viruses and bacteria in East Tennessee drinking water before it was treated, a finding that may be a warning for untreated home wells. Researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville linked the contamination of the community water sources’ limestone — karst — aquifers to human feces. “Karst aquifers have long been recognized as having high susceptibility to fecal contamination because they have features, such as sinkholes and caverns, which act as pathways for rapid flow and transport of contaminants,” Larry McKay said in a statement. The study, published online in advance of print in a special edition of the journal Pathogens and Fecal Indicators in Ground Water, pointed out all eight of the sampled wells and springs were used for public water supply — water that is treated before distribution so the contamination in the study represented no direct risk to consumers. However, the researchers say the results point to the health hazard potential of non-treated water. “The real concern is for the numerous small non-community water systems and household wells, where local residents typically drink groundwater that hasn’t been filtered or disinfected,” McKay said. “It’s likely that many of these residents are being exposed to waterborne fecal contamination, both bacterial and viral, but it isn’t clear how big a health risk this represents. Local and regional research is needed to assess the health impacts.” Fecal contamination of the water may create no symptoms in some, while others may become seriously ill or even die, McKay noted. Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.

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Selecting a detection system There are many criteria to consider when evaluating metal-detection systems for tablet and capsule processing. Perhaps the most important is the system's sensitivity (i.e., how small a metal fragment can be detected [the typical range for pharmaceutical applications is less than 0.5 mm]) and how immune the system is to outside influences such as vibration and electromagnetic noise, which can cause false rejects (see Table I). When selecting the size of the system's aperture, one should consider performance as well as throughput and size to avoid product jams during production. Table I: Typical detectable metal diameter versus metal detector's aperture size. One subtle, but important, factor to consider when evaluating different systems is what, if any, effect a product might have on the metal detector. Most tablets and capsules look like "dry" products to the metal detector, but it is possible that they may trigger a false reject if they contain significant concentrations of metal elements such as iron. If a false reject continually occurs, the detector's operating threshold can be desensitized, but this change may reduce the system's performance. Before selecting a system, therefore, it is important to test the complete system on all of the pharmaceutical products that may be used to determine how the system will perform in a production setting. Once it is determined that a system can detect the smallest fragments of metal possible with no chance of false rejection, there are other aspects of the system to consider to ensure that it can be successfully used in a particular production process. Table II provides a list of key questions to ask when evaluating a system. Table II: Key criteria for selecting a pharmaceutical metal detection system.

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Rutgers Engineers 3D Print Shape-Shifting Smart Gel 3D printing becomes 4D as objects morph over time and temperatures change Rutgers engineers have invented a “4D printing” method for a smart gel that could lead to the development of “living” structures in human organs and tissues, soft robots and targeted drug delivery. The 4D printing approach involves printing a 3D object with a hydrogel (water-containing gel) that changes shape over time when temperatures change, said Howon Lee, senior author of a new study and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. The study, published recently online in Scientific Reports, demonstrates fast, scalable, high-resolution 3D printing of hydrogels, which remain solid and retain their shape despite containing water. Hydrogels are everywhere in our lives, including in Jell-O, contact lenses, diapers and the human body. The smart gel could provide structural rigidity in organs such as the lungs, and can contain small molecules like water or drugs to be transported in the body and released. It could also create a new area of soft robotics and enable new applications in flexible sensors and actuators, biomedical devices and platforms or scaffolds for cells to grow, Lee said. “The full potential of this smart hydrogel has not been unleashed until now,” said Lee, who works in the School of Engineering. “We added another dimension to it, and this is the first time anybody has done it on this scale. They’re flexible, shape-morphing materials. I like to call them smart materials.” Engineers at Rutgers–New Brunswick and the New Jersey Institute of Technology worked with a hydrogel that has been used for decades in devices that generate motion and biomedical applications such as scaffolds for cells to grow on. But hydrogel manufacturing has relied heavily on conventional, two-dimensional methods such as molding and lithography. This YouTube video shows a 3D-printed chess king shrinking and growing as water temperatures change. Credit: Daehoon Han/Rutgers University-New Brunswick In their study, the engineers used a lithography-based technique that’s fast, inexpensive and can print a wide range of materials into a 3D shape. It involves printing layers of a special resin to build a 3D object. The resin consists of the hydrogel, a chemical that acts as a binder, another chemical that facilitates bonding when light hits it and a dye that controls light penetration. The engineers learned how to precisely control hydrogel growth and shrinkage. In temperatures below 32 degrees Celsius (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit), the hydrogel absorbs more water and swells in size. When temperatures exceed 32 degrees Celsius, the hydrogel begins to expel water and shrinks. The objects they can create with the hydrogel range from the width of a human hair to several millimeters long. The engineers also found that they can grow one area of a 3D-printed object – creating and programming motion – by changing temperatures. “If you have full control of the shape, then you can program its function,” Lee said. “I think that’s the power of 3D printing of shape-shifting material. You can apply this principle almost everywhere.” The study’s lead author is Daehoon Han, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers–New Brunswick. Co-authors include Zhaocheng Lu, another doctoral student, and Shawn A. Chester, an assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

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Age-specific death rate Age-specific death rates are the number of deaths registered (or occurred) during the calendar year at a specified age per 100,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age at mid-point of the year (30 June). Accidental strangulation/ hanging/ suffocation (W75, W76, W83, W84) A group of selected ICD-10 codes relating to strangulation/hanging/suffocation. This group may include cases for which intent (necessary for coding suicides) cannot be established with the available information according to ICD-10 coding rules. Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances (X40-X49) Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (W75) Other accidental hanging and strangulation (W76) Other specified threats to breathing (W83) Unspecified threat to breathing (W84) A group of ICD-10 codes relating to all forms of poisoning, including by drugs, chemicals and gases (including motor vehicle exhaust). This group may include cases for which intent (necessary for coding suicides) cannot be established with the available information according to ICD-10 coding rules. Causes of death Causes of death recorded on death certificates are those diseases, morbid conditions, or injuries which either resulted in or contributed to death. From the information provided on the death certificates an underlying cause of death is coded according to the rules and guidelines of that particular revision of the International Classification of Diseases. Crude death rate The crude death rate is the number of deaths registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. Death refers to any death which occurs in, or en route to Australia and is registered with a State or Territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Estimated resident population Estimated resident population (ERP) data are estimates of the Australian population obtained by adding to the estimated resident population at the beginning of each period the components of natural increase ( on a usual residence basis) and net overseas migration. Exposure to unspecified factor (X59) ICD-10 code used for deaths from unspecified accidents e.g. head injury of unknown cause, fractures etc. This code may include cases for which intent (necessary for coding suicides) cannot be established with the available information according to ICD-10 coding rules. Environmental events, circumstances and conditions which are the cause of injury, poisoning and other adverse effects. Deaths from external causes are classified according to ICD-10 codes within Chapter XX External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01-V98). Major blocks of codes within this chapter are: Method of suicide Intentional self harm (suicide) (X60-X84) Event of undetermined intent (Y10-Y34) Legal intervention and operation of war (Y35-Y36) Complications of medical and surgical care (Y40-Y84) Sequelae of external causes of morbidity and mortality (Y85-Y89) In this publication, suicide deaths data for registration years 1995-1996 have been coded to ICD-9 while data for registration years 1997-2005 have been coded to ICD-10. For suicide deaths, ICD-9 and ICD-10 classifications are comparable. Codes for groupings of methods used in this publication are shown below. Method of suicide |Poisoning by drugs | E950.0 - E950.5 X60 - X64 |Poisoning by 'other'(a) | E950.6 - E952.9 X65 - X69 |Hanging, strangulation, and suffocation | |Firearms and explosives | X72 - X75 E954, E956 - E959 X71, X76 - X84 |All suicides | E950 - E959 X60 - X84 |(a) Includes motor vehicle exhaust | |(b) Includes drowning,smoke/fire/flames,sharp object, jumping from high place, jumping or lying before moving object, other and unspecified means | Suicide refers to the deliberate taking of one's life. To be classified as a suicide a death must be recognised as due to other than natural causes and established by a coronial inquiry that death results from a deliberate act of the deceased with the intention of taking his or her own life. Standardised death rate Standardised death rates enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The ABS standard populations relate to the years ending in 1 (e.g. 2001). The current standard population is all persons in the 2001 Australian population. They are expressed per 100,000 persons. There are two methods of calculating standardised death rates: The direct method - this is used when the populations under study are large and the age-specific death rates are reliable. It is the overall death rate that would have prevailed in the standard population if it had experienced at each age the death rates of the population under study; and The indirect method - this is used when the populations under study are small and the age-specific death rates are unreliable or not known. It is an adjustment to the crude death rate of the standard population to account for the variation between the actual number of deaths in the population under study and the number of deaths which would have occurred if the population under study had experienced the age-specific death rates of the standard population. In this publication, five year age groups (0-4, 5-9, ... 85 & over) were used in the calculation of standardised rates, and a small number of records where age at death was not stated were excluded. The direct method of standardisation was used and the standard population used was the Estimated Resident Population (ERP) for Australia (persons) at June 2001. Undetermined intent (Y10-Y34) For deaths in this category the coroner has determined that the intent of the death cannot be established from the available evidence. See explanatory notes in Suicides, Australia 1921-1998 (ABS cat. no. 3309.0) for further explanation of deaths of undetermined intent. Underlying cause of death The underlying cause of death is the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death. Accidental and violent deaths are classified according to the external cause, that is, to the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury rather than to the nature of the injury. Year of occurrence Data presented on year of occurrence basis relate to the date the death occurred. Year of registration Data presented on year of registration basis relate to the date the death was registered.

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In the Key of... “In the key of…” -- we rarely get far into our musical endeavors before we find ourselves faced with this phrase. Minuets in the key of G, Sonatas in the key of A, Nocturnes in the key of E minor, Fugues in the key of F#, and so on. But what does it really mean to be "in the key" of something? As beginners, we learn that it in some way refers to the number of sharps or flats (accidentals) we encounter at the beginning of a piece. We learn that this key signature indicates which notes will be sharped or flatted throughout the piece until its end, or until we encounter another key signature. Many teachers refrain from teaching much further into the topic of keys until students are more experienced and more easily able to digest the theory and technicalities. Even then, many students have achieved a fair amount of competence on their instrument working under the simple impression that more accidentals in the key signature means a more complicated key. Most deeper studies of keys typically fall within the precincts of college study. Why is this? Why are keys one of the most used but least-well comprehended of musical devices amongst beginning and intermediate learners? As with many of music’s more dynamic technical or theoretical ways of thinking, the answer is far less about the ‘what’ than about the ‘how.’ How are keys used? How do we understand them more easily? How can they help us in the study of the music we’d like to learn? The truth is that an understanding of keys is a deeply valuable tool for learning music. Keys themselves are derived from what many consider to be a very natural inclination within our musical minds to perceive structure and the resolution of dissonance in music. To be sure, there are many kinds of music that do not rely on keys as the basis for their compositional design, however as students of Western Classical, Jazz, and Pop music, we will constantly encounter music constructed using keys. So how do we learn? In this article series we will establish a clear and working groundwork for what keys are and what they can do for you. Along the way, you will gain a richer understanding of the more basic musical devices we will use to create that groundwork. So, what are those basic musical devices you ask? Instead of expending any more time on written explanation, let’s do what we should be doing as musicians, let’s look at some music! Our Friendly Master Mozart Below is an excerpt from the beginning of a Mozart piece you may be familiar with, Sonata No. 16 in C-Major, K. 545. See if you can recognize it without listening to it or sight-reading it on your instrument. If you're a beginner, this might look a little intimidating. Look at all those 16th notes… Give it a listen here. By the way, the name of that little girl playing is Yuja Wang, and if you’ve not heard of her you should definitely type her name into your browser sometime. Despite its fame and association with the piano recitals of younger learners (Mozart himself even considered it a ‘beginners’ sonata), this piece is not without its challenges, and it falls solidly into the realm of intermediate literature for most students. It also provides us with very clear examples of some of the devices we might use to better understand keys. Let’s take another look at this opening to get a glimpse of what someone with an understanding of keys might see…. Notice that we now have several visual additions. Be aware, these amendments are not meant to be taken as literal (asking a pianist about the colors of a particular passage of music will probably get them talking about something other than what you're seeing above), but as representations of the particular kinds of information someone with an experienced knowledge of keys will probably consider when studying or playing a piece. Throughout the entirety of this article series, we will use color coding such as that seen above to help us more easily visualize important points and figures. In this short passage, through color coordination, we can see the important devices for deciphering and visually perceiving keys. (Don’t worry if some or all of these things are unfamiliar to you; we will introduce and explain them over the course of this article series.) These colors highlight ways that advanced musicians might see and hear keys when looking at a piece of music. First and foremost, notice the key signature, which is circled by the red oval. Note that it has no sharps or flats, which indicates we're in the key of C major. The blue, green, and orange margins indicate areas of harmonic importance, specifically as they relate to thinking about the key we’re in. Blue represents the tonic area (I), the most harmonically stable area. Green and orange represent the dominant (V) and pre-dominant (IV) areas, which pull us away from tonic (I) momentarily to create some harmonic instability. Eventually, we resolve back to our tonic (I), the blue. Finally, the pink and purple margins show us some clear examples of the scale of the key being used musically in a way that retains its recognizable form, even though at first glance it seems that each measure uses a different scale. With all music, the ease with which we can take take all of the bits and pieces and make them seem bigger or less complicated is directly related to how efficiently it can be learned. Summing it Up Whew. That’s quite a lot of information packed into twelve colorful bars, yes? Let’s sum it up into a sentence that illustrates things more simply: A musician with a knowledge of chords, scales, and the ways in which they relate to the key signature is much more easily able to think of music in terms of keys. Great. But that still doesn’t quite answer why learning all this for the sake of knowing about keys is worthwhile. The summary sentence for that is where things really get interesting. It looks something like this: A musician with a knowledge of keys is much more easily able to identify chords, scales, their relationships with one another, and their relationship with the piece as a whole. So wait…we need to learn about chords and scales to apply to the study of keys but knowing about keys tells us about the chords and scales they consist of? Many musical concepts are learned most effectively via a combination of drilling and contextual importance. In other words, we tend to learn best by practicing a lot and by really understanding why we’re practicing. Most of what makes up music consists of small variations on similar ideas and musical devices. The notes, chords, scales, and other identifying musical features of any piece are really just different combinations of similar core material, and part of our goal as musicians is to compile as much of this info as we can for use in playing. Thus: understanding and thinking in keys gives us the ability to structure a whole world of musical devices and relationships under the umbrella of a single idea. To help us achieve that understanding, it is important to make the most of the examples provided in this article and the rest of the articles in this series. As such, you should be playing through each example at the keyboard, or (where relevant) listening to the examples provided. Let’s look at a few more musical examples to help support this umbrella-idea of keys. Take a look at the simple melody notated below. The words here are solfeggio, which can be helpful if you’re familiar with them, but are otherwise unnecessary for what we're discussing, so if you’re not familiar with them, feel free to use a single syllable such as ‘la’ or ‘lu.’ Go ahead and sing it aloud (it’s ok to play it at the piano, but try to memorize it so that you can sing it by yourself). Now, see if you can sing it starting at a higher or lower pitch. Try to not do this with any instrument other than your voice, try to hear and sing the melody higher or lower as you might something you’d sing in the car or hum in the shower. Did you do it? See if you can do it again at a different pitch. Once again, don’t think too hard about the notes, simply try to hear and sing the melody once you’ve got the higher or lower pitch. Each time you do this you’re accomplishing a musical technique known as transposition, which is when we take a musical structure and relocate it to higher or lower pitches without changing it in any other way. On a very simplified level, you’re changing the key each time you do this. The takeaway point here is that you were able to do this simply by internalizing the melody and letting your musical mind take it higher or lower. If you were to take this exercise to the piano, you would find that a good deal of thinking might be involved to consider the accidentals (the black notes) that need to be used to accomplish the same task. You’d be back to thinking about the smallest pieces of the picture. For experienced and skilled pianists, the process of transposing at the piano is as easy a task as it was for you to sing this melody in different places without too much thought--a knowledge of keys is how this is possible. Taking the Long View Let’s look at one more thing. Now that we’ve seen something of an intuitive example for how we might benefit from thinking in keys, let’s take a look at something more regimented: Don’t worry, the excerpt above is only here to represent the greater world of musical information that exists, and to help make a point. What we’re looking at are visual examples of some of the significant relationships and bits of information that a key-literate musician will likely think of when they see a particular key signature. With a knowledge of keys, all of the above information can be distilled down to this: Compared to the previous excerpt, the five sharps in this key-signature don’t look nearly so bad do they? Even this is not completely representative of the full potential of key-based thinking, and most of it lies far beyond what we will accomplish in this article series. Our goal will be to establish a core understanding of keys, rather than to go through all the nitty-gritty details. We want to understand how a knowledge of keys can make our music-learning easier, and how we do it without having to slog through years of college music theory. As is the case with any musical training, the most important ally you have is a strong familiarity with the fundamentals of musical structure and expression. Over the next several articles, we will build upon that fundamental knowledge to put towards a simple but comprehensive understanding of what in means to be “in the key of” something. We will reintroduce and reinforce our knowledge of chords and scales to help us, and we will go about learning as much as we can using examples from real music to show how these concepts are actually applied. To accomplish all of this, we will present six articles that break down keys into a number of components, starting with some basic fundamentals, and then moving onto looking at how we can apply those fundamentals to our understanding of keys. The articles are linked in order below: - What are Keys?: Learning about Scales: A basic introduction and reinforcement of scale theory as a basis for our understanding of keys. - What are Keys?: Learning about Chords: A basic introduction and reinforcement of chord construction and harmonic theory as a further basis for our understanding of keys. - Discovering Keys: Part I: Here we apply our knowledge of scales and chords directly to understanding the structure of keys. - Discovering Keys: Part II: In this article we continue our application of scale and chord theory to the study of keys, looking closer at how to understand keys contextually. - Discovering Keys: Minor Keys: A special article that focusses on minor keys and the more complicated structure and use of the minor scale. - Discovering Keys: From Then to Now: In our concluding article, we take our understanding of keys into the real world, investigating how they are used in different types of musical settings. Consider this article series the vista view of keys. Our musical journeys will be long and full of enriching travels, so any chance we can get to survey the landscape before we dive into it should be taken. In these articles, we will survey the landscape of learning about keys so we are more prepared to walk down those paths and benefit from what they have to show us.

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The colorful history of America's Dog Show In 1877, New York was well on its way to becoming the world's greatest city. This was the year that a group of sporting gentlemen decided that this would be a good time to hold a dog show in Manhattan. It didn't take long before the Westminster Kennel Club, following the lead of its home town, would be on its way to becoming the world's greatest dog show. With its spectacular beginnings and extraordinary growth in the years to follow, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was quickly reflecting the growth and success of New York City. As the dog show grew every year, so did the Westminster Kennel Club's position as the symbol of the purebred dog, with its influence being felt in show rings everywhere, and eventually in millions of television homes across the country. Westminster has become America's Dog Show. "Westminster gets its name from a long gone hotel in Manhattan. There, sporting gentlemen used to meet in the bar to drink and lie about their shooting accomplishments. Eventually they formed a club and bought a training area and kennel. They kept their dogs there and hired a trainer.It was at one of those meetings that the members decided that they would stage a dog show so that they could compare their dogs in a setting away from the field. The First Annual New York Bench Show of Dogs, given under the auspices of the Westminster Kennel Club, was staged in 1877 at Gilmore's Garden (the forerunner of Madison Square Garden) in New York City, drawing an entry of 1,201 dogs. The show was such a hit that it was extended to four days from its originally-scheduled three, and drew this coverage from "Forest and Stream" magazine: "To say that the dog show held in the city last week was a success would but poorly convey an idea of what the result really was. It was a magnificent triumph for the dogs and for the projectors of the show. We question if on any previous occasion has there ever assembled in this city such a number of people at one time, and representing as much of the culture, wealth and fashion of the town."To fully grasp the place in history of the Westminster Kennel Club and its famed annual dog show at Madison Square Garden, consider this: Westminster pre-dates the invention of the light bulb, the automobile, and the zipper; the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Washington Monument; and manned air flightl and the establishment of the World Series. Since Westminster held its first show 127 years ago, there have been 24 men elected president and 12 states have joined the union. The dog show has outlasted three previous versions of Madison Square Garden, and is currently being staged in MSG IV. It is one of only four events to be held in all four "Gardens." The dog show has survived power outages, snowstorms, a national depression, two World Wars and a tugboat strike that threatened to shut down the city, in the process becoming the second longest continuously held sporting event in the country. Only the Kentucky Derby has been staged longer - but by just one year. Westminster even pre-dates the establishment of the governing body of the sport, the American Kennel Club, by seven years. In fact, in 1877, members of Westminster and members of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia had together adopted a set of show rules and regulations and established a Board of Appeals to oversee these rules. This was the precursor of the American Kennel Club, which was finally created in 1884. As one might imagine, the history of the club and its show is rich and colorful. In the early Westminster years, some interesting names showed up in the catalogs. In the first show, there were two Staghounds listed as being from the late General George Custer's pack, and two Deerhounds that had been bred by the Queen of England. In 1889, the Czar of Russia is listed as the breeder of a Siberian Wolfhound entered, and the following year, one of the entries is a Russian Wolfhound whose listed owner was the Emperor of Germany. Philanthropist J. P. Morgan made the first of his many appearances at Westminster with his Collies in 1893. Famous American journalist Nelly Bly entered her Maltese at Westminster in 1894, some four years after she made a record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes, racing the record of Phineas Fogg in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. The most-coveted award in the dog show world, Best In Show at Westminster, was given for the first time in 1907. That year, and for the next two years as well, it went to a Smooth Fox Terrier bitch named Ch. Warren Remedy. She remains the only dog every to win three times. Six other dogs have won Best In Show twice, the most recent being the English Springer Spaniel, Ch. Chinoe's Adamant James in 1971 and 1972.

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What is engineering? Engineering is a people-serving profession. Engineers combine scientific understanding with the skill and art of problem-solving to design, innovate and build things that improve lives. The practice of engineering requires a thorough understanding of scientific and mathematical principles, practical experience, disciplined judgment, and common sense to create new things or improve past innovations. Do you enjoy problem solving? Do you enjoy science and mathematics? Are you curious about how or why things work; or why they don't? Are you intrigued by the challenge of applying your knowledge to solve real-life problems? Are you interested in starting salaries that are among the highest, or job opportunities that are among the most plentiful? Do you want to help our nation maintain its technical leadership around the world? If so, a career in engineering may be just right for you.

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Similar risk was seen for invasive and localized cancer and in women who have the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes about 70 percent of all cervical cancers, Green noted. Although the risk for cervical cancer associated with the Pill is small, Green advised women to still be screened for the disease. "Screening for cervical cancer is effective," she said. "The advice is to go for regular screenings." Eventually, Green hopes that the vaccination against the human papillomavirus will go a long way to preventing many cases of cervical cancer. One expert agreed that the findings showed the risk for cervical cancer from oral contraceptives was very small. "This is reassuring news for women," said Dr. Peter Sasieni, from the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and author of an accompanying journal comment. "There is really a minimal risk from oral contraceptives, and that risk disappears fairly soon when you stop taking them," he said. "When making a decision about what from of contraception to use, women shouldn't worry about cervical cancer," Sasieni concluded. "It's not an issue," he said. However, he believes that taking oral contraceptives is another good reason to get screened regularly for the disease. "By going for regular screenings, a women can reduce her risk by 80 percent," Sasieni said. Another expert agreed that women shouldn't worry about the Pill and cervical cancer risk. "I don't think women are basing their decision of which form of contraception to use on the risk for cervical cancer," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer at the All rights reserved

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WASHINGTON DC — The U.S. space agency has given two universities humanoid robots for testing to see how they might be deployed in future space missions. NASA is interested in robots as either replacements for or assistants to humans in extreme space environments. The two R5 robots will be tested at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northeastern University, according to NASA. Those universities were selected based on their performance at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Robotics Challenge. The R5 stands at just over than 1.8 meters tall and was originally designed to help in disaster relief. It also goes by the name Valkyrie. The two universities will receive $250,000 per year for two years. The R5 robots will eventually compete in an upcoming “Space Robotics Challenge,” in the hope the universities can develop better software allowing the robots to be used in space missions in a more autonomous way, NASA said. “Advances in robotics, including human-robotic collaboration, are critical to developing the capabilities required for our journey to Mars,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA. “We are excited to engage these university research groups to help NASA with this next big step in robotics technology development.” Here's a short video about the robot:

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In early 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted Robert H. Jackson, then the Solicitor General of the United States, to serve as U.S. Attorney General, a member of the President’s Cabinet. President Roosevelt then appointed former U.S. circuit court judge Francis Biddle to succeed Jackson as Solicitor General. Eighteen months later, Roosevelt appointed Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. At that time, the President, at Jackson’s urging, promoted Biddle to succeed Jackson as Attorney General. Attorney General Biddle served in Roosevelt’s Cabinet for the next four years—for all of the remainder of his presidency, and for nearly the entire period of U.S. involvement in World War II. On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died suddenly. Harry S. Truman became the 33rd president of the U.S. Within two weeks, the new president recruited Justice Jackson to serve as U.S. chief of counsel for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals—the appointment that became Jackson’s position as U.S. chief prosecutor at Nuremberg. President Truman also decided to appoint his own Cabinet officers. In the case of Attorney General Biddle, however, Truman chose not to communicate his wishes directly. The President had his press secretary, Stephen Early, telephone Biddle on May 16, 1945, to request his resignation. Attorney General Biddle did not appreciate the President’s effort to fire him by emissary. So after speaking to Early, Biddle called the White House and requested a meeting with President Truman. They met later that morning. As the story soon emerged in the press, Biddle told Truman that he had, immediately after Roosevelt’s death, submitted his letter of resignation for the President’s acceptance if that was his preference. Biddle added that he quite appreciated that a president would want to have his own friends, people with whom the president was comfortable—and Biddle had reason to think that this was not Truman’s view of him—in his Cabinet. “But,” Biddle added, “the relation between the President and his Cabinet is such that if you want to accept my resignation, it seems to me that you should tell me so yourself, not detail it to a secretary.” President Truman, reportedly embarrassed, agreed. He told Biddle, to his face, that he was accepting his resignation. According to Biddle’s later memoir, the President “looked relieved; and I got up, walked over to him, and touched his shoulder. ‘You see,’ I said, ‘it’s not so hard.’” This post was emailed to the Jackson List, a private but entirely non-selective email list that reaches many thousands of subscribers around the world. I write to it periodically about Justice Robert H. Jackson, the Supreme Court, Nuremberg and related topics. The Jackson List archive site is http://thejacksonlist.com/. To subscribe, email me at [email protected]. Thank you for your interest, and for spreading the word.

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Nations do not always like to recall their weaknesses and flaws even though they must do so to move forward. Americans do not like to discuss slavery or their ancestors’ treatment of Native Americans. The British seek to gloss over their excesses during the colonial era. Turks dispute to this day that genocide was attempted against Armenians in the Ottoman era. But few nations advance a rosy national narrative in an unqualified way as some Pakistanis insist on doing, not only in viewing history but also our current state. The white man’s atrocities against Native Americans or Black slaves might not be the subject of daily discourse but it still finds its way into articles, books and movies in the United States. British scholars research, teach and publish about colonialism without fear of being branded traitors to king and country. Elsewhere, a different view of one’s own history or a critical analysis of a nation’s performance does not result in abuse of the variety that comes the way of critics in Pakistan. The Pakistani state has long tried to force a particular narrative of history down the people’s throats and excluded from academia scholars who refuse to conform. It is as if only one set of ‘facts’ and one set of explanations of these facts would help us forge and maintain national identity. The rise of electronic and social media has widely popularised the pathology of describing citation of facts contrary to our particular national narrative as ‘anti-Pakistan.’ This hyper-patriotism is no longer limited to a conformist view of history and historic events. The mere suggestion that we might not be doing as well as we think attracts the label of being ‘negative towards Pakistan.’ It is as if a Pakistani must turn a blind eye to anything that reflects poorly on Pakistan’s image. Celebrate when we win a cricket or hockey match but do not highlight it if an international publication accuses our country of harbouring terrorists; Repeat government officials’ claims about potential economic success but do not cite figures that disprove them. It is almost as if we want to live in our own cocoon. We will be okay if we think positively. Talk about bad scenarios, cite statistics that point to our decline, quote others on weaknesses of our foreign and security policies and our countrymen react angrily. By their logic, a Pakistani should only work on improving others’ view of Pakistan, not try to alter the substance that leads to a poor image in the first place. On December 17, 1971, the day after ‘‘all Pakistani armed forces in Bangladesh” surrendered to “Lt General Jagjit Singh Aurora, GOC-in-C of the Indian and Bangladesh forces in the eastern theatre’’ according to the ‘instrument of surrender,’ none of Pakistan’s newspapers reported the surrender. Radio Pakistan had announced four days earlier that ‘‘the question of any surrender is ruled out because our troops are determined to lay down their lives.’’ The official statement on the momentous event comprised a total of 27 words. It read, ‘‘Latest reports indicate that following an arrangement between the local commanders of India and Pakistan, fighting has ceased in East Pakistan and the Indian troops have entered Dhaka.’’ The nation could not avoid facing the loss of more than half the country’s population and almost half its territory forever. But those in charge of the country’s fortunes at the time wanted to break bad news gently. In other matters, where the people might not find the facts out easily, keeping the bad news out of headlines is easier. Maintaining national morale and pride are often deemed more important than facing harsh realities. The country might be served better by allowing reality to become part of national discourse, as is the case in most countries. Admittedly, nations need to feel good about themselves but those who talk about what went wrong or is likely to go wrong need not be dismissed as negative thinkers or anti-national. They are the much necessary antidote to contrived positivity and they make self-examination and self-correction possible. Thus, it is important to remember every time we are in a self-congratulatory mood that we are the sixth largest nation in the world by population but only 26th by size of GDP on PPP basis and 42nd in nominal GDP. We have the world’s sixth largest nuclear arsenal and eight largest army. But our ranking in global firepower stands at 17th and Pakistan performs poorly in most non-military indices. Pakistan ranks 146 out of 187 countries in the world on the Human Development Index, which measures health, standard of living, and education. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report ranks Pakistan’s primary education at 136 out of 144 countries. Pakistan’s higher education ranking is 98 out of 144 while in math and science education our ranking is 104 out of 144. DHL’s Global Connectedness Index places Pakistan at 114 out of 140 countries. This shows Pakistan less connected globally than many countries poorer than itself. Should we just feel good or start discussing our failings before figuring out how to rectify them?

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Genesis is a book of history, and as such must begin, as all histories do, in the middle. Given that the book opens with "In the beginning," it may seem strange to read that it begins not with the beginning but with the middle. The middle I am referring to here, however, is present before Moses begins with his "in the beginning" opening. In this middle sits Moses the divinely inspired but still very real writer trying to articulate to Israel their past, present, and future. The historical genre attempts to use the past to explain the present and shape the future, and Moses' history is no exception. So the real question is not whether Moses' history in Genesis begins in the middle but what is God trying to say to us through Moses' history? Why might God have used Moses as a historian? Why isn't this poetry or wisdom literature? What difference does it make that Genesis is a history? These are some of the questions we should carry with us as we read through Genesis. The first 11 chapters of Genesis are known as Moses' primeval history. These chapters give the history of the entire world from its creation to the days of Abraham. That is a lot of ground to cover, considering that Moses most likely lived around 2000-1800 BCE. Even the most conservative estimates about the age of the Earth make that about 4,000 years of history in 11 chapters. Think about all of the people who would live and events that would happen in 4,000 years. So, Moses left out a lot of stuff. Why? We can begin to answer this question by thinking about what Moses was trying to do with his history. The literary traditions of the time and place of Moses help us to think about his purpose. Moses not only knew about these literary traditions, he knew about the other primeval histories that were popular during his time. Actually, he not only knew about these other primeval histories, he interacted with these other primeval histories in his Genesis primeval history. Moses was not the first historian of the world's origins. There were actually a lot of these floating around the ancient Near East during Moses' time. The most well-known of these histories is probably the Gilgamesh Epic, but the Babylonians had both a creation story and a flood story. There were other creation accounts in Egypt and Canaan too. Remember, Moses was well-educated in the royal courts of Egypt during his youth. So, how did Moses interact with these other histories and why? Before considering an answer, we must also remember that Moses' original audience for his primeval history also began in the middle. The Israelites also had an existing history that, like Moses', involved a lot of Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern influence. That meant that Moses had to interact with these existing histories simply to make himself understood by his audience. So, Moses' interactions with these other histories was both positive and negative. The negative interaction was to correct false beliefs and tell the historical truth to Israel about its relationship to God. It was positive in the sense that Moses had to use the same way of telling primeval history that these other histories used just to be understood by his audience. One particular literary text that Moses seems to have positively interacted with a lot was rediscovered and published in 1965 as Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood. Moses seems to have followed the threefold literary structure of the Atrahasis Epic, which begins with the creation of people, their subsequent corruption of the world, the rectification of this problem with a judgement flood, and ends with a new world order. Moses used this same storyline to tell a very different primeval history to the people of Israel. Remember that histories are stories about the past to explain the present and shape the future. How does this storyline in Atrahasis Epic do this? Do we know how it works? This history works by telling its readers that the universe operates by supernatural order and wisdom, and that it is the responsibility of every member of society regardless of status to conform to this divine order. They learn this by remembering what happened when people did not conform to this divine order. So, one of the functions of the Atrahasis Epic was to keep everybody, from slaves to royals, in obedient order. These stories justified both the existing social, cultural, and religious structures as well as the enforcement mechanisms that were undoubtedly used to maintain this order. Why would Moses use this as his literary structure for his primeval history? This seems like a recipe for social coercion and systemic abuse. Moses uses this literary structure to convince his Israelite audience that God created and ordered a good world, and that Moses' leading of captive Israelites out of slavery into the promised land was in concert with that good divine order. Remember, Moses faced significant opposition from Israelites who believed Moses had led them astray. His purpose was to convince them that Moses' program was the way of God just like the creation of the world. In the rest of the Pentateuch, Moses goes to great lengths to ensure that people were not subjected to the sorts of systemic abuses that Israelites had suffered in Egypt. Moses showed Israel that moving towards Canaan was like moving towards God's ideal creation in Gen 1:1-2:3. Egypt was a place of corruption and hardship, just like the world's corruption had brought hardship in Gen 2:4-6:8. The flood and new order of Gen 6:9-11:9 with Noah showed Israel the new order and blessings that would come with following Moses to Canaan. Canaan was the divine inheritance of Israel if they would only turn away from Egypt and its corruption. For further investigation of this topic, you could read the Atrahasis Epic. One of the ways that action occurs throughout Genesis is in terms of movement towards shalom. One way of understanding what shalom means is to imagine what that word would have meant to enslaved ancient Israelites who were themselves trying to imagine life beyond slavery. All of the dominant worldly pagan wisdom of their day told them that it was really important to maintain the existing social and economic world order in which they were enslaved, because if they did not really bad things like a catastrophic flood would happen to them. The message was basically that nothing significant could be done for an Israelite to move her out of slavery, because her enslavement is the will of the gods. An enslaved person knows in their core that their enslavement is wrong. An enslaved person will try to escape their bondage. The pagan world's wisdom does not try to teach enslaved people that somehow being enslaved is good. That just would not work. Instead, its message for the enslaved was that escape is futile and that your enslavement is probably due in some way to your own inadequacy. It would tell an enslaved person that the sense of injustice and hope you can feel deep in your bones is just not how the world works. Shalom in Genesis functions as a way of telling those enslaved people that this worldly wisdom is a lie. Life, love, peace, and justice are the threads from which the world is woven. This shalom is the real supernatural order, and our hope is in God who alone can restore this world order. As you move through Genesis, try to imagine how what you read about God, his creation, and what it says about all people tells a radically different story to these enslaved Israelites about the way the world should work. Think about how shalom, Sabbath, and Canaan are deeply related to each other. As you read, think about movement and action in this narrative in terms of being towards or away from shalom and life.

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Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a new technique that uses a single UV laser pulse to zap away biological tissue at multiple points simultaneously, a method that could help scientists study the mechanical forces at work as organisms grow and change shape. UV lasers are a commonly-used tool for cutting into tissue, but the lasers usually make incisions by vaporizing one point at a time in a series of steps. If the initial laser pulse cuts into cells under tension, the tissue could spring back from the incision. This makes precise tasks, such as cutting around a single cell, difficult. The Vanderbilt team found a way around this problem by using a computer-controlled hologram to shape the phase profile of the UV pulse -basically applying a patterned delay onto different parts of the beam. When the pulse then passed through a lens, the altered phase profile yielded an interference pattern with bright spots at any user-desired pattern of points. Using this method, which can vaporize up to 30 points simultaneously, the researchers successfully isolated a single cell on a developing fruit fly embryo and then observed how the cell relaxed into a shape dictated solely by internal forces. AdvertisementThe technique, described in the September issue of the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express, could be applied to other model organisms, such as frogs or zebra fish. You May Also Like

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He has been the subject of more books, films, and documentaries than any other individual, living or dead. However, despite this intense and enduring interest, there is still a great deal about Hitler that we do not know for sure. These are 10 of the most debated theories about the life and death of Adolf Hitler. Was Hitler a brave soldier? In the Second World War, Adolf Hitler (pictured above on the far right) was one of the most powerful men in the world, but in World War One he never rose beyond the rank of corporal. Nonetheless, he served in the Imperial German Army for several years, even being awarded the Iron Cross, one of Imperial Germany’s highest medals for valor. While there isn’t much good to say about Hitler, history does record that he was a brave soldier who danced with death on a regular basis. This was certainly the version of history put forward by the Nazis, but recent research suggests his war record may have been vastly inflated. Dr. Thomas Weber of Aberdeen University tracked down every diary entry and letter he could find written by the men who had served in Hitler’s regiment. They revealed that Hitler may not, as previously believed, have served as a regimental runner – a dangerous job that would have seen him delivering messages to the frontlines under heavy fire. It seems that he had instead been employed to deliver messages between company headquarters. This would have placed him several miles behind the front-lines. Weber argues that Hitler’s medals for bravery were awarded simply because his job brought him into contact with the officers who issued the medals, rather than for any specific act of heroism. While this might not be enough to completely overturn the general consensus concerning Hitler’s military service, it certainly brings it into question. Was Hitler partly Jewish? The details of Adolf Hitler’s family tree on his mother’s side have been established with a good degree of certainty. The same cannot be said for his father. Alois Schicklgruber, who later changed his name to Hitler, was an illegitimate child. Since nobody knew who the young Shicklgruber’s father was, that space was left blank on his birth certificate. Historians have invested considerable effort in attempting to work out the true identity of Adolf Hitler’s paternal grandfather. The mystery has never been solved, but one of the potential candidates put forward was a Jew by the name of Leopold Frankenberger. The suggestion that he might be partly Jewish dogged Hitler throughout his life, but thanks to modern techniques scientists have been able to attempt to provide an answer. Some 39 of Hitler’s closest surviving relatives gave saliva samples in order for their DNA to be tested. The results found a chromosome called E1b1b1, which is very rare amongst Europeans, but is associated with the Berbers of North Africa and Jewish people. This suggests that Hitler might well have been related to the very people he despised. Did Hitler murder his niece? Geli Raubal was said to be a beautiful young woman. Adolf Hitler apparently agreed, and in 1929 the pair became entwined in a love affair. This was despite the fact that Hitler was 19 years her senior and also her half-uncle. Hitler was by all accounts utterly besotted, and Geli accompanied him everywhere. For a time, it appears that Hitler’s infatuation was reciprocated, but the future Fuhrer’s obsession soon became suffocating. He refused to let Geli leave his side and became enraged if she dared to speak to another man. The couple shared an apartment in Munich, and neighbors reported that on the evening of September 18, 1931 a huge row erupted between Hitler and his niece. The next morning Geli was found shot dead with Hitler’s revolver at her side. Sections of the press speculated that Geli had been murdered by her lover in a fit of jealous rage. Unfortunately, the truth will probably never be known. Hitler had not yet seized power, but his connections and influence within Germany were considerable. He had many friends in high places. These included the pro-Nazi Minister of Justice for Bavaria, who ensured that Geli’s body was swiftly removed from the country for burial in Austria. Claims that she had suffered a broken nose in addition to the gunshot wound that claimed her life could no longer be verified one way or the other. Was Hitler really blinded by poison gas? On November 11, 1918 the slaughter of World War One finally came to an end as the armistice came into effect. For the vast majority of soldiers on either side the overriding emotion was of relief that they had survived. That was not the case for Adolf Hitler. Having been caught in a poison gas attack some weeks earlier he had been temporarily blinded and was undergoing treatment in a field hospital. When news reached him of what amounted to Germany’s capitulation, he fell to his knees and broke down in tears. At least, that’s the story that Hitler always told, and despite him being one of history’s most prolific liars it went unchallenged for almost a century. In 2011 the historian Thomas Weber decided to take a closer look into Hitler’s claims. Hitler’s Great War medical records had long since been lost or destroyed. However, a renowned German neurosurgeon named Otfrid Forster claimed to have seen them. Weber found letters that Forster had written to his American colleagues during the 1930s. According to Forster, Hitler had been hospitalized due to hysterical blindness and not poison gas. If this is accurate, then it would not be at all surprising that Hitler invented a different narrative to portray himself in a more heroic light. Did A British soldier spare Hitler’s life? Henry Tandey was a war hero, one of the most decorated soldiers in the entire British Army, and perhaps a man who unwittingly missed an opportunity to prevent the Second World War. Legend has it that Tandey and Hitler met face-to-face on a World War I battlefield. Tandey allegedly had Germany’s future leader at his mercy, but he chose to let him live rather than gun down a defenseless opponent. It’s a remarkable story, even more so since its source can be traced back to none other than Adolf Hitler himself. In September 1938 Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew to Germany in an optimistic but ultimately doomed attempt to secure peace in Europe. While there he noticed a picture of a British soldier, Henry Tandey, displayed on the wall of Hitler’s study. It seemed very odd indeed that an arch-nationalist such as Germany’s Fuhrer would choose to display a picture of a British soldier. Hitler explained that he’d noticed Tandey’s photograph in the press and recognized him as the man who spared his life during the Great War. It may be that Hitler was mistaken. Perhaps he even invented the story to bolster the myth of himself as a man protected by providence and destiny. However, Tandey confirmed that he had indeed spared the lives of several Germans. It is possible that one of those men was Adolf Hitler. Was Hitler a weak dictator? At the height of his power Adolf Hitler presided over a vast empire that spanned almost all of continental Europe, and a sizeable chunk of North Africa. The conventional image of Hitler is as the overlord at the center of this vast web, making all the important decisions and pulling all the strings. Some historians, most notably Hans Mommsen, have argued that this picture credits Hitler with far more control than he ever actually wielded. Advocates of the weak dictator theory accept that Hitler was the most powerful man in the Reich, but they argue that he was either unable or unwilling to exercise the kind of direct control over his subordinates that the likes of the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin insisted upon. Rather than Hitler dictating his decisions from above, many policies were implemented from below as his henchman, such as Himmler and Martin Bormann, fought turf wars amongst themselves and attempted to dream up schemes to please their Fuhrer. On this reading Hitler never really had a grand plan, he was instead buffeted around by the forces of history and the chaotic nature of the brutal party apparatus he had created. Was Hitler obsessed with the occult? Nazis are one of the go-to staples for any fiction writer in need of a baddie. Frequently, as in Raiders of the Lost Ark, those Nazis are attempting to harness supernatural powers. This isn’t actually a million miles from reality. Several members of Hitler’s inner circle were fascinated by and firmly believed in the power of the supernatural and magic. Heinrich Himmler created a special unit within the SS to collect information on witches and magic, and the German Navy even set up the National Pendulum Institute in Berlin. While the British used sonar to hunt down German U-boats, the Germans attempted to locate British shipping by dangling pendulums over maps of the Atlantic Ocean. The biggest believer of all was Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s second in command, who in 1941 stole a Messerschmitt fighter aircraft, flew to Scotland, and attempted to broker a peace deal between Nazi Germany and the thoroughly bemused British. It seems that Hess’s astrologer had convinced him he was destined to be the man to bring the war to an end. Quite how convinced Hitler was of the existence of supernatural powers is debatable. However, there is no question that he often spoke of a force he called “providence” protecting him and guiding his actions. Was Hitler suffering from Parkinson’s disease? During his rise to power Hitler proved himself to be an exceptionally shrewd, manipulative, and cunning politician. He later demonstrated these same abilities on the international stage as he routinely outmaneuvered the established statesmen of Europe. As World War Two progressed, Hitler’s agility of mind abandoned him as his mental and physical health deteriorated rapidly. His decision making became so poor that the Allies abandoned plans to assassinate him, on the grounds that his mistakes were helping to shorten the war. By 1945 visitors to Hitler’s Berlin bunker were shocked to find their Fuhrer had become a physical wreck. His left hand shook uncontrollably, and he dragged his leg behind him as he walked. The stress and strain of directing a world war that seemed increasingly certain to lead to his death no doubt played their part in Hitler’s dramatic decline, but some neuroscientists believe Hitler was suffering from the degenerative mental and physical impact of Parkinson’s disease. Bruno Ganz, the actor who played Hitler in the 2005 film Downfall, was convinced this was the case and attempted to portray this in his performance. Was Hitler a junkie? Adolf Hitler didn’t smoke, didn’t touch alcohol, and didn’t eat meat. He reportedly even abstained from coffee. Nazi propaganda portrayed him as having dedicated his entire life in the service of Germany: he had neither the time nor the inclination to pursue Earthly pleasures. The reality, which has only recently begun to emerge, was that Hitler spent much of the war doped up on a terrifying cocktail of drugs. Hitler’s slide into addiction began when he fell ill in 1941, and his personal physician, Theodor Morell, treated him with a course of injections of methamphetamine. Hitler, not surprisingly, found this perked him up to no end. Morell soon became indispensable to Germany’s leader; accompanying Hitler everywhere he would administer opiates to help his Fuhrer sleep and cocaine to pep him up before important meetings. While Hitler didn’t see himself as a junkie, he needed drugs in order to function and was almost certainly severely addicted. In early 1945 the factories that produced the drugs he relied on were destroyed by Allied bombers, cutting off much of his supply. Hitler was forced to go cold turkey, and some historians have speculated that it may have been this, and not Parkinson’s disease, that accounted for his mental and physical deterioration as the war in Europe approached its end. Did Hitler survive the war? Of all the theories swirling around Adolf Hitler perhaps the most infamous, and the most persistent, is that he may have somehow survived the destruction of his murderous Third Reich. We know with a good deal of certainty that Hitler was still in Berlin on his birthday of 20 April 1945, just two weeks before the city fell. However, Berlin was ultimately captured by the Soviets, and Stalin’s secret police prevented even Georgy Zhukov, the senior Soviet commander on the entire Eastern Front, from inspecting Hitler’s bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. By the time the Americans and British were finally allowed access, Hitler, whether alive or dead, was long gone. With the lack of any physical remains to examine, the FBI and the CIA initially remained open to the possibility that Hitler may just have escaped. It was by no means entirely implausible; even in the final months of the war Hitler still had the ability to call upon immense resources had he chosen to attempt to flee. However, the weight of evidence indicates this was most likely not the case. Dozens of mutually corroborating eyewitness accounts place Hitler in Berlin as the Soviet Red Army closed in around his bunker. The U-boat in which he was rumored to have escaped was recently found wrecked in the North Sea between Denmark and Norway, and in 2018 the Russian National Archives allowed experts to study a set of teeth said to belong to Hitler. A team of French pathologists compared them with x-rays taken of Hitler’s teeth in 1944 and found them to be an exact match. Most World War Two historians believe that Adolf Hitler committed suicide amidst the ruins of his shattered Reich in April of 1945, but rumors that he escaped to South America, or even Antarctica, do not easily die.

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1418: Harnessing a Dog's Own Immune System to Kill Lymphoma Tumor Cells Grant Status: Open Lymphoma is the most common malignancy of dogs representing up to 25% of diagnosed cancers. Dogs often develop an aggressive form of lymphoma that is rarely curable, with most unfortunately succumbing to disease within 12 months of diagnosis despite best-available chemotherapies. Dr. Wilson will develop a new treatment to re-train the dog's own immune system to attack the most common type of canine lymphoma, B-cell lymphoma. In order to accomplish this they will obtain a small number of circulating white blood cells, called T cells, from the blood of affected dogs and insert a gene that will cause the T cell to express a receptor which recognizes the tumor "fingerprint". After docking with the lymphoma, the T cell will be triggered to mount an immune response against the tumor cells with the specific fingerprint. This therapy could be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Their preliminary data demonstrate that it is possible to genetically modify T cells. Further, they have been able to successfully harvest and grow T cells in the laboratory and return them safely to the dog. These infused cells can be found in the blood and tumor weeks after infusion, showing that it is possible for these cells to survive in the dog. If successful this study will be the first to develop an "in-dog" T-cell therapy targeting a tumor that has historically thought to be untreatable. - O'Connor CM, Sheppard S, Hartline CA, Huls H, Johnson M, Palla SL, Maiti S, Ma W, Davis RE, Craig S, Lee DA, Champlin R, Wilson H, Cooper LJ. Adoptive T-cell therapy improves treatment of canine non-Hodgkin lymphoma post chemotherapy. Sci Rep. 2012;2:24 Help Future Generations of Dogs Participate in canine health research by providing samples or by enrolling in a clinical trial. Samples are needed from healthy dogs and dogs affected by specific diseases.

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We all associate Dalmatians with fire trucks. The dogs came first came into use because they were loyal and easy to train. They have shared barns and hunting trails with horses for centuries. So, when fire apparatus was horse-drawn, most firehouses had a Dalmatian. These dogs were companions for the horses, but they also guarded the fire station. More importantly, Dalmatians directed the horses by clearing the path for them while they were on their way to a fire. When fire stations did away with the horse-drawn fire wagons and replaced them with fire trucks, both the horses and the dogs lost their jobs. But, today, some fire stations still keep a Dalmatian as a mascot, guard dog, and as a companion for the firefighters. If you’re looking into getting a Dalmatian, please consider adopting one before going to a breeder. These dogs have worked hard for many years by helping to rescue human beings. The least you could do for them is save one from euthanization. For more information about these dogs and where you can find a rescue organization near you, please visit 1-800-Save-a-Pet.com.

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The Njord oil field of the mid-Norwegian continental margin comprises a hydrocarbon trap structure, which is delineated by segments of master faults with complex geometry. The Vingleia Fault Complex includes the major fault segments that delineate the Njord structure to the southeast and east. Three master fault segments with a change in strike orientation are recognized. Reflection seismic sections reveal that these segments show strong variations in fault plane geometry. The central part is characterized by a pronounced ramp–flat–ramp geometry, which diminishes both southwestward and northeastward, so that the northeastern and southwestern segments have a more listric geometry. Hence, an along-strike profile shows an antiform-like culmination in the master fault surface. To the characteristic deformation of ramp–flat–ramp faults, additional deformation in the Njord Field is obvious and marked by extensional horses, extensive roll-over folding, varying strata rotation, characteristic fault bending and variable influence of synthetic and antithetic faults. The occurrence of the style of deformation and geometrical variations in fault pattern are closely related to the structural position above the detachment fault. The following steps in the development of the Vingleia Fault Complex and the associated deformation of the hanging-wall fault block are proposed. (1) Initiation of the master faults in early Triassic. This stage was characterized by slow, extensional displacement. The positions of the master fault segments were possibly influenced by basement in homogeneities marked by a magnetic/gravity anomaly. (2) It is likely that the ramp–flat–ramp had already become established at this stage and that the master fault geometry and a proposed weak salt layer promoted this. (3) During accelerating extension in mid to late Jurassic, the master fault segments became connected by one-sided, lateral linking of fault tip and fault plane or by mutual curved linking of the fault tips. (4) Simultaneously, a roll-over anticline developed within the hanging wall of the master fault. Its relatively large amplitude is produced by a differential movement on the fault surface in combination with a dip-parallel shift of the vertical displacement maximum, which is positioned above a change in the footwall dip. - 2004 EAGE/Geological Society of London

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Today one of my friend ask me What is Honeypot and how to use it. So, I decided to write an article on it. According to Wikipedia:- In computer terminology, a honeypot is a trap set to detect, deflect, or in some manner counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems. Generally it consists of a computer, data, or a network site that appears to be part of a network, but is actually isolated and monitored, and which seems to contain information or a resource of value to attackers. There are lots of methods to deploy Honeypots based on what kind of Honeypot you want to use. In this article we will see hot to setup an network based honeypot. This honeypot is used to detect network attack. We will see how to create a Honeypot using honeyd. honeyd is included in backtrack so you don’t need to download and install it in backtrack. Honeyd is a small daemon that creates virtual hosts on a network. The hosts can be configured to run arbitrary services, and their personality can be adapted so that they appear to be running certain operating systems. Honeyd enables a single host to claim multiple addresses OK to create a honeypot using honeyd you need a configuration file of virtual host. So open text editor (you can use nano vi or gedit) and type the following configuration. and save the file as honeyd.conf create windowsset windows personality "Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1"add windows tcp port 23 openadd windows tcp port 25 openadd windows tcp port 80 openset windows ethernet "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff"bind 192.168.56.124 windows if you want you can add more port on your virtual host. This is all configuration we need for our honeypot. Open terminal and start honeyd using command honeyd -d -f honeyd.conf where honeyd.conf is the name of file you created in previous step. OK our honeypot is ready with IP address 192.168.56.124, just make sure that the IP address you give to your virtual host must be in same sub-net of your real machine. Now whenever any one from outside try to access your virtual host it will create a log and will display it on the terminal. If you want all the logs on a particular file then use -l after the file name and give the location of the file. e.g honeyd -d -f honeyd.conf -l [location] hope it will help you..... I have included an video based on this article.

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Steps To Fertilize Your Lawn Following these simple steps, along with the helpful Do’s and Don’ts, can help make your lawn greener and stronger. Be sure to check the label or contact your local cooperative extension for the best application timings and amounts. - Adjust the spreader to the appropriate setting found on the fertilizer label. - Place spreader on a hard surface (driveway or patio) and add fertilizer. Sweep up any spills. - To be certain of even coverage, go around the edge of the lawn first, then make parallel passes across the middle. Overlap wheel passes for drop spreaders. Follow manufacturers instructions for broadcast spreaders. - To avoid over-application, turn the spreader off when you overlap edges, turn or stop. Walk at a normal pace and check the spreader often to make sure it is operating properly. Uneven application will result in uneven greening of the lawn or burning. - Sweep, brush or blow any accidentally applied material off driveways, sidewalks etc. back onto the lawn. Pour left-over fertilizer back in the bag. - Place the spreader on the lawn and clean with a hose. - Lightly water the lawn to move the fertilizer off the grass blades and into the soil. For most lawn fertilizers, you should see results in 7 to 10 days. Fertilizers with 100% slow-release nitrogen may take longer. - Always read and follow label instructions. - Wear gloves whenever handling fertilizers. - Have your soil tested (contact your local cooperative extension for info) – Certain soil characteristics, such as pH, can affect the availability of some nutrients. - Mow your lawn at least several days before feeding – Grass that is too tall may block spreader output. - To avoid burning the lawn – Use a fertilizer with at least 50% slow-release nitrogen. - If you spill fertilizer on the lawn – Clean up as much as possible (a small vacuum or hand broom may help) and water the spot heavily. - Never fertilize a dry lawn – You increase your chances of burning the grass. Water thoroughly a day or two before application. - Never fertilize if heavy rain is in the forecast – Heavy rain may wash fertilizer from the lawn and cause pollution. - Never fertilize during very hot weather – It increases the chances of burning the lawn. See fertilizer label for temperature restrictions. - Never use a hose to wash excess fertilizer into gutters or drains – Avoid polluting by sweeping or blowing fertilizer back onto lawn. - Do not apply near water –Storm drains or drainage ditches.

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Skip to comments.4 Supreme Court Cases define "natural born citizen" Posted on 04/25/2011 1:33:23 AM PDT by Veristhorne click here to read article Here is the entire comment made by John Greschak as posted on puzo1.blogspot: I would like to clarify some points regarding Vattel’s book “Le Droit des Gens”, which, in its translated form, was titled “The Law of Nations.” In various places, I have seen statements that suggest that Vattel wrote the phrase “natural-born citizens” in Section 212 of a book titled “The Law of Nations” in 1758. And, since the Framers knew of Vattel’s work, it has been suggested that they were influenced by his use of this phrase. From what I can see, that is incorrect. Here are the facts (as I understand them): 1. In 1758, Vattel wrote a book titled “Le Droit des Gens” in French. There he used the phrase “Naturels, or Indigenes” (with an accent grave on the first “e” of “Indigenes”). 2. Subsequently, in 1759, Vattel’s book was translated into English and published in London (and called “The Law of Nations”). I do not know who did this translation. Vattel’s phrase “Naturels, or Indigenes” was translated into “natives, or indigenes” (with no accent grave in “Indigenes”). 3. The first American edition of Vattel’s book was published in 1787 in New York. The text for Section 212 in this edition was identical to that of the first English-language edition from 1759; specifically, is used the phrase “natives, or indigenes.” 4. I have seen Dublin, London and New York English-language editions that were published in 1792, 1793 and 1796, respectively. There again, the phrase “natives, or indigenes” was used. 5. In 1797, an English-language edition of Vattel’s book was printed in London. There the phrase “natives, or natural-born citizens” was used instead of “natives, or indigenes.” In this edition, other changes were made to the English-language version of Section 212 as well. I do not know who was responsible for these changes. I believe this is the first time the phrase “natural-born citizen” was used in any edition of “The Law of Nations.” Consequently, I do not believe Vattel wrote “natural-born citizens.” Also, since the Constitution was written in 1787 and had been ratified by all 13 original states by the end of 1790, I do not believe that the Framers were influenced by this use of the phrase “natural-born citizens” in “The Law of Nations” (which was not published until 1797). By this, I do not mean to imply that this particular passage from the 1797 English edition of “Le Droit des Gens” is insignificant. I believe it tells us something about the meaning of the phrase “natural born Citizen”. I take the phrase “natives, or natural-born citizens” as an indication that “natives” and “natural-born citizens” are synonymous terms. The question then becomes: Of the many possible meanings for the word “native”, with which sense is the phrase “natural born Citizen” synonymous? I have published an image of the version of Section 212 from “Le Droit des Gens” and images of various versions of this section from translations of that work. You can find these in the introductory paragraphs of my essay “What is a Natural Born Citizen of the United States?” at http://www.greschak.com/essays/natborn/index.htm.; John Greschak. The point to understand is that “natural born Citizen” is associated with Vattel, even if he did not use those exact words himself but rather used “naturels, ou indigenes” (”natives or indigenes)” Vattel defined those French words to mean someone who was born in the country to citizen parents. Someone during the 1797 English translation substituted the phrase “natural born Citizen” for the words “natives” and “indigenes.” But the three words all meant the same thing, i.e., someone born in the county to citizen parents. Hence, the conclusion is that Vattel provided the definition of what a “natural born Citizen” is, for that phrase replaced the words “natives or indigenes” which he defined exactly the same way as “natural born Citizen” came to be defined. Note he believes birthers are correct, but rejects the idea that there is a difference between the two 1787 editions. For my part, I apologize for not catching that there were two editions published in 1787...I don’t spend much time studying Vattel, since I think he is legally irrelevant to the discussion. Still, if anyone claims the NY edition in 1787 uses “natural born citizen”, I think the burden of proof is on them to show John Greschak lied. Also, “Dr. Conspiracy” publishes what is supposed to be a picture of the 1787 American edition, which he credits to John Greschak. Mario Apuzzo responds later in the discussion on that page, and does not challenge the accuracy of the picture. Both Mario Apuzzo and John Greschak seem content to argue that ‘indigenes’ is French for NBC, and that is, after all, the word the 1797 translation translates NBC. Also note this comment by “Dr. Conspiracy”: “I also thought it highly unfair to use the images that Greshak uncovered and not share the fact that he uses those images as part of an argument that does not agree with my conclusions. Greshak is not part of the hoax (those who simply say that de Vattel wrote natural born citizen (in English translation) and the Framers read it, or that the term is defined in The Law of Nations).” The two websites both have discussions worth reading, with most of the discussion being honest and polite: Those afraid to read ‘Dr. Conspiracy’ should notice that Mario Apuzzo posted there multiple times. The chart you have shown is accurate. It does not support either side of our disagreement. A naturalized citizen, Such as Arnie S., former governor of CA, can hold all of those offices up to but not including president. The heart of the question is the legal definition of “natural born citizen” at the time of barrys birth. My position is that a b@stard child born to a woman who is unquestionably a non-naturalized US citizen (unmarried) is a natural born citizen no matter what country the child is birthed. You have not given me any proof to the contrary. Side note: “anchor baby” by definition is a child born in the US where NEITHER of the parents are US citizens. They do not fit the definition of either naturalized or natural born...and in my opinion should NOT be considered a citizen. since this whole thing is about Obama, let’s concentrate on him. By the way, since it is being reported that he has disclosed his LFBC, this may bea moot point......MAY be!!! Weeks ago? Try years ago. Your contention, was that being born here is the criteria for one being a "natural born Citizen." I merely pointed out...that that would include anchor babies. Because of a bastardization of the intent of the 14th Amendment, anchor babies are now given citizenship. I may not have done a good job in being precise on where you and I DON’T agree. We do agree on most all of the points. Let me try again. In my understanding, and based on what I have read, IF Barrack’s mom was married at the time of his birth AND he was born off of U.S. soil AND her age is what is was...you have a strong argument that BO could be ruled to be NOT a “natural born citizen”. However, his mom WAS NOT MARRIED to the father at the time of his birth. It’s my understanding that, at the time of his birth, the citizenship of the “baby daddy” did NOT come in to play when determining citizenship. Let me repeat just to make sure I’m clear; the unmarried parent’s citizenship is (I believe) NOT RELEVANT at the time of Barry’s birth when determining citizenship. The determining factor is the citizenship of the mother ONLY in that circumstance...remember, this is long before DNA testing, and determining parenthood was far from a perfect science. So, if Barracks’s only line of citizenship came from that of his mother, he could have been born anywhere and been considered a natural born citizen. All of the legal language contemporary to his birth mentioned HUSBAND and WIFE, not “parent”. Even if I am right (and I am by no means 100% positive) would Barry have been elected with that cloud over his head? I don’t think he’d have made it past Hillary in the primaries. The case had nothing to do with someone born a citizen of the U.S., and never mentioned the phrase "natural born citizen." So why did the author lie and claim that it did? Bruce, I’ll assume your point about “Natural Born Citizen” not being mentioned in the Venus case is well-intentioned. Perhaps you didn’t know that Emmerich de Vattel, being French,wrote in French. I suppose your argument could be expanded to claim that Vattel himself never mentioned “The Law of Nations.” Justice Henry Livingstone (the Aide-de- Camp to General Benedict Arnold prior to his defection), writing the unanimous decision in “ The Venus, 12 U.S. 8 Cranch 253 253 (1814)” quoted the entire 212th paragraph of Vattel’s French edition, on page 12 of his ruling, using his own translation. ” Vattel, who, though not very full to this point, is more explicit and more satisfactory on it than any other whose work has fallen into my hands, says: The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or indigenes are those born in the country of parents who are citizens. Society not being able to subsist and to perpetuate itself but by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights.” As mentioned in earlier posts, Ben Franklin stated that Vattel was referenced frequently during the Constitutional Convention. You may find it useful to read the informative posts above to see if you think Livingston’s “natives” and “indigenes” are the equivalent of “Natural Born Citizen.” If you read farther, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), and Minor v. Happersett , 88 U.S. 162 (1875) being later cases, specifically do use the term “Natural Born Citizen”. In the Venus case, the court waded through areas of law undefined by Congress or Constitution, finding that it was reasonable to treat differently a citizen born in America with another who was FOREIGN-BORN and naturalized, and who maintained business ties with a nation we were at war with, and in fact, the reliance on Vattel, to whom Natural Law and natural-born clearly indicates that the court did NOT establish the original intent of the phrase, “natural born” meant. The reference to Vattel is to establish that it is reasonable to distinguish between foreign-born and native-born, not to assume all of Vattel’s interests in making that distinction, nor establish Vattel as a controlling authority. Again, Shanks v DuPont merely asserts that moving oversees is NOT inherently a renunciation of citizenship, even when it is to form a marriage with a foreign natural. This actually boosts Obama’s claim, because it suggests that neither Obama nor Dunham lost citizenship when they moved to Indonesia; Even if Obama was underage, he doesn’t renounce his citizenship if his parent does. Nothing in Shanks suggests that the national character of an un-naturalized immigrant in America is legally or incidentally that of his homeland; it is, in fact, quite reasonable to suppose the opposite: that the legal, permanent-resident alien has adopted the natural character of America, even before his naturalization has taken place. In Minor v. Harperset, the court finds that a person born in America of citizens is constitutionally a natural-born citizen. But the Chief Justice purposely ventures into areas not applicable in the case to prevent later case law reading him as creating a narrow definition of natural-born citizens, specifically declining to settle whether any children born in America, whether their parents are citizens or not, are inherently natural-born. In US v Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court plainly rules contrary to your assertion, saying that any child born under US jurisdiction is natural born. This ruling is controlling authority. In error or not, the notion that the Supreme Court would nullify an election which was conducted in accordance with its own precedent is absolutely unthinkable, and would create an unrecoverable constitutional crisis. Stare Decisis is a much abused notion, but this is absolutely the reason why it exists. No, I'm quite familiar with that. I'm also very familiar with writing and reading legal briefs, and know that you deserve to lose your credibility if you misrespresent what a case said. Teh case itself was written in English, and whomever wrote that article specifically stated that all four of the cited cases contained his preferred definition of the term "natural born citizen". And that is simply false. The case does not use that phrase, nor is the meaning of that phrase even relevant in that case. Moreover, even if the case did say that, it would be incredibly weak dicta given that the "natural born citizen" question was not even at issue. The issue in that case concerned people who were naturalized as citizens after birth. The distinction between someone who was born a citizen because they were born in the U.S., and whether or not such a person qualified as a "natural born citizen" was not at issue, and so the Court's decision cannot fairly be read as decided an issue that was not before it. Now, whether the overall argument about "natural born citizens" is correct is a different issue that has been debated to death. I jumped into this thread only because of the specific clam that four Supreme Court cases cited that definition, which is simply false. Everyone’s done a great job with research, and thanks to all for their contributions to this thread. The quote cited doesn’t contain the phrase “natural born citizen”: “TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER III > Part I > § 1401 Prev | Next § 1401. Nationals and citizens of United States at birth How Current is This? The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: (a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof; ...” It seems the issue is, if a person is born in the USA, are they a “natural born citizen?” The SC mentions the class of “native born” citizen, to distinguish it from “natural born citizen.” I haven’t seen anything equating NBC with “born in the USA” To be an NBC requires 100% Jus Sanquinis and U.S.Jus soli. One must be 100% American to be President. BOTH Parents must be citizens at the time of birth of the child IN the US. No exceptions. The case I refer to is Minor v Happersett, US Supreme Court (1875). An NBC is one born IN the US to parents who are both citizens themselves. Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

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In recent years further research has been conducted into the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment, and an increasing number of reports and publications have measured concentrations of pharmaceutical substances in the environment. Pharmaceuticals are now known to occur widely in the environment in industrialised countries: in 2010, 156 pharmaceutically active substances were detected in the German environment as a result of a research project by the German Environment Agency (UBA). In developing countries, further monitoring results have recently become available, but a clear picture of the prevailing concentrations was still not available. Therefore, in 2012 UBA initiated a project to assess the state of knowledge about the global occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Data was collected through a comprehensive literature review of 1,016 original publications and 150 review articles. The measured environmental concentrations of human and veterinary pharmaceutical substances reported worldwide in surface water, groundwater, tap/drinking water, manure, soil, and other environmental matrices were compiled in a systematic database. As a result, the UBA database on pharmaceuticals in the environment contains 123,761 entries. The UBA database is free to access and can be used by many different stakeholders with an interest in the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment. It allows users to search for data pertaining to their particular region or the pharmaceutical substance of interest to them. “We hope the database and respective background material will be used by all kinds of stakeholders in order to minimise the continuous entry of pharmaceuticals in the environment around the world” - Anette Küster, UBA Analysis of the database shows that whilst data for emerging and developing countries is becoming increasingly more available, it still does not match the volume of data available for industrialised countries. In total, 631 different pharmaceuticals (or their transformation products) were detected in the environment of 71 countries worldwide. Of these pharmaceuticals, 16 were found in surface, ground, drinking, and tap water in each of the five UN regional groups. In many countries, certain pharmaceuticals prevail in surface waters at concentrations above their effect threshold, indicating possible adverse ecotoxicological effects in these locations. The anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, for example, has been detected in the environment of 50 countries, in several locations, and at ecotoxicologically relevant concentrations. Additionally, results show that urban wastewater seems to be the dominant emission pathway for pharmaceuticals globally, whereas emissions from industrial production, hospitals, agriculture, and aquaculture are important locally. A global problem with local ‘hot-spots’ The results of the study and the database show that pharmaceuticals in the environment are a global problem affecting all regions. However, “hotspots” - specific regions of entry for pharmaceuticals in the environment, are a bigger problem. These hotspots are often located in regions with high emissions from industrial production, hospitals, agriculture, and aquaculture. Photo: World Bank via Flickr CC It has been shown that the production of pharmaceuticals can lead to relatively high concentrations of pharmaceutical substances in well water that is usually used as drinking water in these regions. Since pharmaceuticals are specifically designed to cause pharmacological effects in living organisms, it is unsurprising that a growing body of literature shows that pharmaceuticals have adverse effects on wildlife and the health of ecosystems. Different organisms in the environment can be affected in different ways, depending on the specific effect of the pharmaceutical substance. For example, fish and snails are affected by very low concentrations of the contraceptive: 17α-ethinyl estradiol. This drug can drastically alter their reproductive organs and cause the feminisation of male animals, and as consequence of this endocrine effect, these animals can no longer reproduce and the population is weakened. Antibiotics might also inhibit the growth of plants and algae, whilst antiparasitics that are used to treat livestock on pastures adversely affect insects found in dung. Many examples have shown that these adverse effects can be replicated in laboratory studies. However, the detrimental effects of pharmaceuticals were also observed in field studies and under natural conditions. It is difficult to assess the potential long-term health risks of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, especially given that drinking water is currently not systematically monitored for pharmaceutical residues. This situation has triggered public concerns about the quality of drinking water. With rising, ageing populations in industrialised countries, and increasing access to healthcare in developing countries - the production, use, and disposal of pharmaceuticals is expected to grow. As a result, pharmaceuticals will increasingly be released into the environment, unless adequate measures are taken to manage the related risks. Find out more: - The UBA database is available to access free of charge here - You can find out more information about the database here - Find UBA’s publications and other links related to the database here - Join HCWH Europe’s Safer Pharma campaign here - Watch HCWH Europe’s Safer Pharma webinar here - Download HCWH Europe’s Pharmaceuticals in the Environment infographic here

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It wasn't exactly one of the great mysteries of the universe, but it was a source of countless bar bets: When beer is poured into a glass, do the bubbles rise or fall? Barflies know all too well that the bubbles fall, seemingly defying the laws of physics. But now, just in time for St. Patrick's Day, it's official. Using a super-slow-motion video camera -- able to record 750 frames a second -- Stanford University scientists with a penchant for some cold Guinness have confirmed that beer bubbles do fall. But careful analysis of the tape has revealed that, while bubbles are lighter than beer and should rise, the laws of physics need not be rewritten after all. "The answer turns out to be really very simple," said Richard Zare, a professor of natural sciences at Stanford. He said the old axiom, "What goes up, must come down," actually holds true. "In this case, the bubbles go up more easily in the center of the beer glass than on the sides because of the drag from the walls. As they go up, they raise the beer, and the beer has to spill back, and it does. "It runs down the sides of the glass carrying the bubbles -- particularly little bubbles -- with it, downward," Zare said. They are not the first scientists to tackle this frothy question. In fact, in 1998, Australian researchers announced that they had created a computer model showing that it was theoretically possible for beer bubbles to flow downward. They based the simulation on the motion of bubbles in a glass of Guinness draft, a popular Irish beer that contains both nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases that bubble. But Zare and postdoctoral student Andrew Alexander were skeptical, so they set out to test the theory by "analyzing" beer at both the pub and in the lab. "Andy and I first disbelieved this and wondered if people had maybe too much Guinness to drink," Zare said. But, time and time again, the beer bubbles did fall, not only in pints of Guinness, but in pints of Boddingtons, a British ale, that does not contain nitrogen. "The bubbles are small enough to be pushed down by the liquid," said Alexander, who is now a professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. In fact, they showed that it is possible to produce sinking bubbles in almost any liquid -- for example, in a glass of water into which is dropped a tablet of Alka-Seltzer. And, for the record, the shape of the glass doesn't matter, but keeping a glass at room temperature will enhance the bubble effect. While they admitted the experiments were done in good fun, both scientists insisted that the research on sinking bubbles has applications beyond settling barroom bets. Zare said the sinking-bubble phenomenon provides valuable insight into how liquids flow, which can have important applications in the fields of chemistry and engineering.

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284 pages, B/w illus This is the first serious challenge to the widely accepted 'Big Bang' model of the universe. According to 'Big Bang' theory, space and time sprang into existence fifteen billion years ago: a super-heated fireball of near infinite density that expanded at phenomenal speed. As it continued to expand, it cooled and condensed to create the galaxies, stars and planets we see today. But the theory has always had flaws and they have become increasingly difficult to reconcile. Why is the distribution of matter and radiation in the universe so uniform? Why is space flat rather than curved, as Einstein's theory of general relativity suggests? And where did the seeds for forming galaxies come from? To resolve these issues, Turok and Steinhardt propose a very different model of the universe. They argue that it is without beginning or end, truly an 'endless universe'. There is a continual cycle of expansion and contraction as parallel universes (or 'branes') collide. In this highly accessible book, they chronicle that last thirty years of cosmology as scientists tried to make the Big Bang theory account for recent discoveries in cosmology. They explain the discovery of 'dark energy', 'dark matter' and the evolution of their new model of our universe. Finally, they address the question of when the next collision might occur between our worlds and the parallel dimensions in space. 'A challenging alternative to the accepted picture of the big bang and the future of the universe.' -- Stephen Hawking 'Two brilliant theorists offer a true-to-life account of their quest to solve one of the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.' -- Sir Martin Rees 'Perhaps you don't believe in strings, or extra spatial dimensions, or D-branes, or that the universe's accelerated expansion may someday reverse. But I urge you to suspend such views and read Steinhardt and Turok's dramatic and very readable account of their cyclic model of the universe. It may be closer to the truth than you think!' -- Roger Penrose 'Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok, two architects of modern cosmology, have written an accessible and engaging account of their exciting new theory of cosmic origins. Should their approach someday be confirmed, it would result in a major upheaval to our understanding of how everything - space, time, and matter - came to be.' -- Brian Greene 'this book is a strike at the facade of certainty that pervades cosmology... it deserves to be widely read' FOCUS magazine '[Steinhardt and Turok] argue persuasively for the elegance of their idea' THE GUARDIAN 'a highly readable account of two scientists' struggle to imagine the universe... captures excellently the excitement of scientific advance' PHYSICS WORLD There are currently no reviews for this product. Be the first to review this product!

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Boulder scientists have been sending one ton of instruments up and down a 1,000-foot-tall tower east of Erie for weeks to measure the presence of a destructive chemical compound that forms on the Front Range during winter nights. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were caught by surprise in February 2008 when they accidentally discovered the presence of high concentrations of nitryl chloride in Boulder's night air. The researchers were packing up instruments built to measure the nitryl chloride concentrations on the coast -- where chlorine, a necessary building block of the chemical compound, is more abundant thanks to sea salts in the air -- when they flipped on the machines to test them. At first, they thought the reading was wrong, but eventually, they confirmed that land-locked Boulder does have pollutant concentrations similar to those found at the beach. Understanding nitryl chloride is important because the compound interacts with other air pollutants and greenhouse gases, such as methane and ozone. "If we really want to understand ozone on a regional scale, we need to understand what is going on with this chlorine chemistry," said NOAA scientist Steve Brown. During winter nights, scientists believe that nitrogen oxide pollutants -- released from tail pipes and coal-burning power plants, among other sources -- react with chlorine compounds found on the surface of particles suspended in the air. The reaction creates nitryl chloride, which quickly breaks down when the sun rises, freeing super-reactive chlorine atoms. The chlorine atoms then spark a chain reaction, stealing hydrogen atoms from "volatile organic compounds" in the atmosphere, which in turn react with oxygen, affecting ozone formation. And while the Front Range is nowhere near the ocean and its bountiful, chlorine-containing sea salt, the researchers -- including NOAA scientists Jim Roberts and Ann Middlebrook -- think the local sources of chlorine may include the salts spread on Colorado's snowy roads. The tower in Erie has provided the research team, which includes scientists from across the country, a unique opportunity to measure the atmospheric chemicals, including nitryl chloride, that are present at different heights in the winter, when the atmosphere is not as thoroughly mixed. "At night, the air on the ground is not necessarily the same as the air above," Middlebrook said. The researchers plan to continue the study through mid-March, which means at least one of them will have to continue staying at the tower each night. "We do it for the science," said Roberts, whose turn it was to stay at the tower Tuesday night. "The data make it worth it." Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or [email protected].

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011 World Bird Wednesday: Barbet A Red and Yellow Barbet (Trachyphonus erytrocephalus), a species found in Eastern Africa. They are omnivores and will feed on all kinds of berries, fruit, seeds and insects/invertebrates. Sometimes, eggs and chicks of other birds are taken. Usually, they forage on the ground and in groups. They are very vocal birds and will mob predators such as mongoose or snakes. If not hunted, they are not shy at all and will even enter houses in search of food. Here's a video of a calling bird and a recording of a duet. Red and Yellow Barbets nest in tunnels, with a up to 40cm long tunnel leading up to the nesting cave. The tunnel is dug into riverbanks, but the birds will also nest in termite hills. Only the parents brood the eggs, but all members of the group will care for the chicks. The males take over the bigger part of brooding and food gathering for the chicks. a Black-spotted barbet (Captio niger), a similar bird from the Capitonidae family, the American barbets More birds at World Bird Wednesday Sources and further reading: Internet Bird Collection Wikipedia, German and English Photos were taken at Burgers Zoo and Hagenbecks Tierpark

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This chapter discusses the environment of a database system. The sections in this chapter are as follows. KeywordsDatabase System Database Management System High Level Language Host Language System Catalog These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. © Elvis C. Foster and Shripad Godbole 2016

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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Riley, Charles Valentine RILEY, rī'lĭ, Charles Valentine, American entomologist: b. London, England, 18 Sept. 1843; d. Washington, D. C., 14 Sept. 1895. He was educated at Dieppe and at Bonn, and in 1860 came to the United States where he spent three years in studying practical agriculture. He then engaged in newspaper work and in 1864 went to the front in the Union army. In 1868 he was appointed State entomologist of Missouri and in that year assisted in founding the American Entomologist. He was president of the Academy of Science at Saint Louis in 1876-77, chief of the United States entomological expedition to investigate the locust plague in 1877, and in 1878 became United States entomologist in the Department of Agriculture, an office which he occupied until 1894 with the exception of 1879-80 when conducting the cotton-worm investigation. In 1884 he was appointed curator of the National Museum and also became general secretary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He invented the “cyclone” or eddy chamber in nozzles for spraying purposes and made numerous discoveries of methods to control insect pests. His publications include ‘Annual Reports on the Insects of Missouri’ (9 vols., 1868-77); ‘Annual Reports as Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture’; ‘Potato Pests’ (1876); ‘Locust Plague in the United States’ (1877); ‘The San Jose Scale’ (1895), etc.

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Common name: Dobsonfly Scientific name: Archichauliodes diversus Māori name: puene Size: larvae approx. 25mm long, adults ?? Habitat: Native forest This species is the only dobsonfly found in New Zealand, and can be found throughout the country. You are most likely to find it in its larval form, which resides in freshwater streams and are commonly known as toe-biters! They look a little centipede-like due to their tentacle-like gills found along the sides of their abdomen. The larvae are voracious predators of other aquatic invertebrates, such as mayflies and caddisflies, which they ambush and catch using their large mandibles. In turn, dobsonfly larvae are an important food source for our native fish. Like many other insect species, an adult dobsonfly has a very short lifespan of about 6-10 days. The adult form uses their ability to fly to locate mates, and females can lay hundreds of eggs on stream-banks and rocks before they die.

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This 19th century engraving, made for the U.S. government by artist H.W. Elliott, seems at first just an idyllic fishing scene, with a few birds and a nostalgic old dory. But there’s drama in the details; the wave tops are blown into spindrift, the doryman’s hat is blown from his head, the birds wheel along with a stiff breeze, and the dory — full of fish — is filling with water. Scribbled on the picture are the words “a struggle for life — caught to leeward in a squall.” Anyone who’s fought his or her way across a windswept harbor in a dinghy full of groceries has an inkling of the feeling. The big fishing schooner, the mother ship, can do little to help; it has put out a line astern with a trawl buoy attached. It’s that lifeline the dorymen are desperately pulling for. Once attached, their fellow fishermen will haul them in little by little to safety, a warm cup of coffee and maybe a shot of brandy. Until then, who knows? Elliott was advised in this work and many others depicting the nation’s fisheries by Capt. J.W. Collins, who certainly knew his business. A career commercial fisherman out of the Gloucester-Cape Ann, Mass., area, he spent a lifetime culling the coastal waters from Massachusetts Bay to Bar Harbor, Maine, and beyond. He also contributed valuable fishing observations and information to the U.S. Fish Commission — precursor to today’s NOAA fisheries — and served as head of the Division of Fisheries. This article originally appeared in the June 2011 issue.

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We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions What parents need to know Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the content of some of the songs is political in nature with anti-war, civil rights, and pro-labor messages. The songs reflect many facets of American history, iconography, culture, and the past and ongoing struggles of the American people. One song has vivid lyrics describing a soldier wounded in battle. What's the story? On WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS, Bruce Springsteen takes the torch from Pete Seeger, the iconic American folk singer, and introduces a new generation to Seeger's songs -- those he wrote and those he unearthed from the dustbin of history. Springsteen's 14-piece orchestra is impressive (tubas in folk music?) and makes a joyous, celebratory big sound that's nothing like your typical Springsteen. Song selections reflect world affairs and protest anthems; \"Eyes on the Prize\" and \"We Shall Overcome\" are well suited for a discussion about civil strife and global unrest. The traditional Irish ballad \"Mrs. McGrath,\" describes a mother's anguish that her son has lost both legs in war, and provides an opportunity to discuss war, morality, and even the tradition of protest songs. Is it any good? This ideal family music album can foster active listening as Springsteen offers up America's history in story songs, anthems, and protest songs. Many of Seeger's songs tell righteous stories of hardscrabble living, the fight for freedom, and the struggle for survival. Parents and kids can discuss the history and the context, the meaning and the morals in songs about Jesse James, John Henry, labor disputes, and the Oklahoma dustbowl. These spirited songs from the core of the American folk tradition make for thoroughly enjoyable, historically interesting, and mostly uplifting listening. Families can talk about... Families can talk about the historic significance of these story songs, as well as the purpose and meaning of folk music and protest songs.

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Scientists discover possible master switch for programming cancer immunotherapy JUPITER, Fla. — Dec. 11, 2017 — During infection or tumor growth, a type of specialized white blood cells called CD8+ T cells rapidly multiply within the spleen and lymph nodes and acquire the ability to kill diseased cells. Some of these killer T cells then migrate where required to vanquish the germs or cancers. But how do killer T cells “learn” to leave their home base and amass within specific tissues like the skin, gut, and lung, or solid tumors? Finding the factors that cause T cells to function beyond the lymphoid system and in sites of infection or cancer has proven a tough challenge, but it’s essential for developing cancer-fighting immunotherapy strategies.

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●The main threat to the survival of pandas is the destruction of their habitat. ●Cattle, sheep and goats graze on any emerging seedlings and prevent regeneration of the forest, and their hooves loosen the thin mountain soil. ●In the last 30 years Sichuan has lost some 30% of its forests, and more than half of the natural forest vegetation has been destroyed or disturbed so badly that it no longer provides a suitable habitat. ●Whatever the number of pandas surviving in the wild is, it is quite clear that the giant panda will become extinct in the next century unless more steps are taken to protect the habitat.

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Despite significant improvements in malaria control over the last 15 years, malaria continues to represent a significant burden for the world’s poorest people . A major focus of malaria prevention efforts has been the distribution of insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) on a massive scale. ITNs are one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools for malaria prevention . The World Health Organization (WHO) features ITNs prominently as the foundation for vector control and calls for “universal access to and utilization of ITNs” by all 3.2 billion people at risk of malaria world-wide . Hundreds of millions of ITNs are distributed to households and vulnerable individuals through various mechanisms every year . Consistent and proper use of ITNs, ie, unfurling of ITNs during sleeping hours, requires multiple affirmative behaviors by those at risk of malaria. Access to ITNs is but the first step in a multi-step malaria prevention cascade which begins with ITN access and progresses to ownership, partially effective use, effective use, sustained effective use, and, finally, terminates with malaria prevention ( Figure 1 ). While malaria prevention is achieved to varying degrees at each level of effective ITN use, achieving the full potential of ITNs to prevent malaria and sustaining recent achievements in malaria prevention requires not only access to ITNs, but also a renewed commitment to understanding the factors that affect ITN-related behaviors along the entire malaria prevention cascade. Adequate tools for measuring the use of ITNs are essential for assessing the success of interventions to prevent malaria. There is reason to believe that the currently available methods for measuring ITN use are inadequate . To date, there have been no systematic efforts to characterize the comparative accuracy of these methods in assessing ITN adherence. We hypothesize that the commonly used self-report method for measuring ITN use will overestimate ITN use compared to more objective methods. To test this hypothesis and estimate the magnitude of the discrepancy, we undertook this meta-analysis of studies which allow for comparison of self-reported and objectively measured ITN use in malaria endemic settings. There are a variety of ways to measure adherence to recommended ITN use for the prevention of malaria. A simplistic method is to use ownership of ITNs, with the idea that ownership of ITNs should be valid as a proxy for ITN adherence if individuals value ITNs for the prevention of malaria. This simplistic understanding masks the multiple required ITN-related behaviors in the malaria prevention cascade ( Figure 1 ). As has been confirmed in a variety of settings [5-8] it is not possible to merely equate ownership of ITNs with ITN use. Another low-cost and flexible measure, more feasible than the objective measures listed below for large-scale household surveys, is gathering self-reports of ITN use from individuals or household representatives. Since 2000, Roll Back Malaria has recommended the routine collection of both household possession of ITNs and self-reported ITN use . Self-reports with a short recall window are the most common method: respondents are simply asked about their, or another individuals’, use of an ITN the night before. The vast majority of studies in the peer-reviewed literature assess ITN adherence with self-reported use as the primary, and often exclusive, measure of ITN use [10-14], and very few studies have attempted to examine the reliability of this measure. In the Malaria Indicator Surveys, which are the most common means of monitoring national-level malaria prevention programs to guide public health policy, nets encountered in the household are reviewed with the survey respondent and they are asked whether it was used the night prior and, if so, who slept under that net the last night. A number of potential biases limit the utility of self-reported measures in accurately and precisely assessing ITN adherence . First, social desirability effects may bias estimates of ITN use upward . This bias may be especially pronounced in settings where there is an injunctive norm favoring ITN use, eg, after large-scale behavior change promotion programs. Even in the setting of partially effective or even ineffective behavior change programs, it is unlikely for social desirability effects to result in downward bias. Second, self-reports could systematically misclassify ITN use due to recall bias from incorrect recollection of adherence the night before by one’s self or others in the household, though one study has shown that recollection for the night before was accurate, while recall accuracy declined over 2-4 weeks . Finally, respondents reporting on the ITN use of others in the household may have incorrect information. Objective methods have been employed to assess ITN adherence so as to address some of the potential biases in self-reports. Day-time visual observations have been utilized to confirm the presence of a mounted ITN in the household [19-21]. While this method provides an assessment by a more objective observer (and therefore potentially less biased) and confirms whether or not an ITN is mounted above a sleeping area, this method requires entering private spaces and does not assure that anyone actually slept under an unfurled ITN the night before. Furthermore, the ITN may be used during the night and then taken down during the day for cleaning or to secure more space in the living area, thus rendering the day-time observation inaccurate. Unannounced night-time visits have also been used [22,23]. While this method confirms whether someone is actually sleeping under an unfurled ITN, its widespread use is limited by privacy concerns, community acceptability, and logistical challenges. In the context of large-scale population-based surveys (such as the Malaria Indicators Surveys carried out under the Demographic and Health Surveys Program), the cost of such data collection may be prohibitive. All three of these methods suffer from the important limitation that they assess ITN use at a single moment in time. ITN use during the night is fluid, with individuals coming in and out of the ITN at various times during the night , thus self-reported measures (eg, ITN use the prior night, single point-in-time measures of who is under the ITN, or whether an ITN is mounted) cannot accurately characterize time-varying ITN adherence throughout the prior night. In addition, measurements of ITN use on a particular night do not necessarily characterize ITN adherence on other days, as it is well demonstrated that there are variations in ITN use on a nightly, weekly, and seasonal basis . We conducted a comprehensive search of the literature using the Embase and PubMed electronic databases in November 2015. The searches combined general terms and Medical Subject Headings related to ITNs and malaria (Table S1 in Online Supplementary Document(Online Supplementary Document) ). Throughout the process we adhered to the PRISMA reporting guidelines for meta-analyses ( Figure 2 ). The electronic search was supplemented by scanning the reference lists of included reports. The initial list of 2885 English language, full-text records included 1622 articles from Embase, 1242 from PubMed and 21 from the reference list scan. A preliminary screening step was employed by reviewing the titles of the 2885 articles and removing those not focused on ITN use. The 595 remaining abstracts were then critically reviewed for indications that the full text would provide both a self-reported and an objective measure of ITN use in the same population. The remaining 202 articles were read in full by a single study author (PJK). After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria described below, 16 articles were included in the meta-analysis and data were extracted using a standardized form. All 16 studies employed a cross-sectional design to assess ITN use and therefore are of “low quality” according to the GRADE system for grading evidence . As the outcome of interest requires the concurrent measurement of ITN use by two separate methods, a quality assessment was performed focusing on areas for potential bias in comparing discrepancies between these measures. Quality measures included the type of study population, use of pre-defined definitions of ITN use, measurement of self-reported and objectively measured ITN use at similar times and among similar subjects and the use of randomized sampling when sampling was undertaken ( Table 2 ). |Study||Adherent by SR||Total sample for SR||Percent adherent by SR||Adherent by Obj||Total sample for Obj||Percent adherent by Obj||Percentage point difference (SR-Obj)||Difference relative to Obj||Transmission season of survey||Type of objective measure||Study population||Unit of analysis||Definitions of ITN use||Comparable measures of ITN use with SR and Obj methods| |Self-report||Objective||Timing||Same subjects||Random sampling| |1||Leake et al., Malaysia (1989)||281||548||51.3%||189||494||38.3%||13.0%||34.0%||Low||Night visit; 2100-2400||General||Indiv||Household representative reported||Individual observed under ITN||Obj then SR the following day||Yes||No explanation for missing objective measures| |2||Sexton et al., Kenya (1990)||141||166||84.9%||119||166||71.5%||13.3%||18.5%||Holoendemic||Night visit; 2100-2200||Children under 5 years||HH||Households claiming use every night in last 7 days||Using net at night visit (avg two measures 70% and 73%)||SR use every day last 7 nights vs observed use||Yes||N/A| |3||Leake et al., Malaysia (1994)||311||676||46.0%||198||537||36.9%||8.8%||23.8%||Low||Night visit; 2100-2400||General||Indiv||Household representative reported||Individual observed under ITN||Obj then SR the following day||Yes||No explanation for missing objective measures| |4||Linhua et al., China (1994)||178||226||78.8%||156||226||69.0%||9.7%||14.1%||Unclear||Night visit; 2300||General||HH||Household representative reported||Observed utilization of ITN||Unclear when Obj occurred relative to SR||Yes||N/A| |5||Fraser-Hurt et al., Tanzania (1999)||353||360||98.0%||188||190||98.9%||-0.9%||-0.9%||Dry season||Night visit; 0500-0800||Children under 5 years||Indiv||Clinic-reported compliance||Children observed inside ITN||Monthly SR vs surprise Obj||Yes||No explanation for only 229 visits and 17% unavailable| |6||Spencer et al., Uganda (2004)||708||1,245||56.9%||682||1,245||54.8%||2.1%||3.8%||Low||Visual inspection during day; 1000-1600||General||Indiv||Household representative reported||Hanging bednet in household of reported use||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |7||Grabowsky et al., Ghana (2005)||168||257||65.4%||170||249||68.3%||-2.9%||-4.3%||High||Visual confirm during day, unclear time||Children under 5 years||Indiv||Household representative reported||Bednet observed hung over child’s bed||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||No explanation for missing objective measures| |8||Frey et al., Burkina Faso (2006)||177||180||98.3%||142||180||78.9%||19.4%||24.6%||High||Night visit; 2100 or 0500||Children under 5 years||Indiv||Full-time use the previous night||Study child observed under bednet||Obj then SR measure the following day||Yes||N/A| |9||Fettene et al., Ethiopia (2009)||77||119||64.7%||60||119||69.9%||14.3%||28.3%||Low||Visual confirm during day||General||HH||Reporting every night use||Households with nets observed hanging||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |10||Cohee et al., Uganda (2009)||123||128||63.1%||10||13||50.4%||19.2%||24.9%||Low||Visual confirm during day||HIV positive patients||HH||At least one person used ITN previous night||Households with nets observed mounted||Unclear when Obj occurred relative to SR||Yes||Randomly selected households for observations| |11||Becker-Dreps et al., DRC (2009)||87||103||84.4%||72||103||70.0%||14.4%||20.6%||Unclear||Visual confirm during day||Pregnant women||Indiv||“[E]very day or almost every day”||ITNs hanging “in the correct position”||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |12||Gobena et al., Ethiopia (2010)||630||1,879||33.5%||392||1,879||20.9%||12.7%||60.7%||High||Visual confirm during day||General||HH||Household reported use the night before||ITN hung “above bed or sleeping place”||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |13||Macintyre et al., Zambia (2011)||271||483||56.1%||283||483||58.6%||-2.5%||-4.3%||High||Visual confirm during day||Children under 5 years||HH||At least one person used ITN previous night||At least one ITN observed hanging||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |14||Dori et al., Ethiopia (2012)||367||609||60.3%||228||609||37.4%||22.8%||61.0%||High||Visual confirm during day||General||HH||Report currently “using a net”||Observed hung from “ceiling over a bed”||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |15||C-Change et al., Ethiopia (2012)||88||273||32.3%||94||273||34.3%||-2.0%||-6.2%||Low||Visual confirm during day||General||HH||Someone slept under bednet previous night||At least one hanging “from wall or ceiling”||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| |16||Deressa et al., Ethiopia (2014)||524||755||69.4%||567||755||75.1%||-5.7%||-7.6%||High||Visual confirm during day||General||HH||Someone slept under bednet previous night||Households with bednet hung over bed||Concurrent measure of SR and Obj||Yes||N/A| SR – self-reported measure, Obj – objective measure, Indiv – individual, HH – Household, ITN – insecticide-treated net, N/A – not applicable One article, in Burkina Faso , provided two eligible sets of measurements, one each in the dry and wet seasons. The results from the wet season were used in the meta-analysis because the discrepancy was smaller during that time window. Two studies did not clearly specify when the study occurred in relation to the malaria transmission season. There were a range of different definitions for ITN use, especially in relation to the objective measure. In general, the night visits counted people who were under unfurled ITNs. However, the definition of visual confirmation of ITNs mounted in the household ranged from ITNs hung “above bed or sleeping place” to the more specific observation of an ITN observed hanging over a subject child’s bed . Most objective measures using visual confirmation occurred concurrently with the self-reported use, while the night visits were commonly paired with self-reported use measurements the following day. Two studies were unclear about when the visual inspections occurred relative to the self-reports [22,28] and another study reported average self-reported ITN use the night prior from multiple measures (monthly) and a single night visit towards the end of the study . All studies assessed self-reported and objectively measured ITN use among the same group of study participants, however, four studies had unexplained larger samples for the self-reports than objective measures [21,25,30]. Although not specified in the studies, these different sample sizes may be due to logistical challenges implementing the objective measures, participant refusal or loss to follow up. This differential response on the objective measure could bias the objective measures towards higher apparent ITN use and potentially increase the overestimation between self-reports and objective measures. A sensitivity analysis excluding these four studies, however, showed a one percentage point increase in the overestimation due to self-reports, so these studies were retained as a conservative measure. One study used a random sample of households from the self-reported group for the objective measure . Overall, the potential for biases due to comparing cross-sectional studies and different definitions of ITN use was managed with strict inclusion criteria for comparable measures of self-reported and objectively measured ITN use as detailed below. Definition of comparable measures In order to be included in the meta-analysis, studies were required to contain comparable data on self-reported and objectively measured ITN use. The data were considered “comparable” when there was an objective measure of ITN use at the same unit of analysis, covering the same time period and obtained in the same population as a self-reported measure of ITN use. For example, we included studies that elicited self-reported ITN use and then confirmed ITN use with unannounced night visits in the same households. We excluded studies with discrepant units of analysis (eg, ITN use was objectively measured at the household level but was based on self-report at the individual level) or discrepant time windows (eg, objective measure of ITN use was obtained in one season while self-report was elicited in another season). Objective measures were categorized as either: 1) unannounced night visits confirming ITN use at the time of the visit or 2) visual confirmation of a mounted ITN ( Table 1 ). We also collected data on the year of publication, country, sample size, unit of analysis, season of study and type of objective measure utilized. |Objectively measured ITN use| |Self-reported ITN use||Unannounced home visits confirming||Visual confirmation of mounted ITN over:| |Individual level||The individual’s use of the ITN||The individual’s sleeping area| |Household level||At least one ITN in use in household||At least one sleeping area in household| ITN – insecticide-treated net All statistical analyses were performed in Stata 10 using the metan command and related modules (StataCorpCollege Station, TX, USA). In the meta-analysis, a random effects model was used to determine a weighted average risk difference, with 95% confidence intervals (CI), between self-reported ITN use and objectively measured ITN use. This discrepancy between self-reported (SR) and objectively measured (Obj) ITN use was then compared to a weighted average of objectively measured ITN use using the metaprop command for meta-analyses of proportions . Heterogeneity was assessed using the I-squared statistic. Individual studies were assessed for influence on the final result by omitting each study and re-estimating the pooled estimate using the metaninf command . A L’Abbe plot was used to explore potential causes of heterogeneity due to event rates in the two groups. Additional stratified analyses were conducted to explore the heterogeneity. First, we compared studies with the year of publication before and after the signing of the Abuja Declaration in 2000, to explore differences due to increasing prominence of ITNs in malaria prevention. Second, we compared unannounced night visits to visual confirmation as the objective measure reasoning that visual confirmation of mounted ITNs may not be as accurate as directly observed ITN use during night visits. Third, we compared studies based on the season of assessment, high vs low transmission, as defined in the paper. Fourth, we compared studies based on the type of study population, defined as general population vs specialized population (pregnant women, children under five years, HIV positive). Finally, we compared studies according to the unit of analysis. Sixteen articles, published between 1989 and 2014, were selected for inclusion [15,19,22,24,27-38] ( Table 2 ). Five studies were published before 2000 (31%). Six studies (38%) used unannounced night visits as the objective measure. The unit of analysis was at the individual level in 7 studies (43.8%). Self-reported ITN use ranged from 32.3% to 98.3% , with an unweighted average of 67.3% (95% CI: 55.9% to 78.7%). Objectively measured ITN use ranged from 20.9% to 98.9% , with an unweighted average of 58.8% (95% CI: 47.6% to 69.9%). In 11 studies (69%), the rate of self-reported ITN use exceeded the rate of objectively measured ITN use. The discrepancy between the self-report and objective measures ranged from 22.8% in favor of self-report in Ethiopia to 5.7% in favor of objective measurement in another study from Ethiopia . Across all studies, self-reported ITN use was 8 percentage points (95% CI: 3 to 13) higher than objectively measured ITN use ( Figure 3 ). This non-stratified analysis demonstrated substantial heterogeneity with an I-squared statistic of 92%. The weighted average rate of self-reported ITN use was 67% (95% CI: 54% to 81%). The weighted average rate of objectively measured ITN use 59% (95% CI: 42% to 75%). Using the weighted average of the objective measures (Obj) as a reference for ITN adherence, self-reported measures (SR) overestimated the rate of ITN use relative to objectively measured ITN use by Eq. 1: (67 – 59) / 59 = 8 / 59% = 13.6%. According to the influence analysis, no single study drove the main result (Figure S1 in Online Supplementary Document(Online Supplementary Document) ). No systematic difference in the discrepancies was discernible in the L’Abbe plot based on the levels of adherence captured by the two methods (Figure S2 in Online Supplementary Document(Online Supplementary Document) ). In general, none of the stratified estimates yielded significantly improved measures of heterogeneity, nor did any yield statistically significant differences in pooled estimates between the groups; all I-squared values were 71% or higher. Stratifying the studies pre- and post-Abuja, the unit of analysis and the season of study identified no significant difference in the pooled estimates (Figures S3, S4 and S5 in Online Supplementary Document(Online Supplementary Document) ). The studies using unannounced night visits had a 10.5% discrepancy favoring the self-reported measures compared to 6.3% when using the visual confirmation method, but the comparison was not statistically significant ( Figure 4 ). General study populations demonstrated more discrepancy in favor of self-reported use than studies measuring ITN use in special populations, but this difference was not statistically significant (10.3% vs 3.2% respectively) (Figure S6 in Online Supplementary Document(Online Supplementary Document) ). This meta-analysis comparing studies that report comparable self-reported and objectively measured ITN use in the same population found that self-reports overestimate ITN adherence. Average self-reported ITN use was 67% compared to 59% for objectively measured ITN use across the 16 studies. Thus, self-reported use overestimated actual use by an average of 8 percentage points or, relative to the objective measurements, by (67 – 59) / 59 = 13.6%. This is the first meta-analysis to estimate the comparative accuracy of methods for assessing adherence to ITN use. The magnitude of this finding is in line with other systematic reviews showing a 10%-20% overestimate in self-reported adherence to HIV medications confirmed with electronic monitoring [39,40]. One study not included in this meta-analysis used an innovative electronic objective monitoring device to assess the state of the ITN and also performed self-reported measures. This study found no significant difference between the objective monitor measurements and self-reports of use when individuals were asked the next morning. The reason it was not included in the meta-analysis, however, is that the participants were aware that their ITN use was being tracked by an objective monitor. These self-reports, then, are potentially biased upward in the same way that self-reported ITN use would be upward biased if participants reported their ITN use the morning after survey assessors had just performed a surprise night visit. Electronic monitoring tools may be able to help assess social desirability bias in ITN use self-reports if the self-reports are measured in a context distinct from the objective monitoring, eg, in a clinic by different personnel. Systematic overestimation inherent in self-reported measures of ITN use may not be surprising given the nature of self-reports of health behaviors . However, we found substantial variation in the overestimation between studies which provides further evidence of the unreliability of self-reports for assessing ITN use. First, there was significant variation in the magnitude of overestimation when relying on self-reported ITN use, ranging from 61% to -7.6% underestimation . Second, there was sizeable heterogeneity between the studies that was not explained by the available study-level covariates. The wide variance in the magnitude of the overestimation and the inability to predict, even within the same country, the degree to which self-reported measures overestimate ITN use, suggest that single measures of self-reported ITN use are a problematic tool for assessing the actual rate of ITN adherence in a population. This finding has important implications for malaria prevention programs. First, since the majority of data about ITN adherence is based upon self-reported use, policy makers are potentially relying on inaccurate information when they make decisions about the optimal deployment of ITNs. Second, the systematic upward bias in self-reported rates of ITN use implies that ITNs may have greater efficacy than previously thought. A recent study found that ITNs accounted for 68% of a 40% decline in clinical incidence of malaria in Africa from 2000 to 2015 . Similarly, a case-control study found that mass distributing ITNs in Benin provided a 41%-55% protection against clinical malaria cases among children under 5 years of age . Both of these studies base their estimates of ITN efficacy on self-reported rates of ITN use. If self-reported use is indeed overestimated, as our results suggest, then the actual efficacy of ITNs may be significantly higher and the reported cost-effectiveness of ITNs may be undervalued. Third, our findings suggest that evaluations of ITN use promotion interventions (eg, behavior change campaigns) and attempts to model the optimal mix of malaria prevention measures should use caution in relying on self-reported ITN use measures. To address these challenges, studies should recognize the identified limitations of self-reported ITN use in interpreting and discussing ITN adherence using that measure. Self-reported measures may provide a “rough” estimate of ITN use, but they may be less useful as estimates of actual ITN adherence. This study’s findings show there was substantial unexplained heterogeneity detected in the discrepancy between self-reported and objective measured ITN use. This heterogeneity makes it difficult to conclude, in any particular case, that self-reports are overestimating ITN use by a specific amount, but the magnitude, statistical significance and consistency of the overestimation when relying on self-reports all suggest that self-reported ITN use should be interpreted with caution. Another possible solution could be efforts to utilize more objective methods in assessments of ITN adherence. Due to cost and time constraints, unannounced night visits and visual confirmation may not be feasible in many situations, although using these objective measures on a smaller scale to validate self-reported estimates of use may be more feasible. New measurement tools are being developed, such as electronic ITN adherence monitors [18,43,44], which may reduce some of the practical problems with current objective methods and allow for easier objective and longitudinal assessment of ITN adherence. While it is likely that self-reported ITN use will continue to be the most feasible tool for assessing ITN use in large-scale household surveys, newer electronic adherence monitoring tools may add value in small-scale observational studies and randomized trials where accurately assessing ITN adherence is more crucial. Interpretation of our findings is subject to several limitations. We were unable to identify study-level variables to explain the high level of heterogeneity, though such heterogeneity is common in the ITN use literature . After a broad search, we still may have missed some studies. Out of more than 2000 records screened, we were able to identify only 16 studies for inclusion. Furthermore, we excluded some studies that performed objective measurements if the data could not be compared in a valid manner to self-reports. It was not always clear from the reported methods whether the self-reported and objective measures were obtained at the same time and studies obtaining self-reported and objective measures on different days could have introduced additional heterogeneity. There is no accepted gold-standard for measuring bednet adherence and even the objective measures used here have limitations. Using the visualization of a hanging ITN over a sleeping area as the metric for ITN use may bias ITN adherence up if a mounted ITN was not actually used the night before, or may bias ITN adherence down if an ITN that was used the night before was then taken down for cleaning during the assessment. These distinctions have important programmatic implications which are not fully explored in this study, but have been elsewhere . Unannounced night visits may not find someone under an ITN at the time of the visit, even if they end up using the ITN that night. Of the six studies which used night visits, most started at 9PM, and some checked as late as 8AM, which may be too early or too late to capture people who actually used an ITN during that night. In those cases self-reported use may still be accurate even if the night visit did not find individuals under the ITN, and the apparent discrepancy between the two would be smaller. Finally, none of the studies were specifically designed to estimate the discrepancy between self-reported and objectively measured ITN use, thus the results of this study, especially given the significant heterogeneity, are best interpreted in general terms and not likely to be an exact estimate. In this meta-analysis, studies that reported ITN use using both self-reports and at least one other objective measure demonstrated an over-estimation due to self-reports; self-reported ITN use was 8 percentage points higher, representing a 13.6% overestimation relative to objectively measured ITN use. These findings raise questions about the reliability of using self-reported ITN use alone as a surveillance tool and a guide for making policy decisions.

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Most of Georgia lies in two USDA hardiness zones--seven and eight--with just a small section in the north central part of the state that is in zone six. These zones give gardeners a wide variety of evergreens to choose from. Large evergreen trees that grow further north live in the north and central parts of the state, evergreens with traditional leaves that are hardy in Florida are found in the central and south parts of Georgia and very adaptable varieties are hardy in all of the state. White fir (Abies concolor) is also known as Colorado fir and is a member of the pine family. White fir grows as tall as 40 to 100 feet, producing flat needles that grow up to 2 inches long, blue-green on the top and whitish on the bottom. The cones grow upright and do not fall off the tree like they do in other species. The purple-green, 5-inch-long cones stay on the tree and disintegrate after the seeds have been released. Plant white fir in full sun and in a moist soil with a northern exposure. The tree is hardy in USDA zones six and seven in Georgia. Japanese Plum Yew Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia) is also known as Harrington plum yew, cow-tail pine and plum yew and is a member of the plum yew family. The plant can be grown as a shrub or small tree and is capable of growing as tall as 30 feet and as wide as 20 feet. The shrub will be either male or female and in order to produce seeds, you must have a ratio of one male to five female plants. The plant produces flat, sickle-shaped, needle-like leaves and the female plants produce 1-inch-long, edible, green seeds that resemble a plum. Plant Japanese plum yew in full sun in North Georgia, in partial shade in the south and a sandy, moist, well-drained soil. The tree is hardy in all of Georgia. Loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense) is a member of the witch hazel family. The plant is a shrub that features a loose structure with horizontally arranged branches that grow as tall 12 feet with a width of from 6 to 8 feet. The shrubs produce oval leaves that grow from 1 to 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. The varieties that produce white or yellow flowers have light-green or yellow-green leaves and those that produce red flowers have darker green leaves. Both bloom in late winter and continue though spring and summer. Plant loropetalum in partial shade and in a moist, well drained soil. The plant is hardy in zones six and seven in Georgia. - When to Plant Azalea Bushes - Deer-resistant Evergreens - Types of Cedar Trees - Prune White Fir - Evergreen Tree Identification - Small Pine Evergreen Trees - The Different Types of Evergreen Trees - California Pine Cone Identification - Plant Eldarica Pine Trees - Types of Evergreen Trees - Deer Resistant Juniper - Shrubs That Like Wet Feet

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It is 10 years since the Greek coalition fought their way on to Troy’s wide beaches — longer than anyone expected — and still both sides persist. Just when one side seems close to victory, the other struggles back to its feet. The past few days have been disastrous for the Greeks because their most fearsome warrior, Achilles, has withdrawn from the fray after arguing bitterly with the coalition’s commander, Agamemnon of Mycenae. So serious is the rout caused by Achilles’ absence that twice in the past week, the Greek commander in chief has counseled abandoning the fight and returning home. The third time Agamemnon urges his coalition to give up and sail away, Odysseus confronts him bluntly: “You must have lost your mind. Your plan will ruin us.” The directness with which leaders speak to one another in wartime has changed in the roughly three millennia since Homer, but the dependence of victory on good leadership has not. Agamemnon will now be tested as he has not been throughout the war. The wall and trench the Greeks had built to protect the ships they sailed to Troy had been breached. The Trojans would never allow Greek forces to board their ships unmolested, to retreat without paying dearly. A lop-sided action at the point of embarkation would unfold, and the slaughter would probably lead to the burning of the ships and the destruction of the entire force. More important, defeat would signal the civilized world that the most fundamental international norm — that of the proper relations between guest and host — had been violated. The war began when a Trojan prince the guest of a Greek king had spirited away his host’s beautiful wife, Helen. Rescuing her would sustain the civilized world’s order. Abandoning her would help tear it down. Odysseus was right. Agamemnon’s retreat would have turned a tactical reverse into a strategic catastrophe. Homer’s “Iliad,” the first great work of western civilization, is a rich and complex tale of anger, fate, war, humanity, and what we can, and cannot, hope to know, or control. It is also a commentary on wartime leadership, and on the virtues and vices of commanders. The subject of command is close to the poem’s core. However, before looking at what Homer thinks about command, modern readers must appreciate how thoroughly practical is his understanding of war. The fog of scholarship needs lifting to see this. The place of the gods, and the connection of the great heroes to warfare conducted by mortals who cannot trace their lineage to Olympus have intrigued listeners and then readers for millennia. Contemporary scholarship is saturated with these topics as well as such others of less obvious interest as the “Iliad’s” internal mechanics — its organization, poetic allusions, similes, and metric structure. Other scholars critique one another’s translations, and seek to understand what Homer can tell us about his own times, about the development of the idea of Greek culture, and the effect of the “Iliad” and Odyssey on Greece at its heyday, at least four centuries after Homer lived. With few exceptions, such as Barry Strauss’ recent “The Trojan War: A New History,” academic research on Homer nowadays often looks at his work as merely a key to the world from which it came. Less important in learned writing is the possibility that the “Iliad” survived over the centuries because its understanding of men and conflict is universal. This article starts from the premise that Homer deserves to be read because his insight into war as a human activity stands for all time. Current events also make Homer especially interesting. The spiritedness that drives his characters and propels his story may no longer describe the network-centric western militaries that rely increasingly on the ability to process information. But the radical fanatics who would destroy our civilization are as spirited and passionate about their lives and deaths as many of the men Homer describes. Although there are important differences between those who fought the Trojan War and today’s enemy, the ancient poem offers us a glimpse into the minds of people whom we must understand if we are to defeat. The path to the “Iliad’s” vision of human character and leadership begins with the work’s grasp of fundamentals. Homer knew about war and cared about describing it. His storytelling demonstrates a meticulous grasp of tactics, technology, alliances, logistics, and the art of marshalling these, leadership. Homer on War Much more numerous than such famous warriors as Achilles and Hector are the “Iliad’s” foot soldiers, minor characters who stand out for their deaths rather than for how they lived. In Book IV, for example, a Trojan ally, Peirus, who appears only once kills a minor Greek character, Diores: Peirus, the Thracian leader, had caught him, Just above the ankle with a jagged stone That crushed both tendons and bones. He fell backward into the dust, hands stretched Toward his friends, gasping out his life. Peirus ran up and finished him off With a slicing spear thrust near his navel. His guts fell out and everything went black. (IV l.570) An instant later, a spear penetrates Peirus’ lung; its thrower unsheathes a sword and dispatches him with a flesh-opening thrust to the stomach. His death is additional evidence of the ferocity of combat with pointed and edged weapons, and the grimness of the front lines. There are hundreds of such encounters where foot soldiers whose only identification is their parentage or birthplace crush, stab, and hack each other to deaths that are dignified chiefly by the inclusion of the fallen’s name in the poem. Less fortunate are scores more of ordinary soldiers on both sides who perish in battle without being named. Gods and heroes with divine ancestors move the “Iliad’s” story forward, but the vast majority of combatants on the battlefield Homer created are men and need to be led. Homer’s interest in tactics follows logically. Tactical details appear throughout the work. Early in Book VIII Homer describes the positioning of the Greek armada as it sits along the beach with prows pointed seaward — to allow a quick departure if necessary. Homer knows that the flanks of a military or naval force are critical. The great warrior Ajax protects one flank, Achilles, the greatest, the other, and the cleverest contingent commander, Odysseus is positioned directly at the center “so that a shout would reach either end of the camp.” (VIII l.223) Similar tactical care shapes the Greek line as it moves to engage the Trojans — and it is not heroes who carry the burden when the opposing vanguards clash. The old commander, Nestor of Pylos: Positioned the chariots in front And massed the best foot soldiers at the rear. Within this double wall he stationed the riffraff, So that willing or not they would be forced to fight. (IV l.318) Nor are such dispositions fixed. Another commander, one of the two Ajaxes, allows his armor-less archers to do their work by positioning them in the rear, behind “troops in full battle gear” (XIII l. 761) who are engaging the Trojans directly. It works. For the moment, the cloud of arrows deprives the Trojans of their will to fight. Greek troops who await a Trojan probe aimed at breaching the hastily built defensive wall that protects their camp and ships are arrayed in compact formation, Spear on spear, shield overlapping shield, They stood helmet to helmet, the horsehair plumes On the burnished crests brushing each other When they nodded, and when they shook their spears, The shafts tickered against each other? (XIII l. 133) Homer knows that discipline matters, and that it enables tactical maneuver which in turn saves one’s own troops’ lives as it chews up the enemy. He only puts sound tactical advice into the mouths of warriors like the two Ajaxes, or advisors like Nestor, men who are not subject to the anger that distorts Achilles’ or Agamemnon’s judgment. The greatness of the latter two warriors, Homer implies, has little to do with the experience and judgment needed to command troops and win battles. Technology is also important in the “Iliad.” Achilles sallies forth into battle with weapons and armor crafted by the god of the forge, Hephaistos. But men who are not the sons of goddesses have to depend on mundane equipment. The “Iliad” is full of descriptions of human-made shields, corselets, greaves, swords, helmets, axes, grappling pikes, javelins, bows, arrows, and other weapons. Some of these descriptions are strikingly beautiful. Some show the poet’s familiarity with technical details: the fit of a helmet at its wearer’s temples, the balance of a heavy shield, the flexibility of armor that allows a combatant to move freely. Others show that Homer also appreciated the connection between personal gear and tactical requirements. The “Iliad’s” 10th book takes place after an unsuccessful embassy to make peace with Achilles and coax him back into action. Troubled and bereft of a plan, Agamemnon summons the great warriors. Nestor suggests a night reconnaissance expedition to learn Trojan intentions. It will be a small operation. The men dress appropriately. No shining bronze helmets or polished shields that reflect light, and no greaves that clang each time one leg passes the other. Diomedes wears a simple leather helmet “without horn or crest.” Odysseus also chooses an animal skin helmet. Although decorated with boars’ teeth that could reflect light, it is lined with felt, a reminder of Homer’s appreciation that missions such as this require stillness and stealth. At the same moment, and in the opposing camp, Hector asks for volunteers to undertake a similar attempt to secure intelligence about the Greeks. Dolon, a hapless, witless foot soldier dons a weasel skin helmet along with other non-reflective gear, a “grey wolf skin.” Dolon, however, does not grasp that a sprinter is noisier than a man who glides silently through the night. Odysseus hears Dolon running, sets a trap, interrogates him, and gains valuable intelligence about the enemy’s camp. When the unfortunate Dolon finishes blabbing, Diomedes kills him insisting that if released he will return to spy on the Greeks some other time. Homer appreciates operational security, and understands both the value and requirements of small unit, night operations. He also knew a thing or two about alliances. Odysseus asks the unfortunate Dolon whether the Trojans are camped among, or separate from, their allies. They are bivouacked separately. The prisoner also discloses the location of each of the allies including the identity of the most recently arrived contingent, the Thracians. Odysseus and Diomedes head straight for the Thracian camp, and kill 13 of them including their king, Rhesus. Again, it is important to remember: the gods move in and out of human affairs in the Iliad, but Odysseus’ sensible idea of demoralizing the Thracians, and perhaps driving them out of the Trojan alliance is entirely his own. Trying to shatter alliances by inflicting casualties and driving off the lesser partners remains a standard tool to achieve military and diplomatic ends. As do financial incentives. Homer says that a Corinthian, Euchenor, chose to fight alongside the Greeks rather than die at home of a painful disease — as had been prophesied — or pay the heavy fine (Bk. XIII l. 702) demanded of those who shrank from Agamemnon’s call to arms. Homer’s combatants fight for plunder, glory, honor, and preserving international norms, but the bottom line is the bottom line: failure to join the alliance carried a heavy fine. Troy preferred the carrot to the stick. There are more specifics about Troy’s alliance-building strategy. Hector implies that neighbors run the same risk of attack from Greek aggression in his exhortation during the melee over Patroclus’ body. ?I thought you would fight with willing hearts To save the Trojan women and children From these war-mongering Greeks. This is why I have been feeding you at our expense And giving you gifts to keep up your morale. (Bk. XVII, l. 225) But, as he explains without apology, Troy is also covering the allies’ expenses and paying them for their service. There is nothing divine or heroic about this. Trojan alliance policy is based on the calculation of its neighbors’ self-interest, and conducted by payment. The character of command Details of warfare support the “Iliad’s” action. But Homer aims higher than excellence at tactical description. As the story’s first line explains, the subject is anger, its causes and consequences. The Iliad, however, would be a thin story, and one that does not reflect human experience if spiritedness were the characters’ sole trait. Homer’s mortals also demonstrate high intelligence, judgment, compassion, and courage. The heroes can be divided into two groups, those whose actions and words move the story forward; and those whose preeminent combat skills also earn them a place in the tale. If the men whose greatness consists chiefly of skill at combat are considered as a group — for example the two Ajaxes and Diomedes on the Greek side, and Sarpedon and Aeneas on the Trojan — five principal mortals remain. Achilles and Agamemnon, a pair of spirited leaders; Odysseus and Nestor, also kings in their own right, and men who can be relied upon for clever, wise, objective advice; and Hector, leader of Trojan and allied forces in the field. One pair is spirited. The second is clever. The third, Hector, mixes the characteristics of the “Iliad’s” great men. In these three groups, Homer presents a spectrum that remains Western literature’s most discerning reflection on the human qualities best suited to command. Everything that unfolds in the “Iliad” is launched by a double exercise in the Greek commanding officer, Agamemnon’s, angry and dubious judgment. A priest of Apollo approaches Agamemnon with a large ransom for his daughter who was carried off in a previous conquest. He asks Agamemnon to: ?give me my daughter back and accept This ransom out of respect for Zeus’ son, Lord Apollo, who deals death from afar. (Bk. I, l. 27) Agamemnon insults the priest, and sends him packing. Terrified, the holy man slinks away, and prays to Apollo. A plague descends on the Greek forces killing pack animals, hounds, and finally men, until the beaches burn hotter with funeral pyres than the sun’s rays. Not content with offending the gods, Agamemnon insults the most powerful and feared warrior in the coalition, Achilles. Another divine tells the Greek commander that the only way to lift the plague is to return the girl to her father. Agamemnon scorns this man too, but agrees to surrender the girl. However, he angrily stipulates that Achilles must compensate the loss by surrendering a girl, Briseis, who had been awarded to him for valor in combat. What is it like to have one’s rewards for courage and skill under fire taken because a commanding officer wants them? Achilles swears that he will withdraw from action until the Trojans’ slaughter makes the Greeks “appreciate Agamemnon for who he is.” (Bk. I, l. 427) Agamemnon rejects his aged subordinate commander, Nestor’s advice not to expropriate Achilles’ prize, and Briseis is transferred to Agamemnon’s household. Achilles appeals to his mother, Thetis, who implores Zeus to make the Greeks pay in blood until her son’s honor is restored. The chief Olympian nods his assent, and the “Iliad’s” action is launched. Was Agamemnon’s behavior a lapse in his otherwise prudent command judgment? Hardly. As an allied commander Agamemnon is a mess. Directed by a heavenly messenger in a dream to initiate an assault on the Trojans, Agamemnon decides first to test his troops’ mettle. After privately instructing his subordinate commanders to persuade the troops to stay, Agamemnon summons an assembly, declares his frustration with the long war, complains that no end of hostilities is in sight, despairs of victory, and urges the men to follow him back to home and family. The Greek assembly heads for the ships. Order is only restored when Odysseus persuades the multitude that a snake they had seen devour a family of nine nesting birds augurs eventual victory. Agamemnon’s test rocked the coalition, and might have destroyed it. Nestor admonishes him to “assert yourself and resume your command of the Greek forces.” (Bk. II, l.373) There may be something to be said for expressing misgivings (although for a very different fictional approach to the same situation consider Gregory Peck’s words to his men in “Twelve O’Clock High”: “Fear is normal. Forget about going home. Consider yourselves dead.”) But what sort of commander would tell his men to surrender to fear, and then shift responsibility to subordinates for persuading the troops not to do what the commander counseled? What kind of commander doesn’t know his subordinates? Here too, Agamemnon’s spiritedness clouds his judgment. The order to engage the enemy travels as fast as one unit can transmit it to the next. Rather than lead from the center or front, Agamemnon goes along the line browbeating his troops. But why carp about Odysseus and Diomedes, two of the greatest Greek heroes? As they wait to receive the signal to advance, Agamemnon tells the former that when there’s a feast, Odysseus is always first in line for meat and wine, but that now, “you’d be glad to see ten Greek battalions carving up the enemy ahead of you with bronze.” (Bk. IV, l.369) There is no evidence in Homer — or anywhere else — of the Ithacan ruler’s malingering. The insult is undeserved: Odysseus scowls, and Agamemnon retracts it. Agamemnon moves along the line and tells Diomedes that his father was a great warrior but that his son is better at talking. Again, there is no evidence that Diomedes ever needed prompting. In the next chapter he fights with a god. The Greek coalition leader continues to badger his greatest warriors, a practice that he began with Achilles. In combat, Agamemnon is equally mistaken about his subordinates. The hero Teucer has just downed eight Trojans: nothing suggests he has decided to rest. Nevertheless, Agamemnon approaches with an offer of gifts if Teucer will “keep shooting like this.” Teucer responds, “Most glorious son of Atreus, why urge me on when I’m at my top speed?” (Bk. VIII, l.296) What does qualify Agamemnon for command? The poet explains, not once, but twice: his looks. As the “Iliad’s” first clash between Greeks and Trojans approaches, Agamemnon inspects the troops. Homer describes him: The look in his eyes, the carriage of his head, With a torso like Ares’, or like Poseidon’s. Zeus on that day made the son of Atreus A man who stood out from the crowd of heroes. (Bk.II, l.516) In the next book, Helen joins the Trojans who gather on the city’s walls to witness the contest between her once husband, Menelaus, and the man who abducted her, Paris. Priam, king of Troy, and father of Paris and Hector, doesn’t recognize the enemy’s leaders. He asks Helen: Now tell me, who is that enormous man Towering over the Greek troops, handsome, Well-built? I’ve never laid eyes on such A fine figure of a man. He looks like a king. (Bk.III, l.174) It is Agamemnon. To put as fine a point upon it as possible, Homer next reminds the reader that outward appearances are not always matched by equally impressive qualities of mind. Priam continues to eye the Greek ranks. “Now tell me about this one, dear child,” he asks Helen. Shorter than Agamemnon by a head But broader in the shoulders and chest. His armor is lying in the ground? (Bk. III, l. 209) This man is not statuesque. He is squat. And, he’s left his gear on the ground. Helen identifies him by describing his mind. He is, Helen answers: The master strategist Odysseus, born and bred In the rocky hills of Ithaca. He knows Every trick there is, and his mind runs deep. Odysseus is the indispensable man. Time and again he knows what to say and do. After Agamemnon’s near-disastrous test of the Greek force, Odysseus rights the situation. He puts down a speaker who correctly pointed out that Agamemnon had dishonored a better man, Achilles. He sympathizes with the Greek force’s discontent after nine years away from home, but reminds them of favorable prophesies and signs. Unassisted and by power of argument, he keeps the Greek force from going home. Both the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” bristle with similar examples. When Agamemnon, pinched by repeated setbacks, decides to patch up differences with Achilles, he sends Odysseus to negotiate. The Greek hero Diomedes will not undertake a night expedition to gather intelligence about the enemy without Odysseus, who provides the tactical brainpower for the mission’s success. When Achilles rejoins the fight, crazed to avenge the death of his friend, Patroclus, it is Odysseus — not commander-in-chief Agamemnon — who counsels feeding the men before battle. As he is concerned about their physical well-being, Odysseus also keeps an eye on the coalition’s fighting spirit. He urges Agamemnon to give Achilles gifts and swear in front of the assembled Greek force that he has not slept with Briseis, the woman he took from Achilles. The quarrel between the commander and the greatest warrior, and the absence of the latter from combat has demoralized the Greeks. Alone among them, Odysseus knows that public reconciliation is required. Odysseus’ intellect, quickness of mind, deceptions, and wariness follow him into the Odyssey, the story of his decade-long journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. Like a villa in which the elegant imagination of the architect appears in each room, Odysseus’ calculating mind and stratagems unfold whenever he appears. When asked his name by the one-eyed Cyclops, Odysseus thinking ahead says, “Nohbdy.” When the blinded monster screams to his fellow Cyclopes that “Nohbdy” is attacking him, they ignore his pleas for help pointing out that if nobody is molesting him, then it must be Zeus. Even when the immortal nymph, Calypso, tells him that she will release him, and aid his journey home, Odysseus, ever wary, asks her to swear it. When Athena herself — albeit in disguise — greets Odysseus after he has set foot on his own island for the first time in 20 years, the great tactician pretends that he is from another island, offers no clue to his true identity, and insists that he is on his way elsewhere. Athena reveals herself, and Odysseus is still suspicious. But Athena knows her man: You! You chameleon! Bottomless bag of tricks. Here in your own country Would you not give your stratagems a rest Or stop spellbinding for an instant? (“Odyssey,” Bk. XIII, l.374) Odysseus protests that mortals cannot be sure of their eyes. Athena continues her chiding admiration: Would not another wandering man, in joy, Make haste home to his wife and children? Not You, not yet. Before you hear their story You will have proof about your wife. (“Odyssey,” Bk XIII, l.419) This is, perhaps, the finest characterization of Odysseus in all of Homer. Even if he had not known that Agamemnon’s wife and lover greeted his return from Troy by murdering him in his bath Odysseus would have approached his own kingdom warily, assessed his people’s loyalty, tested his son’s judgment, and assured himself of his wife’s faithfulness. Homer’s description in the Odyssey’s opening lines is true. He is the “man skilled in all ways of contending” who: ?saw the townlands and learned the minds of many distant men, and weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home. (Bk.I, l.6) But he did not bring his shipmates home. Not a single crewmember, save himself. And the Odyssey’s introductory assertion of its hero’s interest in learning the ways of distant men often seems more accurate than its exculpatory remark that the crew’s recklessness was to blame for their loss at sea. Despite his ability to think ahead, escape from dangers, and despite the advantages of a curious, far-ranging mind, Odysseus has shortcomings as a commander that cost all his men their lives. He and his crew land on an unnamed island inhabited by one-eyed giant shepherds. Taking 12 men with him and leaving the rest of the crew aboard, Odysseus, who felt in his “bones” the brutality of the Cyclops, climbs to one of their caverns and finds goats, kids, lambs, and drying cheeses. The men realize the danger that surrounds them, and plead with Odysseus to take the cheeses, release the livestock, and drive what animals they can to the ship. Odysseus refuses. He wants to see the caveman. The huge Cyclops returns, and moves a multi-ton boulder to block the cave’s door. He snatches several of Odysseus’ party from the shadows, bashes their heads against rocks, and eats them whole. Odysseus figures out how to save the remainder of his party. But satisfying his curiosity cost the lives of four of his men. Inquiring and productive minds are valuable in commanders, but there are limits. This is not the only instance where more focused leadership would have served all hands better. On a different island, Aiolos, the wind king gives Odysseus a great leather sack filled with storm winds, its neck laced shut by silver cords. With another lift from Aiolos, the Ithacans head westwards uneventfully, and approach their island home closely enough to see men building fires on the beach. Unfortunately Odysseus, who has had the helm for the past nine days, falls asleep without telling the crew what is in the bag, or even directing them not to touch it. They see the valuable metal around the sack’s neck and figure that silver and gold must be inside. Once the bag is opened, storm winds burst forth, and the ship is blown back into harm’s way. There are more such incidents. Odysseus avoids disaster as his vessel passes within earshot of the Sirens, but still he insists on courting danger. The enchantress, Kirke, tells Odysseus that if his crew hears the Sirens’ song, they will row toward it and be killed. ‘Make sure their ears are stuffed with beeswax,’ she cautions. But if you “want” to listen, she adds, have the crew lash you to the mast, and direct them to “twist more line about you,” when you beg to be set free. As they approach the Sirens, Odysseus tells the men that Kirke “urged” him to listen. (Odyssey, Bk. XII, l.193) He has the crew block its ears, and orders them to disregard whatever he says while within hearing range of the Sirens. In the event, no one is lost, but it is an unmistakable irony that Odysseus succeeds better at getting his men to disregard his orders than obey them. Odysseus’ inability to compel this obedience results in the deaths of his remaining shipmates. After threading their way between the monster, Scylla and the whirlpool, Charybdis, the Ithacans are exhausted. They plead to put in at the nearest island, one at which Kirke had forbid landing. This is Thrinakia, the island home of the sun god, Helios,’ cattle. Both Kirke and the prophet, Teiresias warned Odysseus that if the animals are touched, the ship and its crew will be destroyed. Odysseus yields to his men, and lands. He orders them not to touch the sun god’s cattle, and requires the crew to swear that they won’t. Storms rage, the Ithacans are bottled up on Thrinakia, and as the ship’s supplies dwindle, the men grow hungry. Fish and birds fail fully to supply their needs. Odysseus chooses this moment to leave his famished men alone with the forbidden livestock, and venture into the island’s interior to pray to the gods for help. While he is away, the men slaughter some of the cattle, and are feasting on them when Odysseus returns. The storm that awaits the unfortunate men kills many and tosses those who do not perish back to the whirlpool, where they are swallowed. Odysseus alone survives. High intelligence, endless calculation, extreme wariness, and shrewdness to match a goddess’ help Odysseus save himself. But these talents benefit his crew little. “The great tactician,” as Homer calls him, puts his own thirst for understanding ahead of all else, ignores his men’s advice, and repeatedly fails to command their obedience. His outstanding qualities prove useless in protecting the lives of the men under his command. A Mixed Soul The Trojan military leader, Hector, combines spiritedness with intelligence. His is not the craftiness of Odysseus, but an insightful, disciplined mind that requires little advice in grasping problems and crafting practical solutions. Approximately one-third of the way into the Iliad, the Trojans have the upper hand. They push the Greeks beyond the wall that protects their ships, and pause as the sun sets. Hector will now address the Trojans and their allies. Not only does the speech contain intelligent tactical direction. It encapsulates Troy’s strategic position and includes Hector’s war aims graced with rhetoric and respect for the gods. Only nightfall, says the Trojan commander, interrupted the progress of our arms. But let us be resourceful and turn the night into day. Let large fires be built on the beach: if the Greeks try to board their ships we will see them. They cannot be allowed to leave without a fight: others must learn the consequences of attacking Troy. In the meantime we beseech Zeus to drive this pestilence of invaders from our homes. Hector demonstrates the same acuity throughout the “Iliad” devising his own plans, and accepting or rejecting the advice of subordinates. Troy’s senior commander is also highly spirited. But, unlike Agamemnon and Achilles, he can, and does, control his anger. More important, his anger is constructive. As the two sides close for their first clash, Hector’s brother, Paris, steps forward boldly from the Trojan line. He sees Menelaus, the man whose wife he carried off, and thinking better, fades back to a less prominent place. Hector is embarrassed and infuriated. “Paris,” he calls, You desperate, womanizing pretty boy! I wish you had never been born, or had died unmarried. Better that than this disgrace before our troops. (Bk.III, l.45) The public tongue-lashing gets sharper. “No,” calls Hector, Don’t stand up to Menelaus: you might find out What kind of a man it is whose wife you’re sleeping with? (l.57) Unlike the insults traded between Agamemnon and Achilles, Hector doesn’t get into name calling. Paris claims that his good looks are a gift of the gods, and agrees to go hand-to-hand with Menelaus. Unlike the dispute between the Greek heroes, Hector’s anger benefits Troy. Other examples show that Hector’s anger points in the same purposeful direction. A Trojan warrior, Polydamas, appears occasionally to offer advice. While the Trojans are still on the offensive, an eagle swoops over the battlefield holding a writhing serpent. The reptile bites the predator in the neck, and the eagle drops his prey. Polydamas observes that the bird has crossed from left to right, and claims this is a sign that the Trojans must not break through the Greek defensive position. Hector doesn’t want to slow the Trojan advance. He tells Polydamas: I don’t like the way you’re talking now. You know how to speak better than this, But if you really mean what you say, The gods must have addled your wits?(Bk. XII, l.239) “Birds?” asks Hector incredulously. You want me to obey birds, Polydamas? I don’t care which way birds fly, Right to the sunrise or left into the dusk. All we have to do is obey the great Zeus?(l.245) The Trojan commander fumes, but won’t allow his irritation to get the better of him. Hector leads his men beyond the wall. When the tide of battle reverses favoring the Greeks whose backs are now at their ships, Hector accepts Polydamas’ advice to retreat and regroup. The Trojan commander is disciplined. He does not hold self-defeating grudges. Unlike Agamemnon, Hector knows his men well enough to chastise when appropriate. Menelaus is stripping the armor from a Trojan he has just speared from behind. Hector spurs Melanippus, a successful farmer who returned to the safety of Troy when the Greek amphibious force threatened the surrounding countryside: Melanippus, are we going to slack off like this? Don’t you have any feeling for your dead kinsman? (Bk.XV, l.577) Hector spoke well. Melanippus went with him, moving like a god, And Telamonian Ajax urged on the Greeks. (l.583) Notice that while the Trojan commander rallies his men, it falls to Ajax to rouse the Greeks. This is Homer’s second reminder in 60 lines of the gulf between the Greek and Trojan commanding officers. Hector is in front marshalling his troops, calling on them for more effort, fighting in full view. For the most part, other Greeks perform these key command functions for Agamemnon. Command is Human Hector is the “Iliad’s” finest commander. Untroubled by the rage that clouds Agamemnon’s and Achilles’ judgment, his temper is bounded and productive. Similarly his intellect and powers of discernment are fixed on the problem of protecting his city — not merely saving his own hide. As is the case with Odysseus, men under his command die, but not because he fails the tests of leadership. Nevertheless, Achilles defeats and kills Hector. Troy falls. Superior commanders are not always victorious, as great military leaders like Alcibiades, Napoleon, and Robert E. Lee demonstrate. Fate exists, and cannot be moved about like a fleet. Homer understood this at a high level. The role of the gods, fate, and men’s understanding of their own destiny is a major part of what Homer saw. The attempt here has been to exclude those larger issues in order to concentrate on the narrower question of command. What then is Homer saying? To look at the “Iliad” from the profession of arms, nothing is larger than the naturalness of strife. The war at Troy embroils all the major, and many of the minor, Olympians as they seek the advantage of the men they love. Greeks and Trojans vie with one another — and among themselves. Bitter argument among the Greeks generates the “Iliad’s” action. Anger, insults, and threats persist in the Greek camp in the athletic games that honor Patroclus at his funeral. Strife even continues within a single man. When Achilles faces Hector near the end of the Iliad, Hector wears armor he has stripped from Patroclus, armor that Achilles had loaned to his friend. Achilles, Homer wants us to know, is battling himself. Skillful command is one way to emerge victorious, or at least, scarred less than one’s enemy. Success at command, however, is far more elusive than great individual deeds on the battlefield with which the “Iliad” is full. Greater self-discipline would have prevented the disastrous quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. A unified Greek coalition might have brought victory sooner. True, Odysseus possesses the self-control that his famous colleagues don’t. His ability to keep his armed brethren within the belly of the horse as Helen imitates their wives’ voices from outside is surely leadership. But the loss, later, of all his men is evidence of his failure as a leader of men. The skill of the heroes at individual combat is important in the poem, but Hector stands as evidence that excellence at command is very much a part of the “Iliad’s” tale. The Trojan men admire their commander because he understands and, in fact, is one of them. Hector’s temperate human qualities also keep his alliance together. The lives of the other famous men are full with human qualities — but extreme ones. Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter in order to appease the gods and continue the fleet’s journey to Troy. He sacrifices hundreds of his own warriors to his anger at Achilles, and he dies at his wife’s and her lover’s hands. There is deep, moving affection between Odysseus and his wife, Penelope. And genuine warmth exists in Odysseus’ relationship with his son, Telemachus, but the connection is based on planning and the violence necessary to rid the palace of the suitors. The contrast of the Odysseus-Telemachus partnership to Hector’s meeting with his wife Andromache and their little son, Astyanax, couldn’t be greater. There they are on the Trojan ramparts for a moment before Hector returns to the fray below. Hector reaches to hold the toddler — who screams in terror at the plumed helmet that covers his father’s face. Father removes the helmet and, laughing, sweeps the little boy up in his arms. If Astyanax doesn’t recognize what protects him, his father has no difficulty grasping the human qualities needed to lead. Hector uses all the tools of a commander. Throughout the Iliad, the words used to describe his speech reflect a resourceful commander’s speech: he shouts, taunts, shames, swears, prods, soars (in speech), exhorts. He also fights where he can be seen by those he leads. Hector’s speeches inspire his men, quite unlike those of the Greeks’ commander. Agamemnon raises his troops’ spirits when he tells them that it’s time to leave battle and return home. Later, the same proof of their leader’s dejection stuns the Greeks to silence. When Hector addresses his troops, the Trojans cheer and have their spirits lifted. Agamemnon speaks to the assembled Greeks six times, once to their cheers — when he announces the end of his feud with Achilles. If Hector’s Trojans don’t cheer on each of the twelve occasions he addresses them, his words never fail to encourage and inspire them. Homer has another way of reminding that command is human. The closer a warrior is to having a god as an ancestor, the worse he is as a commander of men. Agamemnon’s father, Atreus, is the great grandson of Zeus, a tyrant if ever there was one. As a commander, Odysseus is less afflicted by divine ancestry. Hermes is his great grandfather, the messenger god who doesn’t have the opportunity to lord it over anyone, but whose swiftness of foot morphed into Odysseus’ swiftness of mind. Hector is separated from the Olympians by seven generations, enough time to have developed the human qualities command demands. But the best proof of the incompatibility of divinity with command is Achilles. His mother, Thetis, is an immortal. Achilles didn’t need to command. He calls for the Greeks to follow him when he returns to avenge the death of Patroclus, but he splits the Trojan force single-handedly and drives them back to the city gates without so much as a mention of another Greek combatant. Achilles was literally an army of one. The gods are extreme. Humans are moderate. Agamemnon and Achilles are overfilled with anger that makes them unsuitable — in different ways — to command. Excess anger is more likely to be a cause of command failure than its polar opposite, too much intellect. Odysseus’ swiftness of mind has many benefits, but it did not bring his men home safely, a goal that Homer says the Ithacan king set for himself. Hector is both spirited and has a purposeful, capable mind, but he possesses both qualities in balanced, human proportions. Homer’s insight into command applies today. Successful command depends on a balance between spiritedness and intellect. Both qualities are needed, but in controllable amounts. While the ancients saw spiritedness as a virtue, but its excess as a danger, we are more likely to see intellect as a necessity for victory, but less likely to see its excess as a problem. Our warfare grows increasingly complex and increasingly dependent upon the knowledge of how to move electrons. Officers who are skilled at amassing, analyzing, and distributing information have wide open futures. There is nothing wrong with exploiting our strength. But Homer would likely caution balance: too much brainpower is as undesirable as too much spiritedness. Overconfidence in technology can lead to a mistaken sense of invincibility, a failure to acknowledge the strength of an enemy who fights on spiritedness, and a high command that reflects these weaknesses. Our soldiers’ individual weapons surpass anything the greatest ancient warriors imagined. Our intellect has given us instruments that equal the Greek gods’ ability to make war: lightning bolts that kill from afar. But the moral character of warfare remains. Commanders need to mix spiritedness with cleverness. The need for balance — as we face an enemy who depends more on spiritedness than the products of intellect — is as insistent today as it was at any moment from Achilles’ quarrel with Agamemnon to the funeral games of Hector, breaker of horses.

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Transplant Cool-Season Annuals As soil temperatures cool, germination and seedling growth is often slower, so transplant from sixpacks or 4-inch pots for faster color. Incorporate a fertilizer for blooming plants into the soil. The middle number, which represents phosphorus, should be the highest, e.g., 5-10-5 or 15-30-15. Phosphorus promotes flowering. Pansies, violas, snapdragons, calendulas, alyssum, stocks, primroses, Iceland poppies, petunias, and dusty miller provide long-lasting color. Buy Blooming Holiday Plants Poinsettia, Christmas cactus, amaryllis, and paper white bulbs add festive color to the home during the holiday season. Place in bright light and maintain consistent soil moisture. Use a diluted fertilizer. Keep away from drafts, heating outlets, and fireplaces. "Manage" means yank 'em out! After rain, winter weeds are quick to sprout. Pull or hoe while they are tiny and easy to destroy. Throw them in the compost pile as a good source of nitrogen, or leave them on the ground where they will quickly decompose. There's still time to plant bulbs in the low desert. Bulbs need a well-drained environment or they will rot. Loosen soil to a depth of 12 inches, incorporate 4 to 6 inches of organic matter and an all purpose fertilizer for blooming plants. A sprinkle of phosphorus, such as bone meal, in the bottom of each planting hole puts the nutrient where the bulb can immediately use it. As a general guideline for determining how deep to plant, dig a hole that is two times the size of the bulb. Water and Thin Wildflowers If winter rains are inadequate (or non-existent), soak wildflower seedlings slowly, about once every 10 to 14 days, depending on needs. Don\'t overwater, which will promote root rot! Lay a hose on the soil and let it drip slowly rather than sprinkling from above, which may knock the tender seedlings over.

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Engaging children in music experiences enhances learning at any developmental age. This module provides resources on choosing appropriate songs for children, using sound effects to add excitement, and how the use of steady beat enhances learning. Learn how to find your head voice and why using head voice is important when singing with young children. Included Resources and Experiences: - Choosing Appropriate Songs for Different Stages of Early Childhood Development - Using Sound Effects to Enhance Curriculum - Early Literacy with Steady Beat - Using Head Voice with Young Children - Who’s a Good Watcher? – A Song with a Steady Beat Download 'Using Sound and Music with Children - Learning Module Documentation' (linked below videos) for details on how to use the content supplied in this module.

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This is the case of apple trees grown on an industrial scale in orchards. Depending on the production methods used (pollination, fertilization, irrigation), this figure can rise to 800 fruits per year, and even 1200 in some cases. The yield of a well maintained apple tree in an individual garden will be between 80 and 150 fruits per year. Every year, 1.7 million tonnes of apples are produced in France on average, of which 38% are exported. It is the most consumed fruit in France, far ahead of banana and orange.

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In 1977, a small crew of oceanographers traveled to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and stumbled across a brand new form of life. The discovery was so unusual, it turned biology on its head and brought into question much of what scientists thought they knew about where life can form and what it needs in order to survive. Today, the Smithsonian Institution houses that remarkable discovery: a pale and fleshy, 4-foot-long worm that floats in the kind of pickle jar you'd see in your neighborhood delicatessen. It might not look like much now, but Kristian Fauchald, the Smithsonian's curator of worms, says that in 1977, this worm had everyone scratching their heads. At up to 7 feet in length, he says, "these are enormous beasts compared to normal worms." And they were thriving in large numbers without any obvious source of food or light. "This," Fauchald says, holding up the worm, "is something absolutely unique." An Unexpected Discovery Kathy Crane and Jack Corliss weren't expecting to find anything alive when they started on their journey to explore the ocean floor. They were looking instead to answer some basic questions about the ocean's temperature and chemistry that science could not yet answer. "Saltiness was a big question," Crane says. "Students used to ask their professors, 'How did the ocean get its salt?' " Some ocean scientists believed the answers to these questions lay in volcanic vents that they suspected peppered the ocean floor. So they put together an expedition in the Alvin, a tiny submarine operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, to go down and see for themselves. Crane was then a 25-year-old grad student from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From the Alvin's mother ship, she guided the Alvin to an area in the eastern Pacific known as the Galapagos Rift. Corliss, a geologist from Oregon State University, rode aboard the Alvin itself. The day of the dive, Crane assumed her position as navigator and Corliss climbed aboard the Alvin. "I slipped through the porthole," he remembers. "It wasn't much bigger around than I was." As the Alvin began its descent, Corliss watched through the window as the world around him went from blue to black to blacker than black. "We were descending into a different world," he says. Now and again, they saw sudden flashes of light from bioluminescent creatures swimming past the sub. Back on the mother ship, Crane navigated the team toward the areas where they believed the vents were located. She also told the Alvin's pilot to look for "white clam shells against a background of black volcanic glass." From earlier imaging, they'd caught glimpses of what they thought were clamshells on the ocean floor, which they joked were tossed overboard from a Navy ship's clambake. It never occurred to the crew inside the sub that the shells were anything special. Until ... "I was watching my temperature measurement," Corliss says, "and just that time, the pilot said, 'There's clams out here!' " They'd found not just clamshells, but living, breathing clams that were a good foot-and-a-half long living alongside the hydrothermal vents. There were also mussels, anemones and brilliantly colored red-tipped worms — up to 7 feet long and anchored by slender white tubes swaying like a field of flowers. "Absolutely stunningly beautiful," Corliss says. "The worms had white tubes and these beautiful red plumes, sort of like a three-dimensional feather. These feathers are sort of oscillating, undulating as they're pumping fluid into their body. It was amazing!" The crew named the lush pocket of life "the Garden of Eden" and used the sub's mechanical arm to delicately gather up a bouquet of worms, mussels, clams and anemones. Once on the surface, they dropped them into containers of vodka — the only preservative they had. Then Crane picked up the phone and called Woods Hole. "Hey," she asked, "can you biologists tell us what these things are? And they said, 'What? We don't know what that is. Hold everything!' " 'How Do They Live?' Today, back at the Smithsonian, Kristian Fauchald opens up a pickle jar and pulls out the very first worm — Riftia pachyptilla — that Crane and her team brought up from the depths 34 years ago. "The really fun part," he says, "was trying to figure out what these animals are. How do they live?" The key, he says, is that the worms don't use light but a "completely different energy source" in a process called chemosynthesis. The worm uses its red plume to absorb hydrogen sulfide — that nasty stuff that smells like rotten eggs — from the vent water. A colony of bacteria living inside the worm's gut gobbles up the hydrogen sulfide and uses it to create carbon compounds that feed the worm. Voila — chemosynthesis! In the months following the discovery of life near the hydrothermal vents, Crane says the excitement was intense, and the scientific community's biggest names came steam-rolling in. "There were cases where people were stealing samples, clams and taking them off to their institutions and hiding them," she says. "You know, scientists can be extremely aggressive people to get what they want." Eventually, Crane left the field of vent science. Today she is a senior researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working mostly in the Arctic. Corliss says the discovery inspired him to change the focus of his work as he wondered whether these curious creatures, from such an inhospitable environment, might help explain how life started on Earth. "It was quite amazing," he says. "It marked a transition in my life." Corliss has since devoted his career to studying the origins of life; today, he teaches biology at the Central European University in Budapest. In the years since the original discovery, scientists have returned to the Galapagos Rift and the hydrothermal vents. The abundant "Garden of Eden" continues to thrive, and not far away, a new vent community of chemosynthetic life has begun to grow. Scientists have named the new site "Rosebud." LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: It's not often a scientist discovers a new form of life, but that happened to two people who once traveled to the bottom of the Pacific. The creature they found is now in a warehouse at the Smithsonian Institution near Washington. NPR's Christopher Joyce went there looking for lost treasures of science, and he has this story of Alvin and the worm. CHRISTOPHER JOYCE, BYLINE: It's a room the size of a basketball court. Kristian Fauchald spins a big wheel and metal cabins roll apart to form aisles. It's gloomy inside. Light filters through jars with pale, fleshy things floating in them. Kristian is the Smithsonian's curator of worms. KRISTIAN FAUCHALD: The study of worms used to be sort of a gentlemanly occupation that nobody particularly cared about. That's no longer the case. JOYCE: Kristian stops in front of what looks like a pickle jar from a neighborhood delicatessen. FAUCHALD: It is a pickle jar. It's a very large pickle jar. JOYCE: Inside a grayish, four-foot-long worm floats in formaldehyde. It's the first one of its kind discovered. Its name is Riftia pachyptilla. The weird thing about this worm is it was found at the bottom of the ocean. Scientists who found it in 1977 were not expecting to find animals like that at the sea bottom. FAUCHALD: The deep sea is considered a desert. There is very little food for anybody. JOYCE: But Riftia pachyptilla isn't just anybody. (SOUNDBITE OF CLANGING) JOYCE: In the mid-1970s, the field of ocean science was full of excitement. An amazing submarine, the tiny Alvin operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, was taking scientists to depths they'd never been to before. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Unintelligible) 12519... JOYCE: Scientists were especially interested in something they'd found near the Galapagos Rift in the Eastern Pacific: a volcanic vent 8,000 feet below the surface. They wanted to know where the ocean was getting its salt and its heat and was it coming up from a volcanic vent. A research ship carried the Alvin there to find out. KATHY CRANE: I was navigator. JOYCE: Kathy Crane is an ocean scientist. She knew how to find the volcanic vent. With her on the trip was Jack Corliss, a geologist. Jack was on that first dive. JACK CORLISS: When you get into it, you climb on the deck and step through the porthole. CRANE: Everybody is sort of sitting in a fetal position, I think pretty much. You're in this cramped environment. It gets really cold on the sea floor, and so you take down sleeping bags. CORLISS: After we left the surface, we were descending into a different world. JOYCE: It took almost three hours to get to the bottom. The crew listened to music and watched it get darker and darker. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) CORLISS: If you put your face up to the porthole every once in a while, you would see a flash go by because there were organisms that were bioluminescent, and they would turn on their lights. JOYCE: Kathy was in the mother ship on surface. She was guiding Alvin to where underwater cameras had earlier seen the vent. Clam shells marked the spot. They thought they'd been dropped there by a passing ship. CRANE: My guidance to them was look out the porthole and where you see white clam shells against a background of all black volcanic glass, then you'll be there. CORLISS: I was watching my temperature measurement, and just at that time the pilots said there's clams out here. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is 12-02-27. Right down there. See, look at the clams and to the left of them... CORLISS: Yeah, you're right. No question... UNIDENTIFIED MAN: That's an anomaly. JOYCE: Living clams, not just shells. In fact, there was lots of life there, strange life - foot-long clams, mussels, crabs, right next to this toxic, boiling vent. CRANE: So stunning, just beautiful, peaceful aqua-colored water and animals just lazily drifting in this spa-like water, like a Garden of Eden. JOYCE: And then there were the worms - three, four, five, maybe six-feet long in slender tubes that rose from the rocks like a field of flowers. CORLISS: White tubes and these beautiful red plumes, and it's sort of like a three-dimensional feather, this plume, bright red, oscillating, undulating. It was amazing. JOYCE: It was the first time humans had visited a deep-sea event. The scientist inside the Alvin used a mechanical arm with meat-like pinchers to delicately grasp some of the creatures. CRANE: We're bringing up these things and all we had to package them in was vodka. JOYCE: They'd never expected to find animals down there. CRANE: We called up Woods Hole to ask, hey, can a biologist tell us what these things are? And they said, what? We don't know what that is. Hold everything. CORLISS: This is the first time anyone had seen a living community of organisms that was based only on chemicals, not energy from the sun. We started talking about it all on the ship: Could this have something to do with the origin of life? JOYCE: And that's the reason they keep the worm at the Smithsonian, where I got a chance to actually hold it. It's squishy, rubbery, wormlike, but with some hard parts. (SOUNDBITE OF CLICKING) FAUCHALD: This is the curved structure. JOYCE: A collar around it. FAUCHALD: Like a collar, yeah. JOYCE: Kristian Fauchald explains that the worm doesn't have a digestive system. Instead, it uses its plume to absorb a nasty chemical from the vent water – hydrogen sulfite, that stuff that smells like rotten eggs. The worm feeds the chemical to a colony of bacteria that lives inside its body. The bacteria essentially eat hydrogen sulfite, and in so doing, they create carbon compounds that feed the worm. Kristian says Jack Corliss was right to think that this might have been one way the first creatures on Earth lived – underwater, without light or much oxygen, feeding on chemicals. FAUCHALD: We have always thought that, oh well, all energy comes from the sun. Now some of it comes from inside of the globe. JOYCE: The discovery rocked biological science, and for Kathy Crane, it was a personal victory in a man's world. CRANE: In the early days it was very difficult because some of our advisors just wouldn't even take us out to sea since we were female. Yes, I was pissed off. You know, you just sort of buried inside you. JOYCE: But she says the discovery was thrilling, although it didn't bring out the best in everyone. CRANE: So many people, very prominent scientists, just came steamrolling into this field. And there were cases where people were stealing samples, like clams and things, and took them off to their institutions and hid them. And, you know, scientists can be extremely aggressive people to get what they want. JOYCE: Too aggressive, Kathy thought. CRANE: And I decided I don't want to be part of this anymore. JOYCE: Kathy's now a senior researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and works mostly in the arctic. Jack Corliss now teaches science at the Central European University in Budapest. He says he never anticipated being part of a discovery so grand. After that trip, he dedicated himself to studying the origins of life. CORLISS: That was a transition in my life. At that point my life turned into a movie. It was quite amazing. I get emotional talking about it. JOYCE: Scientists went back to the Galapagos Rift nine years ago, to the Garden of Eden, the place that remade biology. It was covered over with lava. But nearby a new colony of animals had formed. The scientists called it Rosebud. Christopher Joyce, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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THE BENGAL TIGER The Bengal tiger, or Royal Bengal tiger, roams a wide range of habitats including high altitudes, tropical and subtropical rainforests, mangroves, and grasslands. They are primarily found in parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Male Bengal tigers measure 8 to 10 ft (2 to 3m) in length, and can weigh from 440-650 lb (200-300kg). Female Bengal tigers measure from around 8 to almost 9 ft (2.5 to 2.6 m) and weigh in around 220 to 400 lb (100 to 181 kg). All white tigers are a variation in color of the Bengal tiger, some tigers have been reported that are white with or without black stripes. Bengal tigers hunt medium and large-sized animals, such as wild boar, badgers, water buffaloes, deer goats and have been know to prey on small elephants and rhino calves. They are know for their power and in one incident a Bengal tiger was reported dragging away a dead gaur which 13 men were not able to move. As a gaur can weigh 1 ton or more, it would mean the tiger had to be able to drag something 5 times its own weight. Bengal tigers hunt mostly at night, killing their prey by severing the spinal cord, or by inflicting a suffocation bite (usually for larger prey). As with other species of tigers, habitat loss and poaching are key threats to the survival of the Bengal tiger. They are not only killed for their skin and for their body parts which are used to make traditional Asian medicines.

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History of the Modern West Experience the History of the Modern West with WisdomMaps: The Future of the Past! If the history of the modern West began with the Industrial Revolution, it was also a product of the Enlightenment that had preceded it. Both facilitated the rise of industrialized democracies. But the West also pioneered new dimensions of technology, politics, philosophy, art, and religion in modern international culture. In fact, it was the first major civilization to abolish slavery and the first to give women the right to vote. The technology of the modern West evolved from steam power and electricity to landing a man on the moon 1969. Moreover, the creativity of Renaissance inventors like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Classical musicians like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, artists like van Gogh and Picasso, and literary giants like Shakespeare paved the way for the development in recent times of movies and television and the personal computer and the Internet. In addition, spectator sports in Europe such as soccer, cricket, golf, tennis, and rugby preceded baseball, football, and basketball in the United States. North and South America, South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand were at first colonies of European empires that later became new Western nations, while Africa and Asia were preyed upon and dismembered by Western powers. While democracies arose in Britain’s colonies, South America created new autocracies in the 19th century. Absolute monarchy disappeared from Europe, only to be replaced by fascism and communism in the 20th century. World War II defeated fascism in Europe and caused the collapse of Europe’s empires. Then, the United States and Soviet Union emerged as rival global powers in the Cold War, which ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. With that, the nations of the modern West moved to embrace economic and political co-operation in the European Union. The Great War World War II

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The Afroasiatic Index Project - THE AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES - HISTORY OF THE PROJECT - PRESENT STATE OF THE PROJECT - EXCURSUS: WHAT IS ETYMOLOGY? - ANNUAL REPORTS The Afroasiatic Index Project is a scholarly initiative that aims at creating an etymological database of Afroasiatic languages. Afroasiatic languages are a group of related languages spoken by various communities from a large area in West African centered around Lake Chad (Chadic), all the way across North Africa (Berber) into Egypt (Egyptian), Ethiopia, and Somalia, and down the Great Rift Valley to the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Cushitic / Omotic). Crossing over into Western Asia (Semitic), they are also spoken in the Middle East through Palestine and Syria, down around the Arabian Peninsula into Yemen and Oman, and up into Iraq. This huge area encompasses and enormous variety of people who have shared over many thousands of years a common linguistic bond, the nature of which can be discovered only by careful investigation and comparison of the respective languages. It was to facilitate this process of bringing together as many Afroasiatic cognate sets, and as much pertinent literature, as possible that the Afroasiatic Index Project was conceived. The predecessor of the Afroasiatic Index Project was the Cushitic Lexicon Project, or Cushlex. The purpose of the Cushitic Lexicon Project was to provide interested investigators with access to the comparative lexical information contained in cognate sets existing within the 80 odd members of the Cushitic and Omotic language families. The Cushitic Lexicon, whose infrastructure is now largely complete, was done using hardware and software resources (e.g., desktop computer systems and off-the-shelf database management systems) readily available to any historical linguist. The idea was that, in addition to contributing to comparative Afroasiatic studies, the Project would provide faster and more accurate searches of the literature, and would offer query, display, and report facilities that would put old-fashioned 3x5 card files, notes, and even printed dictionaries to shame. The data for the Cushitic Lexicon was designed to be independent of the programs that operate on it. The programs themselves were relatively straightforward, and can be used as written, or can provide a springboard for reformulation into as many distinct etymological and lexical tools as there are distinct sets of query and report facilities that can be used on data existing in this format (which is a lot). The file format and programs were not specific to the language base being investigated here (i.e., Cushitic and Omotic), and could be used as-is to encode etymological information for sets of related words in other language groups. Presumably, if they were used on another language family, differences in goals and methods would lead to changes in the structure and presentation of the data. For example, certain aspects of how cognates display in the Cushitic Lexicon set-up stem from the fact that while cognacy within one major sub-family of Cushitic is fairly straightforward, it can be somewhat problematic within the context of Cushitic as a whole. One therefore needs two different kinds of presentation, one for each level. It is quite possible that in other language areas, one might not need to make this distinction. Or, conceivably, one might need to make more such distinctions. Originally, data and query mechanisms for the Cushitic Lexicon were developed using dBASE IV, which functioned, during the 1980s, as a kind of lingua franca for off-the-shelf database management systems. Because the Cushitic Lexicon was written in dBASE IV, the data could be used by any interested linguist who had access to dBase IV, or to some compatible database management package, such as FoxPro, Clipper, or Paradox. Those few who used packages that did not utilize the dBASE IV file format were typically equipped with data and program conversion utilities for turning dBASE files into something they could use. In order to improve the look and performance of the dictionary, considerable effort was spent in the late 80s and early 90s on developing a new interface program in FoxPro for Windows. This mouse-and-menu-driven program permitted a user to find words in the corpus according to various criteria of etymology, shape, or meaning, to see what words it is cognate with in its immediate sub-family (e.g., East Cushitic, Agaw[= Central Cushitic]), and to find and compare any claims about a word's wider cognacy relations (e.g., with words in other branches of Cushitic, or in other branches of Afroasiatic, such as Egyptian, Semitic, Berber, etc.) that had been proposed in the literature. It was also possible for a user to formulate new cognate sets and add them to the data-base on a permanent or temporary basis, to edit database entries, to add new entries, and to incorporate upgrades. Again, for portability and compatibility's sake, the interface program retained the dBASE IV format. For more details, see the following documents: From about 1994 two serious shortcomings in the Cushitic Lexicon approach became apparent. One was that the database programs and data formats were becoming obsolete. Another, more important, one was that programming and interface design were becoming white elephants. These also threatened to become even more of a burden as the Project, as a whole, began to look outward, beyond Cushitic and Omotic, toward the more general Afroasiatic language superfamily. Fortunately, just when the project threatened to stall, a new approach to interface design emerged, based on HTML and the World-Wide Web. On the one hand, HTML offered a simple language for designing interfaces. On the other hand, the World-Wide Web provided a way of making those interfaces available to the public at large. After a short period of experimentation and study in early 1995, development exploded. To start with, the old materials in dBASE IV format were finalized, consolidated, and stored. Then a prototype Web interface was developed for etymological work on Semitic languages. An initial attempt was also made at translating the older Cushitic Lexicon data into a format suitable for use on the Web. It was during this period that the project, which had moved well outside the Cushitic-Omotic realm, was re-named the Afroasiatic Index Project. At present we hope to make once more available a prototype Semitic Index giving etymological relations within Semitic, but not yet to any branches of Afroasiatic outside Semitic, and follow up with a Cushitic Index Since, as indicated, the Cushitic index already notes cognates in other branches, a rudimentary, Cushitic-oriented Egyptian, Berber and Chadic index will begin to take shape by default. It is our hope that linking to or embedding from data provided by competent outside sources will provide more adequate coverage in these areas. In addition to the lexical and grammatical information provided by these modules of the project, we plan to include sample text browsing capabilities. A preview of these text-browsing capabilities can be seen in the approach developed in a sister site the Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions project. Etymology is the study of word histories. For example, our word for pig meat, pork, is actually an Old French word, porc--borrowed after the Norman conquest brought French culture to the British Isles. In turn, Old French porc itself developed out of an earlier Latin word, porcus. Our English word pork, therefore, comes down to us, through the intermediary of Old French, all the way from classical Latin. The story does not stop here, however, for Latin porcus itself is related to another English word, farrow 'a litter of pigs.' But in this case the relationship is not that of a lender to a borrower (as with Old French and English porc) or of a parent to a child (as with Latin porcus and Old French porc). In reality, their relationship is more one of sibling to sibling. Latin porcus and English farrow, that is, stem from a common ancestor, conventionally designated as Indo-European (IE), a speech community which existed many millennia ago, and whose exact geographic location is still the subject of considerable debate. In IE, the root form was something like porko-. The original /p/ sound in IE, which remained /p/ in Latin, became /f/ in Germanic languages like English (compare Latin pater and English father). Likewise, the final /k/ sound, mutated the same way it did in, say, arrow (cf. Latin arcus). Through a series of such mutations, called "sound changes" Indo-European porko- gradually evolved into porcus in Latin and farrow in English. As was mentioned above, Latin porcus later evolved into Old French porc, which turned into our modern English pork. Farrow and pork, then, are really just different historical derivatives of the same Indo-European form! What we see in the history of pork, therefore, is a kind of recapitulation of how Latin turned into French, and of how French language and culture changed the development of English in medieval Britain. In the combined histories of pork and farrow we also see an example of how Latin, French, and English all evolved from a common parent, Indo-European. Indo-European itself no one has ever actually heard or seen written down. We can only infer its existence and nature by careful comparison of words in the various Indo-European languages--that is, from words like farrow, which differ in regular, often totally predictable, ways from words in other Indo-European languages (e.g., Latin porcus). What makes etymology such an interminably fascinating pursuit is that farrow, pork, etc. are nothing unusual: every word has its own individual history, and the large-scale evolution of the language as a whole is the outcome of the interaction of countless such individual mutations . And this is, of course, true not only for words in Indo-European languages, but also for words in other language families, such as Afroasiatic.

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Commonly when schooling is stated, the primary aspect that involves thoughts is schools, schools, and universities. Training, understanding ever knowledge, falls into many instructions. Training isn’t described the best via way of research as it is able to moreover be described via the training that is handed on from mother and father to their infant or what people may additionally study from searching television or analyzing books. Education additionally may be supplied at the same time as a character is strolling. As an example, personnel and bosses need to be educated simply so they will be updated with the ever converting economic surroundings. Schooling is supplied everywhere and at each time expertise first actual place education is furnished is home. Certain, training that is provided in colleges is critical. no knowledge, domestic education offers the foundation for children to assemble on. just think about it, understanding does parents teach their young child in advance that they’re of age to transport to school? The primary training dad and mom offer to their infant is through the manner of training them the know-how to speak. Dad and mom would train their toddler the way to pronounce phrases and additionally what are the right words to say to humans. Parents would possibly additionally train their toddler a manner to write and spell phrases. This form of training furnished with the aid of dad and mom will deliver their child the essential they want or the right foundation for them to constructed on when they move to high school. no knowledge, training furnished at domestic isn’t all approximately talking and writing. Instructing youngsters on ethical values and manners is also a part of training. Normally a person technique a baby, their mother, and father could ask their baby to greet that character. Inside the event that they don’t, mother and father may want to provide a reason for the significance of politeness to them. What may want to show up if children aren’t educated on this do not forget? Children might not recognize that it’s miles rude to not greet someone as they might just count on that there’s now not whatever incorrect with it as their parents did now not say something to them. Mother and father could also train their infant on the usage of languages. They may no longer want their infant selecting up and using the wrong words at a younger age. It’s also important for parents to be a right characteristic version to their child because of the fact as kids, we would look up at our mother and father and be like them. Consequently, dad and mom want to be at their behavior within the front of their baby if you need to truly have an effect on their infant. That is why home education is probable extra critical than the training supplied at college due to the fact what’s taught with the aid of dad and mom will no longer benefit know-knowknowledge of in faculties and home education is important because it opens a direct way for future education.

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Children learn how health is wealth through activities! On the ‘World No Tobacco Day’, we conducted a health & wellness workshop and a health camp with children in Lucknow. It involved learning through fun-filled games and drawing, a health checkup by doctor, and distribution of first aid & sanitation kits to children. This workshop made us aware of the lack of awareness among children and their parents related to basic health issues. The workshop started with an energizer followed by a quiz on health and sanitation. During the quiz, we introduced them to the contents of the first aid and sanitation kits that they were about to get. Children engaged in some collaborative games with balloons and then solved coloring puzzles based on healthy habits. In the health camp, Dr. Amit Kumar, a Pediatrician, conducted a health check-up of all children and distributed the kits. The kits included a range of products from antiseptic cream, cotton balls, to tooth paste and soap. This was the first ever time the children were learning basics of first aid.

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Waste oil from cooking fish and chips and other fried food could be used to create environmentally friendly plastic more cheaply, according to researchers at the University of Wolverhampton. The new research suggests using waste cooking oil as a starting material in the creation of environmentally friendly plastics, or bioplastics, could reduce the cost of production. It has a double benefit for the environment as it also reduces environmental contamination caused by the disposal of waste oil. The resulting high quality plastic is suitable for use in medical implants and cancer therapy treatments, according to the Wolverhampton scientists who presented their work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick. A major problem of environmental pollution is that plastics produced by the petrochemical industry are not biodegradable and therefore accumulate in the environment at a rate of more than 25 million tonnes per year. Bioplastics are more sustainable because they can break down in the environment faster than fossil-fuel plastics, which can take more than 100 years. The Poly(hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) family of polyesters is synthesised by a wide variety of bacteria. The resulting biopolymer is biodegradable and non-toxic. These bacterial PHA biopolymers have attracted much attention as environmentally friendly bioplastics for a wide range of agricultural, marine, and medical applications. Poly 3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is the most commonly produced polymer in the PHA family. Currently, growing bacteria in large fermenters to produce high quantities of this bioplastic is expensive because glucose is used as a starting material. Work by a research team from the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton suggests that using waste cooking oil as a starting material reduces production costs of the plastic. Victor Irorere, who carried out the research, said: “Our bioplastic-producing bacterium, Ralstonia eutropha H16, grew much better in oil over 48 hours and consequently produced three times more PHB than when it was grown in glucose. “Electrospinning experiments, performed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Birmingham, showed that nanofibres of the plastic produced from oils were also less crystalline, which means the plastic is more suited to medical applications.” Previous research has shown that PHB is an attractive polymer for use as a microcapsule for effective drug delivery in cancer therapy and also as medical implants, due to its biodegradability and non-toxic properties. Improved quality of PHB combined with low production costs would enable it to be used more widely. The disposal of used plastics - which are largely non-biodegradable - is a major environmental issue. Plastic waste on UK beaches has been steadily increasing over the past two decades and now accounts for about 60% of marine debris. Dr Iza Radecka from the University of Wolverhampton is leading the research. She said: “The use of biodegradable plastics such as PHB is encouraged to help reduce environmental contamination. Unfortunately the cost of glucose as a starting material has seriously hampered the commercialisation of bioplastics. “Using waste cooking oil is a double benefit for the environment as it enables the production of bioplastics but also reduces environmental contamination caused by disposal of waste oil.” The next challenge for the group is to do appropriate scale-up experiments, to enable the manufacture of bioplastics on an industrial level. For more information please contact Vickie Warren in the Media Relations Office on 01902 322736.

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Rooftop solar panels are durable and, when installed correctly, they can withstand harsh weather with ease. But when a severe storm rolls through San Antonio, every part of your home’s exterior is at risk, including your solar panels. In this blog, we’ll explain everything you need to know about solar panels and storms so you can be ready for anything Mother Nature throws your way. How Durable Are Solar Panels in Severe Storms? Solar panels are mostly unaffected by everyday weather like rain and wind. But, in more severe storms, you may experience damage that requires solar panel maintenance or repair. Solar Panels & Hail Storms Hail and ice can cause serious property damage–remember the 2023 Texas ice storm? Hail can damage solar panels, too, by cracking and shattering their glass faces. But in most cases, solar panels make it through mild-to-moderate hailstorms unscathed. Solar panels have undergone extensive testing to improve durability and resilience, and most solar panels are rated to withstand damage from hail stones up to about an inch in diameter. Following a severe hail storm in Denver in 2017, only one of over 3,000 panels in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s rooftop solar panel system was damaged. If you do experience solar panel damage following a hailstorm, Texas Engineered Solar can remove and replace the damaged panels to get your system back in working order quickly. Solar Panels & Tornadoes Tornadoes cause high winds, which can rip your solar panels off their racking. However, in moderate wind conditions, solar panels usually remain secure. According to the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity, moderate tornadoes have winds up to 112 mph. Most solar panels, meanwhile, are certified to withstand winds up to 140 mph, which makes them more durable than you may think in a tornado or wind storm. When solar panels are damaged by wind or a mild-to-moderate tornado, it is usually due to poor installation, a failure within the racking system, or a failure with the roof itself. In this case, you may need solar panel removal and replacement while your roof is repaired. We offer solar panel removal and replacement services and can coordinate with your roofer to ensure a smooth removal and reinstallation. Solar Panels & Lightning A direct lightning strike can cause serious damage to your solar panels and inverter. Thankfully, however, direct strikes are rare. Indirect strikes are more common and can result in high-voltage surges that damage components of your solar PV system. Solar installers follow strict guidelines to protect your home and family against fire risks, and most inverters come with surge suppression circuits to prevent surge damage. It’s worth scheduling solar panel maintenance every few years to ensure your system’s surge protection components are working properly. What to Do If Your Solar Panels Are Damaged If you have solar panel storm damage, call Texas Engineered Solar for solar panel repair in San Antonio. We provide solar panel maintenance and repair services for all types of storm damage. If you have roof damage and solar panels, we can remove and safely store your solar panels while your roof is repaired and reinstall them afterward. Texas Engineered Solar is a local solar company in San Antonio and we know how frustrating it’s been to deal with so much intense weather lately. Our team is here to help you in the wake of any storm. Whether you have questions or know you need solar panel repair and want to schedule it ASAP, just give us a call. We will do everything we can to get your system back up and running fast.

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Character Building through Mindfulness Our Mindfulness Programme Offers Students a Holistic Education In Global Sevilla school, we not only offer academic excellence but also provide a strong character-building programme through mindfulness. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, to be aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us. Mindfulness is evidence-based. Both science and experience demonstrate the positive benefits it can bring to our health, happiness, work and relationships. In Global Sevilla schools, our mindfulness programme focuses on cultivating universal human qualities. Everyone can benefit from it. We do not require anyone to change their beliefs or practices. We believe that mindfulness is a way of living. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do.

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