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Algorithms — Rearrange the Array of Given Range N, such that A[i]=i. Objective: Given a array of length N, in which elements are in the range of 1 to N. All elements may not present in the array. If element is not present , there will be –1 present in the array. Rearrange the array such that A[i]=i and if i is not present, display –1 at that place. See example Example:Approach: — Time Complexity –O(N), Space Complexity — O(1) - Navigate the array. - Check if element is –1, if yes then ignore it. - If element is not –1, Check if its at it correct position (i=A[i]), If yes then ignore it. - If element is not –1, and element is not at its correct position (i!=A[i]) then We need to place it to its correct position but there are two conditions - Either A[i] is vacate, means A[i]=-1, then just put A[i]=i . - OR A[i] is not vacate, means A[i]=x, then int y=x put A[i]=i. Now we need to place y to its correct place, so repeat from step 3. . Fixed Indexed Array [-1, 1, 2, 3, 4, -1, 6, -1, -1, 9] Fixed Indexed Array [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19]

Lucius Flavius Aper was a Roman general who sought to become Emperor between August 277 and July 278. Prior to his candidacy, he was stationed in Moesia Inferior, which was at that time administered by Faltonius Pinianus. He recognized Pinianus as Emperor in January 276, three months after Pinianus had declared himself Emperor. However, Aper became disillusioned with Pinianus after Pinianus failed to hold off a Gallo-Germanic invasion of Pannonia, and he declared himself Emperor on August 4, 277. Aper was immediately recognized in Moesia Inferior, Thrace, and Bithnia and Pontus, and also by several generals stationed elsewhere. Shortly thereafter, Aper ordered forces loyal to him to march on Thessalonica, which Pinianus had made his provisional capital. Troops loyal to Pinianus were able to keep Aper's forces away from Thessalonica. After several months during which neither general made any significant gains over the other, a several units loyal to Pinianus sneaked into Bithnia and Pontus during May 278. Within forty days, they had reached Nicomedia, the province's capital; whereupon they arrested the governor who had defected to Aper and installed a new one loyal to Pinianus. Aper had gained no new support after November 277. This was a result of a successful propaganda campaign by Pinianus blaming Aper for the losses in Pannonia. Even one general who had defected to Aper chose to defect back to Pinianus in January 278. Then after the fall of Nicomedia, many of the civil and military officers who had sided with Aper lost faith in him, and rejoined Pinianus' regime. On July 8, 278, it was discovered that Aper had disappeared. His senior staff surrendered to Pinianus on July 18. Pinianus ordered a search for Aper to be undertaken soon after defeating the rebellion. By November, no evidence as to where Aper might have gone was found, so Pinianus ordered that the investigation be suspended indefinitely.

Moose, known in Europe as elk, are the largest members of the deer family; they also have the largest antlers. Found only on males, these palmate antlers may measure as much as six feet (2 m) across and weigh up to seventy pounds (32 kg). They are shed and regrown annually. The males use their antlers to fight each other during rutting season. The moose is rarely gregarious, except when a harem forms during mating season. A ruminant with a four-chambered stomach, the moose feeds on leaves, twigs, and young shoots of trees, as well as aquatic plants. Name: Moose (Alces alces) Family: Cervidae (Deer and Relatives) Range: Northern North America, Europe, and Asia Habitat: Coniferous forests around marshes and bogs Diet: Twigs, bark, roots, shoots, aquatic plants, and conifers Head and Body Length: 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.1 m) Tail Length: 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) Shoulder Height: 5 to 8 feet (1.4 to 2.4 m) Weight: 730 to 1,810 pounds (330 to 820 kg) Life Cycle: Mating August to October; gestation 230 to 260 days, usually one calf born Description: Brownish-gray coat; broad muzzle; furred dewlap; males have massive, palm-shaped antlers; pale, long legs; wide hooves Conservation Status: Common

Society may not be quite ready for the day when a dead person's face is recycled for the living -- but that day is coming nonetheless. Such an operation would give new life to someone severely disfigured by burns, cancer or an accident, allowing the person to exist free of the stares and shock their appearances often evoke. The procedure would be more straightforward than the many reconstructive surgeries such victims usually must endure. Already, doctors at the University of Louisville in Kentucky say they hope to soon select a candidate for the operation, possibly within the year. The same team performed the first U.S. hand transplant (and second in the world) in 1999. Surgeons in other countries are pursuing the possibility of a face transplant as well. All agree it's just a matter of time until the world's first face transplant. The technical skills needed for the surgery are well-established. Organs are routinely transplanted from one person to another, and even some limb transplants have been successful. Those operations, once remarkable, have become almost commonplace. But an internal organ, or even a hand, is dramatically different from the wholesale appearance change that surgeons are now considering, the Louisville surgeons acknowledge. Faces are the most visible portion of human identities. They're how we think of ourselves, how others recognize us. The possibility of altering that identity so radically -- a science fiction plot device made real -- could make people recoil, perhaps eroding support needed for the operation. In Britain, reservations from the medical community have indefinitely stalled plans there for a facial transplant. Aware of the sensitive nature of such surgery, the doctors in Kentucky are treading carefully. The team is exploring ethical arguments for and against the procedure, using studies and surveys to gauge likely public reaction. If the results are favorable, the surgeons are prepared to proceed. Even if the reaction is an unexpected negative, the surgeons say the notion eventually will become accepted. "As for surgical technique, a face transplant could have been done 10 years ago," said Dr. John Barker, director of research for the surgeons' group. "And now with the preliminary results we have in our ethics studies, we think it's time." The group is evaluating potential transplant recipients, as is a group of collaborating physicians in the Netherlands, he said. French surgeons also are said to be considering the operation. Public acceptance is not the only roadblock, however. Many doctors remain unconvinced of the medical need for the operation, questioning whether the risks of the surgery outweigh its potential value. A face recipient would need to take powerful medications for the remainder of his or her life to prevent rejection by the body. He or she also would face the possibility that the transplant would fail -- and the unknown psychological effect of having one's cardinal form of identity, even if disfigured, so wholly transformed. "Faces," said a British advisory panel in a published report, "help us understand who we are and where we come from." A unique appearance A face transplant would rely on microsurgery -- the connection of very small nerves and blood vessels. In the first such surgeries, doctors probably would remove a layer of donor skin containing muscle, nerves, tendons and blood vessels. The recipient's disfigured face would be removed down to the bone and cartilage, and the donor face draped across it, fitted and reattached. The result would be a hybrid face, with features from both donor and recipient, Barker said. The team has tried to anticipate the cosmetic result by experimenting on cadavers. The result is a face that resembles both donor and recipient, perhaps similar to a relative of one or the other. "It's surprising how different the recipients look" from the donors, he said. "If you transplanted the entire bone structure, however, they would look exactly like the donor." (That, however, is not currently possible.) The groundwork for face transplantation was laid about five years ago when French surgeons transplanted a hand. Since then, more than 20 hand transplant surgeries have been completed worldwide, Barker said. Surgeons also have become adept at reattaching hands, scalps and large parts of faces that have been torn off in accidents. In many of those cases, the tissues being reconnected are mangled and unclean, requiring herculean surgical efforts in an emergency setting. Reconstructive surgeons also routinely remove tissue from other parts of the body and reshape and attach the grafts to the faces of trauma patients. "Technically, what our reconstructive surgeons do to reconstruct a face is probably harder than doing a face transplant," Barker said. "A donor is in pristine condition. Everything is planned. You remove all the tissue you need from the donor -- even more than you need. You cut away the excess you don't need."

- This article is about the digital location used within Animi. You may be looking for other uses of the term. The prison of Cartagena was originally built as a fort to defend the city's harbor from pirates. However, the fort was converted to a prison when the pirates became a bigger threat to the area. The prison held all kinds of criminals within its walls, unsegregated in large, locked rooms. Violence was not excluded; besides personal fights and quarrels, prisoners were often abused by the prison guards and subject to torture. The simulation depicted Prison as a complex stone fortress, walled by four sides. An open courtyard was located in the middle, with a gallow prepared at its center. Overlooking the square was a watchtower, with prison guards patrolling the outer walls. Inside the settlement several jail cells could be found, as well as a public kitchen and sleeping quarters. Torture devices were scattered around the place, some with live people inside them. Overall, the prison radiated filthiness and misery and the prisoners screaming for help could be heard continuously. With the implementation of new technology, simulated locations in the console stage were upgraded to have multiple aesthetic variations, as well as dynamic weather. Because of this, Prison could be utilized during the day, the night, or amidst rain.

January 13, 2012 The true color of the Milky Way, exoplanets, flying observatories or dark matter are not the stuff of science fiction, but the latest discoveries in astronomy presented to the public. The most recent congress of the American Astronomical Society, held in the U.S. city of Austin from 8 to January 12, brought together experts from around the world exchanged and presented the latest developments in the study of the cosmos. Although we do not know if there is life beyond our planet, or that we failed to reach Mars, experts say we are starting a new era with regard to our knowledge of other planets. "The Kepler telescope and microlensing are leading to a kind of new era for the discovery of planets," said James Palmer BBC correspondent at the conference and scientist at the BBC. Many more planets are known, are using new forms of observation and the new tools provide data increasingly clearer insight into mysteries unknown length. BBC World has compiled some of the most important findings presented at the congress. The true color of the Milky Way Scientists claimed that the Milky Way has a white as snow "early afternoon" Although it seems white light from the earth, the appearance of our galaxy is actually due to a trick of light. The question is: how does it look from the outside? A study based on a comparison of ours with other galaxies gave a not very surprising result: white. But not just any white: specifically, the white snow in the spring just after sunrise or before sunset. "For astronomers, one of the most important parameters is actually the color of the galaxies," said the BBC Jeffrey Newman of the University of Pittsburgh. "This tells us the age of the stars in a galaxy, since when have built up, and if they are new or millions of years ago," he added. The discovery came through a comparison study with other galaxies, since we have not yet been possible to travel outside our own to observe the Milky Way from another angle. "We're not just looking from the inside, but our view is blocked by space dust," said Newman. "Just in the last 15 years we have to know about 70 planets outside our solar system, to 700 today," Martin Dominik, from the University of Saint Andrews, United Kingdom To solve the problem Professor Newman decided to seek other galaxies like our own, observable from the tier ra, and from there develop a model With the feedback of millions of galaxies with similar characteristics to the Milky Way was made half of what color would be more like it has ours, and the result was very specific. "The best description I can give is that if the observed Spring is fresh snow, which has a good size flake, about an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset, you will see the same spectrum of light that would be an alien from another galaxy astronomer looking at the Milky Way, "Newman said. This discovery is important in determining the age of our galaxy, which according to Newman already has many stars in its phase of decline. Each star with a planet Using a gravitational microlensing, an international team of scientists found a number of exoplanets stars linked to imply the existence of millions more, including about 10 billion Earth-like, just in our galaxy. Experts believe that every star would possess at least one planet in its orbit The method allowed this finding is to use the gravity of a big star to amplify the light from even more distant stars and planets around it. The astronomers used a relatively small number of microscopes networked, and through them to observe the rare event of a star passing in front of another, as seen from Earth. The team recently used this system to observe planets, and although the number found was relatively small, they were able to estimate how many may exist. Although Kepler telescope has been the main tool for discovering new exoplanets in recent years, the microlenses are better to find planets of all sizes and at different distances. "Just in the last 15 years we have to know about 70 planets outside our solar system to 700 today," he told the BBC Martin Dominik, from the University of Saint Andrews, United Kingdom. A flying observatory Important data from a powerful telescope were revealed during the conference. So far so normal, if not for the telescope was not located at the top of a hill, but in the back of a 747. The 747 was slightly modified to place the observatory SOFIA SOFIA, or Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, located above a plane made 35 flights last year, shedding light on the Orion Nebula and our neighbor Pluto. The observatory can "see" wavelengths that no telescope with land based or space can be observed. But SOFIA can also capture visible light to gather interesting data: a team of scientists used the observatory to collect data from a star when Pluto passed in front, seen from the earth. Scientists were able to locate the exact spot on earth where you look better, and use the mobile telescope to collect them. The mysteries of dark matter At the conference were also some curious images. A French-Canadian team showed larger images known maps of dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 85% of the universe. Dark matter is a type of matter that does not emit any electromagnetic radiation (light included), and therefore can not be observed by telescopes, but can be detected through the study of how it affects the light reflected by other elements in their vicinity. The 4 images were taken in different seasons, each capturing a strip of sky as large as the palm of one hand at arm's length view. These printers are a great leap forward in the understanding of dark matter and how it affects how we see the normal matter in the different galaxies in the evening. "The light coming from a distant galaxy is bent by the gravity of the pieces of material to be found in the road," said Catherine Heymans of the University of Edinburgh. "The theory of relativity Einstein shows us that mass distorts space and time, so when the light comes to us through the universe, if it crosses part of dark matter, its light curve and the image we see becomes distorted, "said Heymans. The study is 100 times larger than previous maps produced dark matter, from the Hubble telescope. The advances presented at the conference are important discoveries that will have everyone talking in the future. Although we have not yet revealed even a fraction of their secrets, seen in Texas advances bring us closer to understanding the intricacies of our own cosmos. Publicado por Nadir Sosa en 3:31:00 AM

Masks inside of after effects are a great way of selecting specific and often finicky areas. They can also be used to create shapes. Masks can be drawn on top of solid, text, adjustment and footage/image layers. Create a new composition and a new solid. We can now draw a mask on our solid by selecting it and using the pen tool from the toolbar. If we expand the pen tool options we can see quite a few. Let’s just stick to the top one for now. This is the pen tools basic function, it simply allows you to draw a mask. All other options are for editing the mask. For starters, begin drawing a mask. It will take some experimentation and perseverance to become competent with the pen tool. The first point you draw is the start of the mask and no matter what shape you draw, you need to end the mask at the same point. For example, I have drawn my first point as the top of a tree, made many other points but have come back to that original point to complete the mask. You’ll notice two things: - the points are roughly placed - the points are all stiff, none are smooth This is because I like to roughly place my points to get an idea of the shape, then I go back and refine and smooth them. To fix my first problem, I can individually select points by clicking on the vertices and moving them either with my mouse, or my keyboard by using the directional arrow keys. Holding shift whilst moving points using the directional arrow keys moves them 10x further. You can select multiple points by clicking on one, and then shift clicking on additional points to select them. Alternatively you can click and drag to draw a selection box around many points. When you release the mouse, all points within that box are selected. Here I have gone back and refined the position of my vertices. Before we add some curves to this very stiff tree, let’s take a look at all the mask options we have available. Whilst selecting the red solid, press M twice to display all the options. The four options are: - Mask path: keyframe this if you need to animate between different shapes in a mask (more on this later). - Mask feather: feathers the edge. This can be broken up into an X and Y feather, allowing you to selectively blur each axis by clicking the chain icon. - Mask opacity: lower to make the mask transparent. - Mask expansion: positive values expand the mask and negative values shrink the mask. Just by having a play with these settings you can create some interesting results: Other important settings are the options from this dropdown menu, as well as the invert button. Whilst they may seem simple, once you add multiple masks, some inverted, subtracting, others intersecting, it can become a headache. To get the basics, select Mask 1 and press control + D to duplicate it. Set the mode to subtract, and lower the expansion into the negative values. You should have something like this: Using mask expansion we’ve created the appearance of round edges. Let’s delete mask 2 and set the feather and mask expansion back to 0 on mask 1. Now let’s select the convert vertex tool from the pen tool dropdown menu on the toolbar. Using this tool we can turn the sharp points into curves by converting a vertex into a Bezier curve. To do this, click and drag on a vertex using this tool to draw a curve. You can clean the curve up using the selection tool (hotkey V) and manipulating the curves. Note the mask colour can also be changed by selecting the little green box next to mask 1 and selecting a colour. As with many things, Bezier curves take a little while to get acquainted with. Practice and perseverance is key. Let’s move to visual effects now, and a process called rotoscoping. Very often the need will arise to extract an element (often a person) from live action footage. This requires drawing often quite an intricate mask with varying levels of feathering around the mask, and it has to be modified every frame, 25 frames per second, 60 seconds per minute. Very painstaking! Learning how to efficiently create and animate masks takes a lot of practice. Here are some helpful hints when rotoscoping: - Drawing the mask on the first frame isn’t always the best idea. For example if you had to rotoscope a man who takes his hand out of his pocket and waves, it would be easier to draw the mask at the frame where his hand is visible. This is because if you created the mask when his hand in his pocket, as the complex shape of a human hand emerges, you’ll be constantly adding and reshaping additional vertices. Alternatively, it is often easier to create a new mask for objects that are revealed momentarily so that you don’t have to worry about the additional vertices when the object is obscured. - Once you’ve created an outline for the object you are rotoscoping, you don’t need to animate every frame unless there is very fast paced action. You can easily get away with settings a keyframe every 5 frames. After effects will interpolate between the keyframes, and if need be you can clean up the in-between frames. Oftentimes the clean-up will be painless because the interpolation got you most of the way. - You can use motion blur on the roto layer and after effects will variably blur different parts of the mask based on how fast they are moving. - Don’t delete points unless you know you have to. Once you delete a point, it disappears from the entire clip and will often mess up the work you’ve already done. If you have too many vertices, I sometimes set a keyframe and then on the next frame move the mask off screen. That way you can create a new, clean mask. Just make sure that you aren’t using motion blur on the roto layer because such a sudden move will create unwanted results. In the next lesson we will look at alpha compositing.

Do you know how to prepare a A Nice Cup of Tea? On this essay George Orwell explains the 11 rules for make it: 1. Use tea from India or Ceylon (Sri Lanka), not China 2. Use a teapot, preferably ceramic 3. Warm the pot over direct heat 4. Tea should be strong – six spoons of leaves per 1 litre 5. Let the leaves move around the pot – no bags or strainers 6. Take the pot to the boiling kettle 7. Stir or shake the pot 8. Drink out of a tall, mug-shaped tea cup 9. Don’t add creamy milk 10. Add milk to the tea, not vice versa 11. No sugar! If you want more information about it I suggest to you read the BBC article How to make a perfect cuppa (with pictures of the steps), the text Tea maybe from the Douglas Adam ‘s book The Salmon of Doubt (don’t forget to see the flash animation), the PDF of How to make a Perfect Cup of Tea from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Wikipedia entry about Tea.

Crohn’s Disease Linked to Trio of Gut MicroorganismsMatthew Russell The painful condition known as Crohn’s disease has been linked to fungus found in the human intestines. Candida tropicalis, along with bacteria E. coli and S. marcescens, all found in the gut, can line the intestines and prompt inflammation and other symptoms of Crohn’s disease such as severe abdominal pain after eating, diarrhea, fatigue, and bloody stools. While all three microorganisms are not uncommon even in a healthy digestive system, they are much more prevalent in those with Crohn’s. Researchers at Case Western Resrerve University School of Medicine published these findings in mBio, and are hoping their work could lead to a cure for the disease, if not vastly improved treatments. “We already know that bacteria, in addition to genetic and dietary factors, play a major role in causing Crohn’s disease,” Mahmoud A Ghannoum, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center said in Science Daily. “Essentially, patients with Crohn’s have abnormal immune responses to these bacteria, which inhabit the intestines of all people. While most researchers focus their investigations on these bacteria, few have examined the role of fungi, which are also present in everyone’s intestines. Our study adds significant new information to understanding why some people develop Crohn’s disease.” Ghannoum is optimistic about new treatments for Crohn’s disease, including medications and probiotics, which Ghannoum says “hold the potential for making qualitative and quantitative differences in the lives of people suffering from Crohn’s.” The scientists monitored the fecal samples and environments of Crohns patients and those without the disease living in northern France and Belgium. Before these findings were released, there had been no published research linking Crohns to the Candida tropicalis fungus outside of tests on laboratory mice. “Among hundreds of bacterial and fungal species inhabiting the intestines, it is telling that the three we identified were so highly correlated in Crohn’s patients,” Ghannoum told Science Daily. “Furthermore, we found strong similarities in what may be called the ‘gut profiles’ of the Crohn’s-affected families, which were strikingly different from the Crohn’s-free families. We have to be careful, though, and not solely attribute Crohn’s disease to the bacterial and fungal makeups of our intestines. For example, we know that family members also share diet and environment to significant degrees. Further research is needed to be even more specific in identifying precipitators and contributors of Crohn’s.” Invention and abstract thinking have long been a driving force in medical innovation. That same spirit has been applied to helping African women and children get safe access to healthy drinking water. When your typical day consists of trekking an average of 3.7 miles across rocky and treacherous terrain, a reliable method of transporting water is important. Follow this link and see how a new product is making that task easier.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is perhaps best remembered for his monumental bronze sculpture but during the last two decades of his life, he created many lyrical drawings and watercolors. They offered a spontaneity and freedom not seen in his earlier work, which led critics to dub them instantanés. Others called them immoral and several exhibitions were closed by the police. In 1905, Harry Kessler, director of the Weimar Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe was forced to resign after purchasing several for the museum’s permanent collection. For Americans, their first chance to see these drawings was January 1908, when Edward Steichen arranged an exhibit at his New York gallery 291. It was a high point of that art season, second only to the over-hyped Macbeth galleries show of “The Eight”. Rodin famously credited Michelangelo for freeing him from academism. Man Ray wrote in his autobiography “Rodin’s unanatomical watercolor sketches of nudes pleased me immensely and justified my abandon of academic principles.” [Self Portrait (Boston, 1963): 18]. The Graphic Arts division is fortunate to hold a small Rodin collection. A finding aid to the collection of prints, drawings, and watercolors can be found at: http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/gc102.html In addition, Princeton owns a small collection of Rodin manuscripts, including fifty letters, cards, telegrams, and notes, of which about half are in the hand of the sculptor. A finding aid to this collection is at: http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/eadGetDoc.xq?id=/ead/mss/C0195.EAD.xml

Some Christians have an unhealthy fascination with Armageddon (even more unhealthy is a fascination with "Armageddon"). While some Christians, mindful of Jesus' "thief in the night" comment, avoid dwelling on when the end will come, others have obsessed for centuries. The Millerites believed the date would be Oct. 22, 1844. If you are reading this now, you understand why that is referred to as the Great Disappointment. Today, the Rapture Index -- a synthesis of world events that some readers of Revelation say should precede the apocalypse -- stands at 158, well below the all-time high of 182 two weeks after 9/11. It turns out, though, that minds far greater have attempted to predict the End Days. Isaac Newton's 300-year-old manuscripts, unveiled this week in Jerusalem, show one of the world's greatest scientists tried his hand at some apocalyptic algebra. In one manuscript from the early 1700s, Newton used the cryptic Book of Daniel to calculate the date for the apocalypse, reaching the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than 2060. "It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," Newton wrote. However, he added, "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."

This is a worksheet featuring a youtube video report on transport preparations in London ahead of London 2012 Olympics. It is intended for intermediate students and above and can trigger discussion on transport problems in big cities and their possible solutions. It consists of 2 comprehension exercises. It's advisable to watch twice. Enjoy!

Research Reveals Five Subgroups of Head and Neck Cancer Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) have classified head and neck cancers into five subgroups, each with unique characteristics that may help personalize treatment decisions for patients. Head and neck cancer comprises cancers of the mouth, tonsils, nose, sinuses, throat, and upper esophagus. It is the 6th most common cancer worldwide. Risk factors include human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, similar to cervical cancer, as well as tobacco and alcohol use. “We are in the middle of an epidemic of HPV-associated tumors,” said Tanguy Seiwert, MD, assistant professor of medicine. “Usually those cancers have a better prognosis, but there is a subgroup of patients who do very poorly and, unfortunately, we have no reliable means of identifying them.” Dr. Seiwert and colleagues set out to understand why some head and neck cancers responded favorably to treatment and why others fared worse. They used advanced genomic and bioinformatics analysis tools to determine the genetic profiles of 134 head and neck tumors. These tumors had all been previously treated with standard therapy so that now the researchers could compare “genetic fingerprints” with the outcomes. Based on their study, they were able to classify head and neck cancer into 5 different subgroups. Three types––hypoxic, basal, and classical––were not associated with HPV, had a poor prognosis, and showed unique features that may be useful to guide therapy in the future. For example, Dr. Seiwert said that some features, such as lack of oxygen supply (hypoxia), strongly correlated with subtypes and may explain why some patients respond favorably to radiation or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors. Out of the other two types, which were both HPV-associated, the researchers found that type A was associated with a better outcome than type B. “It was really striking that the HPV-positive tumors, which were previously believed to be one entity, were actually two different subtypes,” Dr. Seiwert said. “Our study brings us one step closer to predicting which patients will need more intensive treatment, and which patients may safely undergo a better tolerated treatment with fewer side effects.” He said that because these tumors often occur in young patients, it would be particularly helpful to know which patients can be safely and effectively treated with less intense therapy to avoid long-term side effects. Dr. Seiwert’s group submitted their findings for publication. In addition, Dr. Seiwert delivered a presentation about the genetic make-up of these tumors at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. “The mutational spectrum of every tumor is different, but certain patterns are emerging that classify tumors and may guide our understanding of individual tumors,” he said. Interestingly, these patterns may cross tumor types; in other words, certain head and neck tumors show features similar to aggressive breast cancers or bladder cancers, potentially enabling treatments that are based on shared biology in multiple cancers. The clear goal is to develop new or intelligently re-use existing therapies to target the specific mutations. “It’s a process that will take years to complete, but promises a more rational and personalized approach to cancer care,” said Dr. Seiwert. The UCCCC head and neck cancer team, led by Everett Vokes, John E. Ultmann Professor of Medicine and Radiation Oncology, is leading the field with outstanding treatment outcomes. “Not only do we want to be known as a center of excellence for treatment, but also as leaders in precision medicine for head and neck cancer,” Dr. Vokes said. “It seems that this classification system could potentially be a valuable tool to personalize the treatment for our patients.”

If you listen to the current and recent stories about slavery and the slave trade you will be led to think of it as an entirely Southern institution. You will think it was created by Southerners for the benefit of Southerners and that no one else had anything to do with it. This is how you are supposed to think. This is how your public school “education” has programmed you to think. Truth has little or nothing to do with it. You are “educated” to believe “Marxist” truth whether you realize it or not. However, those who have educated your teachers realize it even if the teachers don’t. Most of the time, though, Marxist truth (whatever supports the current agenda) will be a far cry from reality. This is one more reason to remove your kids from public school. One small example here, from Donnie Kennedy’s book Myths of American Slavery: “On April 21, 1861, the American slaver Nightingale, affectionately known as the ‘Prince of Slavers” was built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, fitted out for the slave trade in Salem, Massachusetts, and its captain was from New York. When captured by the USS Saratoga, the Nightingale was flying the United States flag, and had more than nine hundred slaves on board. One of the last American vessels to be captured in the slave trade was the Erie, Nathaniel Gordon of Portland, Maine, commander. It should be noted that these vessels were not bringing slaves into the South.” How come, you might ask? Well, for a couple good reasons—one was that the Constitution of the Confederate States did not allow the importation of African slaves. Another reason was that the Union blockage had pretty much curtailed any importation of slaves into the South. Don’t expect to find this kind of information in your history books. They are usually so full of the “Uncle Tom's Cabin” sort of fables they frequently have no room for the truth. You are never told that, in much of the North, slavery was abolished to protect the white population from having to compete with slave labor. Lincoln, contrary to the popular myths about his fondness for black people and how he “grew” into this cherished position, felt that blacks were inferior and he was strongly in favor of moving them out of the country once they became free. He never changed that opinion. Donnie Kennedy’s book states, on page 165,: “Add to these the state of Illinois, which, in 1862 (while its sons were pillaging the South) by an overwhelming vote of the people, passed an amendment to the state constitution declaring that ‘no negro or mulatto shall immigrate or settle in this state.” If you ever noticed, the “underground railway” to free slaves ran all the way from different places in the South up into Canada. It didn’t end in New York or Michigan or wherever, and part of the reason for this was that most Northern folks did not want the blacks living too close to them. Recently an article Lincoln’s Inversion of the American Union by Donald W. Livingston dealt, to some degree, with the slavery issue. Dr. Livingston made several interesting points. He noted: “Only around fifteen percent of southerners even owned slaves, and the great majority of those had holdings of one to six. Jefferson Davis was an enlightened slave holder who said that once the Confederacy gained its independence, it would mean the end of slavery. The Confederate Cabinet agreed to abolish slavery within five years after the cessation of hostilities in exchange for recognition by Britain and France. Southerners were not fighting to preserve slavery, but simply and solely because they were being invaded. And the North certainly did not invade to abolish slavery. Nor should this be surprising considering the Negrophobia that prevailed everywhere in the North. It was assumed by the vast majority of Americans, North and South, that America was a white European polity, and that the Indian and African populations were not—and were never to be—full participants in that polity.“ Dr. Livingston cited a passage from the Oregon state constitution to prove this. Again, where have you read this in your “history” books? Dr. Livingston noted that free blacks in Northern states were “severely regulated.” All you ever see in the “history” books are comments about how Jim Crow laws were enacted in the South. You are never told they had the same thing in the North. That part is just omitted. And why did the northern states emancipate the blacks who had been slaves there? Dr. Livingston observed: “Emancipation laws in the antebellum North were designed to rid the North of its African population. They typically declared that the children of slaves born after a certain date would, upon reaching a certain age, be emancipated. This meant the adult slaves were not freed and that families could be sold South before the children reached the age of emancipation. Emancipation led to a reduction of the African population in the North, not to an increase, as it did in the South.” And that was the sole reason, in most cases, for African emancipation up North. Sell the slaves South and then complain about Southern slaver holders and the “sin”of slavery. If it was a sin for Southerners to own them wasn’t it also a sin for Northerners to own them? Hush! You ain’t supposed to ask that question! Livingston pointed out that: “Even abolitionists were careful to point out that it was not the slave they loved but the slaveholder they hated, and that emancipation did not at all mean social and political equality with whites.” This is the part you are never told about. So basically the abolitionists hated the South and Southerners and they used the slaves as a wedge to pry the South apart from its foundations. If you look at the theological underpinnings of many of the abolitionists the reason for this is apparent. Their agenda called for much more than freeing slaves. That was the foot in the Southern door and that’s all it was. I have never forgotten the story my father told me years ago. When he was a boy he knew an ex-slave. They used to fish in the same river and got talking. The old slave talked about what life had been like before he was free. He told my Dad that the family that owned them always treated them well and they had grown to love them. After the 13th Amendment was passed freeing them, many of the slaves did not want to leave what, to them, was home. One day the Yankee soldiers came and to them they were free and so they should pack up whatever they could carry on their backs and go. One of the slaves, with a little presence of mind asked the soldier “If we free then why can’t we stay if we want to?” My Dad never forgot the soldier’s reply. He told the slave “You’re free to go but not to stay.” How typical of Yankee/Marxist “freedom.” You’re free to do what we tell you to do but not what you might want to do. How different is our “freedom” today? “Reconstruction” still marches on! But, with our public school “educations” we still don’t get the message.

Submitted by C.J. Johnson While the three day ride of General Stuart and his cavalry around the Army of the Potomac in mid-June was not of critical importance as a stand-alone action, it provided significant information to General Lee for his battle plans. More importantly, perhaps, was the fact that Stuart’s taunting McClellan provided inspiration and boosted the morale of Southern troops and citizens. Of course, it was a humiliating event as far as McClelland was concerned. Rebel aggravation continued. As reported in a June 14, 1862 Associated Press report, “…a small group of Confederate troops have struck at Union forces in an area of the Pamunkey River in Virginia — firing on them and reminding the enemy that they will resist all enemy efforts. ‘The rebels … burnt two schooners, some wagons, and drove off the mules’…” Down in South Carolina, Union soldiers attempted to capture Charleston. In late 1861, Port Royal, S. C. (located between Charleston and Savannah, Georgia) had been captured by Union ships. As a result, Federal forces gained an important base for operations aimed at the southern coastline. Charleston was under threat from that time. Union General Henry W. Benham and his 7,000 men arrived on James Island on June 10th, and were continually bombarded by Confederate artillery at a fort just outside Secessionville, located south of Charleston. Benham’s commander (General David Hunter) had ordered him, “to make no attempt to advance on Charleston or to attack Fort Johnson until largely re-enforced or until you receive specific instructions from these headquarters to that effect.” Despite his orders to remain entrenched at their position, Benham began planning to attack the fort. In the pre-dawn hours of June 16, Union troops again tried to claim Charleston, but were stopped at Secessionville. Troops commanded by General Benham rushed forward from their trenches at Grimball’s Landing on the south end of James Island, and attacked the small Confederate force protected by significant fortifications at Fort Lamar. The location of the fort gave the Rebels the upper hand. It was located on a small strip of solid ground, surrounded by mostly marshes. Originally only 500 Confederate troops were inside the fort, but 1,500 more soon joined them, as Benham continued to attack three separate times. Casualties for both sides totaled just under 1,000 men, with only 200 of those being Confederate. The Rebels had clearly defeated Benham, denying victory all three times. Benham, according to some sources, would not admit there was a battle at all. Regardless, Major General David Hunter relieved Benham of his command for disobeying orders.

Category: Children's Books| The author of the book: Margaret Humphrey Format files: PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOCX The size of the: 753 KB Edition: Christian Liberty Press Date of issue: 1 August 2007 Description of the book "Stories of the Pilgrims 2e":Stories of the Pilgrims, 2nd Edition, is a revised and updated reader which provides a delightful and intriguing account of the Pilgrims. This full color book brings history alive so students can experience the day-to-day lifestyle of our Pilgrim fathers. Answer Key available separately. Reviews of the Stories of the Pilgrims 2eSo far about the guide we have now Stories of the Pilgrims 2e suggestions people haven't yet eventually left the overview of the action, you aren't see clearly yet. However, if you have already check out this book and you're simply prepared to produce their conclusions convincingly have you be tied to to depart an evaluation on our site (we could release both equally bad and good critiques). Basically, "freedom connected with speech" Most of us wholeheartedly backed. Ones opinions to reserve Stories of the Pilgrims 2e -- different readers is able to come to a decision in regards to a book. This sort of help is likely to make us far more Joined! Margaret HumphreySadly, at present and we don't have specifics of the actual musician Margaret Humphrey. Nevertheless, we'd appreciate in case you have any information regarding that, and they are prepared to supply the item. Send out the idea to all of us! We also have all the look at, if every detail are true, we are going to submit on the web page. It is very important for all of us that genuine concerning Margaret Humphrey. Many of us many thanks ahead of time for being prepared to visit fulfill people! Download EBOOK Stories of the Pilgrims 2e for free

As the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Gen. Michael Hayden should have some insight on the biggest threats facing the U.S. But when Hayden recently described what he saw as the most troublesome trend over the next several decades, it wasn't terrorism or climate change. It was overpopulation in the poorest parts of the world. "By mid-century, the best estimates point to a world population of more than 9 billion," Hayden said in a speech at Kansas State University. "Most of that growth will occur in countries least able to sustain it." The sheer increase in population, Hayden argued, could fuel instability and extremism, not to mention worsening climate change and making food and fuel all the more scarce. Population is the essential multiplier for any number of human ills. Back in the 1970s, Hayden's argument wouldn't have been surprising. That era, which saw the birth of the modern environmental movement (the first Earth Day was observed in 1970), was obsessed with the idea of global limits, that without drastic intervention, we were doomed to overpopulation. Books like Paul Erhlich's The Population Bomb warned that the Earth was reaching the end of its carrying capacity, and that within decades, hundreds of millions of people would starve to death. The only way to avoid this Malthusian fate was rigid population control, which many environmentalists were in favor of. Fast-forward 30 years, however, and the situation has changed. The mass famines that Erhlich and others prophesized never happened, and while population growth has continued an estimated 6.8 billion people now live on Earth and on the whole, the world is better off today than it has ever been. A Green Revolution helped a growing planet feed itself, while the forces of globalization helped lift hundreds of millions in the developing world out of poverty, even as population continued to rise. As the years passed, overpopulation has dropped from the vocabulary of most environmentalists, partially due to the controversies that surrounded state-mandated birth control in countries like China, with its one-child policy. Though simple arithmetic will tell you that the bigger the global population becomes, the harder it will be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, you rarely see the population connection made explicit in major environmental reports. "Environmentalists came to realize how complicated and sensitive this issue was," says Robert Engleman, vice-president for programs at the Worldwatch Institute, and the author of the new book More: Population, Nature and What Women Want. "People didn't want to tell their neighbors and friends how to have kids." But now, the pendulum is shifting back. The sudden spike in both food and fuel prices is raising concerns that we may not be able to grow forever, that even with the best technological innovation, the planet may have limits. It's becoming increasingly clear that if we can't curb carbon emissions in a world of 6.8 billion, it may be impossible to do when there are 9 billion of us. And while population growth has slowed drastically in many countries in Western Europe and in Japan, where women are having fewer and fewer babies, it's still rising in much of the developed world and for that matter, in the United States. "You really can't talk about the supply and demand imbalance that is sending energy and food prices up without acknowledging that we are adding 78 million people each year, the equivalent of a new Idaho every week," says Engleman. The question remains though: what can we do about population? State-mandated birth control is essentially unfair and a policy no American government would ever support. But in his new book, Engleman makes the argument that the government doesn't need to get involved. The key to limiting population growth, he says, is to give control over procreation to women. In society after society, even in countries where large families have always been the norm, when women take control over family size, birth rates shrink. "They don't have to be coerced," says Engleman. "This will happen as long as women are in charge." I've seen this transition happen myself. In Japan, where I spent a year as a foreign correspondent, large families were once the norm, and women rarely worked. That's changed and Japan's birth rate has plummeted as women seek professional and personal fulfillment beyond having children. But that change has yet to occur in those parts of the developing world that are growing fastest, such as Uganda, where population is rising at 3.6%, the highest rate in the world. That's what Gen. Hayden is worried about that bursting population will turn struggling nations like Uganda into basket cases, with political and environmental consequences for the rest of the world. For the U.S., the best option is vigorous foreign aid that helps make contraception safe, reliable and accessible in every country too often women in the developing world who want to use contraception, can't get it. "The funding for contraception aid has been stagnant for decades," says Engleman. "Americans need to influence their government to get behind this." If we don't, we may find out very soon just what the limits of the Earth are. It's not just feminism to support population control it's environmentalism.

There's a fungus among us, and it's not a good thing. Some folks are trying to blame the outbreak on Global Warming. But through the centuries and decades there have always been threats of disease. In the middle ages it was plague. In the 18-19th centuries Smallpox and Scarlett Fever. In the early 20th century people were scared to death about Typhoid and influenza. Then polio. The "Big C." Aids. Flesh-eating disease. Mad Cow. Swine Flu. Today, a rare, dangerous fungal infection called Cryptococcus Gattii has been quietly spreading from British Columbia southward to the U.S. Pacific Northwest. I first heard about it while listening to the car radio. I wonder if one reason why we might fear this disease (and others) is because we are "too clean." We use too many disinfecting cleaners and hand sanitizers. We don't let our kids get "dirty enough" when they're outside playing. This Cryptococcus thing attacks the brain. Interesting to note that, to date, almost all cases have involved people between the ages of 15 and 95. Very few children have gotten the fungus infection, which also appears in domestic and wild animals. It is absorbed through the lungs and the symptoms of the infection, which can appear from weeks to several months after exposure, include chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, fever and a cough lasting weeks. A report on the fungus was published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens. Edmond Byrnes from Duke University was the lead investigator of the study. The mortality rate of the fungus is 25%, considered unusually high. Scientists at Duke are calling for awareness and increased vigilance about the CG fungus, but doctors caution that while increased research is needed, the new strain is not of major concern to the public. That makes me feel better! Tags: Cryptococcus Gattii, NPR Oregon Fungus

Date of this Version Nitrification involves the oxidation of ammonium (NH4+) and is an important component of the overall N cycle. Nitrification occurs in two steps; first by oxidizing ammonium to nitrite, and then to nitrate. The first step is often the rate limiting step. Until recently ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were thought to be the sole contributors to this process; however, the discovery of crenarchaeota, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), in marine environments has led to further study of their role in nitrification. Current literature supports the dominance of AOA over AOB in terrestrial ecosystems; however, little is known about what drives their abundance. To investigate the role of cropping system management on soil nitrifier abundance we sampled long-term continuous maize (25+ years) under two tillage treatments (tillage and no tillage) and five N fertilizer rates (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 kg ha-1 yr-1). Samples were collected three times during 2012; Pre-plant (5/1/12), after planting (5/14/12) and mid-season (7/6/12). Results show that AOA greatly outnumber AOB. The low AOB abundance may be attributed to niche differentiation between archaea and bacteria, as it was found that AOB were less resilient to N rate and tillage than AOA in monoculture maize. Little, if any, literature has examined soil structure as a possible niche. In previous studies, AOA have been shown to be more resilient to environmental conditions, than AOB. AOB abundance and community structure have been shown to be influenced by tillage, N-rate, and possibly plant growth; they also exhibited spatial heterogeneity. Given the different microenvironments in aggregate size fractions and AOA resistance to environmental conditions and habitat modification a second experiment examined the role of aggregate size fractions on AOB and AOA abundance. AOB were found to respond to soil depth and differed in concentration among aggregate size fractions although N rate still did not influence their abundance. AOA on the other hand was overall unresponsive to soil depth, N rate or aggregate size fraction; however, an N rate by depth interaction affected AOA abundance. Understanding the factors affecting AOB and AOA abundance are important to determine better soil management practices. Advisor: Rhae Drijber

Harborview Medical Center Northwest Hospital | Valley Medical Center | UW Medical Center UW Neighborhood Clinics | UW Physicians | UW School of Medicine | Airlift Northwest April 12, 2013 Table of contents UW scientists advance knowledge of aging process Our understanding of the treatment and prevention of disease has advanced significantly as a result of the efforts of outstanding medical research. Worldwide, these advances are resulting in longer lives. A research area of vital importance is refining our understanding of the aging process. UW Medicine has a strong team of researchers working in this critical area, led by Matt Kaeberlein, associate professor of pathology, and his colleagues. With more comprehensive knowledge of the aging process, it may be possible to delay aging and the diseases that accompany the aging process. The research in Kaeberlein’s lab focuses on understanding evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of aging using a combination of molecular, genetic, and biochemical approaches. The rationale behind this approach is that if a particular gene or pathway regulates aging in evolutionarily divergent model organisms, there is a very good chance the gene will have a similar function in humans. By targeting such conserved longevity factors, it may be possible to develop therapies that simultaneously delay the onset and progression of multiple age-related diseases. Simon Johnson, graduate student in pathology, Peter Rabinovitch, professor of pathology, and Matt Kaeberlein (photo, left) recently authored a review article in Nature on inhibition of mTOR, a protein that controls cell growth, to modulate aging and age-related disease. Inhibition of this pathway extends lifespan in model organisms and confers protection against a growing number of age-related pathologies. Characterized inhibitors of this pathway have been clinically approved, and others are under development. Although adverse side effects currently preclude their use in otherwise healthy individuals, drugs that target the mTOR pathway have the potential in the future to slow aging and reduce age-related diseases in humans. Kaeberlein and his colleagues are also studying the mechanisms by which dietary restriction can slow aging and reduce age-related disease. One focus of this research centers on improving protein homeostasis. Several age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington’s disease, are caused by loss of protein homeostasis due to misfolding and aggregation of a toxic protein, and Kaeberlein’s work has shown that dietary restriction can have a potent protective effect in animal models of these diseases. Kaeberlein recently was awarded funding from The Murdock Trust to purchase a Copas Biosort that will be a centerpiece of the Invertebrate Longevity and Healthspan Core. This is part of a larger initiative to establish the UW Healthy Aging and Longevity (HALo) Research Institute. The primary goal of the Institute is to promote scientific research and public policy that will enhance healthy aging and longevity. The Biosort will be used by a variety of UW faculty to study basic mechanisms of aging and other biological processes using the nematode C. elegans as a model system. The Biosort will facilitate high-throughput assays to identify and characterize novel interventions that promote healthy aging. I would like to congratulate Matt Kaeberlein and his colleagues for their groundbreaking work in an area that will assume increasing importance in coming years. Paul G. Ramsey, M.D. UW Medicine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have recruited world-renowned neurosurgeon and brain cancer researcher Eric Holland to establish world-class research programs on brain and other solid-tumor cancers. He will leave Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and arrive in Seattle this summer. At UW Medicine, Holland will be a professor of neurological surgery, hold the Chap and Eve Alvord and Elias Alvord Chair in Neuro-oncology, and direct the Nancy and Buster Alvord Brain Tumor Center, established in 2009 to promote, develop and coordinate interdisciplinary brain tumor care and research among physicians and scientists in a variety of fields. One of Holland’s priorities will be to recruit a team of internationally recognized brain cancer investigators to implement the vision of the late Ellsworth “Buster” Alvord, former head of neuropathology in the UW Department of Pathology and a Seattle philanthropist. Alvord and his family funded five endowed chairs in five different UW Medicine departments to create a multidisciplinary brain cancer research center. “Eric Holland is exceptionally well qualified to lead the Alvord Brain Tumor Center, and I am confident that he will recruit outstanding researchers and clinicians to establish the Alvord Center as the best in the world,” said Paul G. Ramsey, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine. “Under Dr. Holland’s leadership, we will be able to fulfill the vision for brain cancer research and clinical care established by Buster Alvord when he and his family made their extraordinarily generous commitment to establish the Alvord Center. I am delighted to welcome Eric Holland to UW Medicine.” At Fred Hutchinson, where Holland’s research laboratory will be based, he will be senior vice president and director of the Human Biology Division, an interdisciplinary program that encourages collaboration among faculty with a broad range of expertise—from molecular and cellular biology to genetics and clinical research. Read more in UW Today. New genetic factors that predispose to schizophrenia have been uncovered in five families with several affected relatives. The psychiatric disorder can disrupt thinking, feeling, and acting, and blur the border between reality and imagination. Debby W. Tsuang, UW professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Marshall S. Horwitz, UW professor of pathology, led the multi-institutional study. Tsuang is also a staff physician at the Puget Sound Veterans Administration Health Care System. The results are published in the April 3 online edition of JAMA Psychiatry. Loss of brain nerve cell integrity occurs in schizophrenia, but scientists have not worked out the details of when and how this happens. In all five families in the present study, the researchers found rare variants in genes tied to the networking of certain signal receptors on nerve cells distributed throughout the brain. These N-methyl-D-aspartate, or NMDA, receptors are widespread molecular control towers in the brain. They regulate the release of chemical messages that influence the strength of brain cell connections and the ongoing remodeling of the networks. These receptors respond to glutamate, one of the most common nerve-signaling chemicals in the brain, and they are also found on brain circuits that manage dopamine release. Dopamine is a nerve signal associated with reward-seeking, movement and emotions. Deficits in glutamate and dopamine function have both been implicated in schizophrenia but most of the medications that have been developed to treat schizophrenia have targeted dopamine receptors. Tsuang and her groups’ discovery of gene variations that disturb N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor networking functions supports the hypothesis that decreased NMDA receptor-mediated nerve-signal transmissions contributes to some cases of schizophrenia. Read more in UW Today. The following article was adapted from an article by Catherine Britain published in News & Views, a publication of the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center. Rural providers can be uncomfortable when treating patients with chronic pain. The UW Division of Pain Medicine wants to help change that. They offer weekly TelePain services using a panel of interprofessional specialists who are experts in the management of challenging chronic pain problems. David Tauben, interim chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and medical director of UW Center for Pain Relief (photo, left), serves as the clinical lead for UW TelePain. Tauben states that limited training and expertise of community providers in pain medicine has led to poor patient outcomes and limited access to specialists, a problem detailed by the 2011 US Institute of Medicine report on pain care in America (more than 33,000 people with chronic pain for every specialist) and highlighted by Washington state’s 2012 opioid prescribing rules that require pain specialty consultations for high dose and high risk patients. UW Medicine telehealth program has been providing UW Telepain video-conferencing to support community providers (both primary and specialty) in the management of complex and challenging chronic pain problems since 2006 as part of a telehealth project funded HRSA’s Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. The project was designed to serve American Indian and Alaska Native communities. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the program was expanded to include rural hospitals and clinics. In 2011, the program merged with a new collaboration between the UW Division of Pain Medicine and Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) at the University of Mexico, sharing the mission "to develop the capacity to safely and effectively treat chronic, common, and complex diseses in rural and underserved areas, and to monitor outcomes of this treatment." Read the entire article in News & Views. The UW Medical Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (UWMC/SCCA) Anticoagulation Services Program has been designated a Center of Excellence by the Anticoagulation Forum, a multidisciplinary, nonprofit organization of healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the quality of care for patients taking antithrombotic medications. The two-year Anticoagulation Center of Excellence designation is awarded to programs that provide the highest level of comprehensive care and achieve the best possible outcomes for patients on antithrombotic medications. UWMC/SCCA Anticoagulation Services Program met all criteria related to the five pillars that are assessed, including drug therapy management, disease state management, transition and coordination of care, service operational performance, and patient/family education. The web-based Centers of Excellence program offers a roadmap to achieving consistent, sustainable excellence in patient care through three essential components: Read more about the Anticoagulation Forum Centers of Excellence. Daniel Lessler, UW professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine (photo, right), has been selected as the new Chief Medical Officer for the state’s Medicaid Program and Public Employees Benefits, starting May 13. Stephan Fihn, UW professor of medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, said "Dan Lessler has been a faculty member in the division for two decades. During that time he has distinguished himself as a superb clinician, devoted teacher and innovative health services investigator. His most unique accomplishments, however, have been as a leader and advocate for delivering healthcare to vulnerable and underserved people.” Lessler’s administrative roles have included directing the Adult Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and serving as senior associate medical director at Harborview. On the national stage, he has been widely recognized for developing creative solutions that enable safety net hospitals to better serve vulnerable and underserved patients. In his new position, Lessler will be involved in enhancing and expanding the Medicare Program as part of the Affordable Care Act. “There is no one better suited for this responsibility,” Fihn said. “We are grateful for his manifold contributions to UW and look forward to working with him in his new role." Six UW health sciences students have been named 2010 Magnuson Scholars, one of the highest awards given by the University. Alan Kwan, School of Medicine; Sunniva Zaratkiewicz, School of Nursing; William Canestaro, School of Pharmacy; Cynthia Curl, School of Public Health; Charles Hoy-Ellis, School of Social Work; and Emily Chu, School of Dentistry receive the honor this year. Each year the University names six Magnuson Scholars, one from each of the six UW health sciences schools. The scholars are selected by their deans on the basis of their academic performance and their potential contributions to research in the health sciences. The Magnuson Scholars program was established in the name of the late U.S. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson (photo, left), who was committed to improving the nation’s health through biomedical research. He was instrumental in establishing the National Institutes of Health, Medicare and Medicaid during his long career in the United States Senate. This year’s Magnuson Scholars are: Learn more about the 2013-2014 Magnuson Scholars online. Pediatric residents from Seattle Children’s Hospital have been completing rotations at Peninsula Children’s Clinic since 1980, when the clinic started with four residents doing two-month rotations. Since then, 378 pediatric residents have rotated through Peninsula Children's Clinic and Olympic Memorial Hospital, gaining the type of experience and knowledge the WWAMI program aims to deliver. One resident writes of his experience at Port Angeles, "It is so encouraging to see that there is life after residency. The doctors all have families and outside interests and have set up their practice to make time for them. The teaching was superb, and you are allowed to act as a full member of the group, not an apprentice...advice and or help was always there for the asking." Those who foster this unique learning experience by precepting students and residents in Port Angeles are medical community members and leaders of their communities. One person who has played a significant role in the robust activities in Port Angeles is family physician Rob Epstein. Epstein has been spearheading the Port Angeles WWAMI rotations since early in his career. Epstein joined the Family Medicine Port Angeles (FMPA) group in 2001, upon completion of his residency at Spokane Family Medicine. Soon after Epstein arrived in Port Angeles, medical students began going to Port Angeles for their summer Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (R/UOP). In 2008, under the guidance of regional assistant clinical deans Deb Harper and John McCarthy, Port Angeles became the first WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE) site in Western Washington, receiving its first WRITE student in 2010. Port Angeles also subsequently became one of four Targeted Rural and Underserved Track (TRUST sites in Western Washington. For this expansion, Epstein credits several doctors in his clinic, as well as others who gave their time and effort to teaching. Contributors include Mike Maxwell, Chris Frank, Rienera Sivesind, Kate Weller and Stan Garlick, each from FMPA, and Bill Hobbs (IM), Jeff Weller (Peds), Scott Kennedy (Family Medicine), Sandra Tatro (Surgery), Josh Jones (Psychiatry), and Tom Locke, Clallam County health officer. When asked about the reasons for all his own hard work, Epstein states, “I really enjoy it. I enjoy working with the students and building a community around the educational process.” He also strongly believes this process will improve the long-term recruitment and retention of health care providers in the Port Angeles area. Epstein has ambitious plans for further expanding educational opportunities in Port Angeles. He hopes to form a relationship with the MEDEX program to start training physician assistant students in the community. In addition, he dreams of eventually developing a Rural Training Track, where family medicine residents would spend the R1 year in Seattle at a tertiary care hospital and then R2 and R3 years in Port Angeles at Olympic Medical Center. Epstein realizes this will take hard work and years to develop, but he finds the idea of being able to train students and trainees from medical school through residency in his community worth every effort. Lily Peacock is a polar bear expert who spent four years in the remote Inuit village of Igloolik in the territory of Nunavut, Canada, researching the territory’s bear population. Her wildlife biologist colleagues were shocked when she announced her intent to leave her job as a polar bear researcher and return to the classroom to become a physician. “People said to me, ‘You have the best job in the world—you work with polar bears and you’re really successful at what you do,” Lily says. But she didn’t decide to leave her job because she didn’t like it; she wanted to do something different with her life. “I was in a job that I liked 95 percent of the time, but I want a job that I like 110 percent of the time,” she says. Peacock, who holds a doctoral degree in ecology, evolution and conservation biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, is a first-year medical student in the WWAMI medical education program in Alaska. Her experience living and working in remote villages has magnified for her the desperate need of medical professionals among underserved populations. “It became very apparent to me that serving these populations would be a job I’d enjoy doing,” she says. Already a scientist, Lily decided it was time to shift her focus to medicine. To Lily, working in medicine is the perfect combination of mind and heart. “Doctors understand science, but they also show compassion,” she says. “Compassion wasn’t a part of my scientific work—that element is really appealing to me in a profession. In medicine, you can choose to make an impact every day with individual patients.” Lily Peacock’s journey from polar bear expert to medical student is featured in the Student Spotlight section of the University of Alaska Anchorage Green & Gold newsletter. The following events may be of interest to the UW Medicine community: UW Medicine GME Research Day, April 13 First annual multi-specialty UW Medicine GME Research Day, 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 13, South Lake Union, Orion Smith Auditorium. The event, hosted by the Office of Graduate Medical Education, will showcase projects from UW GME residents and fellows in basic sciences, translational or clinical research through presentations or posters. Cash research awards, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, will be given for the top presentations. Contact Shawn Banta at [email protected] or 206.616.8286 for more information. 2013 Walk to fight MS, April 14 2013 Walk MS, Sunday, April 14, sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The annual event supports life-changing programs and research for the 12,000 people living with MS in our community. Sign up as a walker or make a donation on the UW Medicine Multiple Sclerosis Center Team website. The four-mile walk follows the Burke-Gilman Trail from the UW campus to Gas Works Park. On-site registration begins at 9 a.m. at UW Lot E18. Each participant will also receive a UW Medicine T-shirt. For more information, contact Kelly Bender at 206.598.3894 or [email protected] Washington Global Health Alliance Discovery Lecture, April 17 Malaria Today: Challenges and Opportunities, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 17, Health Sciences Building, Room K-069. Robert Newman, director of the Global Malaria Programme at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, will give the lecture. Newman, a pediatrician, received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s in public health from the UW. He is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Global Health at the UW. A reception follows the lecture from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Rotunda Café. Learn more about the WGHA Discovery Series online. For more information contact Ashlee Choi at [email protected] or 206.685.7362. 11th Annual Alvord Lecture in Neuropathology, April 17 Neuropathology of the Dystroglycanopathies: Muscular Dystrophy, Developmental Brain Abnormalities and Peripheral Neuropathy, 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 17, UW Health Sciences Building, Room T-739. Steven Moore, professor of pathology at the University of Iowa, will speak. This special lecture is in memory of the life and scientific legacy of Ellsworth C. Alvord, professor and chief of UW Medicine Neuropathology. For more information, visit the UW Medicine Pathology website or contact Steve Berard at 206.685.0564 or [email protected]. Rabinowitz Symposium in Medical Ethics, April 19 Whose Medicine, Whose Care? Troubling Inequities in the Migration of Health, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, April 19, at the UW South Campus Center, Room 316. The UW Department of Philosophy and the Program on Values in Society presents an interdisciplinary symposium on the differences and inequities in the global circulation of medical expertise and caregiving labor. Register online. Contact Sara Goering, UW associate professor of philosophy, for more information at [email protected] or visit the UW Department of Philosophy website. Party beCause benefit for RotaCare Free Clinic, April 19 The second annual party beCause this year benefits the RotaCare Free Clinic, 7 p.m., Friday, April 19, UW Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St., Seattle. The event will raise funds to support RotaCare’s mission of providing free medical care to underserved and uninsured individuals in the Seattle area. Party beCause features an evening of music, dinner, and live and silent auctions. All proceeds from the event will be given directly to provide vital funding to support RotaCare's mission. Tickets are $60 ($30 for students) and include live music, catered dinner and one drink from the bar. Purchase tickets online. The event is sponsored by the UW School of Medicine's Student Health Initiative for Access, Medical Student Association, Health Equity Circle, and Party beCAUSE Planning Committee. Palliative Care Center of Excellence to host community forums, April 27 & 29 The new UW Palliative Care Center of Excellence is inviting community members to help shape its future programs. The center, which launched in October, will hold its first community forums Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m., at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St., Seattle, and at 6 p.m., Monday, April 29 at the Dumas Bay Centre, 3200 SW Dash Point Road, in Federal Way. Members of the public will have an opportunity to share their experiences coping with serious illness, and to learn more about the Center. For more information and to RSVP to the community forums, contact the Palliative Care Center of Excellence at [email protected] or 206.744.5412. Read more about the forums on the Center’s website. Center for Medical Education Feedback Summit, April 30 Feedback Summit, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 30, UW South Campus Center, Room 316. The UW School of Medicine Center for Medical Education will host a half-day faculty development session and celebration of the new center. The Feedback Summit will provide a forum for discussion and dissemination of best practices in providing feedback to students, residents, fellows and peers. Presenters will include Heidi Combs, assistant professor of psychiatry & behavioral sciences; Eileen Klein, professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine; Patricia Kritek, associate professor of medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; Daniel Lin, professor of urology; and Sherilyn Smith, professor of pediatrics. Register online. For more information, contact Michael Ryan, center director, at [email protected] or Sara Kim, associate director, at [email protected]. Read more about the new Center for Medical Education in the Jan. 18 Online News. The Brotman and Ragen Awards: Nominations due May 6 The UW Medicine Board is calling for nominations for two awards: the 2013 Brotman Leadership Award and the 2013 Ragen Volunteer Service Award, named after UW Medicine advocates Jeffrey H. Brotman and Brooks G. Ragen. The Brotman Award recognizes visionary philanthropic leadership, while the Ragen Award recognizes outstanding service from volunteers, faculty and staff. Nominations are due Monday, May 6. If you have questions, please contact Lynn Hogan, chief advancement officer at UW Medicine, at 206.543.6865 or [email protected]. (Please note: current UW Medicine Board members are not eligible to receive these awards.) 22nd Annual Visiting Scholar in Cardiothoracic Surgery Lecture, May 10 A New Paradigm in Transplantation: Personalized Medicine for the Organ, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Friday, May 10, Health Sciences Building, Room K-069. Shaf Keshavjee, director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program and surgeon in chief of the University Health Network, University of Toronto, will speak. The lecture is presented by the UW Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Reception follows. Contact Kelsey Hobbs at [email protected] or 206.543.3093. Continuing Medical Education Visit Continuing Medical Education for information on upcoming classes. Spring UW Medicine magazine available online The spring issue of UW Medicine. Read about the new UW Palliative Care Center of Excellence, which is taking care of people at the most vulnerable times in their lives, and take a look at the story on ENCODE, the ground-breaking study that is mapping the living genome. You can also learn about two UW Medicine alumnae who are fighting human trafficking and fighting for women’s health, the development of an artificial pancreas for diabetes patients, a student who wants to bring equity in health treatment to her community and much, much more. UW Medicine health and wellness initiative on the air and online UW Medicine’s new multi-media health and wellness initiative provides consumers with health and wellness information and the latest treatments and medical breakthroughs at UW Medicine. Look for regular television and radio spots on Fisher Communication’s KOMO News, KOMO News Radio and STAR 101.5 featuring UW Medicine experts and patients. A new dedicated website, UW Medicine Health, features timely news items, features and columns about health and wellness, medical research advances and patient stories. For more information, contact UW Medicine Strategic Marketing & Communications at 206.543.3620. UW Medicine Brand Resources website (UW NetID required)

Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry BiologyOccurs in rivers and marshlands (Ref. 26100). An ubiquitous species which inhabits small to medium-sized streams with Mediterranean water regime. May be confined to very small pools during summer. Feeds mainly on small arthropods. Spawns on stone to gravel bottom in shallow riffle habitats with fast-flowing water. Involved in the Iberocypris alburnoides hybrid complex (Ref. 59043). Threatened due to pollution, habitat destruction and the introduction of other species (Ref. 26100).

Wednesday marks the would-be birthday of Anna Sewell, a 19th century English novelist who penned only one book throughout her 58 years of life: the beloved Black Beauty. Fortunately for Sewell, it was an outstanding one that became one of the best-selling books of all time with more than 50 million copies sold. Sewell died only five months after its publication, but she lived to see its initial success. In honor of her legacy, here are eight authors — Sewell included — who wrote only one novel in their lifetimes, but they were excellent ones. Anna Sewell, Black Beauty (1877) Due to a disability, Sewell was relegated to the confines of her home during the final years of her life. It was during this time that she wrote Black Beauty, a best-selling children’s book told from the perspective of a horse as he navigates the sometimes cruel, sometimes kind animal kingdom. Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847) Though controversial when published, poet Brontë’s tumultuous love story has since soared to literary’s highest echelon. Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago (1957) Set amid the perilous Russian Revolution, Pasternak’s 1957 epic had to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union to make it to print, but it earned him a Nobel Prize and a 1965 film adaption. He wrote many collections of prose and poetry too, but Doctor Zhivago was his only novel. Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind (1936) During its 80-year reign, Mitchell’s timeless tale of a young girl struggling to survive in the American South has landed her a Pulitzer Prize and inspired one of cinema’s most beloved films. Mitchell also penned a best-selling novella, Lost Laysen, and a handful of unpublished works, but Gone with the Wind is the only full-length novel that made it to print. J.D. Salinger, The Catcher In the Rye (1951) Delving into the coming-of-age themes of angst, alienation, and rebellion, Salinger’s much-praised novel has become an essential read for teens coming to grips with adulthood. Salinger also wrote a number of novellas and short story collections, but none were nearly as successful. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963) Though Plath inked plenty of poetry throughout her lifetime, The Bell Jar is her only book. The semi-autobiographical account chronicles the mental breakdown of Esther Greenwood. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) Often lauded as a literary milestone, Ellison’s book about an African American man whose skin color renders him invisible pierced the early century racial divide with unprecedented candor. Ellison drew in equal praise for his critical essay collections, Shadow and Act and Going to the Territory. Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (1997) Roy’s debut novel follows two twins in Ayemenem, India, and the indelible aftermath their cousin’s accidental death hurls at their lives. Roy has gone on to release an extensive list of articles, essays, and non-fiction.

Recount Text: Lovely Party Recount text is majorly written in past tense mode. As it tells the story of of certain experience, it must be written in simple past tense, past continuous tense or past perfect tense. Recount text is very similar to narrative text. But recount text does not explore any complication among the participants, rather it recounts the event per event which happened in the last time. Take a look at the following example of recount text about love starts at the party Love Story Started Again at the Lovely Party It was Friday again, the day for famous parties at Wellington High School. Students were dancing in the garden and everyone was enjoying the pleasure of being away from boring lessons. When Sarah came to the party, the music had already started. Tim suddenly noticed Sarah and felt shocked. He had been looking for her for 2 years. They met each other at a holiday camp in 1999, but mysteriously Sarah disappeared after a while. He had been thinking about her since then. At the party, Sarah was talking to one of her friends while most of the students were drinking as much as they could. Tim decided to talk to her and waited for her friend to leave. When he went next to her, she was searching for something in her bag, so she did not see him. As soon as he touched her on the shoulder, she raised her head and couldn’t believe her eyes. She had never forgot him. At the end of the party, no one was happier than Sarah and Tim as they found each other after 2 years. Note: This recount text sample is arranged from: www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=414#a It is presented for exercise of Simple Past Tense, Past Continuous Tense, and Past Perfect Tense

Aerial photogrammetry is a technique for creating two dimensional 2D or 3D models from aerial photographs, which are pictures of the Earth from a high point, usually an airplane. Aerial photogrammetry usually requires photographs of two or more angles of the same area in order to map the image, and it may or may not involve computer software. These photographs are then turned into the models by cartographers. The Aerial photogrammetry services is used to create topographical maps. These maps may be either 2D or, more recently, 3D computer models of terrain. The resulting maps and models may be useful in analyzing both small and large geographical areas. These maps may be used as a basis for, or in conjunction with, GIS data.Also Aerial Triangulation is the calculation of true ground co-ordinates, used as the base reference in photogrammetry.

GPLEX is a scanner generator which produces lexical scanners written in C# V2 or higher. The input language is similar to the original LEX specification language, but allows full 21-bit Unicode scanners to be specified. GPLEX generates scanners based around finite state automata. The generated automata have the number of states minimized by default, and have a large number of options for table compression. The default compression scheme is chosen depending on the input alphabet cardinality, and almost always gives a reasonable result. However a large number of options are available for the user to tune the behavior if necessary. The tool implements many of the FLEX extensions, including such things as start-state stacks. The generated scanners are designed to interface cleanly with bottom-up parsers generated by Gardens Point Parser Generator. However, gplex-generated scanners have been successfully used with both handwritten parsers and with parsers generated by Examples Of Use There are a small number of examples of use included in the download package, and these are fully discussed in the documentation. For a more complex example GPLEX and the companion GPPG tool each themselves use scanners and parsers generated by GPLEX and GPPG. There is a separate documentation file that deals with the special issues that arise with scanners that use the Unicode character set. Is GPLEX What You Need? GPLEX is a scanner generator. It is intended to be used to generate scanners for compilers or other tools that process text. It picks out non-overlapping substrings from within a continuing input stream, and returns an integer token identification. It may also be used for other simple regular expression recognition tasks, but is not a replacement for the System.Text.RegularExpressions classes. It does not have built-in mechanisms for multiple substring capture or anything similar. GPLEX has historically had an approximately 2-per-year release cycle. If there is some feature that fits within the broad intention of the tool and which you feel is missing ... raise an issue. If what you really want is a C# version of AWK then GPLEX isn't it, and the copyright notice explains the conditions under which you may use code of GPLEX to help you implement AWK.NET yourself.

The temporomandibular joint is the small joint in front of your ear where your lower jaw fits in to the base of your skull. Between the top part of your jaw (the condyle) and the base of your skull (fossa) is a specialized disk similar to the meniscus of your knee. This joint allows you to open and close your mouth. Surrounding the joint are a number of muscles that facilitate opening and closing of your mouth. TMJ disorders are not uncommon and can present with a variety of symptoms such as ear pain, headaches, limitation in the ability to open the mouth, changes in the bite, and increasing space in between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaw. One of the most common complaints about the TMJ is popping and clicking within the jaw joint. This is caused by the disk (meniscus) in the middle of the joint being positioned in front of the top part of the lower jaw (the condyle). The popping or clicking occurs when the disk is positioned in front of the condyle and on opening the mouth, the condyle slides on to the disk resulting in the noise. This positioning of the disk is more of a variant of anatomy than true malposition as it is found in almost 40% of humans. The time when this position becomes pathologic is when it causes restriction of motion of the jaw, pain, or inflammation. In these cases, it is often self alleviating with time but there are several modalities used by our surgeons to help treat this condition when it becomes pathologic. Typically we begin with conservative therapy, medical management, sometimes splint therapy, physical therapy and in only 10-15% of patients do they require surgical intervention. The joint can also develop arthritis which can lead to a hole in the disk. This can lead to a grating or grinding sound with opening and closing. This can range in symptoms from just noise to pain and limitation of opening. This is also treated conservatively as mentioned above and rarely is there need for surgery. In some patients, trauma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or other conditions that can cause severe restriction of movement of the joint. In these cases the jaw joint can fuse with either scar tissue or a bridge of bone can form between the jaw and base of skull. This would necessitate surgical intervention to repair, however the condition is quite rare. The most common problem and what people most commonly refer to as “TMJ” is an inflammation and spasm of the muscles that surround the jaw joint and facilitate opening and closing referred to as myofascial pain. This is often caused by grinding of the teeth at night, or clenching of the jaw during the day. The clenching and grinding is multifactorial and can be related to stress, medication, ergonomics, habits such as chewing gum, jaw injuries, how the teeth fit together, or a host of other causes that are not yet identified. This spasm can lead to headaches, restriction of motion, severe and diffuse jaw pain, a shift in the bite, as well as back and neck pain. It can also lead to inflammation within the jaw joint itself which serves to confuse the clinical picture. Because the cause is the inflammation and muscle spasm, the mainstay of treatment is anti-inflammatory medication, muscle relaxing techniques, heat, rest, and typically a muscle relaxant. In people who are refractory to this treatment and continue to have significant pain, headaches/migraines, or other adverse effects to their daily life can often get relief from BOTOX® in to the areas of muscle spasm. It is important to discuss the nature of your symptoms thoroughly with your doctor so that the appropriate treatment can be selected in collaboration with you.

SALUTATION ORIGINALLY AN ACT OF WORSHIP A lady writer of distinction says of salutations: "It would seem that good manners were originally the expression of submission from the weaker to the stronger. In a rude state of society every salutation is to this day an act of worship. Hence the commonest acts, phrases and signs of courtesy with which we are now familiar, date from those earlier stages when the strong hand ruled and the inferior demonstrated his allegiance by studied servility. Let us take, for example, the words 'sir' and 'madam.' 'Sir' is derived from seigneur, sieur, and originally meant lord, king, ruler and, in its patriarchal sense, father. The title of sire was last borne by some of the ancient feudal families of France, who, as Selden has said, 'affected rather to be styled by the name of sire than baron, as Le Sire de Montmorenci and the like.' 'Madam' or 'madame,' corrupted by servants into 'ma'am,' and by Mrs. Gamp and her tribe into 'mum,' is in substance equivalent to 'your exalted,' or 'your highness,' madame originally meaning high-born, or stately, and being applied only to ladies of the highest rank. "To turn to our every-day forms of salutation. We take off our hats on visiting an acquaintance. We bow on being introduced to strangers. We rise when visitors enter our drawing-room. We wave our hand to our friend as he passes the window or drives away from our door. The Oriental, in like manner, leaves his shoes on the threshold when he pays a visit. The natives of the Tonga Islands kiss the soles of a chieftain's feet. The Siberian peasant grovels in the dust before a Russian noble. Each of these acts has a primary, an historical significance. The very word 'salutation,' in the first place, derived as it is from salutatio, the daily homage paid by a Roman client to his patron, suggests in itself a history of manners. "To bare the head was originally an act of submission to gods and rulers. A bow is a modified prostration. A lady's courtesy is a modified genuflection. Rising and standing are acts of homage; and when we wave our hand to a friend on the opposite side of the street, we are unconsciously imitating the Romans, who, as Selden tells us, used to stand 'somewhat off before the images of their gods, solemnly moving the right hand to the lips and casting it, as if they had cast kisses.' Again, men remove the glove when they shake hands with a lady—a custom evidently of feudal origin. The knight removed his iron gauntlet, the pressure of which would have been all too harsh for the palm of a fair chatelaine; and the custom, which began in necessity, has traveled down to us as a point of etiquette." SALUTATIONS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS Each nation has its own method of salutation. In Southern Africa it is the custom to rub toes. In Lapland your friend rubs his nose against yours. The Turk folds his arms upon his breast and bends his head very low. The Moors of Morocco have a somewhat startling mode of salutation. They ride at a gallop toward a stranger, as though they would unhorse him, and when close at hand suddenly check their horse and fire a pistol over the person's head. The Egyptian solicitously asks you, "How do you perspire?" and lets his hand fall to the knee. The Chinese bows low and inquires, "Have you eaten?" The Spaniard says, "God be with you, sir," or, "How do you stand?" And the Neapolitan piously remarks, "Grow in holiness." The German asks, "How goes it with you?" The Frenchman bows profoundly and inquires, "How do you carry yourself." Foreigners are given to embracing. In France and Germany the parent kisses his grown-up son on the forehead, men throw their arms around the necks of their friends, and brothers embrace like lovers. It is a curious sight to Americans, with their natural prejudices against publicity in kissing. In England and America there are three modes of salutation—the bow, the handshaking and the kiss. It is said: "A bow is a note drawn at sight. You are bound to acknowledge it immediately, and to the full amount." It should be respectful, cordial, civil or familiar, according to circumstances. Between gentlemen, an inclination of the head, a gesture of the hand, or the mere touching of the hat is sufficient; but in bowing to a lady, the hat must be lifted from the head. If you know people slightly, you recognize them slightly; if you know them well, you bow with more familiarity. The body is not bent at all in bowing; the inclination of the head is all that is necessary. If the gentleman is smoking, he withdraws his cigar from his mouth before lifting his hat to a lady, or if he should happen to have his hand in his pocket he removes it. At the moment of the first meeting of the eyes of an acquaintance you bow. Any one who has been introduced to you, or any one to whom you have been introduced, is entitled to this mark of respect. The bow is the touchstone of good breeding, and to neglect it, even to one with whom you may have a trifling difference, shows deficiency in cultivation and in the instincts of refinement. A bow does not entail a calling acquaintance. Its entire neglect reveals the character and training of the person; the manner of its observance reveals the very shades of breeding that exist between the ill-bred and the well-bred. RETURNING A BOW A gentleman walking with a lady returns a bow made to her, whether by a lady or gentleman (lifting his hat not too far from his head), although the one bowing is an entire stranger to him. It is civility to return a bow, although you do not know the one who is bowing to you. Either the one who bows, knows you, or has mistaken you for some one else. In either case you should return the bow, and probably the mistake will be discovered to have occurred for want of quick recognition on your own part, or from some resemblance that you bear to another. THE MANNER OF BOWING The manner in which the salutation of recognition is made, may be regarded as an unerring test of the breeding, training, or culture of a person. It should be prompt as soon as the eyes meet, whether on the street or in a room. The intercourse need go no further, but that bow must be made. There are but few laws which have better reasons for their observance than this. This rule holds good under all circumstances, whether within doors or without. Those who abstain from bowing at one time, and bow at another, should not be surprised to find that the person whom they have neglected, has avoided the continuation of their acquaintance. DUTIES OF YOUNG TO OLDER PEOPLE Having once had an introduction that entitles to recognition, it is the duty of the person to recall himself or herself to the recollection of the older person, if there is much difference in age, by bowing each time of meeting, until the recognition becomes mutual. As persons advance in life, they look for these attentions upon the part of the young. Persons who have large circles of acquaintance, often confuse the faces of the young whom they know with the familiar faces which they meet and do not know, and from frequent errors of this kind, they get into the habit of waiting to catch some look or gesture of recognition. HOW TO AVOID RECOGNITION If a person desires to avoid a bowing acquaintance with a person who has been properly introduced, he may do so by looking aside, or dropping the eyes as the person approaches, for, if the eyes meet, there is no alternative, bow he must. ON PUBLIC PROMENADES Bowing once to a person upon a public promenade or drive is all that civility requires. If the person is a friend, it is in better form, the second and subsequent passings, should you catch his or her eye, to smile slightly instead of bowing repeatedly. If an acquaintance, it is best to avert the eyes. A SMILING BOW A bow should never be accompanied by a broad smile, even when you are well acquainted, and yet a high authority well says: "You should never speak to an acquaintance without a smile in your eyes." DEFERENCE TO ELDERLY PEOPLE A young lady should show the same deference to an elderly lady that a gentleman does to a lady. It may also be said that a young man should show proper deference to elderly gentlemen. WORDS OF SALUTATION The words commonly used in saluting a person are "Good Morning," "Good Afternoon," "Good Evening," "How do you do" (sometimes contracted into "Howdy" and "How dye do,") and "How are you." The three former are most appropriate, as it seems somewhat absurd to ask after a person's health, unless you stop to receive an answer. A respectful bow should accompany the words. Among friends the shaking of the hand is the most genuine and cordial expression of good-will. It is not necessary, though in certain cases it is not forbidden, upon introduction; but when acquaintanceship has reached any degree of intimacy, it is perfectly proper. ETIQUETTE OF HANDSHAKING An authority upon this subject says: "The etiquette of handshaking is simple. A man has no right to take a lady's hand until it is offered. He has even less right to pinch or retain it. Two young ladies shake hands gently and softly. A young lady gives her hand, but does not shake a gentleman's unless she is his friend. A lady should always rise to give her hand; a gentleman, of course, never dares to do so seated. On introduction in a room, a married lady generally offers her hand; a young lady, not. In a ball-room, where the introduction is to dancing, not to friendship, you never shake hands; and as a general rule, an introduction is not followed by shaking hands, only by a bow. It may perhaps be laid down that the more public the place of introduction, the less handshaking takes place. But if the introduction be particular, if it be accompanied by personal recommendation, such as, 'I want you to know my friend Jones,' or if Jones comes with a letter of presentation, then you give Jones your hand, and warmly, too. Lastly, it is the privilege of a superior to offer or withhold his or her hand, so that an inferior should never put his forward first." When a lady so far puts aside her reserve as to shake hands at all, she should give her hand with frankness and cordiality. There should be equal frankness and cordiality on the gentleman's part, and even more warmth, though a careful avoidance of anything like offensive familiarity or that which might be mistaken as such. In shaking hands, the right hand should always be offered, unless it be so engaged as to make it impossible, and then an excuse should be offered. The French give the left hand, as nearest the heart. The mistress of a household should offer her hand to every guest invited to her house. A gentleman must not shake hands with a lady until she has made the first move in that direction. It is a mark of rudeness not to give his hand instantly, should she extend her own. A married lady should always extend her hand to a stranger brought to her house by a common friend, as an evidence of her cordial welcome. Where an introduction is for dancing there is no shaking of hands. This is the most affectionate form of salutation, and is only proper among near relations and dear friends. THE KISS OF FRIENDSHIP The kiss of friendship and relationship is on the cheeks and forehead. In this country this act of affection is generally excluded from public eyes, and in the case of parents and children and near relations, it is perhaps unnecessarily so. KISSING IN PUBLIC The custom which has become quite prevalent of women kissing each other whenever they meet in public, is regarded as vulgar, and by ladies of delicacy and refinement is entirely avoided. THE KISS OF RESPECT The kiss of respect—almost obsolete in this country—is made on the hand. The custom is retained in Germany and among gentlemen of the most courtly manners in England. Our deportment by John H. Young

The First Aider's Role In An Emergency Table of Contents While many people are very willing to help someone in need, others may have some serious apprehensions about helping. Most of their concerns are unfounded and would be alleviated by proper training. Training will not only give you the confidence to help someone in need, but also the tools to do it in such a way so you don't put yourself in danger. Removing barriers, whether imagined or real, is the best approach to dealing with emergencies. A bystander is someone like you who recognizes an emergency and decides to help. Ideally, everyone would know what to do in an emergency and everyone would know first aid; the immediate care given to a victim of injury or sudden illness until advanced care is obtained. Becoming involved in emergency situations, where you may be the only one who can help, is very important. Don't worry that you might make a mistake; you can always help in some way, even if it's only calling for help. The thing to remember is that first aid can make the difference between life and death. And it often makes the difference between complete recovery and permanent disability. First Aider Roles – Four Basic Steps - Recognize an Emergency: A medical emergency is a sudden illness that requires immediate medical attention e.g. a heart attack. An injury is damage to the body e.g. broken arm, that results from a violent force. Some injuries can be serious enough to be considered emergencies. - Decide to Act: Bystanders need to get involved in emergency situations and many lives have been saved because people like you do got involved. - Call EMS: The sooner the better. Don't delay. - Give First Aid: Until the EMS is on the scene, you need to provide all the care you can to the person in need. Fears of Rendering First Aid Some would-be bystanders are terrified that they will catch some horrible disease if they help someone in need. While technically it is possible, it is extremely unlikely. For example, in order for you to catch a disease such as HIV, which is what most people think of, four things would need to occur: - The other person would have to have the virus. - Their blood, other bodily fluid, would need to enter your body. Not just touch you on the skin. It would need to enter your bloodstream, which is extremely difficult. - The virus would have to be in large enough quantities. - Your immune system would have to miss it in order for the virus to take hold. Nevertheless, if it would make you feel better take some extra precautions: - Wear disposable gloves before touching the person. These gloves should be in every first aid kit. If you don't have any use any plastic barrier for your hands. - Use a breathing barrier if you need to give rescue breaths. Again, these barriers should be in first aid kits. - Ask a relative or family member, if they are nearby, to do any necessary touching. - After the task wash your hands with warm soap and water. - If by chance you did touch some blood do visit your family doctor right away for antibiotics and for monitoring. Legal Responsibilities for Individuals The average person, trained or not, walking down the street on his own time does not have a legal duty to help. However, once you stop to help you must continue to do so until someone equally or more trained takes over on your behalf. If you are a medical professional, such as a paramedic or a doctor, then you have a legal duty to assist to the best of your ability. If you are at your job, and it is part of your job description, then again, you have a legal duty to assist to the best of your ability. With a few precautions you can easily avoid any legal issues when dealing in an emergency. Legal Responsibilities for Organizations Employers, or even volunteer organizations, have a legal duty to be able to provide first aid to all workers regardless of the type of work they do or the location. This means the employer must ensure that enough employees are trained, the training is current, and that they supply well stocked and maintained first aid kits. In some situations employers must provide a first aid room and a full-time nurse on the premises. Automated External Defibrillators When Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) first became available many people were quite apprehensive about using them. However, as their popularity increased and more and more people obtained training, that apprehension is almost totally gone. Having an AED on the premises, whether it be the workplace, an airport, or a shopping centre is no longer considered an ‘extra.' It is, in many cases, now a legal requirement, along with trained staff. An organization can no longer say, “I didn't know we had to have this.” It is their duty to provide this medical service to anyone on their premises. Getting trained or providing training if you are in charge at your organization is only part of the program. Recertification and regular practice sessions are necessary. Not only as a legal requirement but to keep the skills fresh and up to date. It doesn't take much, but it does require monitoring and planning on the part of the person responsible. Supplies, Legal Requirements Have the necessary equipment to assist during a first aid emergency is vital. In addition to the training, an organization must make sure they meet the legal requirement for first aid kits. This will depend on the size of their organization, how many floors there are in their building, number of workers per shift, etc. The list of supplies will vary pending on various factors, so check with your local Workplace Health & Safety Board, or with your local first aid providing company for more information.

Got this from the Discovery Channel website: Spiky Paint Kills Bugs on Contact Klibanov’s coating is made up of microscopic polymer spikes, rather than chemicals. The polymer spikes are mixed into a solvent. When the solvent is applied to a surface, it evaporates, leaving behind a clear, spiky coating. When a bacterium lands on the polymer, the spikes poke holes into the pathogen’s protective outer membrane. In an experiment, 99 percent of bacteria that were exposed to a coated surface died. So with this new kind of anti-microbial coating, your walls and ceilings would become literally a ‘bed of nails’ for bacteria and viruses that would land on them. Aside from home benefits this would be great for hospitals and other facilities that get exposed to high levels of bacterial or viral count. I just wonder though if this would have any effect on Spiderman’s ability to crawl on walls and ceilings? Kidding aside, this kind of new technological innovations are great and I wish that these would be made available to developing countries like ours, the Philippines. It would save the government lots of money from massive pesticide sprays and become more environment-friendly in the process and ultimately lead to healthier Filipinos. In 2002 alone, the third leading cause of illness in the county is Bronchitis/Bronchiolitis. Which is caused by certain air-borne pathogens like the viruses Rhinovirus, Adenovirus and the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae among others aside from air pollutants like smog, dust and cigarette smoke. Now I wonder if this spike-laden coating material could also be used to prevent mosquitoes from landing on house walls and ceilings where they wait to find the person to come along and be bitten, thus further preventing malaria, and dengue fever from spreading. House flies would be next on the list as these irritating insects carry many pathogens as well. Wait a minute, aren’t insect-repelling products like these already commercially available?

Communication is a marvelous thing. It is the glue that holds relationships , organization and in fact the whole world together.We share ideas, directions, goals, expectations, emotions, feelings through communication. But sadly, very few of us communicate effectively. "Noise" interferes with the effectiveness of communication and acts as big bad barriers to communication. These are six ways how we can deal with the "noise" or "barriers" to keep the free flow of communication flowing effectively. - Keep the physical distractions away : How many of you have experienced this ? Your subordinate has fixed up a meeting with you. He comes in and starts talking ... the phone rings ... you answer "Yes, I have received your message.. will reply in a jiffy .." . The team member starts again " Actually I am facing a problem ... " You say " Hmm.". and look at the email and start typing the reply .. He stops .. You do not take your eyes away from the monitor but say " Go on .." . He says something and someone from the accounts department enters the room and puts forth some documents to be signed.... After this interruption, the subordinate again starts... You look at your watch , get up hurriedly and say... "Uh ... I am late for a meeting ... Why don't you do this ... take a jab at the problem yourself and let me know ... I am anyways there for you ... " . Next time this starts happening, drop everything else, close the door, lean forward and pay attention to what he is saying and reciprocate. Both of you feel good and satisfied about the effectiveness of your communication - KISS : Keep It Short and Simple. Semantics play a huge role in effective communication. Suppose your are issuing a memo or writing emails, pay close attention to your choice of words. It is much more effective to say "Send me your recommendations for consideration " rather than "I solicit your wished recommendations for the necessity of the action and after due applicability of the policy structure it will be deemed for consideration " - Do not let mixed messages confuse you : Sometimes during communication, the verbal words spoken and the body language contradict each other. For example, a person might say " I agree with you " but his tight fists, strained forehead and tense demeanor conveys that he does not agree with you. The body does not lie. So look at the body language and understand his message during the communication and act accordingly. - Keep the Feedback flowing : This is very important for effectiveness of the communication. It is the tendency of the speaker to only "tell" rather that "tell AND listen". If you are not listening, then the communication is only one way and incomplete. One best practice which I have personally followed is to summarize the main points of the conversation and repeat before ending. Similarly, if you are the speaker, encourage questions and feedback. - Avoid the "Mum Effect " : If you are at the upper end of the hierarchy in an organization, be careful of the "mum" effect. Usually for fear of retribution for bringing bad news, unwillingness to acknowledge mistakes, or just to please you, there is always a tendency to keep "mum" and filter vital information. This usually leads to poor decision making at the organization level due to improper communication . It is best to work on building relationship and trust so that communication is effective and strong between the floor and the senior management. In my previous post hyperlink -> (30 minutes of walking around), I have elaborated on MBWA (management by walking around) - Choose the proper medium of communication : Last but definitely not the least is the proper choice of medium. Sometimes only face to face communication works, in some cases emails are more effective and in some communication town hall meetings work better. Nowadays we have so many means and mode of communication - phone, bbm, sms/text, video conferencing, email, letters ... that sometimes we are drowned in information. So, select the medium with care so that the communication is effective. Do you have any more suggestions ? Do write in the comments below.

BDAG at Rv 3:14 - Christ was the first creation now probable GregStffrd at aol.com GregStffrd at aol.com Tue Jan 23 23:07:41 EST 2001 In a message dated 01/23/2001 10:36:03 AM Pacific Standard Time, alice-iver_larsen at wycliffe.org writes: << There is a slight difference between ARCWN "ruler" and ARCH "rule, However, in both Greek and English it is possible to refer to a person by an abstract noun like "authority." So, even though "ruler" is not a common of ARCH it is a possible meaning, and this parallel context IMO carries a Thank you for your comments. However, I find that the use of ARCWN in Revelation 1:5 speaks against the meaning of "ruler" for ARCH in 3:14, since all John had to do was use a term already familiar to him, and used as you pointed out just a couple chapters earlier. Of course, ARCH in the NT, even in Revelation, regularly means "beginning," so one need not hang his/her hat on some obscure passage in the OT, by which I assume you meant Proverbs 8:22ff. in one of your other posts. In the NT it is quite clear that Christ is presented as the Wisdom of God. You may not believe he is the Wisdom of Prov. 8:22ff., but he is the Wisdom of God, and it is correspondingly difficult to argue out of the unique claims made by Wisdom in Prov 8:22ff. Indeed, a simple comparison of texts and concepts, both biblical and non-biblical, available and in use during the first and surrounding centuries BCE/CE, will help make the point. Consider just some of the evidence from the Prologue and various Wisdom traditions, where I believe it is easy to see the relationship between the two and John's dependence on such traditions, both biblical and non-biblical. For example, John 1:1-3 teaches a preexistent LOGOS, which parallels what is said of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-31, Sirach 24: 9, Wisdom 7:21, 8:5-6, 9:1-2, John 1:1, 2, 18 communicate a relationship between God and the Logos. We find this also said of Wisdom and God in Proverbs 8:27-30, Wisdom 8:3, 9:4, 9-10. The Logos has a mediatorial role in creation according to John 1:3, 10. The same is true of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:27-30, Wisdom 7:22, 8:4-6, 9:1-4. Note that in Wisdom 9:1 God is said to have "made all things by means of word ." But in Wisdom 9:2 SOFIA is used as a parallel for LOGOS. In Sirach 24:3 Wisdom says, "I came out of the mouth of the Most High," which shows the close correspondence between Wisdom and God's "word." John 1:4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, and 17 associate light, life, truth and salvation with the LOGOS. The same is true of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:6-8 (truth), 35 (life), Sirach 24:32 (light), Wisdom 7:10, 26, 29 (light), 8:13, 17 (life), 9:18 (salvation). The LOGOS appears in the world according to John 1: 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 18. The same is true of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:31, Sirach 1:15, 24:8, 10-12, Wisdom 9:10, 17-18, Baruch 3:12 and 1 Enoch 42:2. Finally, the LOGOS is characterized by God's glory in the John 1:14 (compare 17:5). The same is true Wisdom in Wisdom 7:25-26 (compare Hebrews 1:3), I believe, then, along with other scholars and commentators, and most if not all of the early church (Nicene and Ante-Nicene) fathers, that John presented the LOGOS as the figure of Wisdom, fit for his Hellenized environment. This is consistent with Paul's identification of Jesus as God's wisdom, and Jesus' own reference to himself as the "wisdom of God" (compare Matthew 23:34 and Luke 11:49; note how this is worded in the Arabic Diatessaron, with Jesus saying, "I, the Wisdom of God, ..."). This evidence supports the potential for John to similarly make use of language consistent with biblical Wisdom traditions in his translation of the Revelation, assuming that he did in fact translate it. If not, then the same could be said of the translator. You also wrote: <<One final comment. If ARCH should be understood as beginning or source, the added genitive TOU QEOU seems out of place, because when creation is combined with God it seems likely that the meaning is that God is the creator, or the source/beginning of all creation. How Christ may have taken part in this creation is beyond the present text. >> This is precisely what I wrote to David, and I agree with what you say, in terms of "beginning" = "origin." A temporal reference to Christ as the start of God's creative work is not at all out of place, however, but is consistent with what we read in the OT in Proverbs 8 and in other NT texts, such as Col. More information about the B-Greek

Start programming in Visual C# 2005 right away -- even if you don't have formal training, unlimited time, or a genius IQ. In Visual C# 2005 Demystified, programming instructor Jeff Kent provides an effective, illuminating, and entertaining way to learn to use this versatile programming language in the new release of its integrated development environment. This self-teaching guide begins by explaining what Visual C# does and how it works, and covers key programming concepts, such as classes, objects, and properties. Then, you'll learn about the building blocks of your programs, including variables, data types, operators, loops, and arrays. Next, you'll learn to create graphical user interface elements, including menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes. By the time you're finished with the book, you'll be able to create sophisticated Windows and Web applications. Featuring end-of-chapter quizzes and a final exam, this book will teach you to program in Visual C# 2005 in no time at all. Название: Visual C# 2005 Demystified Автор: Jeff Kent Издательство: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Размер: 20,29 Мб Загрузить книгу "Visual C# 2005 Demystified"

, Research Paper There are many different forms of music around the world today, many of which we have never even seen or heard. Late in the year 1619, African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia and, they brought many of their own traditions, languages, and ways of doing things. One of their most popular traditions is music. To the native African people, music was a way of life and everything about their life was expressed by music. It helped express religious ceremonies and it was also used to express the birth of someone, a marriage, healing, going to war, or death. With the help of native African-Americans music and a little help from the Europeans form of music and 300 years of blending of the two in the U.S., we have what we call Jazz .African Americans came from clans and tribes, which originated around West Coast of Africa, south of the Sahara. Many names were given to that area such as the Ivory Coast, and the Gold Coast, and many other names. The death rate was so high on the ships that used to come over to the U.S. that many of the African Americans felt that music was the only way to keep them from drifting away into a deep sleep. The Africans also helped them through very difficult times and life in the U.S. because not all the slave masters were fair. Many tribes produced black slaves that came over to America. Some of the tribes were the Yoruba, Ibo, Fanti, Ashanti, Sus, Ewe, and many others. In the Ashanti culture, they thought it was absurd to worship their god without the use of music, so they would have either chanting or singing going on during their religious ceremonies. Almost all African-American music was rhythmic, with the use of drums. They also had some crude whistles, flutes and some stringed instruments like the banjo, which came from Africa where it had been copied from a guitar-like instrument played by the Arabs. They were also able to sing. Though the music was very complex, it was nothing compared to the music that was being played in Europe at the same time. African-American music played several roles; it spoke of the unique experiences of Black Americans and was a dominant influence of American popular music. Jazz was one of the most distinctive forms of modern black music. When the African-Americans came to the U.S., they were forced to listen to other forms of music besides there own. Slave masters discouraged the slaves customs so the blacks had no choice but to listen to their master s music. So they eventually adapted to the music of their masters. If you lived in Virginia or other British owned colonies, you were probably exposed to European-Protestant music.Early forms of Jazz were also considered a synthesis of Western harmonic language and, were formed with the rhythmic and melodic inflections, or a change in tone or pitch. Many blacks brought with them a very strong sense of rhythm and dance when they came to the colonies. Many of the African Americans did not have paper and pen to write down the music that they were playing, so much of their music was done with improvisation. Improvisation is the art of composition of any variation on a melodic line at the spur of the moment and without any preparation. Improvisation is perhaps the best-known musical element in Jazz. Call and Response , which was another name for improvisation, was something African-American music used quite often. Call-and-Response resulted when a soloist and an individual singer would play back and forth. Many changes took place when African Americans tried to interpret the European music. Since the scales of Europe and Africa were different, the African Americans tried to adjust their ears to fit the European scales by adding a blues-y kind of note that was haunting and low-down (Boeckman 9).The blending mostly started down in New Orleans, where most of the time the African-Americans would march behind a funeral procession; on the way they would often play slow hymns and on the way back would break out into jazzed-up versions of the same tune. In addition, much of it was improvised on the way back from the funeral procession. The instruments that were used in the band were a cornet, and a trumpet, to carry out the melody, a clarinet, and a sackbut (trombone) to fill in, and a rhythm section. Jazz is considered polyrhythmic; two or more separate rhythms are being played at the same time. The African-Americans rhythms are so complex that Western musicologists still have difficulty clearing them up. In West Africa, the music would sound like it was written in the time signatures of 3/4, or three beats in a measure, 6/8, or 6 beats in a measure, and 4/4, or 4 beats to a measure. It s as if an orchestra were playing the same tune as a waltz, a one step, and a fox trot (Stearns 4).Jazz is not African music; most of the African people would not understand it, because our music differs so much from their music. Just because we got most of it from the Africans and the Europeans does not mean it is part African or part European. As James Lincoln Collier stated, Sometimes when you mix two things together you get something very different: blue and yellow together make green, which is neither a bluish color nor a yellowish color but something distinctly new (Collier 33). The African Americans combined their powerful sense of rhythm and dance with the harmony and form of European Music. Moreover, out of that came a new style of music all their own. By the late 1920 s, Jazz was one of the most popular and distinctive forms of black music. Jazz was obviously a music in which blacks were the primary creators and whites often the imitators (Ogren 11). The first known Jazz record was Dixie Jass Band One-step and Livery Stable Blues played by a band called the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. The record became the first million-seller and jass or Jazz as it soon became spelled was a word known all across the nation. What helped sell the record was Livery Stable Blues which featured many barnyard animals and a little help from some exuberant new rhythms. Many people felt that Jazz came from a sign painter in Chicago. He made signs for a black musician named Boisey James. Moreover, on the signs they read, Music will be furnished Jas Band (Fordham 47). Another theory was that the word Jazz is some how related to Jazbo Brown, who was a musician well known in the Mississippi River Valley, because when Brown played at the local caf s the people would shout More Jazbo! More, Jaz, More! (Fordham 48). Though many white Americans often thought that Blues meant sad slow or sorrowful music, it actually expressed a wide range of emotion and descriptions of African American life. Many of the African tribesmen would not enjoy the Jazz of that today because we have blended it to such an extreme what they originally had, no longer exists. It is sometimes interesting to think that most of American art is derived from Africa and Europe. Thanks to the help of Native African Americans we have what we today call Jazz. Thanks to the Europeans, we also have Jazz and other forms of art. America has been affected by many other cultures from around the world, and it shows with all the different ethnic backgrounds in the United States. Boeckman, Charles. Cool, Hot and Blue: A History of Jazz for Young People. Washington, D.C.: Robet B. Luce INC, 1968.Collier, James Lincoln. Inside Jazz. New York: Four Winds Press, 1973.—. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History. Boston: Houghton, 1978.Fordham, John. JAZZ. New York: Doeling Kindersley, 1993. Jazz. The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 1993. Jazz. Toolworks Refrence Library. 2nd ed. 1991.Ogren, Kathy J. The Jazz Revolution: Twenties America & the Meaning of Jazz. New York: Oxford, 1989.Souther, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1971.Stearns, Marshall. The Story of Jazz. 5th ed. New York: Oxford, 1956.Tirro, Frank. Jazz: A History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1977.

Environmental cost measurement and its effects on investment return in United Cement company, Calabar. 1.1 Background of the study Despite best efforts in Measuring Environmental Impact, industries continue to generate and discharge enormous amounts of wastes that pollute the natural environment and impose damages on households and other enterprises. Economists call these damages externalities because their costs typically fall not on the firms that discharge the wastes but on those that suffer the damages. Consequently, accounting systems don't ascribe these costs to their sources or even record them systematically (Ashford, Ayers and Stone,2000). Increasingly, however, companies are being forced to internalize these environmental costs, either through stricter environmental regulations or through liability for damages caused to others. Accurate measurement of a company's true environment-related costs now offers a wide range of benefits: It provides management with a benchmark for tracking performance relative to peers or its own past performance. It can also serve as an external benchmark for investors concerned about the environmental performance of companies as well as their finances (Bartik, 2007). This research work therefore examines environmental cost measurement and its effects on investment return in United Cement company, Calabar. This becomes important, because it can serve as a measure of a company's environmental exposure and the financial risk originating in its environmental performance. True cost estimates the firm's emissions and wastes by using the firm's own information sources or others, then assigns each category of emissions a monetary value by multiplying its physical quantity by a notional price based on economic estimates of the marginal damages of an additional ton of emissions (Caves, Christensen, and Diewert ,1982a). 1.2 Statement of the problem In order to see if a company is viable as a going concern, environmental costs are vital to know for the long-run. The benefits to preserve the environment in terms of investment returns may be surprising. One of the growing global concerns is the issue of lack of awareness among so many business leaders. A private sector solution may be the best solution on a global scale. Other growing issues of concern relates to inability of companies to measure their cost of waste and land-use change. Ecosystems are vital to the performance of most companies, and integrating the true costs of extracting these services could significantly impact bottom lines in the future. Environmental costs are not always easily seen, but in taking a closer look, the results are scary. It is on this note that have prompted this research which focused on “environmental cost measurement and it effect on investment returns in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar”. 1.3 Objectives of the study The main objective of this study is environmental cost measurement and it effect on investment returns in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar. The specific objectives of the study include; (i) To determine the benefits of preserving the environment in terms of investment returns in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar. (ii) To examine the effect of cost of waste measurement and land-use change on company’s viability in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar. (iii) To evaluate the importance of Ecosystems preservation to the performance of company’s in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar. (iv) To determine the true costs of environmental impact on company’s future investments in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar. 1.4 Research question (i) To what extent does preserving the environment benefit investment returns in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar? (ii) To what extent does cost of waste measurement and land-use change affect company’s viability in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar? (iii) How does Ecosystems preservation impact on the company’s performance in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar? (iv) To what extent does true costs of environmental impact affect company’s future investments in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar? 1.5 Research Hypothesis (i) There is no significant relationship between preserving the environment and investment returns in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar (ii) There is no significant relationship between cost of waste measurement, land-use change and company’s viability in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar (iii) There is no significant relationship between Ecosystems preservation and company’s performance in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar (iv) There is no significant relationship between costs of environmental impact and company’s future investments in United Cement Company (UNICEM) Calabar 1.6 Scope of the research area the scope of the study focuses on environmental cost measurement and its effect on investment returns, the study area for this research will be narrowed down to United Cement Company, Calabar. This company will be taken into consideration because of its uniqueness as a manufacturing company that emits mush waste into the environment and also because of its easy accessible nature. 1.7 Significance of the study This study will be of immense benefits to oil exploring companies, mining industries, manufacturing industries and construction industries to enable them determine adequate measures in measuring the cost of their environmental waste and also understanding the influence its has on future investments. The study when conducted will be of significance to the ministry of environment in both state and federal levels to enable them make policies that will guide and direct the operations of manufacturing, minning and oil exploring companies. The research will equally be significant because it would provide answers to the effect of environmental cost measurement on investment returns in the financial industry as a whole and also valuable tool for students, academician, institutions and individuals that wants to know more about environmental cost measurement. 1.8 Organization of the study For the researcher to achieve the objectives of the study the research was organized into following Chapters in order to relate each one of them to the main study (i) Chapter one: This chapter presents an introduction and background on the subject matter and as well highlight a problem statement, objectives of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, scope of the study, significance, definition of term and historical background of the study area. (ii) Chapter two: This chapter reviewed related works from different scholars and authors pertaining to the subject matter. (iii) Chapter three: This chapter presents the methodology used in the research. Hence the following headings were taken into consideration, the design, population, sample size, method of data collection instrumentation, model specification etc (iv) Chapter four: the chapter highlighted data presentation, analysis and discussion of findings (v) Chapter five: This chapter presents the summary, conclusion and recommendations made in the study as well make necessary suggestions for further studies. It also displayed the list of referenced authors and closes with appendicies. 1.9 Operational definition of terms Cost: Is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore Measurement: Is finding a number that shows the size or amount of something. Investment returns: is the concept of an investment of some resource yielding a benefit to the investor. Environmental cost: This is expenditures incurred to prevent, contain, or remove environmental contamination. 1.10 Historical Background of the Organization under study: United cement company (UNICEM) limited The United Cement Company of Nigeria Ltd (UNICEM) is formed as a private limited liability company under Nigerian law with registered office in Nigeria by Holcim Trading S.A. and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. In Nigeria, the name, UNICEM stands for advanced technology, quality product and the leading supplier of cement in the South-South and South-East regions. As the second largest cement plant in Nigeria, their core activities are the manufacture and sale of Ordinary Portland Cement. UNICEM has its head office based in Calabar and all cement manufacturing operations have been consolidated at the 2.5million tons per annum Mfamosing plant, north-east of Calabar. Their mission statement indicates a strive to be one of the most socially responsible cement companies in Nigeria. In achieving this they operate on the basis of best practices in accordance with shareholder, lender and local Nigerian legal and regulatory requirements so far as corporate governance, good corporate citizenship and sustainable practices. UNICEM acquired the assets of Calcemco, a state owned cement company sold by the Nigerian Government after liquidation. The CALCEMCO plant was planned and constructed by Salzgitter Industriebau GmbH (SEG); Germany in the 1970’s to meet the high demand for cement in Nigeria (UNICEM Bulletin, 2006).

More than a decade ago, Tanzania initiated programs in ocean and coastal management and received donor support to develop an integrated coastal management strategy and begin pilot projects for sustainable management of ocean and coastal resources. However, Tanzania’s government did not allocate any budgetary resources to implement the strategy and the projects were sporadic and short term. The lack of capacity and demand for greater capacity in ocean and coastal resource management were not as high a priority for policy-makers as the needs of the agriculture, infrastructure, education, and health fields. No budgetary resources were allocated by the government to implement the strategy, nor were they allocated for ocean-resource management. Little or no capacity existed to support the governance of valuable fisheries resources in nearshore areas and offshore. The fisheries were mostly open-access; establishment of marine protected areas failed to curb illegal fishing, including dynamiting. The fisheries in the exclusive economic zone were exploited under a licensing regime that was uncoordinated, unmonitored, and largely unregulated. Ocean and coastal resource management did not have high priority in top management discussions on poverty reduction and economic growth. The situation began to change from 2002-2004 when key Tanzanian policymakers were presented with studies on the issues and opportunities in ocean and coastal areas. Additionally, the press regularly covered the plight of coastal residents (among the poorest in the nation) and the need for better management of fishery resources. These factors contributed to the mobilization of political will for growing capacity for good governance of the country’s marine and coastal resources. The result was the inclusion of an Marine and Coastal Environmental Management Project in the government’s development agenda. The government sought and received support from the World Bank and the GEF for implementing the project. Key categories of capacity that will be built with support from this program include governance of fisheries in the exclusive economic zone, governance of the marine environment in nearshore areas, and support of and services for coastal communities to improve management of the coastal environment. The program will build capacity at all levels (national, district, and community) for better management of resources to add value to the resources harvested, to develop public and private partnerships, and to market the products better.

From fresh water A type of animal Photograph by A. Bell From a water sample from a beaver dam. From Oct. 19th water sample. The gastrotrichs (from Greek γαστήρ, gaster , and θρίξ, thrix ), often called hairy backs, are a phylum of microscopic (0.06-3.0 mm), pseudocoelomate animals abundant in fresh water and marine environments. Most fresh water species are part of the periphyton and benthos. Marine species are found mostly interstitially in between sediment particles, while terrestrial species live in the water films around grains of soil. The common name "hairy back" apparently arises from a mistranslation of "gastrotrich;" the...

Neuropsychology Abstract of the Day: Cognitive Rehab in Ugandan Childhood Malaria Survivors OBJECTIVE:: Our earlier studies on Ugandan children surviving cerebral malaria showed cognitive deficits mainly in attention and memory. We now present the first study in sub-Saharan Africa to investigate the feasibility and potential benefits of computerized cognitive rehabilitation training on neuropsychological and behavioral functioning of children surviving cerebral malaria. METHODS:: A randomized trial in which 65 children admitted 45 months earlier with cerebral malaria were recruited at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. For 8 weeks, 32 of the children received weekly training sessions using Captain's Log cognitive training software and the other 33 were assigned to a nontreatment condition. Pre- and postintervention assessments were completed using CogState, a computerized neuropsychological battery, measuring visuomotor processing speed, working memory, learning, attention and psychomotor speed and the Child Behavior Checklist measuring internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and total problems. RESULTS:: Preintervention scores were similar between both groups. Treatment effects were observed on visuospatial processing speed [group effect (standard error) 0.14 (0.03); p < .001], on a working memory and learning task [0.08 (0.02); p < .001], psychomotor speed [0.14 (0.07); p = .04], and on internalizing problems [-3.80 (1.56); p = .02] after controlling for age, sex, school grade, quality of the home environment, and weight for age z scores. Similar treatment effects were observed when no adjustments for the above covariates were made. CONCLUSIONS:: Computerized cognitive training long after the cerebral malaria episode has immediate benefit on some neuropsychological and behavioral functions in African children. The long-term benefit of this intervention needs to be investigated. PMID: 19668094 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Copenhagen Suborbitals dreams big with Spica rocket Meet Copenhagen Suborbitals (CS), the small Danish organization with a big dream – launching a human being into space, and returning them safely to Earth in a shoestring-budget micro rocket. The CS website conveys a simple mission statement, to prove that access to space does not have to come in the form of an exorbitantly expensive government-subsidized project. CS is proving that a driven group of individuals can achieve what would at first glance appear to be the unachievable, and strike a blow for the democratization of space. Operating out of a workshop situated in a closed shipyard, the crowdfunded outfit is staffed exclusively by volunteers, most of whome devote their time to the amateur space program after their regular 9 – 5 jobs. CS has already launched a number of unmanned rockets of increasing technological complexity from a mobile platform in the Baltic Sea. Land-based launch sites were quickly ruled out, as the closest established spaceports were considered too remote to be of use, and military installations like shooting ranges were simply too small to cater to the organization's ambitious goals. The only viable option remaining to the group was to launch the rockets at sea. CS constructed a launch complex in the form of a 12-ton (10.9-tonne) steel catamaran, designated Sputnik, which would serve as both transportation and launch pad for CS's rockets. Once both platform and rocket have made the treacherous 125 nautical mile (231.5 km) voyage from Copenhagen to the launch site, operations will be controlled from aboard the CS flagship - the 19 m (62 ft) class German cutter VOSTOK. The primary launch area used by CS is actually an old military firing zone, which is made available to the group by the Admiral Danish Fleet. The first rocket launched by CS was the 9.38-m (30.77-ft) tall Heat-1X rocket. Mounted atop the experimental rocket sat the Tycho Brahe spacecraft, and within that a test dummy lovingly named Rescue Randy. The less than ideal launch of the Heat-1X rocket taught CS a number of valuable lessons. Soon after launch, the rocket pitched at a 30-degree angle, forcing the ground crew to shut down the launch vehicle's engine only 15 seconds into the mission. The intense forces resulting from the unfortunate trajectory shredded the parachute, leaving the Tycho Brahe to strike the water at 200 km/h (124 mph), inflicting significant damage to the capsule. In the video below you can watch the launch from the perspective of Rescue Randy (who we imagine has since been retired from service with full honors). Despite the apparent failure of the rocket, the test was considered a success – CS had managed to fabricate and launch a 1,630-kg (3,594-lb) rocket from a purpose-built platform floating at sea. The organization had shown that many of the fundamental elements of sub-orbital launch and infrastructure were there, and that it had taken its first step towards putting a human being in space. The next significant advancement for CS came in the form of its single-stage Sapphire rocket, which blasted into the skies above the Baltic Sea sporting a newly implemented guidance and vector control system. During launch, guidance and navigation computers located in Sapphire's avionics compartment manipulated a set of jet vanes inserted into the rocket's exhaust, which were designed to manipulate the force exerted by the polyurethane/liquid nitrous oxide hybrid rocket engine. Following the test, it was revealed that the system performed well, leaving the rocket a mere 191 m (627 ft) off target as the launch vehicle reached apogee, some 8,253 m (27,077 ft) above the Earth. Next up for launch will be the Nexø I & II rockets, which will serve to demonstrate several key technologies including a new hybrid engine and upgraded graphite jet vanes, which will allow the control mechanism to survive a prolonged 50-second burn. Upon descent, Nexø I will deploy a ballutte to control orientation whilst in free-fall, and a 34.7 sq m (113.8 sq ft) parachute, which will (hopefully) allow the rocket to splash down at a gentle 8 m/s (26 ft/s). Constructed predominantly from aluminum in an effort to reduce weight, the Nexø family of launchers will be significantly smaller than the manned Spica rocket, standing only 5.5 m (18 ft) tall. The final manufacturing process of the Nexø I rocket is already well underway, with CS hard at work machining and assembling the testing rocket. Both Nexø I and II are scheduled to launch this year, with launch windows secured in both August and September. Whilst Nexø I and II will prove to be vital testing missions, it is the Spica rocket family that CS is relying on to fulfil its ambition of sending a man into space. Spica is currently in the preliminary design phase, with many aspects of the rocket liable to change as CS continues its Nexø launch campaign. However, with regard to the current design, the rocket will stand 13 m (42.7 ft) tall, relying on a 100 kN liquid bi-propellant engine running on liquid oxygen and ethanol to break the oppressive hold of Earth's atmosphere. In order to assure engine efficiency, Spica will use a combination of pressure blow down and an active pressurization system to ensure that fuel is properly distributed in the propellent tank. CS intends to move away from the jet vane method of launch vehicle orientation used in the Sapphire and Nexø rockets in favour of a gimbal system, which would see the entire engine shift to provide orientation control, resulting in greater efficiency. The group plans to accelerate Spica to a maximum speed of 3600 km/h (2,237 mph) in an effort to send the rocket to the Karman line – a point 100 km (62 miles) above the Earth's surface. At 190 seconds into the flight, the spacecraft will separate from the launch vehicle and begin its descent. Spica I is slated for launch next year, with Spica II following in 2017. Little information has been made available regarding the characteristics of the capsule that will (hopefully) send the astronaut into space, but since Spica I is set to be unmanned, CS has a little time to work on the design of its crewed module. Not being a government body bogged down in a quagmire of admin and bureaucracy, CS can move very quickly from design to production to testing. This said, keeping an astronaut alive in space is arguably one of the most impressive engineering feats that our young species has accomplished, so developing the technology required to shield a human being from the deadly orbital environment, even though the tech is now fairly well understood, will be a tall order for an amateur space program. As with the Spica rocket, the group's spacecraft will draw on experience collected from previous launches. CS states that it is currently designing and building the Apollo-inspired capsule Tycho Deep Space II (TDSII), however from the Spica I graphic, it appears that the eventual spacecraft will boast a cylindrical design at odds with TDSII. Regardless of the final shape of the capsule, it must be capable of shielding an astronaut from a number of potentially lethal threats. Radiation, the vacuum of space, the intense heat of re-entry, and just the general forces inherent with launching a suborbital rocket all pose deadly risks to a potential astronaut. Furthermore, based on the rocket's estimated 955-mm (37.6-in) diameter, an inline capsule is going to be a pretty cramped and dangerous ride, so the astronaut selected to join Spica II on its journey to space will need either a lot of courage, or a lot of crazy. CS is also in the process of developing other vital safety equipment and systems for its as-of-yet unnamed pioneer in the form of a pressure suit and LAS system, though the latter could only be employed should the final design of Spica II situate the spacecraft at the apex of the rocket. At the core of the endeavour is a group of passionate individuals hoping to make the seemingly impossible a reality. Its dangerous, overtly ambitious, and even a little bit crazy, but should CS ever launch its Spica II rocket, it will capture the attention of a global audience. The late and great President Kennedy would be proud. Source: Copenhagen Suborbitals

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News The discovery that apes can "talk" using hand gestures may shed more light on language development. Scientists are keen to look into language development But these are not the only animals with communication skills - in the animal kingdom, it is all about getting your message out there. And in a bid to understand how one of the most complex communication systems of all - human language - came about, scientists are also studying animals that, like us, use sound to communicate. Surprisingly, they have discovered our closest relatives, despite their signing prowess, do not have much of a vocal repertoire. Dr Klaus Zuberbuhler, an expert in primate communication from the University of St Andrews, UK, says: "Most of the non-human primate species only have a fairly limited number of sounds that they can generate." But while primate "vocabulary" is restricted, scientists have found many species can attach meanings to some sounds to convey information. Vervet monkeys, for example, have three distinct alarm calls that trigger three distinct response calls. Putty-nosed monkeys can combine their calls And some species, says Dr Zuberbuhler, can do even more: they possess the ability to use and understand simple grammar. Putty-nosed monkeys, he explains, can combine their calls to create a sequence that carries a more complex meaning. In the laboratory, some primates have also demonstrated an understanding of human language; Kanzi, a male bonobo, is said to be able to understand about 3,000 words, as well as simple sentences. His trainer Dr Sue Savage-Rumbaugh has said he can even combine words to form simple sentences of his own. Kanzi is obviously intelligent, Dr Zuberbuhler comments, "but [he] is tested on human linguistic systems, not on his own natural way of communicating, and this is an artificial system". Rico the super-dog As with non-human primates, most other mammals have the ability to understand some language but the inability to "talk" back. Rico the border collie is a prime example, says Professor Julia Fischer, an animal behaviour expert at the German Primate Center. "All he can do is bark and growl, but he knows the name of over 200 toys and he can understand simple syntax," she says. Rico can understand the names of over 200 toys "I thought it would be a great model to study how animals attach meaning to sounds." However, she points out that like Kanzi, Rico is "enculturated" because he lives among humans. But, she says, he still shows us what such animals can do. Scientists are trying to find out why most mammals have the ability to understand language but lack the capacity to articulate. While there have been suggestions that it could be down to simple neurological limitations, such as lack of tongue control, some think the FoxP2 gene may be key. Humans with a defective version of the gene have a great deal of trouble with speech. Professor Fischer says: "When you look at the evolution of this gene, there are only three changes between mice and men - that's 70 million years - and two of them occurred after the split between chimps and humans. "Maybe this constraint in articulating has had something to do with this gene." Despite the fact that most animals are stumped when it comes to vocal communication, a limited number of species are able to perform the feat of hearing a sound, copying it, and then reproducing it - something scientists call vocal learning. This trick of imitation plays a key part in human language. "One reason why we are looking at vocal learning," explains Vincent Janik, of the Gatty Marine Research Institute at the University of St Andrews, "is because it is so important to humans". However, the small group of animals that can do this are rather dissimilar to humans - and to each other. The vocal learners are an eclectic bunch For example, on the list are dolphins that can copy signature whistles and humpback whales that learn and copy distinctive and complex songs. And parrots are also famous for their mimicry: African grey parrots N'kisi and Alex have wowed with their vocabulary. Seals, bats, elephants, songbirds and hummingbirds are other members of this eclectic bunch of vocal learners. The key, says Dr Janik, is to find out why such diverse group of animals all possess this ability. Let's talk about sex Professor Erich Jarvis of the US-based Duke University Medical Center is studying brain pathways in the three types of birds that have a vocal learning ability - songbirds, hummingbirds and parrots - to try to answer this question. "The question is: how can Mother Nature come up with this solution for this supposedly complex behaviour which gives rise to civilisation in humans," he explains. He has found that humans and these three species of birds share a similar pathway that is involved with learned vocalisations. Similar pathways were found in human and bird brains And he believes they may have evolved out of a pre-existing pathway that controlled motor behaviours. "It's like the evolution of wings. Wings evolved in bats, bird and ancient flying dinosaurs, and each time they did, they evolved from a substrate - the upper limbs. In the brain, there is something that this complex behaviour is evolving from." But in terms of why this ability may have evolved, Professor Jarvis believes it all comes down to sex. The clue, he says, is the more complicated the song, the more complicated the syntax, the more attractive that particular animal is to the opposite sex. He explains: "Of the species that produce learned song, all of them will do it in mating interactions - including humans. You just think about singing and the Jennifer Lopezes and so forth - singing in humans is used for both abstract communication and to feel good to the opposite sex. "And you find this in whales, and you find this in songbirds, parrots and hummingbirds. They all do that." Dr Klaus Zuberbuhler explains that the key to animal communication studies is to try to elucidate why humans are so unusual in their speech and language capacities. "Looking at other animals will hopefully give us some ideas of the building blocks of human language," he says. Note: This story about animal communication has replaced an earlier one on this page which contained factual inaccuracies we were unable to correct. As a result, the original story is no longer in our archive. It is still visible elsewhere, via the link below:

So you get an idea of how you'll be tested, here's what is planned for English: You'll do a lot of revision work and exam questions from earlier years will help you get used to the style of the tests. - A reading test (45 minutes and 15 minutes reading time) - A writing test (45 minutes and 15 minutes planning time) - A spelling test (10 minutes) - A handwriting test (5 minutes) You'll be given lots of special jobs so that you can learn how to be more responsible. You may be made team or school captain, librarian or a special helper. Year 6 classes often go on school activity holidays and put on plays for the rest of the school.

Description: Simplified Lab Purpose: to develop and test a hypothesis for a given problem. Keywords: experimental, design, simplified, lab, purpose, develop, test, hypothesis, problem Created by: Penny Mann Added: 2010-09-15 Chemistry (Laboratory Skills) Views: 1166 File: Be sure you have an application to open this file type before downloading. Click here for more information. The continued strength of this site depends on teacher contributions. Please help make this site stronger by submitting a file today. Submitting is easy, simply click here to get started. Thanks! For classroom use under a: Creative Commons License

Aquarius Essay Contest Located 20 meters beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, next to deep coral reefs in the Florida Keys, lies Aquarius--the worlds only undersea laboratory. Scientists use Aquarius to study our oceans, as astronauts use the Inter-national Space Station to study our planet and outer space. Unlike regular SCUBA divers who return to the surface in less than an hour, Aquarius scientists, called aquanauts, explore and study coral reefs and their inhabitants for ten days or more, returning to the surface after their mission is complete. Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). How do the aquanauts live underwater for so long? Where do they sleep? How do they get air? Who gets to be an aquanaut? Find answers on the Aquarius Web site. Aquarius aquanauts want to hear in 1,000 words or less about why you want to live under the ocean in Aquarius for 10 days. One GRAND PRIZE will be awarded that includes an all expense paid trip* to Key Largo for a personal 45-minute tour inside Aquarius for the winning student, his/her teacher, and parent(s). A SCUBA certification course will be provided in Key Largo to the winning family and teacher.** Upon successful completion of the course, the GRAND PRIZE winner, teacher, and parents will visit Aquarius UNDERWATER! Ten additional prizes include snorkel gear and coral reef books. This contest is open to students in GRADES 8 - 12. Minimum student age by June 30, 2002, is 13. An application form is available on the web site. Typed paragraphs must begin, I want to live 10 days under the ocean in Aquarius because... and cannot exceed 1,000 words. Submissions must include: Name, Address, Phone, E-mail, Age (min. 13), Name of School, Grade Level, Parent Signature, and Teacher Signature. Mail entries to: National Undersea Research Center University of North Carolina at Wilmington C/O I Want to Live 10 Days Under the Ocean 515 Caribbean Drive Key Largo, Florida 33037 Entries must be received by May 31, 2002. Prizes will be announced June 24, 2002, via posting on the Aquarius Web site. Entries become the property of UNCW. * Limited to round trip coach airfare from U.S. location to Miami: transportation from Miami to Key Largo; hotel; and SCUBA certification class and equipment rentals (if not previously certified). Not included are food or any other incidentals. Trip to Key Largo must be claimed from July 15 to September 30, 2002. ** Winning student, parents, and teacher must provide a letter from a physician that they are medically fit to SCUBA dive. Visit to Aquarius requires SCUBA certification, or successful completion of SCUBA certification as part of the Grand Prize. Download the Aquarius Project 2002 Application (386k, PDF). Sign up for the Ocean Explorer E-mail Update List.

Baker cypress (Cupressus (click on each photo to enlarge image) Needles: Small, scale-like, pale green leaves with a narrow ridge on back. Fruit: Small, rounded silvery cones have 6 to 8 thickened scales; shed numerous, tiny seeds at maturity. Appearance: Small tree commonly under 50 feet (15 m); larger trees can be found in Oregon. Distribution: Rare species found only in the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California and Oregon, in isolated groves. For more information about this species, see "Trees to Know in Oregon".

Kids with autism often have difficulty appropriately expressing and understanding their emotions. This is definitely true of Danny. Whenever he is feeling a strong emotion, no matter if it's good or bad, it seems to impair his ability to communicate. This is an especially big problem when he's angry. So, when Future Horizons offered me the chance to review "Exploring Feelings: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to Manage ANGER" by Tony Atwood I was excited. This is a workbook and program to help kids with Asperger's, High Functioning Autism, or PDD-NOS learn to deal with their feelings, most specifically anger. Atwood collected a series of 6 sessions which can be used with groups or individuals. The sessions are very thorough, and each session builds on the previous one. Atwood helps kids understand what makes them angry, how their body responds to anger, and how to effectively and appropriately deal with the anger when it comes. I'm really excited about this program because it seems super easy to adapt it to a family group activity so Danny doesn't feel like it's just more homework. There is also much attention paid to developing tools to deal with strong emotions, like anger. I especially like the lesson where Atwood has kids think of a TV, book or film hero who has felt angry. He asks them questions like: Why did he/she feel angry? How did they cope with the feeling? What did they do or think that stopped the feeling from becoming too strong? We haven't tried implementing these lessons yet, but my plan is to try them out this summer, when we have some more free time. If you're concerned about how your child deals with anger or other strong emotions, I would recommend checking out this book. The way the lessons are set up really get the kids thinking about their feelings and how to control them, and it's all done in an interesting way. I am so excited about this book! As usual, if you are buying this book from Future Horizons (which I highly recommend), you can get 15% off and free shipping if you use the code PH. Remember, the 15% off applies on anything you purchase there, no matter how much you spend. It's a great deal!

Reagents, Microbiology, Bacteria, Identification, Campylobacter Species Definition : Microbiology reagents intended to identify species of Campylobacter, family Spirillaceae, by detecting the target bacteria, usually through tests performed on bacteria cultures. Some species of Campylobacter bacteria may cause diarrhea and acute gastroenteritis; these bacteria may also cause proctitis. Entry Terms : "Reagents, Microbiology, Bacteria, Identification, Campylobacter" , "Gastroenteritis Diagnostic Reagents" , "Reactive Arthritis Diagnostic Reagents" , "Proctitis Disagnosis Reagents" , "Campylobacter Reagents, Identification" , "Campylobacter Species Detection/Identification Reagents" UMDC code : 19202

Individual differences | Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology | Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline) Chronotype is an attribute of human beings reflecting whether they are alert and prefer to be active early or late in the day. The continuum is often referred to as “morningness/eveningness” or “larks” and “owls” where morning people wake up early and are most alert in the first part of the day and evening people are most alert in the evening hours and prefer to go to bed late. Chronotype is also referred to as circadian type, diurnal preference or diurnal variation. Normal variation in chronotypes encompasses sleep/wake cycles that are from about two hours earlier to about two hours later than average. Extremes outside of this range can cause a person difficulty in participating in normal work, school, and social activities. If a person's "lark" or (more commonly) "owl" tendencies are strong and intractable to the point of disallowing normal participation in society, the person is considered to have a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. The 20th century saw greatly increased interest in and research on all questions about sleep. Tremendous strides have been made in molecular, neural and medical aspects of biological rhythmicity. Physiology professor Nathaniel Kleitman's book Sleep and Wakefulness, 1939, revised 1963, summarized the existing knowledge of sleep, and it was he who proposed the existence of a basic rest-activity cycle. Kleitman, with his students including William C. Dement and Eugene Aserinsky, continued his research throughout the 1900s. O. Öquist’s thesis, 1970, at the Department of Psychology, University of Göteborg, Sweden, introduces the modern research into chronotypes. It is entitled “Kartläggning av individuella dygnsrytmer”, Charting Individual Circadian Rhythms. O. Östberg modified Öquist’s questionnaire and in 1976, together with J. A. Horne, he published the Morningness - Eveningness Questionnaire, MEQ, which still is used and referred to in virtually all research on this topic. A short version can be found online. Researchers in many countries have worked on validating the MEQ with regard to their local cultures. A revision of the scoring of the MEQ as well as a component analysis was done by Jacques Taillard et al in 2004, working with employed people over the age of 50, as the MEQ previously had been validated only for subjects of university age. Several other assessment tools have been developed including the Circadian Type Inventory (Folkard 1987); Composite Morningness Questionnaire (Smith 1989); the Lark-Owl Chronotype Indicator, LOCI (Roberts 1999), and Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, MCTQ (Roenneberg 2003). Some of these are designed with particular situations in mind, such as shift work scheduling, travel fatigue and jet lag, athletic performance or best timing of medical procedures. Most people are neither evening nor morning types but lie somewhere in between. Estimates vary, but up to half are either morning or evening people. People who share a chronotype, morningness or eveningness, have similar activity-pattern timing: sleep, appetite, exercise, study etc. Researchers in the field of chronobiology look for objective markers by which to measure the chronotype spectrum. - Horne and Östberg, 1976, found that morning types had a higher daytime temperature with an earlier peak time than evening types and that they went to sleep and awoke earlier, while no differences in sleep lengths were found. They also note that age should be considered in assessments of morningness and eveningness, noting how a "bed time of 23:30 may be indicative of a Morning type within a student population, but might be more related to an Evening type in the 40-60 years age group" (Horne & Östberg, 1976, p109). - Clodoré et al, France, 1986, find differences in alertness between morning and evening types after a two hour sleep reduction. - Gibertini et al, USA, 1999, assessed blood levels of the hormone melatonin, finding that the melatonin acrophase (the time at which the peak of a rhythm occurs) was strongly related to circadian type while amplitude was not. They note that morning types evidence a more rapid decline in melatonin levels after the peak than do evening types. - Duffy et al, USA, 1999, found that while evening types woke at a later clock hour than morning types, morning types woke at a later circadian phase; that is, the interval between circadian phase and usual wake time was longer in morning types. - Baehr et al, USA, 2000, found that the daily body temperature minimum occurred at about 4 in the morning for morning types and at about 6 for evening types in young adults. This minimum occurred at approximately the middle of the eight hour sleep period, but closer to wake in evening types. Evening types had a lower nocturnal temperature. The temperature minimum occurred about a half hour earlier in women than in men. Similar results were found by Mongrain et al in Canada, 2004. - Zavada et al, The Netherlands, 2005, show that the time of mid-sleep on free (non-work) days may be the best marker for sleep-based assessments of chronotype, correlating well with such physiological markers as Dim-Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) and the minimum of the daily cortisol rhythm. They also state that each chronotype category “contains a similar portion of short and long sleepers”. - Giampietro and Cavallera, Italy, 2006, refer to many studies in their examination of the relationship between chronotypes, personality and creative thinking. - Paine et al, New Zealand, 2006, conclude that “morningness/eveningness preference is largely independent of ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic position, indicating that it is a stable characteristic that may be better explained by endogenous factors.” - ↑ Logie, Bruce. Larks and Owls. URL accessed on 2007-11-02. - ↑ American Academy of Sleep Medicine International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Revised Edition 2001. - ↑ Kleitman, Nathaniel [1939, 1963]. Sleep and Wakefulness, The University of Chicago Press. - ↑ Horne, J.A., Östberg, O. (1976). A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms. International Journal of Chronobiology 4: 97 - 110. - ↑ Morningness-Eveningness Scale. Bruce Logie. URL accessed on 2007-11-02. - ↑ Taillard, Jacques et al (2004). Validation of Horne and Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire in a Middle-Aged Population of French Workers. Journal of Biological Rhythms 19 (1): 76 - 86. - ↑ Clodoré, M., Foret J., Benoit O. (1986). Diurnal variation in subjective and objective measures of sleepiness: the effects of sleep reduction and circadian type. Chronobiol Int. 3 (4): 255-63. - ↑ Gibertini, M., Graham C., Cook M.R. (1999). Self-report of circadian type reflects the phase of the melatonin rhythm. Biol psychol. 50 (1): 19 - 33. - ↑ Dictionary of Circadian Physiology. Circadian Rhythm Laboratory, University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, Walterboro campus. - ↑ Duffy, J.F., Dijk DJ, Hall EF, Czeisler CA (1999). Relationship of endogenous circadian melatonin and temperature rhythms to self-reported preference for morning or evening activity in young and older people. J Investig Med 47 (3): 141-50. - ↑ Baehr, E.K., Revelle W, Eastman CI (2000). Individual differences in the phase and amplitude of the human circadian temperature rhythm: with an emphasis on morningness-eveningness. J Sleep Res. 9 (2): 117-27. - ↑ Mongrain, V., Lavoie S, Selmaoui B, Paquet J, Dumont M (2004). Phase relationships between sleep-wake cycle and underlying circadian rhythms in Morningness-Eveningness. J Biol Rhythms 19 (3): 248-57. - ↑ Zavada, Andrei, Gordijn, Beersma, Daan, Roenneberg (2005). Comparison of the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire with the Horne-Östberg’s Morningness-Eveningness Score. Chronobiol. Int. 22: 267-78. - ↑ (2006). Morning and evening types and creative thinking. Elsevier Ltd. URL accessed on 2007-11-02. - ↑ Paine, Sarah-Jane, Gander Philippa H., Travier Noemie (2006). The Epidemology of Morningness/Eveningness: Influence of Age, Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors in Adults (30-49 Years). Journal of Biological Rhythms 21 (1): 68 - 76. Articles on sleep Advanced sleep phase syndrome · Automatic behavior · Circadian rhythm sleep disorder · Delayed sleep phase syndrome · Dyssomnia · Hypersomnia · Insomnia · Narcolepsy · Night terror · Nocturia · Nocturnal myoclonus · Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome · Ondine's curse · Parasomnia · Sleep apnea · Sleep deprivation · Sleepeating · Sleeping sickness · Sleeptalking · Sleepwalking |Other Sleep-related Topics|| Chronotype · Electrosleep treatment · Hypnotic drugs · Napping · Jet lag · Lullaby · Polyphasic sleep · Segmented sleep · Siesta · Sleep and learning · Sleep debt · Sleep inertia · Sleep onset · Sleep treatment · Sleep wake cycle · Snoring

Neo-Hasidism is a name frequently given to the significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non-Orthodox Jews in different decades due to the writings of non-Orthodox teachers of Hasidic Judaism like Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Arthur Green. Early 20th Century Martin Buber helped intitate interest in Hasidism among modernized Jews through a series of books he wrote in the first decades of the 20th century, such as Tales of the Hasidic Masters and the Legend of the Baal Shem Tov. In these books, Buber focused on the role of story telling and the charisma of early Hasidic masters as a vehicle for personal spirituality. As such, these books represent one aspect of Buber's larger project of creating a new form of personalistic, existential religiosity. Buber came under considerable criticism, especially from younger contemporary Gershom Scholem, for having interpreted Hasidism in an eccentric way that misrepresented Hasidic belief and literature. Nevertheless, Buber's sympathetic treatment of Hasidism proved attractive to many and started the 20th century romance between (idealized) Hasidism and non-Orthodox Jews. Post-World War II Following World War II, when the Hasidic centers of Central and Eastern Europe were decimated, some of the surviving communities relocated to America, creating new opportunities for American Jews to have direct experience with them, their practices and their beliefs. Most of these communities remained determinedly insular, but a few, primarily the Chabad and Bratslav (or Breslov) Hasidim, adopted an attitude of outreach to the larger Jewish community, seeking to win more Jews to the Hasidic way of life. In the 1960s the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Menachem Mendel Shneerson) started commissioning young Chabadniks to seek out and teach young secular and religiously liberal Jews. Two of the early "shluchim" were Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Shlomo Carlebach. While Carlebach, a charismatic singer who used music as his tool, stayed (largely) within the circle of the Orthodox community from which he arose, Schachter-Shalomi charted an increasingly independent course, leaving Chabad to eventually study at Hebrew Union College (HUC), the leading academic institution of Reform Judaism, and to found what became Jewish Renewal. Both were instrumental in almost every development that led to Neo-Hasidism. Equally important was Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Holocaust refugee and scion of Hasidic royalty, who began his academic career in America with a life-saving but difficult wartime stint at HUC. In 1946, he moved to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the intellectual center for Conservative Judaism. There he still found himself marginalized for his Hasidic interests and customs, yet he surrounded himself with a small circle of devoted students (and eventual congregational rabbis) drawn to his mystically flavored phenomenology. As the 1960s began, Heschel was achieving increasing recognition as a theologian of stature with the publication of his books God in Search of Man and The Prophets. With that fame came an interest in his Hasidic roots and their role in his teachings. His social activism in the 60s and 70s further endeared him to many young Jews. 1960s and 1970s Several of Heschel's students at JTS during the turbulent 60's and early 70's eventually became involved in the embryonic Havurah movement, a loosely defined project of creating an alternative, informal type of Jewish community first proposed by Reform theologian Jakob Petuchowski in the 1960s. While the movement spanned a broad spectrum of spiritual proclivities, some Jews in the founding circles, like Arthur Waskow, Arthur Green, and Michael Lerner, under the combined influence of Heschel and Schachter-Shalomi, took up the project of further exploring Hasidism and recasting it in an American idiom. Havurat Shalom, the flagship of this experimental quasi-communal movement which was started jointly by Green and Schachter-Shalomi in Boston, produced the greatest artifact of Havurah Judaism, the Jewish Catalog series, a set of three books devoted to "do-it-yourself" Judaism, written with a healthy dose of information and enthusiasm for things Hasidic. In general, the Havurah communities most influenced by Hasidism were also influenced by Kabbalah, and it remains the case that these interests overlap in most of what can be labeled neo-Hasidic. These future "Neo-Hasids" focused on selected attractive aspects of traditional Hasidism while rejecting those Hasidic teachings they found incompatible with their modern egalitarian commitments, such as Hasidism's attitudes toward women, sexuality, and non-Jews. A few of these devotees, like Waskow and Lerner, became writers of note and "public square" intellectuals in the Jewish community and in the Jewish Renewal movement. Others, such as Green and Lawrence Fine, became leading scholars in the Jewish academic world, bringing an appreciation of Hasidism and an interest in adapting its ideas and customs to contemporary mores and life. Through books like Tormented Master, The Language of Truth and Your Word Is Fire, Green (and others) made Hasidism both more accessible and compelling for Jews seeking personal spirituality amidst the outwardly focused and sometimes spiritually dry world of the formal American Jewish community. Among the liberal movements, the Reform community remained resistant to this trend for a longer period, but a few rabbis, such as Herbert Weiner and Lawrence Kushner, also started "translating" Hasidism into a Reform idiom, expanding its influence. This overlapping if amorphous interest in Hasidism among academics, seekers, religious functionaries, intellectuals, "alternative" rabbis and teachers, has led to the coining of the term "Neo-Hasidism (NH)." A few formalized groups and institutions, such as P'nai Or congregation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Elat Chayyim Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, are heavily influenced by NH. NH also enjoyed a period of pre-eminence at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary (RRC) during Arthur Green's tenure there as dean. Over the 1980s and 1990s, many more of the seminary students at the mainstream liberal seminaries - JTS, HUC, and RRC - have made NH a part of their rabbinate. In 2004 a conference on Neo-Hasidism was held in NYC, organized by Rabbi Natan Margalit. At that conference there was a call by Arthur Green and others to "solidify" and in some way institutionalize the movement and its teachings so that it may survive the eventual passing of its first generation of luminaries. To some degree this has been achieved through the establishment of Green's post-denominational rabbinical school at Boston Hebrew College. Neo-Hasidism continues to develop in projects like NeoHasid.org on the internet and in egalitarian minyanim (prayer groups) that define themselves in terms of Hasidism like the Shtibl minyan in Los Angeles. - Jewish denominations - Jewish Renewal - Gershom Scholem (Began 20th-century academic discipline to study Jewish mysticism) - Elie Wiesel (Neo-Hasidic literature and mystical theodicy of silence) - Jewish philosophy (Buber and Heschel articulate theology in terms of Jewish existentialism) - NeoHasid.org "Chasidus without Border" – Rabbi David Seidenberg's site on Chasidic music and eco-Torah - Shtibl Minyan "an egalitarian community whose davening attempts to fulfill the joyous Hassidic ideal of kol atzmotai tomarnah 'with all my limbs I will say praise.' " - Kehilat Romemu Transdenominational, NeoHassidic, Kabbalistic, integral synagogue led by Rabbi David Ingber

How To Write A Good Conclusion For An Astronomy Research Paper? Write a good research paper in astronomy. You must have excellent writing skill to complete the academic papers in this subject. However, at the same time you must not forget what your instructors or supervisor advised in this connection. Follow instructions perfectly when you go for the academic paper formatting. Few Basic Procedures to Complete Research Paper in Astronomy - The title must be short and meaningful - Author names must be included in order - Abstract must be written - Body of Content - Observation section must be included in the academic paper - Discussion section - Write Authors’ Names Correctly - Write Abstract - Precise Observation Section - Reduction Section There may be a number of authors who have completed the whole writing project in astronomy. Well, you must mention their names in the research paper. Write full name with middle initials to complete the work address section of your academic paper in astronomy. In the abstract section, you must explain why you feel it important to jot down the short hypothesis. Your abstract must be concise and you should describe the overall impact of this particular section. In the introduction, you will have to show your original talent and expertise. You should discuss about the researches done by other eminent astronomers. Analyze their findings in this section. However, you should precise the content without unnecessary explanation. Synopsis of the whole study should be drawn in this introductory note. Under the observation section, simply describe and analyze what you observed using your powerful telescope. Your observational perfection will make the content much interesting to inspire superiors to evaluate doctoral papers properly. Reduction writing is easy. However, an astronomer should do perfect calibration describing the process in simple language. His readers will be able to understand the process of adjusting the telescope for better observation. The photometry and image setting should be described in this reduction section. In this connection, check few sample reductions online to become an expert to write this portion smoothly. Lastly, without academic paper formatting, the task must be incomplete. Therefore, use the perfect font and word size to reset the content perfectly. Same way, keep the double space and proper margins to write the whole content within the précised framework. Choose only relevant pictures, tables of content and graphs to locate different stars. The academic papers in astronomy must not have structural flaw and syntactical errors.

Vinsamlegast notið þetta auðkenni þegar þið vitnið til verksins eða tengið í það: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/9582 Swearing and how to deal with it in the classroom Swearing is a phenomenon that has been overlooked in EFL/ESL classrooms in Iceland and little has been published on the subject. EFL teachers should help pupils learn the use of appropriate language in the appropriate context. This study aimed to investigate teachers’ attitudes and approaches to teaching about swearing and appropriate language use in EFL classrooms in Iceland. In this research paper I examined the sociolinguistics of swearing by discussing taboo language, recalling taboo language and exploring the relationship between language and culture. Key words: Swearing, appropriate language, taboo, culture, EFL.

This post has been contributed by Martin Jensen of Future Hosting. Martin is a technical writer for Future Hosting, a specialized VPS and dedicated server hosting company. Follow Future Hosting on Twitter at @fhsales, Like them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/futurehosting, and check out all the services they offer on http://www.futurehosting.com. A US laboratory recently revealed that it has been running a network encrypted with quantum technology for several years. Quantum cryptography has the potential to provide perfect encryption. Traditional cryptography relies on the inherent difficulty of carrying out certain mathematical calculations in a practical amount of time. For example, encryption algorithms like RSA are based on the difficulty of factoring primes. If we take two very large prime numbers and multiply them, there is no quick mathematical way of getting back to the original prime numbers from their product. It can be done, but it typically takes hundreds or thousands of years to do so. However, cryptography based on difficult math has inherent limitations. Although it’s difficult to decrypt, it’s not impossible, especially as technology advances. There are statistical methods that can reduce the time taken considerably and flaws in the algorithms themselves can be exploited. Additionally, if a third party gets hold of the key by another means, there’s nothing to stop them from sitting in between the sender and receiver, decrypting the message and reading it, before encrypting it with the same key and sending it on, leaving the communicating parties non-the-wiser. Quantum cryptography is designed to solve this problem and takes advantage of a fundamental property of quantum-scale matter. It can’t be observed without being changed. People encrypting messages with quantum cryptography can be completely sure that their messages aren’t being read because it’s impossible to look at or copy messages without changing them. The Los Alamos Lab network is built with a hub and spoke architecture. The central hub handles all the key management. Communication between the hub and the nodes is initiated with a quantum encrypted one-time-pad, which contains information about how to encrypt the rest of the communication, which is done in the traditional manner. It’s possible to change the keys every few seconds, so that even in the extremely unlikely event that the key is revealed, it’s only valid for a short time. The technology isn’t quite ready for deployment on the Internet yet. While the Los Alamos network uses a hub-and-spoke infrastructure, the Internet is a massively interconnected network where packets pass through many different routers and switches. Because there’s no predictable straight line route between any two machines on the Internet, the quantum encrypted packets will be copied and looked at as they travel through routers, being changed in the process, removing the advantage of quantum encryption. However, there are specific use-cases where perfect encryption is required and a hub and spoke mechanism can be employed. For example, the scientists behind the new developments intend their method to be deployed to encrypt communications on the electric grid. It’s not all bad news for businesses and consumers who would like to be certain no-one is peeping at their data. Quantum router technology is in development, and although it may be a few years away from widespread use, it would render the hub-and-spoke method obsolete.

Solar panels are a connected and packaged assembly of photovoltaic cells (PV cells). They can be used as a part of a larger photovoltaic system, which is used to generate or supply electricity for both residential and commercial purposes. There are several different types of solar panels, including monocrystalline silicon solar panel, polycrystalline silicon solar panel, and thin film solar panels. See also: The Different Types of Solar Panels Monocrystalline Silicon solar panels are almost square. They are made up of pure silicon and have efficiency between 19 to 21 percent. They are also more resistant to high temperature. They are known to be the most space efficient solar panel of all since they generate the highest amount of energy. If you have only a limited amount of space, this may be your best choice. Unlike the Monocrystalline Silicon solar panels, Polycrystalline Silicon solar panels are uniform panels. They are also simpler and less expensive. However, they are less efficient since they are less pure. They also cover a lot of space. Fortunately, as the technology advances, these solar panels are slowly catching up with the heat tolerance and efficiency of the Monocrystalline Silicon. On the other hand, flexible solar panels are portable panels made of thin film amorphous silicon deposited on a polymer substrate. They are often used to charge gadgets like mobile phones, walkie-talkies, PDA’s and laptops. They are also used to power field communication radios, GPS systems and camping equipments. Many of these solar panels are even integrated into metal roofing and architectural fabric. Thin film solar panels provide a number of advantages, especially in that it uses minimal amounts of silicon. They also have a simple process of manufacturing, so it’s easier to produce them at scale. They enable a more creative application and can cover everything such as clothing and curved surfaces. They are also thin and light, and easy to install. In addition, they are considered to be the most aesthetically pleasing of all solar panels.

- Helps maintain heart, cellular, and bone health. - Supports proper immune function and overall health. There's nothing like a sound, low-fat diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to supply the vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. Unfortunately, we don't always eat well. That's why so many experts now recommend that everyone take a daily multivitamin. Even the Journal of the American Medical Association now concludes that all adults should take a daily multivitamin—to help maintain heart, cellular, and bone health. This recommendation is a complete reversal of the prestigious journal's historical policy on nutritional supplements. Drs. Kathleen Fairfield and Robert Fletcher of Harvard Medical School in Boston Massachusetts wrote the new guidelines for JAMA in two separate articles. In the first, the researchers reviewed studies examining the connection between vitamin intake and health published between 1996 and 2002. In the second, the experts reviewed all available data and concluded that everyone, regardless of age or health status, needs a daily multivitamin. The last time the journal made a recommendation on the subject was approximately two decades ago when little was known about the role of vitamins in maintaining good health. At that time JAMA advised healthy people against taking multivitamins concluding there was no evidence to suggest significant benefits in this group of patients. But times have changed. In their current examination of the subject, Drs. Fairfield and Fletcher indicated that insufficient vitamin intake can have a definite affect a person's health. While the researchers note that the diet of most Americans is sufficient to maintain health, studies do suggest that a large proportion of people fail to get the optimal levels of vitamins in the foods they eat. In fact, a recent survey revealed that only 20 to 30 percent of the population eats the government's recommended daily minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables, the main dietary source of vitamins and minerals. The Co-op's Multi-Vites provide a full range of vitamins and minerals, with 250 mcg of lutein added. See our Supplement Facts page by clicking above! Iron is a mineral that is needed by the body to make red blood cells and it is used in the transport of oxygen. Contrary to what many people may think, however, iron deficiency is rare in healthy older men and women. The United States Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for iron for men and women age 50 or older is 8 milligrams a day, an amount that is easily met in our diets. Iron is found in many foods such as meat, poultry, fish, beans, whole grain breads and cereals and in vegetables including asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, to name a few. In recent years, iron is a mineral of growing concern to many healthcare researchers. Iron acts as damaging free radical or oxidizing agent and has the potential to negatively impact heart and cellular health. Elevated levels could be very damaging and the body has no way of eliminating excess amounts except through blood loss. Therefore, our Multi-Vites are iron-free! Our supplements have no artificial coloring or additives. Just take a look at the major brands on the market. In many commercial vitamins, you will find the following ingredients: - FD&C Red #40 Lake - FD&C Yellow #6 Lake - Polysorbate 80 The Co-op's Multi-Vites do not include these ingredients. Ours are a bit more plain, with only a clear coating, but they compare ingredient for ingredient to national brands, and at big savings. - Individuals taking vitamins in other formulas should evaluate their needs for each vitamin. It is possible to get too much Vitamin A, D, and folic acid, for example. It is wise to consult a health care practitioner if unsure.

CMU researcher Chris Harrison’s Skinput is an amazing new technology. It’s a new interface concept that just makes sense, and to top it off, it’s also pretty darn cool. Input devices haven’t changed much in the last few decades. We still use mice and we still use keyboards. If Harrison has his way, we might just someday be using our own skin as an input device. Harrison’s concept uses the body to sense touch inputs. When a particular part of the body is tapped, a sensor on the upper arm can detect where exactly the tap originated from, either the fingertips or the forearm. This is done by sensing the vibrations that are generated by each tap. Once this is paired with a projector, you’ve got a whole new input device: your own body. Skinput is set to be presented at a conference in April.

Having received stitches in my brow as the result of a self-inflicted racketball injury, I recognize the importance of proper eye protection in sports. A recent news story, “Athletes aren’t gaga for goggles“ interviewed coaches, high school athletes and administrators about mandatory eye protection. According the safety organization Prevent Blindness in America, which my late father Norman Landau supported for many years, 40,000 sports-related eye injuries occur each year, and 90 percent of them could be prevented with the use of appropriate protective eyewear. The American Academy of Ophthalmology lists field hockey as a high-risk sport for eye injury, but baseball, basketball and racquet sports are considered the most at-risk for eye injuries. Protect the athletes in your family; make sure that properly fitting goggles and face masks are used when there is a likelihood of ocular injury.

Medical Assistant vs. Medical Coding One of the best things about a medical assisting career is the career versatility. Medical assistants learn both front and back office procedures. Many components of clinical or administrative work can be expanded to help you further your career. Medical billing and coding is one of those components. Many medical assistants learn basic medical billing as part of their MA training program. However, a medical coding career involves so much more than what you may have learned in school. Take a closer look at how medical assisting can jump start a medical coding career. What is Medical Coding? Whenever a physician sees a patient, she creates a charge ticket. This is a form that allows the physician to write down what the patient’s diagnosis, and what lab tests, x-rays or diagnostics are needed. The charge ticket is then sent to the medical coder. The medical coder’s job is to assign a medical code to each diagnosis and treatment given to the patient. Each time a patient sees a physician in a professional setting, like a clinic or hospital, a charge ticket must be generated so the physician can get paid. The codes used by the medical coder are universal—meaning they are recognized by all health insurance companies. When the medical coder submits a charge ticket, or claim, to an insurance company, the insurance will know what services were provided by the codes on the claim. - Medical assistants learn basic coding techniques as part of the MA program. These basic skills are often appropriate for general ambulatory care coding and billing. - A medical assistant wishing to work for a large specialty practice, hospital or nursing home may require additional medical coding training and certification to become competent. What Types of Codes do Coders Use? There are many different types of medical codes. It’s a medical coder’s job to know the different codes and how to properly use them. Because medical reimbursement relies on correct coding, it is very important that the medical coder be well-trained and competent in her job. There are three basic code types used by medical coders: - HCPCS codes. The Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes are used with Medicare health insurances. HCPCS Codes are numbers given to each service a physician may provide to someone with Medicare. This includes surgical and medical services, and diagnostics. Every healthcare provider uses the same code for everything, making HCPCS codes universal for every physician anywhere in the United States. - CPT codes. Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT codes, is a listing of medical services a physician provides. Each service is assigned a CPT code. An insurance company then reviews the CPT code and determines how much a physician will be paid for that service. CPT codes are key codes for reimbursement from insurance companies. - ICD codes. International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes are a method of tracking diseases and causes of death around the world. These codes are used for diagnostic purposes and as a way for medical professionals and scientists to track diseases and causes of death in the human population. These codes are the foundation of medical coding practice. Formal education in medical coding provides in-depth training in each of these codes and how to use them effectively. Working with Insurance Companies Medical coders work closely with insurance companies. Each claim submitted to insurance must be properly coded so a physician can be paid for services. A medical coder also needs to know how to troubleshoot a medical claim when something goes wrong. Insurance companies may deny a medical claim if the coding is wrong or does not coincide with a service the insurance company will pay for. The coder needs to know how to read the patient’s medical chart and physician notes to make sure the claim was coded correctly. Alternately, she needs to know how to adjust a claim to meet the insurance company’s guidelines if appropriate. Some medical assistants already work with insurance companies on a daily basis. Getting pre-authorization for surgery, referrals to a medical specialist or approval for specialty care are all reasons a medical assistant may communicate with insurance company. Medical codes are likely needed to obtain authorization for any of these services. Further medical coding education will allow the medical assistant to work even more closely with insurance companies, and for more complicated or in-depth reasons. Medical coders can work in a variety of positions: - As a hospital outpatient or inpatient coder - Ambulatory care coder - Coding supervisor - Auditing specialist Each position has its own set of requirements and knowledge and medical coding certification is often required. A medical assistant may obtain certification in medical coding by gaining further education in the field. Professional medical coders are able to become certified, depending on the type of coding they choose. The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC) both offer credentialing in professional coding. Your background and education as a medical assistant can be very helpful if pursuing a medical coding career or certification.

View Full Version : Silly question about nomenclature of buckshot October 27, 2011, 08:35 AM So, I live in a state in which one cannot deer hunt with rifles. Supposedly the state is flat enough that there is a risk of bullet over-travel. So of course, we are allowed to use shotguns (among other things). However, we are not permitted to use shot - only slugs. Now, it seems reasonable to assume buck-shot was invented for, um..., bucks. But buckshot is apparently now considered inhumane on deer. I'm not arguing the validity of that - I'm all for humane taking of prey. Who knows the history of buckshot and slugs? Was buckshot in fact originally intended for deer? How long was it used as such? At what point did slugs become available? And when did society decide shot was no longer sufficient for humane taking of deer? October 27, 2011, 09:12 AM Some Civil war and earlier paper cartridges were call "Buck & Ball". THe ball being a loose fit to the muzzleloader bore and three buck (smaller) loaded on top, the the paper wrapper was formed around and tied off. There 's a picture from Gettysburg of a regiment's memorial that's just a column with the "buck&ball" on top. In HEAVY cover and prior to commercial slugs, buck shot was favored, for close work. Once the commercial Forster and Brenneke slugs were made, the increase in range was noticeable. Now with the SABOT round for shotgun and used in the rifled barrels that most states allow, are better yet. Any scope is preferable to iron sights for best accuracy. What shotgun involved? October 27, 2011, 10:36 AM slugs were a later invention, shot was made for killing game and buck shot came from the distance a buck could be killed with shot. That was forgotten but the name buckshot was applied to the shot used for big game hunting and it stuck. October 27, 2011, 10:38 AM The modern slug is an adaptation of the bullets used in early breech loading smooth bore muskets. The tricky part of slug design, unlike musket bullets, is they have to accommodate various choke diameters. The choke concern is omitted in modern rifled shotgun barrels with sabot slugs. October 27, 2011, 10:51 AM The modern slug is an adaptation of the bullets So is the first generation "slugs"... Look at the last generation of smoothbore frontloaders... (I can't call it a rifle without rifling)... they fired a honkin' big lead ball... I know they had .60-64 cal guns and I think I remember a .72 cal or something nearly that large... First generation rifled bore rifles fired a "bullet" that I feel was the precursor to the "rifled slug"... October 27, 2011, 11:07 AM Buckshot will kill deer, but is far less effective than slugs. The only folks who use it effectively are some guys who still run deer with dogs. The shots are close and fast. It is considered safer since dogs or other hunters could easily be within range of rifle rounds or slugs, but be out of sight in the thick swamps where this type of hunting is usually done. Unless I were required by law I'd use a rifle as my first choice, with slugs a distant 2nd. I'd never use buckshot unless it was all I had. October 27, 2011, 04:02 PM Use of the term actually predates the founding of the USA. Soldiers during the Revolutionary War often used 'buck and ball' loads in their smoothbore muskets, and many, who showed up to war with their personally owned fowling pieces (smoothbores were more widely used than rifles in colonial days, as they were cheaper and more versatile) often used just buckshot, if they could get it. Note the following detail regarding Francis Marion's men, from the war in the Carolinas: Marion frequently went into action with less than three rounds to a man -- half of his men were sometimes lookers on because of the lack of arms and ammunition -- waiting to see the fall of friends or enemies, in order to obtain the necessary means of taking part in the affair. Buck-shot easily satisfied soldiers, who not unfrequently advanced to the combat with nothing but swan-shot in their fowling-pieces. -- http://sciway3.net/clark/revolutionarywar/cp8.html Swan shot, you will note, is even smaller than buckshot and was used - as the name implied - on swans, geese etc. October 27, 2011, 08:51 PM I wonder if doubles were ever used in the Civil War. Also, did they have any paper shells available in this era? October 28, 2011, 10:07 AM The Confederacy was so strapped for firearms they had a factory in Richmond that altered shotguns, mostly for cavalry. I ran across one such. It was displayed by a descendant of the original owner with a Navy Colt, a tattered grey uniform coat and a Daguerrotype picture. The shotgun itself was a small bore, barrels about 16" long and percussion fired. There were a few European pinfires in the War, but not enough to make a difference. Parker started making breechloading shotguns about 1866. Other US makers were going at it by 1870. October 28, 2011, 11:57 AM Confederate cavalry shotguns were mostly muzzleloaders. And cavalry soldiers carried all the revolvers they could get, wearing a pair, with a pair in saddle holsters etc. There was no way of reloading easily with cap and ball pistols, and on horseback even more so. It was easier and faster just to grab another revolver. "Forrest ordered forward. Without waiting to be formal in the matter, the Texans went like a cyclone, not waiting for Forrest to give his other orders to trot, gallop, and charge as he had drilled his men. By the time the Yankee skirmishers could run to their places in ranks and both lines got their bayonets ready to lift us fellows off our horses, we were halted in twenty steps of their two lines of savage bayonets, their front line kneeling with butts of guns on the ground, the bayonets standing out at right angle or straighter and the rear lines of their bayonets extended between the heads of the men of the first line. In a twinkling of an eye almost, both barrels of every shotgun in our line loaded with fifteen to twenty buckshot in each barrel was turned into that blue line and lo! What destruction and and confusion followed. It reminded me then of a large covey of quail bunched on the ground, shot into with a load of bird shot: their squirming and fluttering around on the ground would fairly represent that scene in that blue line of soldiers on that occasion. Every man nearly who was not hurt or killed broke to the rear, most of them leaving their guns where the line went down, and made a fine record in getting back to their reserved force several hundred yards to their rear. After the shotguns were fired, the guns were slung on the horns of our saddles and with our six shooters in hand we pursued those fleeing, either capturing of killing until they had reached their reserved force. Just before they reached this force, we quietly withdrew; every man seemed to act upon his own judgement for I heard no orders. But we were all generals and colonels enough to know that when the fleeing enemy should uncover us so their line could fire on us, we would have been swept from the face of the earth." -- http://www.keathleywebs.com/terrysrangers/terry2.htm October 28, 2011, 07:42 PM This is a great topic! Loads of historical literature here. vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2017, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

Memorial Day is a Federal holiday that recognizes and pays tribute to all of the men and women who have died serving our armed forces since the Civil War. Flying the flag at half staff symbolizes our country's collective grief and mourning. So I write this post to pay my respects to those who have died defending the rights and liberties our country believes in. They were willing to stand together fighting for human rights to try to make this country, and the world, a better and safer place for all. For that, I can only give them, and their families, a sincere and heartfelt thank you on this day of remembrance. How to Fly the American Flag at Half-Staff In the morning raise the flag to full-staff at the top of the flap pole for just a moment then immediately lower it to half-staff. The flag remains at half-staff throughout the morning. At noon the flag is raised back up to its full-staff position for the remainder of the day. When to Fly the American Flag at Half-StaffMemorial Day - Sunrise to Noon on the Last Monday each May Peace Officers Memorial Day - Sunrise to sunset each May 15th Patriot Day - Sunrise to sunset each September 11th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Sunrise to sunset as a yearly proclamation on December 7th At the Direction of the President At the Direction of a State's Governor On GettysburgFlag.com there is also a reference to citizens choosing to display the flag at half staff as a symbol of respect: Private citizens and non government buildings may choose to fly their flags at half staff to honor more local leaders. The Flag Code does not exclude any citizen, whether they belong to an organization or not, whether they are recognized very locally or regionally. Examples of deceased citizens that might be honored with by lowering the Flag to half-staff include local religious leaders, youth leaders, honored teachers or sports coaches, local politicians, or a local hero. There need be no authorization from the government for the private sector (non-government) to use the Flag to honor any citizen.

Histrionic Personality Disorder– Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Ongoing care - A condition characterized by persistent patterns of dysfunctional behavior (excessive emotionality and attention seeking) deviating from one’s culture and social environment that leads to functional impairment and distress, both to the individual and those who have regular interaction with the individual. - Behaviors are perceived by the patient to be “normal” and “right,” and patients have little insight as to their responsibility for these behaviors. - Condition is classified based on the predominant symptoms and their severity. - Cluster B personality disorder (inclusive of antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders) characterized by a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, present in a variety of contexts (5 or more symptom patterns to diagnose) (1): - Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expressions of emotion - Is easily influenced by others or circumstance - Uncomfortable when not center of attention - Interactions are often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive behavior. - Rapidly shifting and shallow emotions - Draws attention through physical appearance - Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacks detail - Considers relationships more intimate than they are (1) Starts in adolescence and early 20s, and persists throughout one’s life in the absence of treatment (1) - 2–3% general population (1) - Tends to be identified more frequently in females (1) - Major character traits may be inherited. - Other character traits due to a combination of genetics and environment, including adverse childhood experiences Environmental and genetic factors, including adverse childhood experiences and lack of parental attention Commonly Associated Conditions - Depression, anxiety, panic disorder - Somatization disorders - Body dysmorphic disorder (strong emphasis on physical appearance) - Post-traumatic stress disorder, including dissociative disorders - Substance abuse - Distress, excessive emotionality (2) - Impairment of social and/or occupational functioning (2) - Not due to direct physiological effects of substance abuse, drug abuse, medication use, or general medical conditions - Comprehensive interview and mental status examination - Family session to assess persistent pattern of behavior Diagnostic Tests & Interpretation Initial lab tests Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL), complete blood count (CBC), HIV Computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain may be necessary in newly developed symptoms in the absence of a triggering event to rule out the rare instance of organic brain disease. Psychological testing (e.g., MMPI-II) - Narcissistic personality disorder - Somatization disorder - Borderline personality disorder - Substance abuse - Can co-occur with borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, and dependent personality disorders No known drug to treat personality disorder; however, medications can reduce symptoms (3)[C] associated with the Axis I disorders, such as mood disorders (antidepressants: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]) and anxiety disorders (anxiolytics: benzodiazepines, buspirone, and SSRIs) (3)[C] Complementary and Alternative Medicine - In patients who have attempted overdose, transport all appropriate pill bottles to hospital. - Appropriate psychiatric security measures should be in place to prevent lethality. Exercise as a means of reducing stress - If the patient is on a pharmacological regimen, initial monitoring should be frequent (every 2 weeks) to evaluate the effectiveness, potential side effects of medication, and suicidal ideation. - In the absence of pharmacological treatment, frequent regular visits (every 4–6 weeks) will help prevent attention-seeking phone calls/visits. No known special diet - Unstable relationships with family, friends, and coworkers - May be characterized by separations and divorces. - Disruptive work patterns (e.g., absenteeism, frequent job changes, and decreased productivity) - Increased demand for outpatient medical visits due to psychological condition and attention-seeking behavior 1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994. 2. Kraus G, Reynolds DJ. The “A-B-C’s” of the cluster B’s: identifying, understanding, and treating cluster B personality disorders. Clin Psychol Rev. 2001;21:345–73. 3. Ward RK. Assessment and management of personality disorders. Am Fam Phys. 2004;70(8):1505–12. Horowitz MJ. Psychotherapy for histrionic personality disorders. J Psychother Practice Res. 1997;6:93–107. 301.50 Histrionic personality disorder, unspecified 55341008 Histrionic personality disorder (disorder) - Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by persistent patterns of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, deviating from one’s culture and social environment that leads to functional impairment and distress, both for the individual and those who have regular interaction with the individual. - Histrionic personality disorder can co-exist with other personality disorders. - No drugs explicitly treat personality disorders. However, medications can be considered to reduce symptoms associated with concomitant mood and anxiety disorders.

Cold Canadian air expected next week for central U.S. WASHINGTON — The central United States will record temperatures well below normal next week as a low pressure system pulls in colder Canadian air, the National Weather Service said on Thursday. Temperatures could fall up to 20 degrees below normal by Wednesday in Kansas and Oklahoma, states that are more used to heat waves in the middle of July than cold snaps, said Dan Petersen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The basic idea (is) of a large area of below-normal temperatures and some very impressive anomalies for the central and southern Plains,” he said. The cold front is being generated by a low pressure system in the upper atmosphere that is expected to intensify, pulling in cold air from over Canada, Petersen said. Temperatures will begin to fall on Sunday in the northern Great Plains. The cold snap will reach into the upper Ohio Valley and Oklahoma on Wednesday, with lows in the 50s, he said. The system will begin to move to the northeast, and temperatures will become normal by the weekend, Petersen said. The pattern may last only a few days but will probably set some records, especially around the Plains and Great Lakes – where water temperatures are still depressed from the frigid winter in which ice remained on Lake Superior into June. The cold snap is not a summer version of the “polar vortex” that put much of the United States in a deep freeze during the winter. “That's a wintertime phenomenon,” Petersen said.

In the developing world, budding democracies can retain some authoritarian aspects. In the early 1980s, this was certainly true of the Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos was a staunch U.S. ally and President Reagan valued him as such. Marcos was also anti-communist, which aligned with U.S.’s strategic interests. But Secretary of State George Shultz was uneasy about placing too much faith in Marcos. “He was a shrewd politician who ruled like a monarch in the trappings of democracy,” recalls Shultz in his book Turmoil and Triumph. “He ended martial law in 1981 but retained most of the powers that it had provided him. He had established himself as staunchly pro-American and anti-Communist.” (T&T, p. 608-609) Shultz’s discomfort with Marcos created tension between himself and President Reagan. While Marco’s authoritarian streak was not exactly in keeping with the American ideals Reagan so loved, the Soviet menace and concerns about communist proxy states were still justifiably widespread in 1982. Reagan’s Realpolitik meant keeping Marcos close, at least for a time. Ferdinand Marcos with George Shultz But Shultz was concerned. He saw three primary problems with the Philippines, problems which were not apparent to Reagan. First, a communist insurgency was growing; second, Marcos was running the Philippine economy poorly; and third, Marcos was in poor health and his wife Imelda had begun jockeying for a more powerful political position. But what should be done? Shultz’s solution was to strengthen institutions within the Philippines while simultaneously putting pressure on Marcos to adopt more democratic reforms. In September 1982, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos came to the White House for a State visit. This visit did not assuage Shultz’s concerns about the Philippine situation, he recalls: “Such occasions are opportunities for important exchanges and are also full of pomp and circumstance…But I was uncomfortable. I had been concerned about the Philippines since I had come into office as secretary of state and worried about what seemed to be a rapidly deteriorating economic and political situation over the past two years.” (T&T, p. 608) The essence of Shultz’s concerns stemmed from his belief that Marcos would not easily take to institutional reforms: “While Marcos, his family, and his political intimates prospered, his economic policies and political dominance had a debilitating effect on the people of the Philippines. He seemed to have lost the distinction between public and private: between what belonged to the government and what belonged to him.” (T&T, p. 610) And yet, Shultz knew that the Philippines hosted key U.S. bases in Asia. He also knew that President Reagan would be loyal to a fault. Then something happened. Popular Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino was assassinated. The U.S. Department of State and Shultz immediately condemned the assassination. But who was responsible? President Marcos put together a half-hearted investigation—but Shultz and his team were not buying it. The five-person Philippine investigative group was eventually disbanded and replaced. With the new investigation, General Ver, a top military official and close ally of Marcos, was implicated in the assassination. Yet Marcos was unwilling to distance himself from Ver. Reagan’s loyalty to Marcos during this time was strained, but not broken. He put his position on display during the 1984 presidential debates with Walter Mondale. In response to criticisms about the president’s continued support for Marcos, Reagan said: “I know there are things there in the Philippines that do not look good to us from the standpoint of democratic rights. But what is the alternative? It is a large Communist movement to take over the Philippines. I think that we’re better off trying to retain our friendship and help them right the wrongs we see rather than throwing them to the wolves and then facing a Communist power in the Pacific.” (T&T, p. 611) Reagan’s position was not just about loyalty to an ally, memories of the Vietnam War and the Iranian Revolution were still fresh in Reagan’s mind, and he was anxious not to lose more sympathetic and strategic allies. The Philippine opposition did not react well to Reagan’s comments. They argued that Marcos was not the only alternative to communism. The State Department issued a statement following the debate that indicated the extent of differences emerging between Shultz and Reagan. “A State Department spokesman clarified to the Associated Press that the president did not mean to suggest the only alternative to communism was Marcos: ‘I don’t think that the President was narrowing the situation that far. I think there is certainly recognition on everybody’s part that there are other forces working for democratic change in the Philippines.’” (T&T, p. 612) The Rise of Cory November 1985. Marcos called for a snap election. In a surprising twist, the opposition ran Benigno Aquino’s widow, Corazon, as their candidate. Corazon “Cory” Aquino turned out to have considerable popular support. But some within the White House saw her as little more than a political joke: “When Abe Rosenthal came to Washington in mid-January, he reported firsthand. ‘That empty-headed housewife has no positions,’ he told me. ‘She is a dazed, vacant woman.” He was distressed at the idea she might replace Marcos. He passed the same assessment along to President Reagan and Nancy, and Don Regan, at a White House dinner. His words made a deep and lasting impact on them.” (T&T, p. 617) In December 1985, General Ver was acquitted of conspiracy charges in the death of Aquino. With serious concerns about the impartiality of the investigation and judgment, voices in the U.S. Congress called on the White House to shut off military aid to the Philippines as long as Ver remained in power. (T&T, p. 617) Fearful of what might happen to U.S. military bases the White House remained cautious. Soon unsavory rumors about the campaign began to circulate. One rumor said that Marcos’ people might try to abduct Aquino. And concerns about a fair election were rife among observers. Aquino asks for U.S. protection, but Secretary Shultz denied her request, fearing that more harm might result than good: “I told [Ambassador] Bosworth to tell Mrs. Aquino, ‘We are prepared to work with you and other to find a safe Philippine environment.’ I did not want to damage her by the symbolism that would be generated by U.S. protection, or to turn her into the U.S. candidate. At the same time, I wanted to do what was possible to prevent harm to her during the volatile time…. Should something happen to her, I knew, we could never forgive ourselves for not ensuring her safety. I decided that we should encourage her to find ‘a Philippine solution.’ We would stay in close touch, I ordered, and we would be ready to provide a safe haven as a last resort—but we wouldn’t tell her that.” (T&T, p. 620) During the election, Marcos ended up rejecting Bosworth, the U.S. ambassador, saying that Bosworth did not speak for Reagan. In turn, Reagan sent a ‘special envoy,’ Senator Laxalt, to encourage Marcos to work with the U.S. on reform. As a “close, personal” friend of Reagan, Laxalt attempted to engage Marcos on reform. Marcos returned with insinuations that the U.S. might be overstaying its welcome with military bases in the country. Secretary Shultz viewed this chilly signal from Marcos as a pretext to exert even more pressure for reform—especially given the possibility that Marcos would eventually turn his back on the U.S. During Laxalt’s visit, Marcos sent a personal letter to Reagan, the contents of which made Shultz seriously unhappy: “’The letter Marcos gave Laxalt for you,’ I told President Reagan, ‘is a disappointing response to your serious effort, as a friend and ally, to persuade him to face up to the reforms he must make if he is to turn back the Communist insurgent challenge that directly affects the future of the Philippines and our bases in that country.’ The president was clearly quite uncomfortable with my harsh assessment. In his head, he knew as I did that Marcos was blundering badly, yet he felt an instinctive loyalty to Marcos and flashed to me a giant warning of caution.” (T&T, p. 615) It was clear Reagan had not yet given up on Marcos. Shultz would have to wait for democracy to take its course. The Philippine Election In the end, the Philippine election involved clear and widespread voter fraud. The consensus from the international community was that Aquino would have won were it not for the fraud perpetrated by the Marcos government. Marcos refused to acknowledge an Aquino victory and threatened violent suppression. The calculation of Realpolitik had changed for Reagan. In a cable from Ambassador Bosworth, the administration learns: “The bottom line conclusion is inescapable: Mrs. Aquino would have won if there had been an even minimally fair count…This election has effectively cost Ferdinand Marcos most of his remaining political legitimacy and credibility both in the Philippines and in the U.S… Our over-riding policy objective is to massage our way into the post-Marcos era.” (T&T, p. 627-628) Reagan finally realized that Marcos must give up power, but he was not happy about the situation. The president did not want to have to abandon an ally. It had been all too clear that the U.S.’s failure to support the Shah in Iran had resulted in the Iranian leader’s ouster, (which led to the establishment of a Shiite Islamist state that remains hostile to U.S. interests to this day). Shultz remained sensitive to Reagan’s feelings and decided to adopt a more hands-off approach, letting events in the Philippines speak for themselves: “The president does not want to push Marcos over the brink. We have to wait for events to happen; we cannot move the president under present circumstances. The Filipino people will have to throw Marcos out. Ronald Reagan will not push out a friend.” (T&T, p. 629) Finally, the unrest reached a critical point in the Philippines. The situation became so severe that the White House had to officially recognize the voter fraud. On February 15, the White House issued a statement: “It has already become evident, sadly, that the elections were marred by widespread fraud and violence perpetrated largely by the ruling party. It was so extreme that the election’s credibility has been called into question…” (T&T, p. 630) Corazon Aquino claimed victory the following day. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets. Shultz called it “an overwhelming human presence, a living, breathing river of humanity moving through the capital.” (T&T, p. 630) Yet Marcos was not ready to give up power. Almost immediately, Marcos’s allies abandoned him. Without U.S. interference, his government crumbled around him. He threatened to use military force against opponents (including former close allies). Fearing what Marcos could do, Secretary Shultz and a number of other advisors presented a united front to Reagan, urging him to send Marcos a message to leave. Shultz recalls: “President Reagan listened carefully. Then he turned the corner: he authorized a message to Marcos in response to threats of the use of force urging Marcos ‘to avoid an attack against other elements of the Philippines Armed Forces,’ and continued, saying that the United States ‘cannot continue our existing military assistance if the government uses that aid against other elements of the Philippine military which enjoy substantial popular backing.” (T&T, p. 636) At 6:45 on Sunday night, President Reagan approved a second message to Marcos: it was time for Marcos to make the transition from power.” (T&T, p. 636) Despite the president’s having sent the messages, Shultz felt Reagan had not yet turned an emotional corner with Marcos. Marcos, meanwhile, rejected the message from Reagan and continued his preparations to fight the opposition, calling for his supporters to come in from the countryside armed. Eventually, Marcos called Special Envoy Laxalt—wanting to bargain. He hoped to broker a power-sharing deal with the new government. “No” came Reagan’s terse reply and Reagan, via Laxalt, instructed Marcos to “cut and cut clean.” (T&T, p. 637) Finally accepting he no longer had a place in the Philippines or the backing of the U.S. government, Marcos made arrangements to leave on a U.S. Air Force plane. Ferdinand and Imelda were given safe haven in Hawaii. How would the U.S. recognize Aquino? Shultz wanted to portray the situation as a triumph of democracy and to do so immediately. Shultz announced from the White House pressroom that the U.S. would recognize Mrs. Aquino’s government. This difference of opinion between Reagan and Shultz would create a distance between them, one that would take some time to shrink. “I knew that my relations with the president and the White House had been badly strained by the turn of events in the Philippines and my role in them. No one could argue that the result was wrong… The president had signed off personally on every stop we took. Nevertheless, in his gut, Ronald Reagan felt aggrieved that his former friend and ally had gone down the drain.” (T&T, p. 639) Shultz reflects on the implications of Aquino’s election for U.S. foreign policy: “The rise to power of Corazon Aquino and the fall of Ferdinand Marcos marked an important shift in American official thinking: support for authoritarian governments that opposed communism could not be taken for granted. The United States supported people who were themselves standing up for freedom and democracy, whether against communism or against another form of repressive government.” (T&T, p. 642)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology (for example ... dictionary.reference.com/browse/accessibility So it's not surprising that his prose demonstrates an unusual blend of sophistication and accessibility. Be sure to scout ahead before getting in the car, as accessibility may vary depending on the time of year. www.thefreedictionary.com/accessibility I sketched my first contacts with alcohol, told of my first intoxications and revulsions, and pointed out always the one thing that in the end had won me over--namely, the accessibility of alcohol. https://www.fema.gov/accessibility This page contains information about our commitment to accessibility and contact information.OverviewFEMA is committed to making its electronic and information technologies accessible to individuals with disabilities by meeting or exceeding the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation ... www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web www.hhs.gov/accessibility.html Synopsis of Section 508 Accessibility Requirements. Section 508 requires Federal agencies to ensure that individuals with disabilities who are members of the public or Federal employees have access to and use of electronic and information technology (EIT) that is comparable to that provided to ... www.accessibility.net Accessibility dot Net provides JAWS scripting, training and technical support for persons who are blind and visually imapired. We specialize in all of the technology to help the blind, including computers running Microsoft Windows with a screen reader, software magnification ... www.nps.gov/accessibility.htm The National Park Service is committed to making all practicable efforts to make NPS facilities, programs, services, information, employment, and meaningful work opportunities accessible and usable by all people. www.capitalone.com/about/accessibility-commitment Accessibility to Products and Services Capital One is committed to ensuring equal access to our products and services for individuals with disabilities. www.disability.state.mn.us/accessibility Accessibility. Many individuals with disabilities need to rely on physical access features to access shops, restaurants, theaters, healthcare clinics and conduct activities for daily living. www.britishcouncil.org/accessibility Ensuring everyone can access our web content. The British Council is committed to providing websites that can be accessed by all. 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Individuals and organizations with different functions will find different reasons to adopt accessibility. www.vmware.com/accessibility VMware is dedicated to support customers to make VMware products and technologies accessible to people with disabilities. The available VPATs contain the accessibility features in VMware products to address the regulations of Section 508 standards. www.accessability.org AccessAbility, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides immediate jobs and training for people that want to work, but due to serious personal challenges, need more support to be successful. Welcome www.mos.org/accessibility Features for All Visitors. The Museum of Science offers a wealth of accessibility features for all of our visitors. Look here for parking and public transportation options, additional services such as sighted guide tours and ASL interpreters, and a list of accessible offerings throughout the Museum. www.edd.ca.gov/About_EDD/Accessibility.htm Accessibility. 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The construction of the statue The statue of “Liberty enlightening the world” is one of the most known monuments, the most famous work of Auguste Bartholdi and a major technical realization of the 19th century. It was given by France to the United States to commemorate the centenary of the country independence and French-American friendship during and after the colonization. Bartholdi spotted the ideal site for the erection of the statue during his first stay in the United States in 1871. It was Bedloe Island (today Liberty Island) in New York harbour for a not yet finished project. It was achieved in 1875, but its designers had come to an agreement about the exceptional dimensions of the structure and were conscious of the difficulties linked to its realization and financing. A French-American committee was set up to divide the task, to follow the works and collect the funds. France took care of the construction of the statue itself while the United States had to do the base. The first task of Bartholdi was to engage an architectural engineer to resolve the technical problems, in particular those linked to the stability of a 46 metres high statue, its form and its support. He first turned to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879) who gave the statue its final form and drape notably. When Viollet-le-Duc died in 1879 without leaving plans to bring together the statue parts, the work had to stop. Then, Bartholdi called Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) who proposed an openwork and light metallic skeleton on which previously hammered copper envelopes were one by one suspended. The structure prefigured the one used for the skyscrapers construction. The work was finished in 1884 and erected in the courtyard of the construction workshops of Gaget and Gauthier in Paris. The official ceremony took place on July 4th and Victor Hugo came some time after to greet the Parisian culmination of “liberty”. The statue was next dismantled and transported by train and boat to New York. The spouses of Bartholdi and Gaget as well as other personalities were on the trip. Set into a 27 metres high base 1 constructed and financed by the United States, the statue was inaugurated on October 28th 1886. Liberty and light The statue echoes the picture of the Roman goddess Libertas, divinity of liberty. She is represented under the apparent display of a feminine figure, clothed in an ample dress with numerous pleats and topped by a seven spike crown. She is holding aloft a torch in her right hand and carrying a book of laws in her left one on which is engraved the date of the independence of the United States in Roman numerals (July IV MDCCLXXVI). The seven spikes of the crown decorating the head 2 evoke the sun rays. Indeed, the seven spikes symbolize the seven rays of the rainbow. It is composed of the three primary colours (red, yellow, blue), of their complement (green, orange, purple) and of the seventh colour that contains all of them, white. For more details, see the colours of the rainbow. Since white contains the whole visible light spectrum, it symbolizes the unity of the manifestation of colours in particular and of any thing in general. Now, the unity can only be represented by a point of the sagittal plan dividing the body of the personage into complementary halves. It follows that the central spike symbolizes the white light or unity and the lateral spikes its manifestation into complementary colours or terms such as right and left, clarity and obscurity etc. The right/left polarization is in close relation with the statue orientation. In fact, the last one is facing Europe and, more deeply, East, the direction from which light is emerging from obscurity. The personage has consequently South or light on her right and North or obscurity on her left. It is therefore natural that the right hand carries the torch and the left one the book of laws. The flame of the luminous world lights up the laws that govern the relationships between the beings of the obscure world. Having been cast off the chains, the left foot moves forward and initiates the walk towards freedom. During his existence the being can wander in the obscurity of the terrestrial world or turn towards the light of the celestial world. A light that lights the being himself and the surrounding world as well. The choice of the orientation turned towards East favours light and South or the right (for more details, see the Eastern mode). Deliberate or not, this choice echoes the Egyptian tradition at the origin of many symbols of the New World. - René Guénon: - “The multiple states of the being”. Sophia Perennis Publisher, 2002; - Particularly, the last chapter entitled “Metaphysical notion of freedom”. 1 back Placed on foundations 20 metres deep, the monument is not 93 (20 + 27 + 46) metres high as generally asserted, but 73 (27 + 46) metres “only”! 2 back In number of references, the seven spikes are sensible to represent the seven continents (sic).

- Selecting Tantalizing Tomatoes - Garden Resolutions for 2017 - Give the gift of gardening - Plants in holiday traditions - Can houseplants improve indoor air quality? - Cautious garden banter - Giving Thanks for Gardening - Food for thought – Insects on the menu - Be on the lookout for new uninvited house guest. - Holes in trees – wood borer or woodpecker? - View Full Archive >> The Homeowners Column The elusive beauty of hydrangeas Extension Educator, Horticulture What started our obsession with hydrangeas is anyone's guess. Perhaps it was the foldouts of voluptuous flowers adorning tables in a decorator gardener's magazine. Perhaps it was the unforgettable appeal of a big and bold shrub as hard to ignore as a red sports car. Or perhaps it's their elusive nature to flower. Hydrangeas have many faces. Numerous species of hydrangeas exist along with their own quirks of winter hardiness, flower color, flower size, and flower shape. In addition some of the species have hundreds of cultivars. The hydrangea confusion also stems from the stems. An important difference is whether the cultivar blooms on old wood (last year's growth), new wood (this year's growth) or both. The moral of the story - save the plant label. The name can lead you to information about the care of your hydrangea. The hydrangea show is all about the flowers and how they hang together in clusters (inflorescence). The cluster may include small delicate fertile flowers, big and showy petal-like sepals and just about any combination of the two. Clusters of mostly big and showy sepals are called mopheads. This article highlights one of the most common white hydrangeas. Pink and blue flower lovers will have to catch next week's column. Smooth hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens, is a North American native of eastern forests which is a good clue to a happy home in the landscape. An aficionado of landscape hydrangeas would hardly recognize their wild side. As a native plant it has a delicate beauty. Landscape forms are about as far removed from delicate as Sylvester Stallone. The native version tends to have an open, loose habit with fewer leaves and smaller flower clusters of 3-4 inches wide. Wild hydrangea's kissing cousin cultivars have flower clusters up to 12 inches across. Cultivated forms are full-bodied mounds of leaves and flowers. Some say too much of each for the landscape. Others marvel at its hard-to-ignore, robust, rotundness. I say that's why ice cream comes in more flavors than vanilla - everybody has different tastes. The most common cultivars of smooth hydrangea are 'Annabelle' and 'Grandiflora'. 'Annabelle' is a true Illinoisan. Its name and subsequent rise to popularity were due to the efforts of the late, and truly great, University of Illinois plantsman, J.C. McDaniel. 'Annabelle's original home was a wooded area in Anna, Illinois. 'Annabelle' represents the quintessential picture of a mophead or snowball hydrangea. Flower buds are green maturing to white and then back to green. Her white symmetrical spheres can reach 12 inches across. Impressive for sure, but unfortunately massive flowers translates into a flattened shrub after a heavy rain. 'Annabelle' will probably need support to keep her upright. A common hydrangea of old farmsteads is 'Grandiflora', also listed as Hills of Snow hydrangea. Once 'Annabelle' came along 'Grandiflora' was pushed aside. The individual showy flowers of 'Grandiflora' are larger than 'Annabelle' and flower two weeks earlier. However each cluster has fewer flowers held loose, lumpy clusters. Smooth hydrangeas are reliable bloomers because they bloom on new wood. They will bloom even if a late frost or hard winter kills the stems. In late winter they can be pruned a couple different ways. One way is to remove the stems to the ground to produce large flower clusters. The more vigorous the growth of the shoot, the bigger the flower. Another way is to remove only the old seed heads to maintain last year's stems. New growth from the old stems is not as vigorous and will yield smaller flower clusters. This is not necessarily bad. It's a good flower show, but the plants usually stay upright without the heavy larger flowers. Great resource - Hydrangeas for American Gardens by Michael Dirr; Timber Press 2004.

Public health officials in Hampton roads and Northeast North Carolina say the seasonal influenza-like illness is now at a high level. Local area hospitals and healthcare systems are recommending that all patients and visitors wear masks to help prevent the flu from spreading. The masks are recommended in hospitals, medical facilities, and physician practices. The masks and hand sanitizer will be provided at facility entrances. Health officials say even those who have had the flu vaccine should wear masks. Although vaccines are the best way to prevent the flu, masking provides an added layer of protection from the potentially deadly disease. As healthcare providers say their goal is to protect the community from disease. Data suggests infected persons can transmit the virus as much as 24 hours before displaying symptoms. The community-wide recommendation helps protect patients, visitors and staff from exposure to flu, even before symptoms occur. Individuals displaying symptoms of influenza-like illness are asked not to visit patients at area hospitals. Symptoms of flu include fever and respiratory illness symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, chills, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. The recommendation to wear a mask when entering healthcare facilities will remain in effect during the flu season while the disease is at widespread levels.

What does RRT mean in British Medicine? This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand RRT in the Medical field in general and in the British Medicine terminology in particular. Find a translation for RRT in other languages: Select another language: What does RRT mean? - reverse transcriptase(noun) - a polymerase that catalyzes the formation of DNA using RNA as a template; found especially in retroviruses

Some of the richest genealogical records are contained in the various registers of the Bureaus' experimental Freedmen's colonies. There were at least three such colonies in Louisiana - Bragg (Lafourche), McHatton (East Baton Rouge), Sparks (Jefferson) and ROST (St. Charles). The ROST Home Colony was one of the Bureau's most successful experiments. The colony was set up on the former properties of Judge Pierre Rost, who moved onto his wife's family estate. His father-in-law, Jean Noel Destrehan, for whom Destrehan Plantation was known, married the daughter of the original owner, Monsieur Robin deLogny. deLogny moved into the home in the late 1700's. Judge Pierre Rost was an official in the Confederacy and in exile in Europe when this plantation was confiscated. From 1865 through 1866, it was used to house a self contained colony of freedmen, complete with a hospital, schools, colony store and police force. Rost Home Colony was born a success. Then, Judge Rost returned with a full pardon from President Johnson and demands for the return of his property.¹ Rost Colony's original population may have been local parish freedmen, however, as other colonies were closed (or property returned to the now pardoned confederate owners), its residents came from other parishes and states. Detailed records were kept of all freedmen arriving or leaving the colony. Former owner names were also recorded, as well as family members and relationships. The following example is from Prologue ¹, a NARA quarterly publication. The Johnson family arrived at Rost Home Colony on March 20, 1865, and were entered into the registers under the numbers 574–589. Fountain Johnson, age 41, was listed first, followed by Thomas (age 35), Louisa (36), Horace (31) and Sarah (30) Johnson. After the names of the related adults follow the names of their children, ranging in age from one month to twelve years. Fountain had been hired as a laborer at the Rost Home Colony. Several family entries down on the page and later on the same day, six more names appear with the last name Johnson. In the departures section at the end of each register, the names of departing freedmen are listed with a departure number. Above the departure number is another number that cross-indexes the name with an arrival number. Under the name Fountain Johnson, the family members are all listed; however, after the column listing each individual's sex is a column listing the family relation of each member (husband, wife, son, daughter, etc.). Furthermore, the column also reveals that the two Johnson families that arrived on March 20, 1865, are indeed related. The "remarks" column of departures often lists reasons for departure and occasionally the intended destination. The Johnson family departed Rost Home Colony October 10, 1865, because the family's working members had their contracts terminated (due to the closing of the colony). Occasionally whites also visited the colony for assistance. Hanson Medley and his family departed the Rost Colony on July 20, 1865. In the "remarks" column for the entire family is a note stating that Hanson was "a white man with [a] colored family discharged to return to their homes in Florida." ² Although Rost Home Colony was in existence for a short time, the resulting records are rich in genealogical information. Rost Home Colony --- Arrivals and Departures (Feb 1865-Jul 1866) --- Records of Births and Deaths --- Register of Applications for Laborers --- Register of Sick and Wounded Refugees and Freedmen --- Accounts of Rations and Clothing Issued at Rost home Colony, Parish of St. Charles, by J.W. Horton (1865)³ ¹Knight, Michael F., "The Rost Home Colony, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana." Prologue, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Fall 2001): 214-220, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. ²Microfilm Publication M1027, "Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Louisiana, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869", Record Group 105, National Archives Microfilm Publications, NARA, Washington, D.C. ³Pamphlet Describing Microfilm Publication M1905, "Records of the Field Offices for the State of Louisiana, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1863-1872", Record Group 105, National Archives Microfilm Publications, NARA, Washington, D.C.

ZONAL (CUTTING) GERANIUM Commercial Greenhouse Production Scientific Name: Pelargonium × hortorum Common Name: Zonal geranium Dr. J. Raymond Kessler, Jr. The exact origin of Pelargonium × hortorum is unknown, but probably resulted for inter-crossing between several species native to South Africa including P. zonale, P. inquinans, P. scandens, and P. frutetorum. Geraniums rank number one in terms of units sold among potted flowering plants and number three in terms of wholesale value. Sales increased through the 1970 and 1980's but have leveled-off over the past 10 year, possible due to the widespread availability of seed geraniums. The traditional zonal geranium product has red flowers, green foliage, and is grown in a 4" pot. This product remains the bulk of the market. Customers are now seeking different container sizes, different flower and foliage colors, and cultivars that perform in sun or part shade. They also want cultivars suited to large open gardens, planter boxes, window sills, and hanging baskets. The two major suppliers of zonal geranium cutting material include Oglevee Ltd. and Fisher. Crop Starting Options Years ago, growers retained selected plants from the seasonal crops as stock plants for the subsequent season. These plants were maintained either in the greenhouse or planted outside for the summer and fall, then repotted and brought inside before the first frost. Cuttings were taken in winter, rooted, and maintained under minimum conditions until early spring for forcing. Several events precipitated a drastic change in this procedure. The economics of greenhouse space utilization combined with the development of "fast cropping" made the old procedures impractical. The development of serious systematic diseases almost always lead to the demise of the crop, mainly Xanthomonas campestris pv. pelargonii (bacterial wilt). Today, vegetative material almost exclusively comes from specialized propagators that use culture-virus-indexing and other laboratory procedures to eliminate bacterial wilt and other systematic organisms such as vascular wilt, bacteria, virus, and fungi. The purchase of culture-indexed, clean materials is essential to successful zonal geranium production. Two propagation options are widely used by geranium growers: 1) Purchase "clean" cuttings of named cultivars for growing stock plants, from which cutting are taken for production. 2) Purchase of rooted cuttings of named cultivars from specialists propagators directly for production. The decision to grow stock plants and carry out propagation in-house verses ordering rooted cuttings is largely an economic one, and depends on the size of the operation, the space and facilities available, and the skill of the growing team. Some propagators have recently provided a third option. Unrooted cutting can be ordered at a reduced cost compared to rooted cutting for those growers who have the facilities and wish to root cuttings in-house. The success or failure of a stock plant and propagation program for geraniums depends on strict adherence and awareness on the part of employees for sanitation! Use the following rules: 1. Steam or chemically treat all pots, flats, media, etc. that may come in contact with plants. 2. Raised benches with surfaces that are easy to sanitize are preferable. 3. Disinfect benches, walks, sidewalls, etc. between crops. 4. Disinfect automatic irrigation systems and hoses between crops. 5. Use only culture-virus-indexed cuttings. 6. Break cuttings from stock plants, avoid using knives. 7. Isolate individual production steps from other crops. 8. Do not let hose ends or breakers touch the floor, hang them up. 9. Enter the stock plant area only with clean cloths and hands. 10. Employees should wear disposable gloves when handling stock or cuttings. 11. Never dip cuttings in solutions or powders. 12. Avoid moving or touching media or pots unnecessarily. 13. Avoid practices that might splash or move media from the floor to the bench tops or pots. 14. Don't put your feet on the bench! 15. Limit and supervise casual visitors. 16. Remove all weeds from within the greenhouse and within 30-feet outside the greenhouse. 17. Educate employees on the above and define for them "clean zones". 18. Train employees to recognize and remove any suspect plants. Sanitation of equipment may be accomplished using Physan, Greenshield, or a 10% household bleach solution. Geranium stock plants are generally a long term crop so care should be taken in media selection and cultural practice. Rooted cutting for stock plants are generally potted into containers from 6" pots to bushel basket size containing a well-drained, well-aerated, peat-lite medium that does not compact and decomposes slowly. Dolomitic limestone to pH 6.0-6.5, superphosphate at a higher rate (up to 12 lbs/cu.yd.), and micronutrients in the fritted form are added to the medium. Watering is usually do using an automatic system, e.g. microtube watering. Full sun is usually supplied to stock except in the summer to reduce heat. Stock plants are usually fertilized using a tank mix rather than commercial fertilizer so that nutrient levels can be adjusted based on monthly soil tests. Start fertilizing at 250 ppm nitrogen and potassium. Tissue analysis levels for geranium stock Three methods of stock plant scaffold management are commonly used: 1. Tree-form stock production. A large container is used with a 3-4 foot stake in the middle of the media. A rooted cutting is planted next to the stake in June, and the terminal is never pinched. Side shoots are soft-pinched at 6" long to develop secondary laterals. The central leader is tied to the stake, side shoots are pinched, and flower buds and large leaves are removed weekly. By December, a tall, bushy "tree form" develops and all terminals are pinched. Harvesting can begin in January and February. 2. Conventional stock production. Using this method, cutting may be potted into large or small container from May to August depending on the number of cuttings desired over the life of the stock plant. Four weeks after potting, the cuttings are soft-pinched at 6" tall resulting in 3-5 lateral breaks. Cuttings are then taken every two weeks leaving 3-4 nodes for additional breaks. These early cuttings are often discarded. All flower buds and large leaves should be removed. In October, November, and December, a radical defoliation should be performed to allow light into the plants and reduce potential disease problems. Harvesting of cuttings can begin in January and February. 3. Multiplication stock production. This method uses smaller containers, usually a 6" pot, and a shorter production time. Rooted cuttings are potted in November or December and cuttings are removed, rooted, and potted as they become available. Continue taking cuttings from all plants as early cuttings become stock plants. By early spring, a 1 to 40 (original cuttings to final cuttings) increase in plants can be obtained with this method This is the most efficient use of greenhouse space and requires no special skill developing stock plant scaffolds. Ethephon (Florel, Pistil) sprays to stock plants will increase cutting number by 20-30% and act as a growth retardant reducing internode length, leaf size, and delay flower development. It should be applied at 350-500 ppm after pinching or after cuttings are removed. Ethephon application just before cutting removal may increase rooting. Gibberellic acid at 15-25 ppm can also be applied 3-4 weeks after potting cuttings to stretch internodes and build a taller scaffold. Cuttings - Cuttings should be harvested early in the morning, preferably by snapping them off manually. Terminal cuttings should be about 2-inches long (larger is not better) with two maturing leaves. Remove any basal leaves that may end up below the soil line. In cases where cutting material may be limited, single-eye cuttings may be used. A stem may be divided into several single-eye cuttings composed of an internode and node with attached leaf and dormant lateral bud. Single-eye cuttings require 2-3 weeks longer to reach a flowering stage. Medium - Geraniums may be rooted in a variety of media from conventional peat-lite media to specialized cubes, trays, or strips using peat, rockwool, or other synthetics. This may include cell-packs, Jiffy strips, Oasis blocks, or Jiffy pellets. Regardless, rooting medium must be exceptionally well-aerated, well-drained, and sterile with a pH or 5.8-6.2. Some sources recommend a rooting hormone while others do not. If used, 500 ppm Indolebutyric acid (IBA) works well. Cuttings should not be dipped into hormone solution or powder. Liquids may be sprayed on the cutting bases. Powders may be applied to the cutting bases using a "puff-duster". Dipping cutting in 2500-5000 ppm B-Nine the day before sticking can also speed rooting. Spacing - Stick the cuttings into the rooting medium ¼- to ½-inches deep but no deeper. Geranium cutting should be spaced so the leaves of adjacent cuttings do not overlap, about 2" between cuttings or 22 to 36 cuttings per square foot. Botrytis can be a serious problem in propagation and adequate spacing and excellent ventilation will help. Temperature - The most rapid rooting occurs with a 60-62F night temperature in combination with 68-72F bottom heat. Try to keep day temperature 75-80F. Light - Geranium cuttings need high light during propagation but can benefit from some shade late in the spring to control temperature. In propagation, light levels should be 1800 to 2800 foot-candles until roots form (12-18 days) then 2800 to 3600 foot-candles until transplant. Carbon Dioxide - Supplemental CO2 at 800-1000 ppm increases rooting speed and early root system growth. Stock-plant Factors - The environmental and nutritional condition of stock plants can have a big impact on the rooting of cuttings. Over-succulent cutting root poorly. Moderate moisture and temperature with high light is best for optimum cutting results. The highest rooting percentage is obtained when stock plants receive medium nitrogen and high phosphorus and potassium. Scheduling - Roots should appear at the base of the cuttings in about 12 to 18 days from sticking. Cuttings are usually read to transplant in 3-4 weeks. Mist - Mist intervals will vary with the condition of the cuttings, time of year, environmental conditions, and the performance of the misting equipment. The goal, however, is to maintain foliage turgidity with a minimum amount of foliage wetting. There should be little or no run-off into the propagation medium. As a beginning point, start with five seconds on every five minutes on the first day. Watch the foliage and adjust as needed. Decrease the mist interval until misting ends by day 18. Mist at night for the first six days at five seconds on every 30 minutes. Fertilization - Do not fertilize the cuttings until roots are present. However, as soon as roots appear begin fertilizing with 250 to 300 ppm of nitrogen and potassium. Finishing "Fast Cropping Geraniums" This cultural procedure is used to produce a 4- to 4½-inch pot geranium with one flower open in about 6 weeks from a rooted cutting (10 weeks from an unrooted cutting). Procedures are very exacting and requires exceptional attention to detail. 1. Pot 2" rooted cuttings 6 weeks before sale in peat-lite medium at pH 5.8-6.2. Unrooted cuttings may be direct stuck in the pots to finish in 10 weeks. Maintain the plants pot-to-pot for 3-4 weeks then space at 4 plants per square foot. 2. Irrigate as follows: Day 1 three irrigations 1 hour apart, day 2-4 one irrigation each day at mid-day, By day 7, white roots should be at the edge of the soil ball, if not leach! 3. Bottom heat is essential for this method. Night temperature should be 65F with a 70-72F media temperature. Do not vent or cool until the day temperature reaches 80F. The success of this method relies on new growth in the first week! 4. Provide 3500-4500 ft.ca. of light, some shade may be needed late in the season. 5. Use a constant liquid feed of 15-15-15 or 15-0-15 at 250 ppm nitrogen with no clear water after day 7 or use 350 ppm nitrogen every 3 out of 4 irrigations. Make sure that a 10% leach occurs at each fertigation. Use a monthly application of epsom salts at 16 oz. / 100 gal. |Zonal geranium normal foliar analysis ranges| Most zonal geranium products are marketed from early April into June. The most popular container sizes are 3" pots, 4-4½" pots, and 6-6½" pots. A few zonal geranium cultivars recently on the market perform well in hanging baskets. 6. Inject CO2 as long as possible at 1000-1500 ppm starting 1 hour before sunrise and continuing to mid-afternoon or 80F, whichever comes first. 7. Cycocel: 1500 ppm 14 days after planting and a second application 14 days later only if needed on vigorous cultivars. Or Cycocel at 750 ppm beginning 14 days after planting and 3 to 4 times at weekly intervals as needed. Apply only to well-fertilized, unstressed plants. Apply early in the morning or on cloudy days. Spray a light mist or to glisten, never to run-off. 8. At no time should the plants suffer moisture stress. Do not pinch the cuttings. Whitefly, aphids, spider mites, fungus gnats, and caterpillars can all be problems on geraniums. In recent years, whitefly has been a persistent and difficult to control problem. The list of diseases that can be a problem on geraniums is extensive: Bacterial blight Blackleg Alternaria leaf spot Bacterial fasciation Cutting rots Virus diseases (extensive list) Cottony stem rot Black root rot Rusts Bacterial leaf blight Verticillium wilt Southern blight

A Brief History of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University March 1, 2012 The history of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the nation’s oldest natural history museum, mirrors the evolution of the relationship between the American people and the natural world. The Academy was founded when the United States hugged the Atlantic coastline, and Philadelphia was the cultural, commercial and scientific center of the new nation. In early 19th-century Philadelphia, the collection and identification of natural specimens were popular activities. The New World, abundant with undiscovered plants and animals, provided a great deal of uncharted territory for anyone interested in exploring. In 1812, seven amateur naturalists formed a nucleus of resources with the hope of encouraging serious scholarly exchange as well as important scientific contributions to natural history. Initially meeting at one founder’s home, the founders created the Academy of Natural Sciences for “the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences and the advancement of useful learning.” The Academy’s first home consisted of one room on the second floor of a house at Second and Race Streets. With eight books and a map of Switzerland, the group began a library, which currently holds hundreds of thousands of books, maps, manuscripts and artworks, and ranks among the world’s finest natural history libraries. Each founder also contributed a few specimens, initiating the Academy’s collections. Today those collections number more than 18 million specimens and include Thomas Jefferson's fossils, Lewis and Clark's plants, and many of the birds collected by John James Audubon. Under the leadership of the new Academy, many new and developing disciplines put down their American roots—botany, entomology, geology, mineralogy, ichthyology, malacology and paleontology. Early members included Thomas Say, a founder and "father” of both American entomology and conchology, Audubon, William Bartram, Alexander Wilson and Henry Muhlenberg. The Academy was the first American scientific organization to recognize the significance of Charles Darwin's research and elected him to associate membership in 1860. Over the years, the Academy coordinated or participated in many explorations of uncharted territory, including Ferdinand Hayden’s expedition, which discovered what is now Yellowstone National Park and laid the foundation for the national park system. Through nearly 200 years of global exploration, which continues to this day, Academy researchers have studied living organisms and how they are affected by people. Their probing scientific inquiries and carefully documented research have propelled the Academy into the top echelons of research institutions. The Academy opened its doors to the public in 1828. Here the mysteries of nature were revealed, its chaos organized and labeled in Latin and Greek. In 1868, the Academy astonished and delighted its audiences when it displayed the world’s first mounted dinosaur, Hadrosaurus foulkii, through the collaborative efforts of Academy scientist Dr. Joseph Leidy and artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. The collections expanded so rapidly that the Academy outgrew its building three times in 60 years. In 1876 its present home was built at 19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, now the heart of Philadelphia's cultural district. With the opening of the new building, the Academy became a modern museum with space for exhibitions and public lectures. Some of the plants and animals in the Academy's collections found their way into magnificent, historically precise dioramas, many of which were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s. To capitalize on the educational potential of the dioramas, the Academy initiated classes for students in the School District of Philadelphia in 1932. In 1986 the Academy opened the acclaimed Discovering Dinosaurs exhibit, cementing its reputation in the region as "the Dinosaur Museum." This exhibit was renovated and expanded in 1998. Today the dinosaurs, dioramas, live butterfly garden and dozens of live animals attract some 200,000 visitors a year, including thousands of schoolchildren in the tri-state area. The Academy is building natural science literacy in the community through its education programs that appeal to all ages. In 1948, long before water pollution and environmental degradation became topics of public concern, the Academy established what is now the Patrick Center for Environmental Research. This marked the beginning of a broadened research orientation, which includes applied research in aquatic ecosystems, as well as traditional systematics research. The center is named for Dr. Ruth Patrick (1907- ) who established the ecosystem approach to determining water quality and won the National Medal of Science in 1996 for her achievement. Today the Academy is an international natural history museum that pursues research and education focusing on the global environment and its diverse species. In 2011 the Academy became an affiliate of Drexel University, creating an internationally recognized powerhouse for discovery in the natural and environmental sciences.

Children's Literature - Cara MulcahyA nonfiction title in the series "We Both Read," this book allows children and parents to discuss safety issues. Divided into five chapters, this book discusses safety issues that relate to home, school, and outdoor fun. Students learn tips such as stop, drop, and roll, as well as how and when to use 9-1-1. Children are warned about the dangers of eating unknown fruits, playing with unknown animals, or going places with strangers. As with other books in the "We Both Read" series, adults and children can read this book together. By slightly varying text sizes and content, young children can easily read aloud with older children or adults. In this way adults can model reading strategies, and young readers are able to learn new vocabulary and talk about what they are learning. As such, this book allows for a great deal of interaction between the readers and the text. As with any other book from the "We Both Read" series, this is a great addition to a classroom library. Teachers can use it as a read aloud or as a book for students to read together. Although the adult's text is a little more complex than the child's text, many children after one or two readings with an adult would be able to read it individually or with another child. The colorful photographs complement the text and add richness and depth to the text. School Library Journal - School Library JournalGr 1-2-The book offers safety tips for home, school, and play. It is a curriculum-driven title that is part of a series designed especially for parents and teachers to participate in a shared reading experience with a child. The adult reads the more advanced text on the left-hand page, followed by the child reading the text opposite. Unfortunately, the language is uninspiring and the photos are unappealing. The "Parent's Introduction" states that "Reading aloud is one of the most important activities parents can share with their child to assist their reading development." They would be better served by sharing Peggy Rathmann's Officer Buckle and Gloria (Putnam, 1995), discussing all the safety tips, and creating new ones.-Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Most Helpful Customer Reviews See all customer reviews

Read an Excerpt The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament By John R. Kohlenberger III ZondervanCopyright © 1993 Zondervan All right reserved. Chapter OneThe Beginning 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day" and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. 6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day. 9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning-the third day. 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day. 20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day. 24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day. 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Adam and Eve 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up; the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Excerpted from The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament by John R. Kohlenberger III Copyright © 1993 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Lower Cost to Own - Pay less for water: High-efficiency washers use less water than conventional washers. They repeatedly tumble clothes through a small amount of water, so the water level does not need to rise to the top of the clothes as with conventional washers. - Pay less for electricity: Up to 90 percent of the cost of washing clothes comes from heating the water; using less water means using less electricity. Plus, the high-speed spin cycle squeezes more water out of the clothes, so they dry faster afterwards and require less energy from your dryer. And with the higher capacity of HE front-loading washers (and some HE top-loaders as well), you'll do fewer loads overall another good way to save energy. - Pay less for detergent: High-efficiency washers use less detergent as well, in tandem with their low water usage. When you use only about a tablespoon of detergent per load, a box of detergent can often last more than a year. - Pay less for dry cleaning: A high-efficiency machine lets you wash delicate clothes and large, bulky items, reducing the need for laundry services and dry cleaning. - Rebates: A high-efficiency washer will save you money on its own, but in many localities, just having one will earn you substantial water- and energy-efficiency rebates. Contact your local water and power companies for details. Note: It's important to use HE detergent — specifically formulated for use in high-efficiency machines — for best results. - More is less: The larger capacity of front-loading high-efficiency washers (and some HE top-loaders) allows you to do fewer loads. - More is more: Larger items fit inside a front-loading washer, so you can wash them yourself instead of taking them to a shop. - Shorter drying time: High-efficiency washers sometimes take longer to finish their cycles than a regular washer, but because the clothes come out with less water content (due to the high speed of the spin cycle), they can be dried much more quickly. This negates a frustratingly common scenario that occurs when the second load in the washer is long since done and sitting, wet, while we wait for the first load in the dryer to be really dry. With a high-efficiency washer, washing and drying times even out -- so you can have the first load dry and folded in time for the second load to go into the dryer. - Stackability: Many (but not all) models of front-loading high-efficiency washers can be stacked on top of each other (using an optional stacking kit). Not only does a stacked laundry pair fit in a smaller space, but with the washer on top, the clothes are at eye level for easier access. Compact stackable models exist that can be placed in your master bathroom, so you don't need to go far from your bedroom to take care of your clothes. These are also ideal for small apartments. - Less is more: Because high-efficiency washers use less water, less detergent and less power, they are inherently kinder to the environment than conventional washers. - Less noise pollution: Thanks to their gentler agitation, high-efficiency washers typically make much less noise than conventional washers. This makes them ideal for homes where the laundry room is located on the first or second floor, near common living areas. - Longer-lasting clothes: High-efficiency washers are easier on your clothes. A flat-sided drum, rolling on a horizontal axis, gently tumbles clothes clean instead of pulling them violently around a vertical shaft as the agitator in a traditional top-loading machine does. - Wash anything: For the same reasons, high-efficiency washers also allow you to wash items you would usually bring to the cleaners or wash by hand. Wool sweaters and lingerie are gently tumbled instead of being stretched as in a conventional agitator. Large, unwieldy items like bedspreads, comforters and tablecloths can also be washed with ease. - Truly clean: High-efficiency washers rinse multiple times with clean water so no soap or residue is left in your clothes, and dirt really comes out. You'll see brighter whites and more vibrant colors as a result.

Pagan Sun Worship and Catholicism The Keeping Of The Sun Day As an introduction to this article, it will be helpful to first read- Sunday is NOT the Sabbath. A Tract on the Sabbath. The reason for this, is I am going to assume you now know that Sunday has no biblical foundation for its being kept as a replacement for the Saturday Sabbath, that it is a day commanded only by Roman Catholic Tradition. So, if you are unsure of this, then please read the preceding articles. Since the Bible from Genesis to Revelation recognizes only the Saturday Sabbath as the weekly day of rest, then how did the practice of Sunday worship come about? What is its origin? No doubt Christians felt Sunday should be observed to commemorate the resurrection, but where in the Bible do Jesus or the disciples make such a statement? Who sanctioned the replacement of the Sabbath with Sunday or claims to have done so? Many books have been written on this subject, and I can only hope to scratch the surface here in this short article, but I hope it will prompt the reader to do further research on this topic. Here are just a few extracts - Emperor Aurelian begins new Sun cult. (274 A.D.) [p. 55] In 274, Aurelian … created a new cult of the “Invincible Sun.” Worshipped in a splendid temple, served by pontiffs who were raised to the level of the ancient pontiffs of Rome, celebrated every fourth year by magnificent games, Sol Invictus was definitely promoted to the highest rank in the divine hierarchy and became the official protector of the Sovereigns and of the Empire… He [Aurelian] placed in his new sanctuary the images of Bel and Helios, which he captured at Palmyra. In establishing this new State cult, Aurelian in reality proclaimed the dethronement of the old Roman idolatry and the accession of Semitic Sun-worship… [p. 56] This sidereal theology, founded on ancient beliefs of Chaldean astrologers, transformed in the Hellenistic age under the twofold influence of astronomic discoveries and Stoic thought, [was] promoted, after becoming a pantheistic Sun-worship, to the rank of official religion of the Roman Empire. Source: Franz Cumont, Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans (reprint; New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1960), pp. 55, 56. First Sunday Law enacted by Emperor Constantine - March, 321 A.D. On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].) Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1. Transition from Pagan to Christian [p. 122] This legislation by Constantine probably bore no relation to Christianity; it appears, on the contrary, that the emperor, in his capacity of Pontifex Maximus, was only adding the day of the Sun, the worship of which was then firmly [p. 123] established in the Roman Empire, to the other ferial days of the sacred calendar… [p. 270] What began, however, as a pagan ordinance, ended as a Christian regulation; and a long series of imperial decrees, during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, enjoined with increasing stringency abstinence from labour on Sunday. Source: Hutton Webster, Rest Days, pp. 122, 123, 270. Copyright 1916 by The Macmillan Company, New York. Yes, the title Pontifex Maximus is pagan, derived from the Sun worshipping Roman Empire, and the source of the papal title of Pontiff. Pagan Festivals and Church Policy The Church made a sacred day of Sunday … largely because it was the weekly festival of the sun; for it was a definite Christian policy to take over the pagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and to give them a Christian significance. Source: Arthur Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 145. Copyright 1928 by G. p. Putnam’s Sons, New York. Pope Sylvester I (314-335 A.D.) Decrees the Transfer of Sabbath Rest to Sunday: Rabanus Maurus (776-856), abbot of Fulda and later archbishop of Mainz, Germany, was rated one of the greatest theologians of his age and probably the most cultured man of his time, and exceptionally learned in patristics. Besides, he was a zealous defender of the papacy and its teachings. In one of his works, he says, Pope Sylvester instructed the clergy to keep the feriae. And, indeed, from an old custom he called the first day [of the week] the "Lord's [day]," on which the light was made in the beginning and also the resurrection of Christ is celebrated.6 Rabanus Maurus does not mean to say that Sylvester was the first man who referred to the days of the week as feriae or who first started the observance of Sunday among Christians. He means that, according to the testimony of Roman Catholic writers, Sylvester confirmed those practices and made them official insofar as his church was concerned. Hence Rabanus says elsewhere in his writings: Pope Sylvester first among the Romans ordered that the names of the days [of the week], which they previously called after the name of their gods, that is, [the day] of the Sun, [the day] of the Moon, [the day] of Mars, [the day] of Mercury, [the day] of Jupiter, [the day] of Venus, [the day] of Saturn, they should call feriae thereafter, that is the first feria, the second feria, the third feria, the fourth feria, the fifth feria, the sixth feria, because that in the beginning of Genesis it is written that God said concerning each day: on the first, "Let there be light:; on the second, "Let there be a firmament"; on the third, "Let the earth bring forth verdure"; etc. But he [Sylvester] ordered [them] to call the Sabbath by the ancient term of the law, [to call] the first feria the "Lord's day," because on it the Lord rose [from the dead], Moreover, the same pope decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred rather to the Lord's day [Sunday], in order that on that day we should rest from worldly works for the praise of God.7 Note particularly, he says that "the same pope [Sylvester I] decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred rather to the Lord's day [Sunday]."8 According to this statement, he was the first bishop to introduce the idea that the divinely appointed rest of the Sabbath day should be transferred to the first day of the week. This is significant, especially in view of the fact that it was during Sylvester's pontificate that the emperor of Rome [Constantine] issued the first civil laws compelling men to rest from secular labor on Sunday, and that Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, was the first theologian on record to present arguments, allegedly from the Scriptures, that Christ did transfer the rest of the Sabbath day to Sunday. 6 Rabanus Maurus, Liber de Computo (A book Concerning Computation), Chap. XXVII ("Concerning Festivals"), as translated by the writer from the Latin text in Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. CVII, col. 682. 7 ------------, De Clericorum Institutione (Concerning the Instruction of the Clergymen), Book II, Chap. XLVI, as translated by the writer from the Latin text in Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. CVII, col. 361. 8 The wording in the Latin text reads: "Statuit autem idem papa ut otium Sabbati magis in diem Dominicam transferretur, ut ea die a terrenis operibus ad laudandum Deum vacaremus." Source: Sabbath and Sunday in Early Christianity, by Robert L. Odom, © 1977 by the Review and Herald Publishing Association (An Adventist publishing house), pages 247-248. 1765. Week, Names of Days, Decreed Changed by Pope Sylvester (314–335) From Name of Gods Source: Rabanus Maurus, De Clericorum Institutione (On the Institution of the Clergy), bk. 2, chap. 46, in MPL, Vol. 107, col. 361. Trans. from the Latin by Frank H. Yost. Used by permission of Mrs. Frank H. Yost. Sylvester the pope first among the Romans ordered that the names of the days, which before they called according to the names of their own gods, that is (the day) of the sun, of the moon, of Mars, of Mercury, of Venus, of Saturn, they should call feria (day of celebration), that is, first feria, second feria, third feria, fourth feria, fifth feria, sixth feria, because in the beginning of Genesis it is written that God had said for each day: first, "Let there be light"; second, "Let there be the firmament"; third, "Let the earth produce living plants", etc. But the Sabbath he commanded they call by the ancient name of the law, and the first feria the Lord’s day, because the Lord rose on that day. Moreover the same pope ordered that the rest (otium) of the Sabbath would better be transferred to the Lord’s day, so that we should leave that day free of worldly works in order to praise God. Source: Bible Student's Source Book (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9), edited by Don F. Neufeld and Julia Neuffer, published and © 1962 by the Review and Herald Publishing Association (An Adventist publishing house), Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 62-9139, entry #1765, page 1078. Now the above quotes are, as noted, from Migne's Patrologia Latina (MPL), a well known scholarly compilation of the writings of Latin Fathers, a work of 221 volumes, which can be searched online at major universities to confirm the Latin sentence quoted in footnote 8 above, in which Rabanus Maurus attributes the change to Sunday rest to Pope Sylvester I. Brepols Publishers have recently reprinted Migne's Patrologia Latina, and Volume 107 (quoted from above) can be purchased individually for about $105.00 (91.00 Euros). Dies Solis - The Day of the Sun. Q. What is Sunday, or the Lord's Day in general? A. It is a day dedicated by the Apostles to the honour of the most holy Trinity, and in memory that Christ our Lord arose from the dead upon Sunday, sent down the holy Ghost on a Sunday, &c. and therefore is called the Lord's Day. It is also called Sunday from the old Roman denomination of Dies Solis, the day of the sun, to which it was sacred. Source: The Douay Catechism, (An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine) of 1649, by Henry Tuberville, D.D., published by P. J. Kenedy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House, 5 Barclay Street, New York, approved and recommended for his diocese by the Right Rev. Benedict, Bishop of Boston, April 24th, 1833, page 143. Easter, Sunday and Paganism. Now, the church uses three names to designate the Easter day and season; one an English name, one a Latin name, and one a Hebrew name—Easter, Resurrectio, Phase. Some have never thought it worth while to inquire why this season is called Easter-tide. Just add the letter "N" to the word, make it "Eastern," and we have the solution. Some, indeed, derive from "Eastra" the Goddess of Dawn; this season being dedicated to that goddess in pagan, Anglo-Saxon days. But these have only pursued the inquiry half way. Why was the Goddess of Dawn called Eastra? Because the dawn of day is in the East—Morgenland—as the musical, mystical Germans call it—morningland. The church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan, Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season. Sunday and Easter day are, if we consider their derivation, much the same. In truth, all Sundays are Sundays only because they are a weekly, partial recurrence of Easter day. The pagan Sunday was, in a manner, an unconscious preparation for Easter day. The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom. Balder the beautiful, the White God, the old Scandinavians called him. The sun has worshippers at this hour in Persia and other lands. "Some of you," says Carlyle, "may remember that fancy of Plato's. A man is kept in some dark, underground cave from childhood till maturity; then suddenly is carried to the upper airs. For the first time he sees the sun shining in its splendor overhead. He must fall down, says Plato, and adore it." There is, in truth, something royal, kingly about the sun, making it a fit emblem of Jesus, the Sun of Justice. Hence the church in these countries would seem to have said, "Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified." And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus. The sun is a fitting emblem of Jesus. The Fathers often compared Jesus to the sun; as they compared Mary to the moon, the beautiful moon, the beautiful Mary, shedding her mild, beneficent light on the darkness and the night of this world—not light of her own; no Catholic says this; but—light reflected from the sun, Jesus. Source: PASCHALE GAUDIUM, by Willliam L. Gildea, D.D., in The Catholic World, Vol. LVIII., No. 348., March, 1894., published in New York by The Office of the Catholic World., pages 808-809. Church decrees Sunday sacredness- Council of Laodicea (343-381?) [p. 310] Can. 16. “On Saturday [Greek sabbaton, “the Sabbath”] the Gospels and other portions of the Scripture shall be read aloud.” … [p. 316] Can. 29. “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out [Greek anathema] from Christ.” … [p. 320] Can. 49. “During Lent, the bread shall not be offered, except on Saturday and Sunday.” … Can. 51. “During Lent, no feast of the martyrs shall be celebrated, but the holy martyrs shall be commemorated on the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent.” Source: Charles Joseph Hefele, A History of the Christian Councils, Vol. 2, trans. and ed. by H. N. Oxenham (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1896), pp. 310, 316, 320. Councils of the Church enforce Sunday observance. [p. 105] The Council of Orleans (538), while protesting [p. 106] against an excessive Sabbatarianism, forbade all field work under pain of censure; and the Council of Macon (585) laid down that the Lord’s Day ‘is the day of perpetual rest, which is suggested to us by the type of the seventh day in the law and the prophets,’ and ordered a complete cessation of all kinds of business. How far the movement had gone by the end of the 6th cent. is shown by a letter of Gregory the Great (pope 590–604) protesting against the prohibition of baths on Sunday. Source: M. G. Glazebrook, “Sunday,” in James Hastings, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (New York: Scribner, 1928), Vol. 12, pp. 105, 106. If as many suppose, Christians as a whole observed Sunday in place of the "Jewish" Sabbath from resurrection Sunday forward, then why was it necessary for the church to enact ecclesiastical laws to enforce Sunday worship as a day of rest? Simply put, the issue to the Catholic Church has always been one of authority, authority to declare binding holy festival days. It is a mark of their authority to institute such days, even appropriating previously pagan days and declaring them obligatory, and that one commits a sin if you do not attend services on those days. The Bible is quite silent on Sunday sacredness, so the "Bible Only" Protestants contradict themselves by observing it as a replacement for the Sabbath. Sabbath keepers denounced as Antichrist by Pope Gregory I (590-604) [p. 92] Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day as well as the Lord’s day to be kept free from all work. For, because he pretends to die and rise again, he wishes the Lord’s day to be had in reverence; and, because he compels the people to judaize that he may bring back the outward rite of the law, and subject the perfidy of the Jews to himself, he wishes the Sabbath to be observed. Source: Gregory I (Pope, 590–604), Selected Epistles, bk. 13, Epistle 1, trans. in NPNF, 2d series, Vol. 13, pp. 92, 93. Pope Gregory I was alluding to the following passage in Daniel, which is speaking of the little horn, the AntiChrist- And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: [of the most High God]... The AntiChrist will attempt to change the very times and laws of God. Is this not precisely what the Roman Catholic Church has done with regard to the Sabbath? Why, they even boldly proclaim this fact- Church authority to substitute Sunday for the Sabbath- Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority. Source: A Doctrinal Catechism by Stephen Keenan, Imprimatur by John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, Copyright 1876 by T. W. Strong, p. 174. Catholics on changing the Sabbath Commandment- (third by their reckoning) - The Third Commandment Expounded. Q. What is the third commandment? A. Remember that thou keepest holy the sabbath day. Q. When did the Sabbath begin to be kept? A. From the very creation of the world; for then God blessed the seventh day, and rested on it from all His work.—Gen. ii. 2. Q. When was this commandment renewed? A. In the Old Law, when God gave the commandments to Moses on mount Sinai, written with his own finger in two tables of stone.—Exod. xx. 1, &c. xxxi. Q. Why was the Jewish Sabbath changed into the Sunday? A. Because Christ was born upon a Sunday, arose from the dead upon a Sunday, and sent down the Holy Ghost on a Sunday—works not inferior to the creation of the world. Q. By whom was it changed? A. By the Governors of the Church, the Apostles, who also kept it; for St. John was in spirit on the Lord’s day (which was Sunday)—Apoc. i. 10. NOTE: Catholics themselves have maintained that scriptural evidence for the Lord's day being Sunday is non-existent. See Rome's Challenge. See also Did the Apostles Keep Sunday? Q. How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays? A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church. Q. How do you prove that? A. Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power. Source: The Douay Catechism (An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine) of 1649, by Henry Tuberville, D.D., published by P. J. Kenedy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House, 5 Barclay Street, New York, approved and recommended for his diocese by the Right Rev. Benedict, Bishop of Boston, April 24th, 1833, pages 57-58. So in 600 years the Sabbath which was kept by Jesus and His disciples and, based on scripture, never nullified by Sunday observance, was gradually eclipsed by both civil and ecclesiastical laws. Yet even Pope Gregory I, by his very condemnation of Sabbath keepers as antichrist, is offering proof that Sabbath observance stubbornly endured. Sabbath keepers look to the word of God for their instruction, and not to the laws and decrees of men. A time is soon approaching when Sunday laws will again be enacted, and the apostate church will again try to assert it's presumed authority to enforce holy days by legislation. Those who know the truth from the word of God will not be moved off of the Seventh-day Saturday Sabbath day then either, and God will bless them for it: If you have not done so already please now read - The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast. Celebrating the Birth of the Sun.

(1) In English Versions of the Bible this word in the plural represents the Hebrew qela`im, the curtains of "fine twined linen" with which the court of the tabernacle was enclosed. These were five cubits in height, and of lengths corresponding to the sides of the enclosure and the space on either side of the entrance in front, and were suspended from hooks fastened to the pillars of the court. They are described at length in Exodus 27:9-15; 38:9-18. See, besides, Exodus 35:17; 39:40; Numbers 3:26; 4:26. (2) In the King James Version another word, macakh (the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly "screen"), is distinguished from the preceding only by the singular, "hanging" (Exodus 35:17; 38:18, etc.). It is used of the screen or portiere, embroidered in colors, that closed the entrance of the court (Exodus 27:16; 35:17; 38:18; 39:40; 40:8,33; Numbers 3:26; 4:26); of the screen of similar workmanship at the entrance of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:36,37; 35:15; 36:37; 39:38; 40:5,28; Numbers 3:25; 4:25); and once (Numbers 3:31) of the tapestry veil, adorned with cherubim, at the entrance of the Holy of Holies (elsewhere, parokheth, "veil," Exodus 26:31-33, etc., or parokheth ha-macakh, "veil of the screen," Exodus 35:12, etc.). In Numbers 3:26, the King James Version renders macakh "curtain," and in Exodus 35:12; 39:34; 40:21 (compare also Numbers 4:5), "covering." (3) In 2 Kings 23:7 we read of "hangings" (Hebrew "houses") which the women wove for the Asherah. If the text is correct we are to think perhaps of tent shrines for the image of the goddess. Lucian's reading (stolas, "robes") is preferred by some, which would have reference to the custom of bringing offerings of clothing for the images of the gods. In 1 Kings 7:29 the Revised Version (British and American), "wreaths of hanging work" refers to a kind of ornamentation on the bases of the lavers. In Esther 1:6, "hangings" is supplied by the translators. Benjamin Reno Downer These files are public domain.

HOW Fast Does Fat Hit Your Waistline? Have you ever gorged on a big meal and then had to loosen your belt because your tummy was so full? And if you had the nerve to weigh yourself right then, no doubt the scale would register a couple more pounds than you might expect. Turns out there is a reason for both. After a big meal, fat hits your waistline in as little as three hours and causes actual weight gain, according to researchers from Oxford University in Great Britain. Your waist size is a far better predictor of heart disease than total body fat. Find out the numbers for men and women. London's Telegraph reports that the fat in food can be converted into tissue around the plumpest parts of the body within hours--far more quickly than anyone previously thought possible. Led by Fredrik Karpe and Keith Frayne, the Oxford team found that the first fat from any meal enters the bloodstream about one hour after being ingested. And just three to four hours after that, the fat will have been incorporated into the adipose tissue, which is in the fat stores around the waist. Translation: A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips. If you eat a meal containing 30 grams of fat, two to three teaspoons will go straight to your waist. And if you continue to overeat, the fat will then move into tissue around your hips, rear and thighs. The study has shed new light on how we gain weight, and it is much faster than anyone thought. Prior to this, it was believed that food moved from the tummy into the blood where nutrients were used by muscles; any excess was then stored as fat. Instead, the fat is quickly moved around the body and stored--for good. The process is very fast, " Karpe, who is a professor of metabolic medicine, told The Telegraph. "The cells in the adipose tissue around the waist catch the fat droplets as the blood carries them and incorporates them into the cells for storage. If you eat too much, you don't get into this phase of starting to mobilize it. There will just be constant accumulation, and you will start to put on weight. "What can you do? Get on the treadmill. The Oxford team also found that fit people have an easier time getting rid of unwanted fat, since exercise gives a long-term boost to fat-burning mechanisms. The study findings were published in the journal Physiological Reviews.

Continuing directly from the last entry, we examine more of John Newman’s trawl through the declassified files in his book Oswald and the CIA (2008 edition). Government interest in Lee Harvey Oswald began with his defection in October 1959 and continued until ’63. It’s time to look now at his controversial ‘redefection’ from the USSR back to the USA in June ’62. It has often seemed curious to the conspiracy theorists, and indeed many others, that Oswald, who defected to the USSR, was allowed to defect back to the US without being punished by the American authorities, causing some people to think he was a secret agent. But we dealt with the issue of Oswald being a ‘dangle’ in the last entry and it is highly unlikely he was a spook. One of the main factors that it was so easy for Oswald to come back is that he never renounced his American citizenship. He called into the American embassy in ’59 only once, left his passport, and never filled in any forms. So when he expressed the desire to return, that was one obstacle that was not in his way. However, if he ‘wanted to come back to America’, the embassy let him know ‘he would have to take his chances’ (p.207) about being prosecuted for espionage for going over to the Soviet Union, where he lived as a factory worker in Minsk. The process of ‘redefecting’ took a long time: he first expressed interest in returning in December ’60 and it took a year and a half. In the meantime, JFK was inaugurated (20 January ’61), the CIA’s Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba failed (16-17 April), and Anatoli Golitsin defected to the US (December). When Oswald visited the American Consul Richard Snyder in Moscow in July ’61 ‘he groveled before Snyder with uncharacteristic humility, pleading that he had “learned a hard lesson a hard way”‘ i.e. that the Soviet Union was no utopia (pp.224-5). Snyder’s judgement was that Oswald had ‘matured’ and he let him sign an application for a new passport (which was due to expire in September) and let Marina sign a visa application (p.225). Lee had married her on 30 April, and on 25 February ’62 their daughter June was born and she too became included in the exit plan. Oswald had a lot to thank Snyder for. It was the embassy that told the State Department in Washington ‘that Oswald had not committed any expatriating acts, and that his American passport should be returned so that he could begin the application process for a Soviet exit visa’ (p.225). The FBI field office in Dallas also went with the Snyder interpretation. They later reported that Oswald’s anti-American statements made at the time of his defection were ‘necessary to make this propaganda because at the time he had wanted to live in Russia’ (p.235). Upon Oswald’s return to US soil, the FBI interviewed him and, in the words of Dallas special agent John W. Fain, the redefector ‘denied that he went to Russia because of his lack of sympathy for the institutions of the United States or because of an admiration for the Russian system’ (p.265). And while there is no proof that Oswald gave U-2 information to the Soviets, he had voiced intentions on helping the Russians at the time of his defection, and the only proof he didn’t provide information was in his flat denial to the FBI upon his return (p.267). He now worked in a sheet metal factory which was not a sensitive job for an ex-defector to be doing. The FBI left it at that and closed his file (p.270). However, he soon began subscribing to communist literature and writing to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New York (p.274). George de Mohrenschildt Oswald in Texas, June ’62-April ’63 When the Oswalds moved to Texas, they fell in with a Russian-speaking milieu, especially with the avuncular emigré gent George de Mohrenschildt, a petrolium geologist, who said he checked with his FBI and CIA contacts and decided young Oswald was ‘OK’ to associate with (p.276). This ties in with the Dallas FBI’s conclusions about Oswald. The CIA agent that de Mohrenschildt checked with was J. Walton Moore, the Dallas CIA Domestic Contacts Service chief. This connection has made people wonder if de Mohrenschildt was ‘a CIA “control” for Oswald, with Moore as the reporting channel’ (p.277). Newman thinks this is unlikely, as CIA Domestic Contacts dealt with ‘routine contacts and debriefings’ (p.277). But de Mohrenschildt was also friends with another CIA man, Nicholas M. Anikeeff, who in ‘a recent interview… refused to disclose what part of the Agency he had worked for’ (p.278), but Newman concludes from other sources that Anikeeff worked for the Soviet Russia Division. Newman doesn’t have anything else on de Mohrenschildt in the files, but it’s always been interesting that on ‘the day he agreed to an interview with the HSCA, he was found dead of a gunshot through his mouth’ (Benson, Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination, p.111). This inspection of Oswald and the CIA will go to a third part, but we are coming to a very important anniversary on Friday, so the next blog entry will be published on that day and will focus on something pertinent to that, in Texas in October ’63, before we go back to the rest of Newman’s findings, which cover Oswald in New Orleans, April-September ’63; the Odio Incident, September ’63; and Oswald in Mexico, September-October ’63. It’s only then I’ll fill you in on Newman’s surprising ‘Epilogue, 2008’. - Who Shot JFK? - The Kennedy Conspiracy - Reasonable Doubt (part one) - Reasonable Doubt (part two) - Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination - Deep Politics and the Death of JFK - Deep Politics II: Oswald, Mexico, and Cuba (part one) - Deep Politics II: Oswald, Mexico, and Cuba (part two) - Oswald and the CIA (part one) - Oswald and the CIA (part two) - Marina and Ruth - Oswald and the CIA (part three) - Wilderness of Mirrors - Perils of Dominance - JFK and the Unspeakable

Our ancestors memorialised a legacy of themselves that has endured across the centuries, through their art carved in stone, called petroglyphs. Flowing across canyon walls, emblazoning the sides of cliffs, rocks in the desert or on the ground, they display figures that tell us about their world. Petroglyphs are the most ancient and the most stable form of art that humans have ever produced. Ancient stone artists cut into rock by picking, carving, abrading or incising the surface, using stone tools. And in the extreme north, without large expanses of exposed rock, the Arctic peoples created inukshuks, enigmatic stone figures in lonely places, using stacked rocks and boulders. They stand today as a memorial to the hardiness of humans who lived in those inhospitable realms. Our ancestors’ rock art does not just depict daily life, but also paints their view of the creation story. We find the same sorts of iconic motifs the world over, no matter the culture. The show us archetypes of humankind receiving help from the sky gods and goddesses, and archaeologists have marvelled at the consistency of these themes world-wide. Some have postulated that they encode a ritual language of picture forms shared by all humans during those prehistoric ages. Often the art carvings are so huge, and so high up the rock faces, that the artists would have to have built scaffolding, or constructed platforms to hang over the top of the cliffs, much like window washers today. And they would had to have been able to plan their designs out on a small scale and transfer them to the rock, greatly magnified in size. We tend to underestimate the capabilities of our ancient ancestors, but they were just as smart as we are, and mastered the technology of their time, which would be quite mysterious to us now. Some Famous Petroglyphs Hawaii – The ancient Hawaiians carved huge, whimsical figures into the lava fields now known as Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve. One group deemed to be three hunters, depicts large, masculine stick figures, one of which is holding a shield. The legs and particularly the arms are very elongated. Utah – Ute Petroglyphs in Arches National Park – Nearly everyone has seen these charming figures of men riding horses, surrounding bighorn sheep, and the sheep being herded by dogs. The men have no weapons, and the sheep are not running, so it is possible it is a pastoral scene, not hunting. The cut figures are white, vividly revealed against the dark, purple-gray cliff wall. The Gods – Giant of the Atacama in Chile – The largest prehistoric human-like figure in the world, etched into the side of Solitary Mountain. It is 86 meters tall and believed to be the deity of the people there 1000 to 1400 AD. The arms are raised in what looks like a blessing, with the head festooned with rays. The Nazca Lines in Peru, carved into the hard desert surface, cover nearly 400 square miles and consist of about 300 figures. They are composed of extremely long lines, and were never known as anything else, until they were seen from the air when first flown over. The most well-known are massive: a giant spider, a humming bird, and a monkey, all beautifully executed. There is one that incredibly resembles a modern landing strip. The mystery of how they were done and by who, has never been solved. There is even a persistent theory that because they can only be seen from the air, the artists had to have mastered flight, or they may have even been done by aliens! Petroglyphs are a treasure belonging to all of us. Many countries have taken legal steps to protect and preserve them from weathering and vandalism. This enigmatic art gives us a glimpse into our distant past, and helps us to know who we are and from where we came.

Release Date: June 14, 2013 BUFFALO, N.Y. – A recent Veterans Administration study found that substance abuse was the most common health problem among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. In the study, 19 percent of military personnel reported heavy drinking in the past month, 44.5 percent reported binge drinking and 7.5 percent were listed as chronic drinkers. However, reserve soldiers who return from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan are even more susceptible to mental health and substance abuse problems than active duty military personnel. Why are reservists more vulnerable to mental health issues and substance abuse than active duty personnel and what part does a reservist’s social environment play in buffering or increasing the effects of stress and trauma in post-deployment substance use? The University at Buffalo has recently been awarded a $2.3 million grant by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study the social and environmental influences – stress, trauma and partner and peer substance abuse – on reserve soldiers’ substance use and marital aggression over time. The study will run from June 2013 to February 2018. Gregory G. Homish, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, the primary investigator on the grant, says that this study will be in contrast to traditional research on this subject. He calls this study “innovative.” Homish describes the study’s subject matter and design as innovative in three ways. “First because it specifically focuses on reserve soldiers, who are an understudied population that often shoulder a greater burden of substance use than others in the military; second, because we will apply a ‘social ecological model’ to the reservists in the study to examine changes in substance use over a designated duration of time; and, third, because it will focus on partner and peer influence in adult substance use,” he says. According to Homish, while individual, partner, and peer influences have been studied among adolescents, college students and young adults, it is a rarity to see social environment factored into the studies of adult substance use. And social environment may prove to be extremely important to reservists upon returning home, says Homish. “Researchers have speculated that difficulties transitioning back into civilian and family life may be responsible for the increased risk observed in reserve soldiers relative to active duty soldiers. Among these difficulties is trying to handle the absence of support from other soldiers.” Homish is an expert in the research of alcohol and substance use among individuals and their families and his current team will stand on the shoulders of other studies on which he was either the primary or co-investigator. The research approach for the current grant study will be to include three in-person assessments of reserve soldiers and their partners over a two-year period. The research team will recruit 400 participants, male and female reservists, who were involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and their spouses. The issue of substance use in the military is of paramount importance to government officials, the military and policy makers in Washington, D.C. Nora Volkow, MD, director of NIDA states that there is a need to “assess and find solutions to this threat (increases in substance use) to the health and well-being of our service men and women, veterans and their families.” Homish’s co-investigators include Lynn Kozlowski, PhD, and John Violanti, PhD, from the School of Public Health and Health Professions and Kenneth Leonard, PhD, from UB’s Research Institute on Addictions.

All dogs bark – it’s natural. Unfortunately, it’s also annoying for the surrounding community. Dogs bark because they are: - Seeking attention; - Protecting their property. Scolding your dog for barking will still answer its need for attention. This will teach the dog that the more it barks, the more attention it will receive, even if this is unpleasant. However, there is a range of simple, effective solutions which may stop your dog barking. When You’re At Home When you’re at home the ‘bad dog – good dog’ technique can be used. To train a puppy, place it in a comfortable room. When it barks, walk quietly to the closed door and sternly tell it to be quiet. Do not open the door. The pup will usually stop barking at the sound of your voice. Wait fifteen to twenty seconds and if it does not bark again, open the door and praise and cuddle the dog. This is not a reward for barking but for being quiet as a result of your command and still gives the dog the attention it wants. If you observe that your dog is on the verge of barking, a firm reprimand in a stern voice No- Bad Dog should prevent this. Now, using a friendly tone, you should command the dog to Come, Sit and Stay. Reward it for obeying. This contrast between reprimand and reward gives the dog a clear message about the effects of its good and bad behaviour. When You’re Not At Home When you’re not at home dogs often bark because of a combination of social isolation and boredom. The solution can be to make your dog happy and relaxed by confining it to a small, comfortable room – a ‘den’. Your laundry, bathroom or any small room would be suitable. You must make the dog happy about being confined to this room while you are out, but balance this with extra exercise when you return home. - Make the room comfortable – not too hot, not in direct sun and with soft bedding provided. - Place the dog’s water bowl inside its den and nowhere else – so that even when you are at home, it has to go to its den voluntarily for a drink. - The most important step is to lock the dog in its den for 15 minutes whenever you feed it. The dog then will associate being confined with the happiness and contentment of being fed. Leave the dog in the den for 15 minutes, then release and praise it. - When you leave for work, lock the dog in the den and give it food to make it happy. A large bone will help do this and keep the dog occupied for some time. The dog will remain quiet because it is happy.

(Please note, this is a work in progress) Affects brood and adult bees. Believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and India. KBV can be spread between worker bees, from the queen to offspring, and from mites, notably Varroa. Used by some beekeepers, and enables beekeepers to see what bees are removing from or bringing to the hive. Langstroth , Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine (25 December 1810 – October 6, 1895) Considered the "Father of American Beekeeping." Langstroth was sometimes credited with discovering the "bee space," though this discovery had already been implemented in European hives. He received a patent in America for the first removable frame hive, and advocated other methods of increasing production from honey bees. However, a Russian (actually Ukranian) Petro Prokopovych (1775–1850) beekeeper, had already invented a moveable frame. Langstroth contributed in a major way to the industrialization of modern beekeeping. A type of hive very common in America. Read more about different types of bee hive. A drink made with honey, water, leman, vitamin C and wine yeast. It requires a year to mature. Meaning ‘honey bearer’ – thus the honey bee, Apis mellifera, is the ‘honey bearing bee’. A grid which allows bees in and out of a bee hive, whilst keeping mice out – especially in winter. Widely used in Britain, this is a single, square-walled hive. Read more about different bee hives. A gland used to secrete a substance which attracts bees back to the hive. It is present on the abdomen of worker bees. The sweet substance produced by flowers that attracts pollinators to feed. Nectar is converted into honey by honey bees. Read why do bees need nectar and pollen. A disease caused by Nosema apis which affects the gut of adult bees. Read more about nosema. A worker honey bee that occupies the role of rearing brood in the honey bee colony. OMF – Open Mesh Floor A fine mesh floor, used to help control Varroa mites. The mites fall through the mesh, but are unable to return to the hive. A chemical emitted by bees for communication. It triggers a social response among other bees in the colony. Is a substance produced by the anthers of seed-bearing plants, consisting of numerous fine pollen grains containing male gametes (i.e. germ cells that fuse with other cells during fertilization), which occurs during the plant pollination process. In other words, pollen carries the cells which enable fertilization of plants, so that plants may reproduce. Read more: what is pollen? Pollen baskets – Corbicula Located on the hind leg of the bee, in which pollen is transported back to the hive. See honey bee anatomy. Prokopovych, Petro (1775–1850) The founder of ‘rational beekeeping’. A Ukranian (Ukrain was then part of the Russian Empire) beekeeper and researcher who published 60 papers on his methods and findings on beekeeping. He invented the movable frame, and the discovery of the shaking method of dealing with Foulbrood is attributed to Prokopovych. This is collected from bark and buds of trees, and used by bees to glue things together and block up holes in the hive. It is also known as ‘bee glue’ or ‘bee gum’. Pyrethroid insecticide treatment Was used as a treatment by some beekeepers for controlling Varroa mite, although some beekeepers prefer natural treatments and method. However, the mites built up resistance to the pyrethroid treatment. Read more about Varroa. COPYRIGHT 2010 - 2016: WWW.BUZZABOUTBEES.NET ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

CBSE Class VIII - Chapter 1, NCERT Science Crop Production and Management Solutions of CBSE Hot Questions (Short type) Question.1: Why does every living organism need food? Question.2: Where do we get our food from? Question.3: What is crop? Question.4: Name the factors controlling crop production. Question.5: Based on factors required to grow plants, how many crop seasons are observed in India? Question.6: What are crumbs? Question.7: Which agricultural tools are used for tilling? Question.8: Who supplies mineral nutrients to plants? Question.9: Which manure is called Organic manure? Question.10: Name any two important fertilizers. Question.11: What is a fallow? Question.12: Which bacteria are present in the legumes of leguminous plants? Question.13: What is harvesting? Question.14: How does reduction in moisture of newly harvested grains help in storage? Question.15: Name the places where grains are stored at large scale. Question.16: Write the names of various agricultural practices undertaken to produce a crop. Question.17: Why is the soil turned and loosened before seeds are sown? Question.18: What is the role of water in production of crops? Question.19: What are the different methods of irrigation? Question.20: What is humus? How is it formed? Question.21: Why does a farmer rotate crops in the field? (Crop-rotation) Question.22: What safety measures are to be taken in handling pesticides and weedicides? Question.23: Distinguish between pesticides and weedicides. Question.24: Why should the harvested grains is protected from moisture? Click to View Answers Solutions of CBSE Hot Questions (Long type) Question.1: Write a paragraph on the various methods used to replenish the nutrients in the fields. Question.2: Write a short note on Threshing & Winnowing. Click to View Answers Solutions of CBSE Questions (Objective type / Multiple Choice / True-False) Question.1: Fill in the blanks: a. ____ is used for sowing of seeds. b. Loosening the soil is also called _____. c. ____ is the second agricultural practice. d. _____ and ____ are used to add nutrients in the soil. e. Manures are the ___ substances. f. ____ is a weedicides. g. ____ is the economical method of irrigation. h. Leaving field uncultivated is called ______. i. _____ is used to separate seed from the chaff. j. Crops sown in the rainy season are called ______. Solution: a. seed drill, b. tilling, c. sowing, d. manures and fertilizers, e. organic, f. metachlor, g. drip irrigation, h. fallow, i. thresher, j. rabi crops. Question.2: Write ‘True/False’ for the following statements: a. Many plants are first grown in kindergartens and then sown in fields. b. Seeds can only be sown by using seed drills. c. Earth worms are farmer friendly. d. Substances that kill pests are called weedicides. e. Cutting and gathering of mature crops is called harvesting. f. Process of beating grains to separate them crop plants is called winnowing. g. Excess use of fertilization is not good for crops & soil. h. Animals which provide us with eggs and flesh are called milch animals.Solution: a-false, b-false, c-true, d-false, e-true, f-false, g-true, h-false Further study - Class 8, Crop Production and Management - Chapter 1, Science - NCERT Answers of Textbook Exercise [Read]

Telnet provides an interactive character terminal window on the computer through which you can access remote devices such as routers, for configuration and statistics-gathering purposes. Telnet is also useful when connecting to computers that support a character-based interface such as systems running Linux, other flavors of UNIX or other Operating Systems such as VMS. While Windows NT has the ability to accept incoming TELNET connections, not all OS features available in the standard GUI are available in the command-line window provided by telnet, so it is of limited usefulness. A common troubleshooting option is to use TELNET to connect to a system with a port other than the default of port 23 to ascertain communication challenges. For example, using TELNET with port 25 to connect to a SMTP server can yield information about a SMTP connection. On Windows, you can connect via the telnet protocol using the command line TELNET.EXE program. As with FTP, you can generally find more elegant interfaces for the use of TELNET in third party programs, both shareware and commercial. TELNET uses port 23. Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us CertiGuide to A+ (A+ 4 Real) (http://www.CertiGuide.com/apfr/) on CertiGuide.com Version 1.0 - Version Date: March 29, 2005 Adapted with permission from a work created by Tcat Houser et al. CertiGuide.com Version © Copyright 2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved. Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.

Not only is it a treat for your taste buds, but it’s also a wonderfully healthy food! Often referred to as “the cow of the poor”, goats were frequently the only source of milk on small Mediterranean and north African family farms and as cheese was the way to preserve the excess spring and summer milk many goat cheeses have their origin in these areas. What then are the health benefits to encourage you to eat goat cheese? Compared to cow milk products, goat cheese is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol. It also provides more calcium and fewer carbohydrates than comparable cow milk cheeses. Even though goat cheese has fewer calories, it has a full, rich and creamy flavour. The majority of people who are allergic to cow milk, or who are lactose intolerant will be able to digest goat milk. Forty seven percent of the worldwide human population is allergic to cow milk in one way or another, while only 3% have any allergic reaction to goat milk. So, most people with cow milk allergies or lactose intolerance can usually tolerate goat milk. In addition, most goat cheeses are made with a culture that converts the lactose to lactic acid, which is much more easily digested. The fat particles in goat milk are approximately 1/3 the size of the fat particles in cow’s milk and are very close in size to those in mother’s milk. They are smaller with short-chain fatty acids and produce a softer curd. Their small size makes them easier to break down and digest than the larger, long-chain fatty acids of cow’s cheese. Goat milk products are said to be “naturally homogenised” and therefore easier to digest for lactose intolerants. Low in potassium, it is classified as a “kidney friendly” food and suitable for those with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) Goat cheese ranges from soft, fresh chevre and fetta to yummy bries, (some even rolled in ash), blues to the harder style and even a gouda style. Combined with sheep’s milk it makes the perfect haloumi. Our range of Australian and imported goat cheese varies depending on availability.

Airbus (Touluse, France) reported on April 29 that it has begin lightning strike tests on the second A350 XWB flight test aircraft, MSN3. These “electromagnetic hazard” evaluations – which took place in mid-April at Airbus’ Clément Ader facility in Colomiers, France – demonstrate necessary protection levels in case of lightning strikes while aloft. The A350 XWB’s aerostructure is made primarily of carbon fiber composites, which provide more electrical resistance than an aerostructure consisting mostly of metallics. To ensure the A350 XWB aerostructure safely manages lightning strikes, Airbus has embedded metallic foils in the aircraft’s composite panels — increasing the aerostructure’s electrical conductivity and protecting harnesses with metallic conduits. Metallic foils already have been used on the A380 rear fuselage section, however as the A350 XWB includes a larger percentage of composite materials, it is important to confirm that such foils provide adequate protection for systems and equipment. The A350 XWB electromagnetic hazard testing on MSN3 lasted around three days, consisting of lightning strike simulations and follow-up measurements of induced voltage/current levels on selected harnesses. These evaluations use a low-level current injection rather than the actual electrical current level generated by a lightning strike, with the measured voltages and current then extrapolated to the real threat of 200,000 amperes. Testing will be continued by similar but longer tests on the MSN4 aircraft in 2014, fulfilling a requirement for type certification of Airbus’ A350-900 version. For more information on composites and lightning strike protection, see "Lightning strike protection strategies for composite aircraft," published in the May 2013 issue of High-Performance Composites magazine. Editor PickMore companies join NASA’s Advanced Composites Consortium The project’s goal is to reduce product development and certification timelines by 30 percent for composite aircraft.

Once again, there are many possible ways in the current scenario to enhance MAS with ML techniques. Within this heterogeneous communicating multiagent scenario there is a clear need to pre-define a language and communication protocol for use by the agents. However, an interesting alternative would be to allow the agents to learn for themselves what to communicate and how to interpret it. For example, an agent might be given a small language of utterances and a small set of meanings, but no mapping between the two. Agents would then have to learn both what to say and how to interpret what they hear. A possible result would be more efficient communications: they would need to be understandable only by the agents rather than by both agents and humans. When considering communications as speech acts, agents could be allowed to learn the effects of speech on the global dynamics of the system. In domains with low bandwidth or large time delays associated with communication, the utility of communicating at a given moment might be learned. In addition, if allowed to learn to communicate, agents are more likely to avoid being reliably conned by untruthfulness in communication: when another agent says something that turns out not to be true, it will not be believed so readily in the future. Finally, commitment--the act of taking on another agent's goals--has both benefits and disadvantages. System builders may want to allow their agents to learn when to commit to others. The learning opportunities in this scenario are summarized in Table 7.

Spurred desperately by his new rider, the stallion burst away down the cork tree alleys. They have between 30 and 40 bee-hives in long wooden cases or trunks of trees, with a covering of the bark of the cork tree. At the age of twelve or fifteen years, the cork tree is stripped of its outer bark for the first time. Loyal Heart and Belhumeur, concealed among the tufted branches of the cork tree, were observing the Comanches. I have been through considerable areas in Portugal where they didn't care whether they had a cork tree or an oak. The mahogany and cork tree grow here, and the bark of the latter is largely used by the natives. Punk made of a dried fungus that grows round the roots of the cork tree. The thick, spongy, external bark of the cork tree, a species of oak. The cork tree gives but little shade, which contributes greatly in causing the soil to become dry.

Mar 6, 2014 // Tips and Tricks 3 Steps to Chunking Your Online Course Are your learners performing poorly on their course evaluations? Are you seeing a decrease in grades across the board? If so, perhaps you should try a new eLearning technique – Content chunking. What is content chunking? Content chunking is a method of presenting information into small pieces or “chunks” of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. Chunking is especially useful for material presented on the web because readers tend to scan for specific information on a web page rather than read the entire page. Content chunking is one of the best techniques for designing and delivering successful online courses. So, how do you chunk your content? These are 3 simple steps to get you started. When creating your online course, remember to prioritize your content. Determine the main points and the supporting materials, including visuals. Create your course with the correct progression of content in mind – build on the information, rather than skipping around. If you give your students too much information at once, they won’t remember it. Simplify your course material to only include relevant and necessary content. Don’t forget to include visuals; they are a simple way to include valuable information for your students as well. After you weed out the unnecessary course content, it is time to organize everything on the screen. Remember, keep it simple and do not overwhelm your students with too much information at once. Here are a few common ways to organize your material: - Bulleted/numbered lists - Short subheadings - Short sentences with one or two ideas per sentence - Short paragraphs, no more than 3 to 4 sentences - Easily scannable text, with bolding of key phrases With these 3 simple steps, you will be on your way to online course chunking in no time! Have some more tips for us? Please, share them!

The Online Industrial Exhibition Receive updates on this section every two weeks. A heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat energy from one fluid to another without mixing them. A heating element is a device designed to transform an electric current into heat. A plate heat exchanger is a device composed of stacked plates that allows the transfer of one fluid's heat energy to another...

On Wednesday we covered three healthy breakfast options; today we present three breakfast routines to avoid. - Doughnuts. High in sugar, trans-fats, calories and refined flour, doughnuts are not only bad for your waistline, but ultimately disastrous for your energy levels as well. The high sugar content is likely to end in a midday energy crash. If you crave a doughnut, try a piece of whole-grain bread with some jam and peanut butter instead. - Fast-Food “Breakfast Sandwiches.” The combination of low-quality, fried meats, processed cheese, and refined breads adds up to a high-calorie, high-sodium, fat-laden food. A better option is to make a sandwich at home - include whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese and fresh veggies, for an added dose of fiber. - Sugared Cereal. While different brands vary widely in the amount of added sugars (do your homework and read the labels), sugared cereals should not be a part of your morning routine - or your diet, period. If you crave sweetness, try adding a teaspoon of sugar or stevia to unsweetened whole-grain cereals, or try a bowl of steel-cut oats with some blackstrap molasses, which provides an added dose of calcium. Want to burn more fat? Another reason your breakfast choices matter.

Japanese women who drink even a little bit of green tea seem to have a lower risk of developing pneumonia, and those who drink five or more cups per day may be able to cut their risk by 47 percent. These findings are from a study published in the September 2009 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers also found that drinking a single cup of green tea daily cut the risk of dying from pneumonia by 41 percent. But these results apply only to Japanese women, not men. Even with the gender differences, the investigators noted that their findings support the hypothesis that compounds in green tea can destroy or inhibit the growth of viruses and other microorganisms that cause pneumonia. This was a big study that followed more than 19,000 men and more than 21,000 women for more than 12 years. The participants' ages ranged from 40 to 79. The researchers saw the benefits in women (but not men) after controlling for age, physical function, smoking status and other health and dietary factors that might influence the risk of pneumonia.

I am assuming that at least some of you have taken an introductory course in microeconomics. If so, maybe you can relate to the scenario that I face each year. My class goes as follows: supply and demand, social welfare and the effects of regulation, externalities and public goods, firm behavior, consumer choice…and then game theory. I introduce the concept of strategic interaction, where the best choice that you can make is dependent on what others choose to do, and we talk about the Prisoner’s Dilemma. My class pretends to be reasonably interested, even though (as I’m told later) they are actually wondering what brand of jeans I am wearing, and I’m going through the lecture thinking “Well, this is fun and all, but how on earth do I get this to tie back to the nuts and bolts of economics? Why is this important to understand when what we are concerned about is studying markets?” Part of the problem with the literal prisoner’s dilemma example is that, well, it’s talking about prisoners. And I don’t know your proclivity for incarcerable behavior, but personally I don’t find the prisoner context to be particularly relevant to my daily life. What the economics textbook fails to make clear is that a. the prisoner’s dilemma setup is all over the place in the real world, and b. the suboptimal outcome of the game is what actually happens in a lot of markets due to coordination failure. (Sidenote: that link is less than stellar in giving insight into what a coordination failure is, so click at your own risk.) The example I give in my class is of Coke and Pepsi trying to decide on their advertising budgets. Consider the following setup: - Coke and Pepsi can choose either a high ($2 million) or low ($0) budget. - If both companies choose a low budget, they each make $10 million. - If one company chooses a high budget and the other a low budget, the company that chose high gets $15 million while the company that chose low gets $3 million. (It makes sense for the advertising to steal away some customers, right?) - If both companies choose a high budget, they each make $8 million. (The advertising by the two firms gets cancelled out, so there is no shift of customers, but each company has spent $2 million.) Clearly, the best outcome collectively for the two companies is to agree to not advertise. (I will ignore for the moment that such agreements are not legal in the US.) But what will happen in practice? Let’s pretend we’re Coke for a second. (We could pretend we’re Pepsi, since the payoffs are symmetric, but then we’d, well, be Pepsi.) What should we do? To answer this question, we need to think about the competition. If we think that Pepsi is going to choose a low budget, we want to choose a high budget, since $15 million is better than $10 million. If we think that Pepsi is going to choose a high budget, we still want to choose a high budget, since $8 million is better than $3 million. Well, that’s convenient, no? Our best option (high budget) doesn’t actually depend on what the competition does. Even more convenient, Pepsi’s decision-making process is exactly the same, so it’s going to want to choose high also. In the end, Coke and Pepsi each end up with $8 million. That is somewhat of a disappointing outcome, since both companies could do better by choosing the low budget. This is the classic example of a coordination failure, since in order to get to the $10 million outcome the companies would have to either have some sort of enforceable agreement or way of punishing for not cooperating. This concept exists in plenty of settings where there are more than two participants, which brings me to the title of this post. There are plenty of people who don’t “want” Wal-Mart to exist. Well, let me clarify- they want the low prices that Wal-Mart offers without giving up the charm of the small businesses in the downtown areas of their towns. The problem comes in when people only think about their own incentives when making a decision. If I were to think about only my own incentives, I would believe that I could get away with saving money at Wal-Mart and letting everyone else support the smaller local businesses. In reality, everyone faces the same (or at least similar) incentives, most people let everyone else support the local stores, and the local stores go out of businesses, even if the loss of the businesses makes the community worse off overall. (I’m pretty sure that zoning restrictions and the like make it so the nearest Wal-Mart for me is 20 miles away. If you’ve been paying attention to the site, you can consider than an effective commitment device. Or a justification for regulation, but that sounds less palatable.) There are lots of examples of this sort of behavior, which are generally lumped under the heading of market failures. The main thesis is as follows: free markets can sometimes result in suboptimal outcomes when the happiness of individuals is dependent not only on their own choices but also on the choices of others that they have no control over. (There are, of course, other reasons why free markets can result in suboptimal outcomes.) If this sort of thing interests you, there is in fact a book titled No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart: The Surprising Deceptions of Individual Choice that gives a fairly non-technical overview of this sort of problem. For now, here’s another example: I have a friend who used to work for the Red Sox. The other day he made a comment about not wanting to go to Fenway Park and sit among the “white collar d-bags” (his words, not mine) who knew nothing about baseball and were just there because it was the cool thing to do. In this way, his decision regarding whether to watch a Red Sox game is not independent of the choices of others around him. (Note that we usually assume in Econ 101 that there is some objective utility that a good or service has, and we don’t allow for that utility to change based on other people’s choices. Clearly the basic model needs to be modified in order to accurately represent this type of setup.) Because this is Boston we’re talking about, I would venture to guess that there are a bunch of other people that feel the same way. Unfortunately, since for the most part we cannot control the behavior of others (demanding girlfriends and mothers-in-law perhaps being the exception here), we have to take the actions of others as given. And given that the real Red Sox fans are sitting in their homes in Quincy drinking their Dunkin Donuts, Sam Adams and Guinness and perhaps snacking on some lobster rolls, the best option for my friend is to stay home also. (There, did I come up with the most egregious stereotype ever? It’s just because all I can think about right now is DD iced coffee.) However, IF there was a creative way to organize these fans, they could take over the park and get to an arguably better outcome.

Today we shall be having an insight on Candida infection, revealing important information that even a lay man can easily read and understand. It is quite proper to have an accurate and precise knowledge about any form of infection before knowing the kind of approach that will be adopted in fighting against it. This review as promised is going to reveal a lot information about all you should know about Candida infection, so i will suggest you read through carefully and thoroughly. Before we proceed is proper we give a brief introduction and definition about the subject, which is Candida in this case. So, let us start by asking ourselves. What is Candida? Candida is a yeast infection that occurs as a result of an overgrowth of yeast (a type of fungus) in any part of the body, especially in the gut (the alimentary canal). Candidiasis is the most common types of yeast infection. There are more than 20 species of Candida, with the most common of them being Candida albicans. This fungi resides on all surfaces, and under certain conditions when they eventually becomes so numerous, they end up causing infections particularly in warm and moist regions of the body. Example of such infections includes; vaginal yeast infection, skin and diaper rash, thrush (infection of tissues of the oral cavity), and nail bed infections. All human beings habours millions of bacteria in their guts at all times. Some are regarded as good bacteria while others are known as bad bacteria, and they cause a wide variety of ill health conditions. In a healthy body, the good bacteria checkmates the bad bacteria so that there is a nice and even balance. When an individual develops Candida overgrowth, that means that the balance have been altered and the bad bacteria have taken over. What are the symptoms of Candida (yeast overgrowth)? The symptoms of Candida varies and they are many. They can even mimic other health conditions. Symptoms relating to digestive functions includes: - Bad breath - Gas and stomach pain - Loose stools and diarrhoea are very common - Brain fog - Itchy skin - Vaginal itching/ irritation - Athletes foot - PMS (Premenstrual syndrome) - Depression and mood swings are just one of the possible symptoms What are the causes of Candida? 1. Poor diet and nutrition Poor diet and nutrition actually fuels the growth of Candida fungus, when the body lacks adequate levels of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that is been needed for optimal functioning, then it becomes vulnerable to bacteria, viruses etc. Most of the present day diet is not highly nutritious, it is been packed with a bunch of junk foods like candies, cookies, chips and soda. Even the foods you thought should be healthier such as cereals are loaded with sugar and lacking god nutrients. Almost all processed foods you buy contains some sort of sugars. Our standard diets are way too high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, which actually feed the Candida fungus and makes it grow optimally. However sugar is not only the culprit, starchy foods like bread, white rice, pasta, chips, potatoes, cookies etc. changes to glucose in the digestive system. The more refined this foods are, the more faster they are been converted. It is most of these excess sugars that are responsible not only for Candida overgrowth but many other health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and malnutrition. One of the major causes of Candida infection is the overuse of broad spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotics also damages and kill the good bacteria (normal flora) in the gut, and also damages the digestive enzymes, which may lead to an overgrowth of the Candid fungus. b. The pills The contraceptive pills that most women takes can also cause an outbreak of Candida overgrowth. The human stomach is such a delicate organ, containing a precise mixture of microorganisms and yeasts that aids in processing the digested foods. They solely depend on the right balance of chemicals to support them, but this equilibrium can be altered by the hormonal imbalance caused by the pill. By the disruption of this balance, the pill opens the door for Candida to outgrow its competitors in the gut. Estrogen, which is the major ingredient in the pill, is known to promote the growth of yeast. If you need prove on how this can happen, compare how many women get regular yeast infections while they are on the pill. Candida infection is one of the many conditions that can result as a result of diabetes, and diabetic women are particularly susceptible to any yeast infection. High blood sugar level feeds the Candida yeast, allowing it to grow fast and dominate the rest microorganisms in the gut. Stress can affect the body in 2 ways, both of which can lead to excess Candida. One of the body's first reaction to stress is to release cortisol, a hormone that depresses the immune system and raises the blood sugar level. The Candida yeast feeds on the surplus sugar while the immune system is weak to stop it. It eventually overbalance the mixture of microorganisms in the small intestine. Prolonged stress also weakens the adrenal glands, which is an important part of the immune system. This small organ releases hormones that regulates several systems in the body, and they are responsible in producing the "fight or flight" hormone, adrenalin. If the adrenals becomes drained, an individual will be feeling tired constatntly. The immune system becomes similarly drained and unable to respond properly to pathogens such as the Candida yeast. 5. Other causes In addition to the main causes listed above, ther are other factors that can also contribute to Candida overgrowth, such as; the use of cortisone, or other steroid types of drugs, immune suppressing drugs and synthetic estrogen. All these drugs creates an hormonal imbalance in the body which eventually allows the Candida to thrive and take over. People with diseases that weakens the immune system such as HIV are also more vulnerable to Candida yeast infection. How can one detect Candida infection? In evaluating the yeast growth, there are basically two tests to run: 1. The first is blood test, checking for antibodies (immune cells that might show reactivity to Candida). 2. The second is the urine test, looking for the actual metabolites of Candida. Now we have gotten some useful knowledge about what Candida yeast infection is all about, let us look at measures to follow in order to conquer it. Conquering Candida the healthy way The easiest way to avoid yeast overgrowth is to limit dietary intake of sugars, carbs and alcohol. · The Candida fungus feeds on sugar, so anything that degrades to sugar is a potential fuel source for this infection · Alcohol, being mostly sugar and yeast is a perfect fuel source, so should be avoided · Since antibiotic use is a cause of yeast overgrowth, patients that takes antibiotics must be exceptionally careful to take high-potency probiotics as a preventive measures. · Avoidance of yeast foods such as mushrooms, breads and vinegar can be helpful. · Rebalance Candida with moderate dietary approach along with supplement probiotics, digestive enzymes and anti-fungal remedies. · Other natural anti-fungal agents such as garlic, caprylic acid, grapefruit seed extract and oregano oil can be used to fight Candida yeast overgrowth.

Over the years, people have tried different tools in the kitchen to make cooking quick and easy. When it comes to the use of pots and pans, the best modern recommendation is to use titanium cookware. Other People Are Reading Non-stick surfaces on cookware means that the cooking time and clean up time in the kitchen may be faster, but is a non-stick surface really safe? Non-stick surfaces on cookware such as Teflon or Silverstone can release toxins into the food. It has been noted that once the heating temperature of a cooking pan reaches 230 degrees C (usually within two to five minutes) dangerous levels of toxins escape and release into the air and into your food. When buying non-stick cookware, be aware of the side effects that can be caused by some non-stick surfaces. The most prominent type of pan used is the aluminium pan. The problem with aluminium is that salty and acidic foods cause the aluminium to break down, releasing dangerous toxins into your food. Some illnesses associated with non-stick cookware are Alzheimer's disease and polmer fume fever. Alzheimer's disease has been linked with aluminium and the release of the aluminium into foods. Polmer fume fever is the name given by DuPont, the leading manufacturer of Teflon, to the illness associated with the dangerous fumes released from Teflon during the cooking process. The symptoms associated with polmer fume fever are headaches, tightening of the chest, coughs, sore throat and shortness of breath. Titanium cookware is a better alternative to other non-stick cookware because there are no known health risks associated with the product. Titanium cookware: Has a faster cook time, meaning that the non-stick surface will allow you to use less oil, reducing fat and calories in each meal. Is easy to clean, reducing clean-up time in the kitchen. Is resistant to scratches and dents so that your product will last longer. The product is light weight, giving way to alternative uses for your pots and pans other than the household kitchen, such as using your cookware on camping trips. Titanium is prone to hot spots, causing uneven cooking or burning of food. Titanium cookware is a safer product versus aluminium and Teflon. There are no known health risks involved with cooking with titanium. Titanium is extremely durable so your cookware may last a lifetime. - 20 of the funniest online reviews ever - 14 Biggest lies people tell in online dating sites - Hilarious things Google thinks you're trying to search for

Paper mites, also called bird mites or tropical fowl mites, are a species of mites which primarily prey upon wild birds. The mites can also feed on human blood, however, making them an annoying pest to discover in your household. Once properly identified, it is important that full precautions are taken to fully eradicate your mite infestation to ensure that no mites are left behind to reproduce and duplicate your pest problem. - Skill level: Other People Are Reading Things you need - Pesticide spray - Home repair materials (depends on what must be fixed) Locate the nest which has been infected with the paper mites. An infestation is brought to your house by an infected bird, and locating any potential offending nests is needed to ensure all mites can later be destroyed. Attempt to capture a living or dead mite to inspect and confirm that you have a paper mite infestation. Look at online pictures to make sure that the mites you are afflicted with are paper mites. Completely remove any offending nests from your house. Do not leave any scraps which can be used to build a new nest, or that would allow a new bird to take up residence and continue spreading mites. Purchase a pesticide that advertises effectiveness against paper or bird mites, and spray the areas from which you removed nests. Repair any openings in your house's exterior through which the mites could have gained access to your house. Seal cracks along windows with caulk and repair any loose or damaged shingles. - 20 of the funniest online reviews ever - 14 Biggest lies people tell in online dating sites - Hilarious things Google thinks you're trying to search for

An Inspiron 1720 laptop is made by Dell. Laptops contain fans that which cool the central processing unit. If the fan gets excessively dusty, it may not be able to function properly, which can cause the computer to overheat and shut down. A laptop fan should be cleaned as needed to remove dust. A laptop should be wiped down regularly with a dry or slightly damp cloth to remove dust and prevent it from entering the fan. Be sure to read the instruction manual for cleaning a fan and follow all directions carefully. Improperly cleaning the fan could void the manufacturer's warranty. - Skill level: Other People Are Reading Things you need - Cotton Swab - Compressed Air Unplug the laptop. Remove the battery by pushing the button to unlock the battery. Unscrew the screws holding the plate at the bottom of the laptop in place. Remove the plate. Under the plate is the fan. Using a slightly damp cloth, wipe off any dust on the removed plate. Allow the plate to air dry. Spray the fan with compressed air to remove all of the dust. Using a cotton swab, hold the fan blades in place so the air doesn't blow the fan in circles. Place the plate back onto the bottom of the laptop and secure it. - 20 of the funniest online reviews ever - 14 Biggest lies people tell in online dating sites - Hilarious things Google thinks you're trying to search for

A culinary spice native to India and Sri Lanka, cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) makes clumps of stalks that grow from 6 to 15 feet tall in their native habitat. Those plants produce lance-shaped leaves and 1 1/2-inch flowers with green upper petals and white lips striped with purple veins. They are followed by green pods containing seeds which are ground to make the spice. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 to 13, the herb can flourish as a shorter nonflowering houseplant too, but attempts to grow it from grocery store seeds are likely to fail. Grocery store cardamom seeds are often harvested before their pods break open, so some of the seeds will be too immature to germinate. Also, their viability begins to decline about two weeks after they are picked, and they may have been fumigated with irradiation, ethylene oxide or steam, which could adversely affect germination as well. For the best results, therefore, you should acquire fresh and untreated cardamom seeds from a seed seller rather than from your grocery store. After placing the seeds in a clean container, poor hot water over them. Allow them to soak in that water for one to two days before planting them. Fill a pot that contains drainage holes with a combination of one part seed-starting mix and one part sand. Sow your seeds on the surface of that mix, about 3/4-inch apart and cover them with 1/4 inch of damp sand. You can then top the pot with plastic wrap, to keep the mix and sand moist, placing it in an area where temperatures remain between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Cardamom seeds usually are slow to germinate, so you probably won’t see sprouts until about a month later. However, their emergence can occur at any point from two weeks to three months after the seeds were planted. At that point, move them to a windowsill where they will receive sun for only part of the day or bright, indirect light. Alternatively, you can place them under a grow light, preferably near one of the ends, where the illumination is dimmer than in the center. As your seedlings grow, keep their soil damp and feed them once every two weeks with a liquid kelp plant food such as 0-0-1, adding 2 tablespoons of it to each 1 gallon of water. After about five or six months, when the seedlings each have four leaves, transplant them into individual 4-inch pots of potting soil. - Agronomy and Economy of Black Pepper and Cardamom; K.P. Prabhakaran Nair - Guidelines for Seed Exchange and Plant Introduction in Tropical Crops; Jorge León and Lyndsey A. Withers, Editors - Ethnic Culinary Herbs: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation in Hawaiʻi; George Staples and Michael S. Kristiansen - Grow Herbs; Jekka McVicar - Rodale's 21st-Century Herbal; Michael Balick - Spices Board India: Cultivation Practices for Cardamom - Organic Consumers Organization: Why Consumers Are Buying Organic Spices - Heirloom Organics: How to Grow Cardamom - Trade Winds Fruit: Cardamom - Homegrown Tea; Cassie Liversidge - Photo Credit belchonock/iStock/Getty Images What Is Cardamom Good For? Cardamom originates from India, though the plant also grows in Sri Lanka, Guatamela and Tanzania. Each pod has to be hand-harvested to... How to Grow Fenugreek Herb Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) usually is grown for either its seeds or aromatic, slightly bitter leaves, but it also is grown as a... How to Grow Clove Trees A tropical evergreen that grows 20 to 100 feet tall, with glossy 5- to 10-inch leaves, the clove tree (Syzygium aromaticum) only... How to Remove a Cardamom Seed From a Pod Cardamom (Elettaria cardimomum) is a plant in the ginger family. The seed, and sometimes the crushed pod, is used to flavor many... How To Use Organic Cardamom Using organic cardamom is easy with these tips, get expert tips and advice on organic herb gardening in this free video.

CDC: Preschoolers Receiving ADHD Meds Despite Recommendations The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the results of the first national study on the use of behavioral therapy, pharmacologic treatment, and dietary supplements to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children ages 4–17 with special health care needs (CSHCN), which appears in The Journal of Pediatrics. Parent-reported data from the 2009–2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs were reviewed for information on family demographics, health care services, and presence of selected health conditions that included ADHD. In the survey, parents were asked if their child had ever received an ADHD diagnosis from a physician or other health care provider and if the child currently suffered from ADHD. Follow-up questions for those with current ADHD focused on parent-reported severity levels (mild, moderate, or severe), ADHD medication use during the past week and past year, dietary supplement use to treat ADHD in the past week or year, and behavioral therapy including classroom management or cognitive-behavioral therapy in the past year. Among all survey respondents, approximately 32.3% of parents reported that their child currently suffered from ADHD; of these, 82.6% reported that their child had taken an ADHD drug in the past year and 74.0% had taken one in the past week. For CSHCN with current ADHD aged 4–5, 25.4% were taking medication alone despite guidelines recommending behavioral therapy alone for children under 6 years of age. Forty-four percent of CSHCN with current ADHD had received behavioral therapy in the past year, with children ≥12 years less likely to have received behavioral therapy in the past year vs. children aged 4–5 years. Parents reported that 10.2% of CSHCN with current ADHD had taken dietary supplements for ADHD in the past year and 6.4% in the past week. About 30% of CSHCN with current ADHD were receiving both pharmacologic treatment and behavioral therapy for ADHD. Children taking dietary supplements alone for ADHD treatment comprised only 1.2% of the CSHCN with current ADHD. CSHCN with current ADHD receiving either or both pharmacologic treatment or behavioral therapy to treat ADHD was 87.3%. For those who took medication for ADHD in the past week, 84.8% took a CNSS medication, with just over half as methylphenidate formulations. Use of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) atomoxetine was reported in 8.4% of CSHCN who were taking medication for ADHD along with atypical antipsychotics (5.7%), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) (3.1%), centrally-acting alpha-agonist hypotensive agents (clonidine) (4.1%), and centrally-acting alpha-adrenergic receptor agonists (guanfacine) (4.3%). A CDC spokesperson stated that because the long-term effects of psychotropic medications in young children are unknown, behavioral therapy is considered to be the safest ADHD treatment for children under 6 years of age and should be prior to pharmacotherapy. For more information visit CDC.gov. Image courtesy of the CDC

Growing seedlings and selling them can aid you in earning extra money for your household. Once the business is established and the earnings are high enough, you have a full-time career that you created yourself. A greenhouse is not necessary to start this type of business, but it will be useful when you are earning enough money to live on. A roadside stand, or even tables set up under a canopy, provide a place for selling the seedlings once they are established. Getting Ready to Sell Begin by purchasing what is necessary to start the business. Look for organic soils and compost to start the seeds in, and pick up plenty of it. Order organic, heirloom seeds for the best productivity, especially those for popular vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumber. Find sources for purchasing items such as plastic seed trays and grow lights, and be sure that you have some work gloves available. Go to city hall while you are out running errands and be sure that you have any licenses or permits that are necessary, and set up a simple record keeping system. Mix the soil and compost to a 1:1 ratio and begin filling the trays. Use your finger to place an indentation in each compartment of the seed tray, and place a seed into each indentation at the depth mentioned on the seed packet. Cover the seeds lightly with soil, and dampen the soil with water. Place heat mats under the trays if they are available, or use place the trays under grow lights, in front of windows or in homemade cold frames to allow them to get an early start. Placing them in mini greenhouses will also work. Keep the seedlings moist, but not too wet. Check them once or twice a day. Read the seed packets so that you will know exactly how much water each type of seed will require. Set up your selling area when the seedlings are established enough to sell. Put up signs on community bulletin boards so that people will know that you are selling and where from. Put a sign up by the road where the tables are set up that tell customers what is for sale and for how much. Start with the strongest-looking seedlings, and save the others for later sales. Place them on the display areas, and be sure that the soil is moist but not so wet that they will leak all over the customers' vehicles. Be prepared to discuss the seedlings, where the seeds came from and how to go about planting and caring for them.

When a vacuum-powered beanbag works better then what is the need to bother with expensive artificial fingers? Robots are great at manipulating objects like automobile parts. But what about a glass of water, a ball bearing, a coin or a raw egg? Terminator-style artificial hands are expensive and awful at picking up everyday objects. But the human hand is an incredibly delicate instrument whic is capable of firmly gripping objects and until we decide we’re good and ready, it will not let it go . Robot hands tend to be both clunky and metallic, and often result in dropped items. But no longer. The secret lies in the coffee and in balloon. You’d think that was a typo and not real, but not so much. Scientists from Cornell, the University of Chicago and iRobot have created human-analogue hands using nothing but coffee grounds, party balloons and a vacuum pump. Amazing! Right? It is inspired by Cornell’s new innovative robotic gripper (a sort of shape-shifting balloon hand), Steve Norris of Norris Labs decided to go DIY and make his own home-brewed replica at a lower cost. Heinrich Jaeger has built a hand that can pick up almost anything out of a balloon, coffee grounds and a vacuum pump Jaeger writes – Most current designs are based on the multi-fingered hand, but this approach introduces hardware and software complexities. These include large numbers of controllable joints, the need for force sensing if objects are to be handled securely without crushing them, and the computational overhead to decide how much stress each finger should apply and where. Coffee grounds a “particulate material”, which contains individually solid particles that are present in large aggregate clumps. Particulate materials have what is known as a “jamming transition” that occurs when they are compressed and the particles go from being able to slide past each other (like a liquid) to jammed together (like a solid). “It basically works on the same mechanics as when coffee shops vacuum-seal packs of ground espresso,” Heinrich Jaeger, a lead researcher on the project, tells Co.Design. He also said -“It needs no special sensors to compute how much pressure to apply–the materials of the gripper just do it automatically.” Our robot’s hand starts with an ordinary party balloon filled with coffee grounds, but not with air. When an object needs to be gripped, the balloon-ended arm reaches out and contacts it, and the coffee grounds easily deform around it. A vacuum is used to pull all of the air out of the balloon, slamming the coffee grounds together and making them one solid, tightly-gripping mass, in order to firm the grip. When the time comes to let the object go, the vacuum is released, and the coffee grounds un-jam themselves and start sliding around again. The “hand” is nothing more than a stretchable bag filled with lightweight “granular materials” (such as coffee grounds in the demo video, although salt, sugar, or glass beads also work) attached to a vaccum pump. According to the minds behind the project, this is the closest to “real-world” application that the robotic gripping field has ever been, and it has even been able to grip commonly “un-grippable” items for robots, including raw eggs and coins. Other materials were tried, such as sand and rice, but coffee provided the best blend of minimal weight and a high jamming ability. The beanbag grains go through what’s called a “jamming transition,” in which physical pressure makes the tiny particles lock together and unlock again on demand. (That’s why the robot can also put the raw egg back down after picking it up.) The jamming transition doesn’t require special materials–“even M&Ms could work,” says Jaeger–and the passive grip can be strong enough to lift a shotput or gentle enough to cradle a light bulb. Their prototype “hand” is only 10 centimeters in diameter, but Jaeger speculates that a 1-meter-wide model “could lift pretty much anything that wasn’t made of lead”–like, say, collapsed beams after an earthquake. Take that, Terminator. Its the simplicity that kills. The hand does exactly what a hand is supposed to do- pick things up without breaking them. It does away with all the complexity that comes from trying to mimic in metal what took millions of years to evolve. This is brilliant design. Sure, we probably would have some concerns about the longevity of a hand made of rubber and old coffee grounds, but there’s an ecological flair here, combined with a sense of true invention!

31, 33, 35 Work Step by Step We are asked to find three consecutive odd integers, beginning with 31. Therefore, we are asked to find the two odd integers that are directly to the right of 31 on the number line. Each consecutive odd integer will be 2 greater in value than the previous integer. So, if we set n=31. The three integers will be n, n+2, n+4 (or 31, 33, 35).

While this is a major accomplishment for the Chinese, Both Russia and America’s first space station was launched in 1973 These American and Russian stations also housed 3 astronauts for limited durations. So, while this Chinese space station isn’t a breakthrough in spaceflight, it is a necessary stepping stone on the way to advanced spaceflight. Chinese astronauts will launch in a Shenzhou spacecraft attached to a Long March 2F rocket to the unmanned Tiangong-1 space station after the station has been launched on another Long March 2F T1 rocket from Northwest China. China is exclusively using one rocket for all of it's launches of spacecraft and space stations. So far this rocket has performed well but if a design flaw were to be found the entire Chinese space program would be completely grounded. It is also thought that this rocket is not powerful enough to make a moon launch possible. We will have to see the Chinese developing a heavy to super-heavy launch vehicle before a manned moon shot would be possible. China’s plans include three missions to the station, two of which will be manned, will carry many experiments and tests designed to improve China’s ability to explore space. The first of these missions will test the docking mechanisms in an unmanned flight. The next flight should include a 2 to 3 week stay on the space station for 3 astronauts to conduct laboratory experiments. This flight is also intended to re-supply the station with essential materials such as water and fuel. The last manned flight to this station will include another couple of weeks for lab experiments and may also include China’s first female astronaut. After these flights, the space station is due to be destroyed through atmospheric re-entry but China is planning on launching two almost identical Tiangong stations for continuing space research. While this space station poses no threat to the world, it does show China’s commitment to explore space. This all seems quite peaceful but it must be mentioned that China’s space program is controlled directly by the Chinese military. It has been mentioned that modern militaries depend on satellites for such things as navigation or communication and disabling satellites could give a huge advantage in time of war. While these Chinese space stations are not intended as weapon platforms, they are advancing Chinese space technology in a variety of ways directly for the Chinese military. There is nothing that we can do to stop these missions and even if we could they only seem to be peaceful and with similar aims and technology as major space powers have used in the past. We can only watch and see how China’s space program turns out, hopefully we will be able to co-operate with them in the future for mutual benefit.