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Most people understand that we can become addicted to substances like alcohol or drugs. But they may not realize that we can also become addicted to behaviors. Physical dependence is the cornerstone to the compulsive use of drugs and alcohol. However, behavioral addictions can be just as devastating to the individual. Behavioral addictions are sometimes overlooked because the activities involved are enjoyed responsibly by many people. Gambling, eating, exercising, having sex, playing video games, and shopping are just a few examples of common, everyday activities that can and do become obsessive addictions for those who suffer from a behavioral addiction. Someone with a behavioral addiction engages in an activity in a way has negative consequences on their lives. Similar to a chemical addiction, behavioral addictions are engaged in compulsively, obsessively, and with the intent to change the way the person feels. An example of this may be a food addicted individual who eats even when they are not hungry as a way to alleviate anxiety. Someone addicted to gambling will not stop even after they have depleted all their resources, including the car, the house, and the kids’ college fund. Although it may be argued that many people say “overeat” and “lose money gambling” without being addicted, here’s the difference: Someone who is addicted is unable to stop the behavior despite the negative consequences. An addicted individual’s “willpower” is non-existent in regards to their addictive behavior. Even when health problems, financial problems, legal problems, and other problems arise, the person cannot stop the behavior. Just as with substance addiction, behavioral addiction can treated in a residential or outpatient setting that provides therapy, education, and support. Contact us today if you or your loved one are ready to reach out for help. We can start you on the road to recovery.

Search Engine Optimization – What Is SEO? The act of optimizing a webpage and/or website to perform well in the search engines defines Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search engine placement practices and SEO strategies seek to improve the number and quality of visitors to a website from pages of organic search results. The position where your website ranks on search engines is essential to directing more qualified traffic. If search engines cannot locate your website, you miss out on opportunities to connect with people who are actively searching for your products and services. Regardless of your website goals, search engines are a key channel through which most traffic originates. SEO is offered as a single service or as a component of an overall website promotion strategy. Search engine optimization includes changing the markup of the site, web design, improving site architecture, and usability. SEO’s utilize a range of various search engine optimization strategies in order to increase the visibility of websites.

At some point in life, either through a personality test or just learning about the two types, you may have discovered if you lean more towards being “left-brained” or “right-brained”. Those who function more in the left side of their brain are logical, analytical, and think factually while those who function more on the right side of their brain are emotion centered and creative. Most people talk as if they are only one or the other and don’t see themselves taking on traits of the opposite side. Or people might say something like “my emotional side responded that way” or “my logical side thought through this”. The truth is, we function most fully and in a healthy state when both sides of our brain are integrated and working together. This would look like our left and right brain working together to make sense of our lives. When people show up for counseling with dis-integrated brains one of the first things we work through is letting their thoughts and feeling communicate with each other. This might look like someone who is highly emotional about their current situation bringing reason into the picture. We might think through things like “Why do you think that person acted that way?” “What are some behind the scenes reasons this may have happened?” Or “What is the probability that this situation will continue?” Adding reason and logic to the emotion helps bring perspective to the situation. It may also look like someone coming into session sharing all of the facts about a situation but still being confused about which decision to make next. They have analyzed all their options but nothing seems to stick out. Depending on if people are angry, sad, happy, etc. about their situation will call for a different response. When we know how we feel about a situation it gives us direction. Emotions and thoughts are both helpful to us and even more so if they are connected. Some things to consider: - Which side of your brain do you lean on most? - How might you work on integrating your brain? How could you help your right and left side to communicate?

Performed in French with Estonian and English subtitles. Spring Awakening is an adaptions of the play by the same title of the controversial German playwright Frank Wedekind. Frank Wedekind is one of the most daring dramatic spirits in Germany, who set out in quest of new truths. In Spring Awakening, his first major play, Frank Wedekind laid bare the shams of morality in reference to sexuality, especially attacking the ignorance surrounding the sex life of the child. He called his drama `the tragedy of childhood`, dedicating his work to parents and teachers. Even if Spring Awakening was written more than 100 years ago, for the Belgian director of the piece Armel Roussel, the core story of troubled teenage sexuality is as topical and intriguing as it was at the beginning of the last century. It is already the fourth time in his professional career that he has turned to Wedekind.

Fish figures a lot in the Mediterranean diet. People following the Mediterranean diet plan are recommended to eat fish at least twice a week. Fresh or water-packed tuna, trout, salmon, herring, and mackerel are good choices. While fish are highly recommended, especially grilled fish, it is better to avoid eating fried fish and deep fried fish. You can eat fish that is sautéed in a small amount of olive oil, though. There are a lot of healthy ways of preparing fish. Aside from good taste and the ease of preparation, one important consideration in cooking fish is how to make the most out of the nutritional benefits it gives to our body. When on the Mediterranean diet, it’s not always easy to get hold of fresh fish all the time. It is always best to have fresh fish as the Mediterranean diet usually calls for fresh ingredients for most of its Mediterranean diet recipes. Canned fish, on the other hand, is easier to find. This is where the issue on whether canned fish can give you the nutritional benefits that fresh fish provides. Canning is a very effective method of preserving fish. The processes in fish canning kills harmful bacteria and protects against the growth of various microorganisms. However, the high heat that is usually used when canning fish can rob you of vast amounts of nutrients that you enjoy consuming fresh fish. Many important vitamins and minerals are lost or are reduced in the canning process. Despite this, you can still benefit from the macronutrient nourishment and mineral supply you get from canned fish. Here is a look at the difference in nutrient contents between fresh fish and canned fish: Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Fish, especially those that are considered oily fish, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids than those in the white fish category. Some examples of oily fish are herring, trout, sardines, mackerel, and salmon. Omega-3 fatty acids are famous for helping prevent cardiovascular diseased, improve blood flow, prevent extreme blood clotting, lower the amounts of lipids in the bloodstream, and reduce the risks of arrhythmia. It also said to boost immune function, help increase fertility, fight degenerative diseases, promote healthy skin, and improve mental health. Consuming the proper amount of omega-3 can also make you less vulnerable to various autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases and you will be less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, and emotional or mental disorders like depression. The amount of omega-3 found in canned fish is usually lower than that found in fresh fish. To get the most omega-3, look for canned fish from the oily fish category. Experts also agree that it is better to purchase canned fish packed in water rather than those packed in oil. This is because some of the natural fat found in tuna can mix with the oil and some of the omega-3 may come with the oil when you drain it from your canned tuna. Carotenoids. Carotenoids can be found in various food stuff and they are also found in fish. The amount of carotenoids in canned fish is usually lower as compared to fresh fish because some are lost during the canning process. However, some carotenoids can also get lost when you cook fresh fish. Carotenoids are antioxidants that protect cells from free radicals. They may also guard against certain types of cancer and fight heart disease by blocking the formation of LDL cholesterol. B Vitamins. A number of B vitamins can be found in fish and this includes vitamins B1, B3, and B6. The amount of B vitamins in fresh fish is higher than those found in canned fish. The canning process is also said to be responsible with the loss of certain of amounts of B vitamins in canned fish. Vitamin B1 or thiamine is needed to metabolize carbohydrate and for the release of energy from food. It is also said to help the nervous system and the heart to function well. Vitamin B3 or niacin needed for DNA repair and it helps boost energy. It is also said to help reverse the progression of atherosclerosis and lower cholesterol levels. Niacin is also said to be helpful for people who have diabetes because it helps the stimulation of insulin secretion. Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is needed by the body to produce more than 60 enzymes needed by the immune system and other body systems to function well. It is also said to help prevent cancer, migraines, and kidney stones. Pyridoxine also has a diuretic effect by helping reduce water retention. It is also included in the treatment for arthritis and is said to help increase the body’s serotonin levels. Calcium. If other nutrients usually found in fish are lost during the canning process, calcium stands as an exception. Canned fish, especially canned salmon, is said to have higher calcium concentration than its fresh variety. There are studies suggesting that the amount of calcium found in canned fish is about 10 to 20 times higher than what is found in fresh fish. Since fish is canned with its bones that are rich in calcium, the heating process involved in canning softens the bones so calcium is easily ingested with the meat of the fish. Aside from playing a major role in bone and tooth health, calcium is also important to heart rhythm, blood clotting, muscle function, nerve transmission, and cell membrane function. A little known function of calcium is it being a natural tranquilizer and a key in aiding metabolism. Calcium works synergistically with vitamin D for it to be absorbed and used for various bodily functions. Aside from these, fish is also a good source of vitamins A, D, and K. Fish is also a good source of protein, magnesium, selenium, and potassium. The amount of these vitamins and minerals that can be found in fresh and canned fish may differ. However, it is important to remember that the loss of nutrients found in fresh fish is not brought about by canning alone. Nutrients are also lost in the process of cooking fresh fish, even if you cook your fresh fish the healthy way. Since the two-fold heating process involved in canning can result to a significant loss in nutrients, there are fish canning companies that do away with the pre-treatment process to lessen nutrient loss. These companies place the fish in its fresh and raw form into the can. It is said that lesser nutrient loss results when the cooking of the fish occurs in the sealed can. These companies that cook on in the can put emphasis on wild-caught fish and give focus on the environmental and health issues involved. Moreover, there are now methods to replace the lost nutrients so that people can enjoy enhanced nutritional benefits from canned fish. One of these methods is through fortifying canned fish with a number of vitamins and minerals that the human body need to function well. Though there are still differences in the overall taste and texture between fresh fish and canned fish, this depends entirely on the palate of a person. Besides, since fresh fish is not that readily available, canned fish is still your most convenient, practical, and satisfactory option. I hope you enjoyed today’s article – stay well,

How To Have Less Emf In Your Life Emf protection is especially crucial for hypersensitive individuals; however, everyone could benefit from having less emf in their lives. Scientists argue that an abundance of emf can damage the cells in your body and affect your central nervous system. High levels of emf radiation cause numerous symptoms throughout the body. Exposure to high emf levels can be limited by using emf meters, emf protective clothing, and other protective measures. Emf stands for electromagnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields occur when magnetic fields meet electric voltage – the higher the voltage and the greater the magnetic current, the higher the emf levels. Electromagnetic fields found in nature are responsible for guiding those who use compasses. However, human-made electromagnetic fields are increasing at an alarming rate. Sources of EMFs include microwaves, cellphones, wi-fi routers, computers, cell towers, the list goes on. We are exposed to many of these sources of radiation daily. You may be wondering how it is even possible to protect yourself from something that is always surrounding us – no need to worry. Keep reading to learn more about the effects of emf radiation and what you can do to have less emf present in your life. Emf Radiation and The Symptoms to Watch Out For There are two different kinds of emf exposure – low-level radiation and high-level radiation. Low-level radiation is caused by appliances and cell phones, while high-level radiation comes from ultraviolet rays and medical imaging machines. An important thing to keep in mind when trying to have less emf around you is to keep your distance! The further away you are from sources of emf radiation, the less intense the waves. As mentioned above, there are countless symptoms linked to high exposure levels of emf. These include: - Insomnia and other sleep disturbances - Headaches and migraines - Depression and depressive symptoms - Tiredness and physical and mental fatigue - Dysesthesia (a painful, itchy sensation) - Lack of concentration - Alterations in memory function - Anxious tendencies - Skin tingling - Changes in electrical activity in the brain It is possible that you need a large amount of exposure to begin to realize any of these symptoms. However, for those who are particularly sensitive or hypersensitive, the severity and onset of these symptoms can be much different. How to Protect Yourself There are many different ways available to protect yourself from high levels of electromagnetic fields. Some individuals choose to eliminate their risk to emf radiation as much as possible by moving to areas with little to no cellular or electrical towers and removing as many emf producing devices as possible from their daily lives. While this approach may offer peace of mind, it can be quite challenging to achieve. Two of the easiest and most accessible ways to accomplish this is by monitoring the emf levels that you are actively being exposed to and wearing emf protection clothing. These two precautions are the easiest and most effective because they are portable and allow you to go about your day as naturally as possible without too much interference. What to Know About The Best EMF Meters EMF readers are devices that let you know how much radiation you are being exposed to by measuring the amount of AC electromagnetic fields in a given area. While many effective models carry a smaller price tag, there are a few reasons why a more expensive meter could be worth the extra cash. The best emf meters are usually of a higher quality and last longer. They also tend to maintain their accuracy for a more extended period and offer more options regarding the measurement units. Most importantly, high-quality emf readers are more sensitive, meaning they will alert you at even the slightest hint of emf radiation. How EMF Protection Clothing Works For emf hypersensitive individuals, protective clothing against emf radiation may be necessary to live a productive and healthier life. Emf protection clothing works because it is constructed with anti-radiation fabric. The fabric protects you by absorbing or scattering the harmful protons as they pass through the clothing. Look for apparel that boasts silver, mylar, copper, and aluminum as the work well, are comfortable, and tend to be the most affordable. The Bottom Line Emf meters and emf protection clothing work well for keeping excessive radiation at bay; however, for those who are hypersensitive or particularly concerned about their exposure, you may need to consider changing your lifestyle. Limit your exposure to emf producing devices and appliances. Limit the time you spend using wi-fi in your home or eliminate wireless internet devices. Start small and determine what works best for you!

Every now and again there is a piece of good news regarding the survival of a particular species. Yesterday on the BBC news website was just such a story. It concerned the resurgence of barn owls (Tyto alba, Dansk: slørugle) in the Trossachs around Loch Lomond in Scotland. Watching barn owls silently quartering fields on a warm summers evening is a rare treat and getting rarer, so it was good to hear that in this area the numbers of field voles (Microtus agrestis) have rocketed by up to ten fold, which has led to a concommitant increase in the breeding success of the local barn owls. Paradoxically, the reason the vole population exploded was the long freezing winters we had last year and the year before, in which large numbers of barn owls perished, but the voles were able to avoid the worst of the cold and move around by tunnelling under the snow and thereby avoid detection by airborn predators. It was also interesting to read that the owls were maximising the benefit of the vole surplus by storing slaughtered prey in owl boxes, with up to 15 dead rodents in a single box. Hopefully vole numbers will continue to remain high and barn owl numbers can recover even further. If anyone has heard similar reports about barn owl numbers in other parts of the country please let me know.

We all know teachers aren’t exactly made of money, time, and, well… energy. Thankfully, these DIY (Do-It-Yourself) teacher hacks don’t require a whole lot of any of those! Here are a few tips to make your career a little bit easier. Teacher Hack #1: Dice I am always running out of dice, so I like to make my own! I go to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and buy these wooden blocks and a Sharpie. Then I just write whatever facts on them that I desire! It’s nice because then I can make fractions for comparing, adding, ordering, and multiplying. I can also create dice with operations, dice for decimals, etc. Teacher Hack #2: Whiteboards Continuing on my “trying to save money” trend, I make inexpensive whiteboards. I buy white card stock, sheet protectors, washcloths (buy a pack at the dollar store!), and Expo markers. I slide a white card stock sheet inside the sheet protector. Then I cut up a washcloth into four small pieces for erasers. (I’ve heard dryer sheets work well too!) What’s nice about this idea is that when you work with students you can easily pull these teacher hacks out and slide in a worksheet to practice on. I can’t tell you how many times I have only had one copy left, and this was a lifesaver! Teacher Hack #3: Barrel of Monkeys Game I love to monkey around! No, really, I do. I used to love that Barrel of Monkeys game! Do you remember that? Or am I showing my age? I just can’t let kids today not experience such an amazing game! So, to make sure they enjoy something way more exciting than any electronic app, I created this cute game. Just print out your desired words or numbers and glue to their belly. Then students play the game as it’s intended but looking for a match. For instance, you can glue multiplication problems on its belly (5×7) and the answer (35) on a different monkey’s belly. Students then look for the match and pick it up with the arms of the monkey only. You can use various parts of speech and have students only hook all verbs. The ideas are limitless and fun — it’s like several teacher hacks rolled into one! Teacher Hack #4: Name Display Just for fun, I created a name display for my door that I found on Pinterest. I don’t remember where I saw it or who did it (if it was you, please let me know so I can give you proper credit!). Either way, I loved it and decided to create it myself—with just a bit of a tweak! I bought a small 8×8 canvas and painted it pink (you guessed it — my favorite color!). I bought scrapbook solid colors and hole-punched 1-inch circles. These were then glued on randomly. Then I bought scrapbooking stickers to add the lettering, owls, and border. After decorating it my way, I added some ribbon to hang it. While these teacher hacks may not be the fanciest around, they’re certainly cute, inexpensive, and they get the job done! They are always a hit in my classroom, and I have no doubt they will be in yours too.

Guidelines devotional blogger, Darlene Sala, tells a story about a family who was involved in a serious automobile accident. The severity of the wreck completely totaled the car. It was amazing there were no fatalities. In fact, not one family member suffered any long terms injuries or effects from the accident. What they did next was unusual, but ingenious. So thankful that they lived through this harrowing ordeal that they took the mangled wreckage of the car and formed it into an art collage on their family room wall. When visitors asked about the unusual piece, it provides them an opportunity to express their thankfulness for God’s providential protection. In today’s Bible reading we read of Joshua leading Israel across the Jordan River into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Forty years of wilderness wanderings characterized by grumbling, rebellion, disobedience, defection, and death had now come to an end. 603,548 men of war perished in the wilderness. Only Caleb and Joshua of their generation survived. Every man and woman over 20 had died. Babies born during that era are now approaching 40. Now they’ve arrived to claim their God-ordained destiny. Just like when Israel left Egypt and the Red Sea parted, so did the water of the Jordan River. As the people began marching through on dry land imagine the anticipation. The excitement. The exhilaration. It would be a day they would never forget. So, to memorialize the occasion, God commanded 12 men, one from every tribe, to pick up a stone from the river bed and carry them across to where they would lodge. Joshua then explained why. “This may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever” (Josh. 4:6-7). In a similar way, we do the same thing today. Memorials of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln in Washington, D.C. call attention to our nation’s founders and its great leaders. Over 160 monuments, memorials, and statues in our nation’s capital remind us of our history. Where we came from. Who we are. And how we arrived here. Individually, we frame pictures of our family, make scrapbooks of important events, and collect souvenirs on our travels to remind us. When people ask us about them, it offers an opportunity to tell a story or honor a loved one. After my Mom died, I kept the last Bible she used on my desk as a reminder of who she was, what she taught me, and my spiritual heritage. When we began traveling, I gave it to Norma Jean to use so we would constantly have it before our eyes. I have in my office a little pocket New Testament that belonged to my Dad. He always liked to carry a Bible with him. I also have a Bible that belonged to my brother, Bill, that I pried out of the wreckage of the car in which he died in 1975. These Bibles, not only remind me of them but speak to my spiritual heritage. When we traveled to the Bible lands, two years ago, we picked up 5 stones from the little brook in the valley of Elah where David defeated Goliath. What a powerful reminder! Jesus set up a memorial with which we remember Him each Sunday. Think of the simplicity of unleavened bread and grape juice. And how often we explain why we partake of these elements and what they mean to us. There are people, events, and occasions, we should never forget. We possess gifts given to us from churches and brethren through the years where we’ve worked that are a reminder of our ministry and the fellowship we enjoyed. For years, I’ve hung pictures of my office walls of preachers who have mentored, inspired, and encouraged me. I actually have a rock with a message inscribed on it that sits of my desks that my wife gave me years ago which brings a smile to my face. What are your spiritual rocks? Do you have something visually that your children can ask, “What does this mean?” Something that you can remind them of God’s goodness. His protection. His providence. And His promises. Something that speaks to your spiritual heritage? Maybe you ought to slow down, reflect on your legacy and return to your “Jordan.” Get a “rock” that means something really important, so when future generations ask, “What do these stones mean?” You will have a story to tell. –Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

Roald Dahl was a spy, an ace fighter pilot, a chocolate historian and a medical inventor. He was also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, and a treasury of original, evergreen, and beloved childrens books. He remains for many the worlds No. 1 storyteller. Sitting in a hut at the bottom of his garden, surrounded by odd bits and pieces such as a suitcase (used as a footrest), his own hipbone (which he’d had replaced) and a heavy ball of metal foil (made from years’ worth of chocolate wrappers), Roald Dahl wrote some of the world’s best-loved stories. From Charlie Bucket and Mr. Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, to Fantastic Mr Fox to Danny, Champion of the World and The Twits, Roald Dahl created many unforgettable characters in his children’s novels, that continue to delight readers old and new.

Let’s begin by defining a breast cancer screening. A screening means that there are no issues with your breast and its purpose is to rule out any unknown problems. Now here are some common FAQs on breast cancer screening. A monthly breast self-exam is another tool women have in conjunction with annual mammograms to find cancers early and improve survival rates. You use your hands and eyes to detect any changes in the look and feel of your breasts. Not a replacement for annual mammograms, it is still valuable to be familiar with the normal consistencies of your breast. When cancer is detected early, the chances of survival are much improved. Let us go through how to perform a monthly breast exam. Could getting your COVID-19 vaccine affect the results of your mammogram? Maybe. A common side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine is swollen lymph nodes under the arm on the same side as the vaccine injection. Here are a few things to know about lymph node swelling, the COVID-19 vaccine, and timing of your mammogram. If you are approaching 40 years old, it is time to have your first mammogram screening. Some women become anxious and worry about all sorts of unknowns. We are here to tell you that sometimes anticipating something is worse than the actual event. So take heart and learn what you should know before your first mammogram.

Improve your toddler’s fine motor skills with this DIY Robot. It’s a versatile fine motor activities box, that’s easy to make, and costs around $2. Moreover, for everyone between 12 and 36 months is a great pal to play with. To see what fine motor activities can you do with the DIY robot, click here. Like Dr. Montessori once said, “The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” And those two perfect tools are what we want to train with our DIY robot. But first things first: What Are Fine Motor Skills? Here is one short, but clear fine motor skills definition: FMS are achieved when children learn to use their smaller muscles, like muscles in the hands, fingers, and wrists.Study.com However, I need always some time to realize definitions. So here are 15 good fine motor skills examples to get a better picture of what are fine motor skills exactly and how important they are: - Playing a musical instrument - Turning pages - Holding small items - Brushing your teeth, hair - Washing your hands with soap - Buttoning & zipping - Lacing shoes - Opening and closing bottles and containers with caps & lids - Opening and closing doors, locks etc. with keys Huh. Okay. Well, I think it’s pretty clear, that this is dexterity. And all these things are essential for everyone every day, if not every minute of our lives. We take them as given, not even as skills that we have developed a long long time ago. Thus, mastery of dexterity requires not only precision and coordination but also a great amount of concentration and practice. So here is where our DIY robot comes into action. With your toddler of course. DIY Robot from a small, used cardboard box, plastic bottlenecks and screws, a blackboard/ chalkboard sticker, magnetic pompons and crayons - 1 small cardboard box with opening or window (I used here one cardboard box from a 6 pack glasses from Ikea) - 3 bottlenecks with screws cut out from plastic bottles - Chalkboard sticker enough to cover the cardboard box - Optional: small magnetic board with 6 pom-poms - Small LED flashlight - Get your materials and tools together - Measure, cut and cover the cardboard box with the chalkboard sticker from all sides. - Place the cutout plastic bottlenecks where you want to have them and mark the spots to be cut out. I chose, for example, two bottlenecks for robot eyes and one bottleneck as a receiver. Later, those three bottlenecks transform at the same time to car wheels and a sirene of the car - Cut out the cardboard at the marked spots and push the bottlenecks through the cutouts. - Draw with a white crayon the robot's mouth and face, and with a black crayon the eyes on the plastic lids of the bottlenecks. He must look hungry! For the face design, I chose a car, because of our boy's obsession with cars . - Now draw on the sides white lines for the road. - For the backside, you have two options. Either you leave it empty, so your little one can draw shapes with chalk or crayons. - Or, you add a magnetic board for more fun toddler activities. I had a small metal board with 6 magnetic pompoms, that I stuck to the back of the DIY robot. Just cut out four lines of the chalkboard sticker and stick the metal board to the back. - That's it! - To turn it into a lamp, just put inside a small LED flashlight like this one. - If you want to change the eye color of the robot and respectively the lamp color, just use caps of other colors. OUR PLAY WITH THE DIY ROBOT Well, this is our robot Nr. 3. The first ones survived around 5-6 months before their cardboard shell gave up after several surgeries. Playing and practice with the robot is different depending on the age of the child. In the first days of its life, our 3rd robot was very hungry. Aiden fed him constantly throughout the day. Note, that this robot eats not only with its mouth but also with its eyes and antenna. Thus far, our robot ate so many cars, straws, pencils, crayons, pompons, cookies, and many other small objects, that every day, he needed surgery to get those out. One by one, with the precision of a surgeon, Aiden took all small objects through its mouth or eyes. Additionally, besides feeding and drawing, the pompoms magnetic board is a highlight. Summarizing, our robot had some serious makeovers, ate a lot and turned from time to time into a lamp. As you can see, it is one really versatile fine motor activity box, that’s easy to make and costs nothing but 15 minutes of your time. WHAT FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES CAN YOU DO WITH THE DIY ROBOT? What else besides drawing, screwing bottle caps, feeding the robot, can you do with this fine motor activity box. We share our favorite fine motor activities with our new environmental friendly pal.

JANUARY 23 — Genesis 24; Matthew 23; Nehemiah 13; Acts 23 THE LANGUAGE IN Matthew 23 is frankly shocking. Jesus repeatedly pronounces his “woe” on the Pharisees and teachers of the law, labeling them “hypocrites,” calling them “blind guides” and “blind fools,” likening them to “whitewashed tombs that “look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” They are “sons of hell,” a “brood of vipers.” What calls forth such intemperate language from the Lord Jesus? There are three primary characteristics in these people that arouse Jesus’ ire. The first is the loss of perspective that, with respect to the revelation of God, focuses on the minors and sacrifices the majors. They are ever so punctilious about tithing, even putting aside a tenth of the herbs grown in the garden, while somehow remaining unconcerned about the massive issues of “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (23:23). Jesus carefully says that he is not dismissing the relatively minor matters: his interlocutors should not neglect them, for these prescriptions were, after all, mandated by God. But to focus on them to the exclusion of the weightier matters is akin to straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. Similarly, carefully crafted rules about when it is important to tell the truth and when and how one can get away with a lie (23:16-22) not only overlook that truth-telling is of fundamental importance, but implicitly deny that this entire universe is God’s, and all our promises and pledges are before him. The second is love for the outward forms of religion with very little experience of a transformed nature. To be greeted as a religious teacher, to be honored by the community, to be thought holy and religious, while inwardly seething with greed, self-indulgence, bitterness, rivalry, and hate is profoundly evil (23:5-12, 25-32). The third damning indictment is that because they have a major teaching role, these leaders spread their poison and contaminate others, whether by precept or example. Not only do they fail to enter the kingdom themselves, they effectively close it down to others (23:13-15). How many evangelical leaders spend most of their energy on peripheral, inci- dental matters, and far too little on the massive issues of justice, mercy, and faithfulness—in our homes, our churches, the workplace, in all our relationships, in the nation? How many are more concerned to be thought wise and holy than to be wise and holy? How many therefore end up damning their hearers by their own bad example and by their drifting away from the Gospel and its entailments? Our only hope is in this Jesus who, though he denounces this appalling guilt with such fierceness, weeps over the city (Matt. 23:37-39; Luke 19:41-44). This reading is from For the Love of God, vol 1 by D.A. Carson. You can download the entire book as a free PDF here: For the Love of God, Vol 1.Alternatively, you can pick up a hard copy at the church or at your favorite book retailer.

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc About the Author Mark Hooten has been fascinated by horticulture since childhood, with interests including tropical fruits, cacti, ethnobotany, entheogens, and variegates. Having been employed in both FL and CA by botanical gardens and specialist nurseries as horticulturist, manager, propagator, and consultant, he is happy to speak with fellow plant worshipers at TopTropicals Nursery. Mark is currently busy writing a volume on the complicated history of croton varieties. His passions are plants, cats, and art of painting. Zephyranthes pulchella is a true rare plant collector item. Common names include - Fairy Lily, Zephyr Lily, Magic Lily, Atamasco Lily, Rain Lily... These wonderful little lilies came as a gift from a botanist studying the native plant life of Southern Texas nearly 30 years ago. Originally grown from seeds collected for a doctoral thesis, near the town of Refugio (along the Southern Texas Gulf Coast, just north of Corpus Christi), this brilliant, fetching tiny lily really deserves to be more well known. The thin, grass-like leaves grow from small onion-like bulbs that produce an abundance of shockingly bright cadmium-yellow flowers which greatly resemble those of certain yellow Crocus, except on longer stems. If given a good amount of actual sunlight during the day (all day if fine), these will flower sporadically yet frequently from April thru September. They never want to have dry soil, and will go temporarily dormant (leafless) in the winter if they dry out....which they do in habitat. However, here in So. Florida, when kept nicely watered and fed, they keep their super glossy leaves year around and are very robust. Flowering for at-least 6 months out of the year, this is a most charming, rare species. There is one caveat which goes along with this incredible species... it can be wonderful, depending upon a growers situation... which is that this species is "apomictic". This means that they produce seeds which do not require cross pollination, and technically are clones of each mother plant! Also meaning that EVERY flower will likely produce a small, 3-lobed seedpod, which will open to reveal a number of flat, black, papery seeds. The seeds are technically "recalcitrant", meaning that they are alive for a very brief period, probably only a day or two. So if not planted in moist soil almost immediately upon ripening, the seeds will simply dry-up and die. Yet if they fall onto moist soil around them, they likely will germinate. However, if a person wanted to create an entire bed of them given the right climate, it could be done in a short amount of time. That would be rewarding and beautiful!

Now we have been detecting gravitational waves since 2015, however there may be nonetheless far more to be taught. The Matter-wave Laser Interferometric Gravitation Antenna will use ultracold atoms to identify ripples in space-time at decrease frequencies than ever earlier than 31 December 2022 A brand new form of gravitational wave hunter is ready to begin up in 2023, and it may additionally assist in the seek for dark matter. Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time created by occasions akin to black holes colliding. They had been first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 and first detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) within the US in 2015, nearly a century later. Now, we’ve seen greater than 100 gravitational waves, advancing our understanding of black holes and neutron …

Once in a while, I run across a book that is so well-written and so riveting that I cannot put it down. I stayed up until nearly two in the morning to finish this book. Even though I knew the outcome of Gabriel’s uprising I recognize that this is historical fiction, but the events are thoroughly researched, and the author has included facsimiles of historical documents within the text. It, of course, is the story of the first well-organized slave rebellion in the US. The slaves, led by a blacksmith named Gabriel, modeled their revolt on the American revolution and the revolution in Haiti. They were trying to get their freedom and an equal voice. Even though they did not succeed, they did get the attention of many people in the US and thus the ultimate freedom of the slaves in America. I don’t often highly recommend books, but I honestly believe that this one should be required reading for all students of American history. I highly recommend it for the middle school and the high school library.

Flickering lights are a staple in horror stories and every ghost movie. “Whether it’s a movie cliche or in real life, there’s a reason why movies use flickering lights,” says one electrical professional. Flickering lights make us feel uncomfortable; even tense. “The real-life effects of light flicker can range from annoyance, distraction and discomfort, to headaches and even seizures,” he concluded. Invisible Flickering Lights Most homes are wired for alternating current (AC). AC can switch power back and forth, while DC (direct current) flows in one direction. DC lighting is sometimes called “low-voltage” lighting. The fact is, flickering lights occur in most artificial light sources. AC wiring is simply more energy efficient. In 2017, NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) established light-flicker guidelines. LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs have reduced light bulb flickers, but they can also flicker in a way we don’t see. This can impact productivity in offices and commercial businesses as well as negatively affect our health. When You See Lights Dim and Flicker Never ignore the dangers posed by dimming and/or flickering lights. They can cause shocks, electrocution, burns, or other injuries. When lights flicker, there might be sparking that could cause a catastrophic house fire. You’ll create an even bigger problem if you try to solve a flickering lights problem yourself. If there’s electrical damage resulting from a DIY (do-it-yourself) wiring fix, your insurance may not cover the expenses for loss and damages. If you have dimming or flickering lights, make note of: - Appearance – Is it barely noticeable or extremely annoying? - Consistency – Does it occur every time you plug in one particular appliance or happen occasionally with any appliance? - Frequency – Has it happened once or does it often occur? Here are 4 reasons your lights may dim or flicker: - Fluorescent bulbs – These will naturally flicker when “warming up.” - Loose bulbs – Flickering lights occur because of inconsistent electrical flow. This is a DIY fix. First, wait for the light bulb to cool, then check to ensure it’s tightly fitted into the socket. - Loose prongs – Sometimes the prongs are bent on an appliance’s plug-in. Unplug and try to straighten the prong(s). - Wrong bulb – If light fixture manufacturers recommend a particular type of light bulb, follow those recommendations. (Light flickers can also occur when the wrong bulb is used with a light-dimmer fixture.) Call your local Phoenix electrician if you see lights dim or flicker in your home or business. Causes can include: - Electrical panel problems – Your home’s circuit breaker is the most important safety device you have. If you suspect malfunctions, request service immediately. - Outdated/loose wiring – Seventy percent of home fires are caused by bad wiring. An electrical wiring inspection is a good idea, especially if you have an older home. - Overloaded circuit – If flickering happens often or lasts longer than a few seconds, it can be an electrical emergency. - Too-high voltage – If light bulbs don’t last as long as they should, that may be a clue your home’s voltage is too high or fluctuating. In addition to light dims and flickers, signs you have voltage issues can include: - Appliances keep tripping off. - Flickering/dimming continues after the appliance is turned off. - Flickering/dimming happens only when large appliances are turned on. - Light bulbs dim/flicker randomly. - Utility problem – If you’re not overusing electricity but several neighbors are, this can cause transformer problems. After your electric company restores service, you may need an electrical inspection to ensure no damage occurred at your end. Safety First: TIO Electric Our team of electrical professionals is dedicated to home and family safety for our Valley neighbors. If you experience dimming or flickering lights and are concerned that you may have a problem, we’re ready to answer your questions. Contact Turn It On Electric.

Printed circuit boards offer mechanical support for electronic components. They are held in place using conductive tracks or pads and wired, connecting them to form a complete circuit. The components are attached to a copper base held to the board by substrate layers that are non-conductors. PCBs are made differently based on their uses in applications such as the rigid or flexible PCB. Each type has distinct layers designed with high expertise to ensure they are correctly placed. We discuss the different forms of PCBs below. Different Forms of PCBs There are standard types of PCBs, but some companies provide customization sizes depending on your need. Whichever kind you choose, the layers are viewed using special tools like the Altium Gerber before they are ready for use. We categorize the PCBs based on the number of layers and rigidity. 1. Single-layer PCB Also known as single-sided, it has a straightforward manufacturing process, making it the most common type. It is made of copper, silkscreen, and solder mask materials. PCBs are known for their current transmission, which is facilitated by copper material. Copper is a good conductor of electricity hence a significant part of the board. During the design process, component marking is done, and silkscreen acts as the base. The solder mask prevents the PCB from oxidizing and stays in its original condition. Since the production cost of the single-layer PCB is low, manufacturers use it to produce objects like radios in bulk. 2. Double-layer PCB It is also referred to as a double-sided PCB, meaning it has three primary materials on either side: top and bottom. The materials are copper, solder mask, and silkscreen arranged in this order from the board outward. Wiring is done through the layers via a hole on the printed circuit board, but the electronic components are only connected to the copper layer. Some advantages of the double layer PCB are compact size and more flexibility than the single-layer PCB. 3. Multi-layer PCB This type of PCB has more than two layers meaning its material content is higher than the single and double-sided PCBs. During manufacturing, multiple layers with a similar function like conductive are placed on the board, matching those carrying out another function like insulation. The PCB has a complex design due to the multiple layers. It is used to develop large objects in complex applications like data storage, medicine, and GPS technology. 4. Flexible PCB Its number of layers varies depending on the type and consists of flexible material components. The materials, i.e., polyamide or polyester, allow it to bend and twist and take the base’s shape. Flexible PCBs are suitable for parts that require movement in different directions and come in handy in applications like electronics and automotive. 5. Rigid PCB The PCB also has multiple layers, but it cannot be twisted or bent. Its material contents make it firm and solid hence difficult to break and last for an extended period. A base is used during installation, and the PCB retains its shape. Rigid PCBs are ideal for computer parts, for example, the CPU. 6. Flex rigid PCB It’s an in-between of the rigid and flexible PCB. Its layers are both rigid and flexible, connected to form one board. Its mainly used in phones, cameras, and automobiles. The different forms of PCBs serve various purposes in applications. In most cases, the layers determine their use example, those with multiple layers are suitable for complex objects. Seek guidance from a design expert to know which type is perfect for your need and its advantages. Also, consider the production cost since it varies from one to another.

I often have conversations with people who are enthused about using gamification, or games, in learning. But just as often, they’re a little hazy on exactly how they can do this. People use the term ‘gamifying’ something to mean anything from adding points to creating a full-blown simulation game. The terminology can be confusing but I think it masks a simpler underlying principle. Games-based learning, in its broadest sense, is about looking at games and saying, ‘hey, when people play games, they engage really well and they learn–can we use that power to make learning better?’ When you put it like that, in very practical terms, there are four ways to do it. At the ‘slighter’, less obviously games-based end, you can take the principles and workings of games and build them into everyday learning, without actually playing a game. Or you can use an existing game, if you think it fits with the learning objectives. Or you can adapt one so that it does. Lastly, you could design a bespoke learning game. Use the principles of games to enhance learning Games are made up of all kinds of small elements. Obvious ones like points and levels and less obvious ones like choices and caretaking. If you take any of these individual ideas and design them into a learning activity that’s not itself a game, many people would call that gamification. The language app, Duolingo uses achievements, points and lives to motivate people to work through learning new words and grammar. Another way to design principles from games into learning experiences is to make learning activity-based. You could say this is just a kind of gamification – it’s taking something from games and using it outside games. But it’s possibly the core thing that makes games engaging – you’re playing them, you’re doing things. So, designing learning experiences where the learner does things rather than listens or watches is a great way to harness the power of games. The Transform Deck is a deck of cards I designed to inspire people to create more activity-based learning experiences. Yu-Kai Chou’s Octalysis Framework is full of ideas about what could be adapted for use outside games. Andrzej Marczewski’s gamification elements is another set of ideas. Using game principles is the lightest-touch of the four ways: you’re not actually playing a game. Find an existing game that fits your learning needs You could just use an existing game, if you want your learners to actually play rather than just experience the principles. But you need to find the right one. It could be a commercial game not designed specifically for learning. Like Escape the Boom, a simple game you play online and via mobile. Using limited information – one player can see the bomb, the other players the bomb-disposal manual – it explores communication barriers and teamwork. Or you could use a game designed for learning. Evivve is another online and mobile game where players work together to harvest resources from a sci-fi landscape, to save Earth from disaster. They need to communicate well, make a plan, divide responsibilities and overcome obstacles. It’s great for learning about teamwork, leadership, communication, delegation, and a bunch of other topics. There are plenty of other games out there that might be suitable for your learning objectives but the downside is that you won’t always be able to find one for every situation. Adapt a game so that it fits your learning needs Adapting an existing game is a way to broaden the range of games that might work for you. The board game Codenames is all about giving clues to link two or more words together. The original game uses pretty random words. But you can easily adapt it, especially in the online version, by switching out the default words for words that focus on your topic. The game then becomes a fun way to revise and review a topic: it forces players to think very carefully about the words, what they mean and their connection to each other. Or you can create even more involved adaptations. Splendor is another award-winning board game, about building up a store of gemstones, which you use to purchase even more valuable ones. Corrado de Sanctis of the Agile Games Factory has adapted this basic idea to focus on Agile concepts – so by implementing smaller Agile practices, you build towards being able to introduce more in-depth ones. The game, The Agile Mind, works in a similar way to Splendor but uses Agile in place of gemstones. This can be a more advanced and complex process than the earlier options but at the simple end, adapting a game can just be about briefing and debriefing it differently, or replacing words and images with more relevant ones. Create a bespoke learning game from scratch The most advanced option is to create a learning game from scratch. That way, you can focus it exactly on your learning objectives. This takes a lot of time and know-how, though. It can be a tricky problem to work out the best combination of game goals, rules and obstacles to get your players practising and exploring the skills you want. With Sarah Le-Fevre of Ludogogy, I designed a learning game called The Gift Horse. We wanted to explore how to inspire people about their personal development. The game we came up with uses a real-life animal as an inspiration. If you chose a tiger, you might ask: how would a tiger solve the issue I’m facing? This is a simple explanation – there’s more to it than that but it gets across the basic idea. Designing a game is also a longer process than the other options. The process of playtesting and balancing the game so that unexpected effects don’t get in the way can be lengthy and many iterations of design-playtest-redesign can be needed to get a game that’s really engaging and hits the learning objectives. Which of the above do you use, or could you use? I’d love to hear your ideas about how to use these four options. Is this something you’ve done? Or can you think of a way you’d like to use one of these? Let me know. Or, if you’d like to talk about how I could help you to implement one of the four, book in a chat.

To Wonder is to; think, connect, perceive, guess, enquire, respond, guide, answer, reflect, acknowledge, desire, see, be amazed, admire, be curious, ponder, be in awe, discover, make meaning, solve problems and learn. You get the idea! As a nature pedagog, I was afforded the opportunity to work with some dedicated Early Childhood Educators in childcare centres, reflecting on a nature pedagogy. The outdoor environment is as much the third teacher as the indoors and will often be perceived as simply fresh air and gross motor play. It is so much more than that! It is the ultimate in Loose Parts/Intelligent materials that are brought to the outdoor space or discovered. Sometimes a simple provocation will spark the most magical conversation or witness the most profound engagement with wonder! Wonder is a dandelion seed head ready to blow away, a sunflower begging to be investigated, a piece of bark ladened with insects or a crack in the sidewalk bursting with natures garden. The wonder of nature is the greatest down low, where the grown-up misses and the small child discovers! Do we take these precious moments and make time to wonder and grow? Do we document how the learning is happening? Do we wonder what the child is wondering? As elementary school educators ready themselves to receive their students they build environments, create activities, guide thinking, and link student learning to all aspects of the curriculum. The curriculum becomes the driving force behind facilitation and the expectations of program. Educators are held accountable for facilitating learning and have been guided in practice on best delivery for students. This is their training. Though I wonder…… Should we reflect on our own preconceived ideas of learning and wonder? How could self-determined learning connect to the curriculum? Could we, should we wonder what the child is thinking, what language they might use to communicate their knowledge and how they might extend their own learning? Do we see what the child sees…….. and wonder? Do we make enough time for wonder? Shouldn’t we? Do we employ the pedagogy of listening, (C.Rinaldi)? What do you wonder about? Gail Molenaar- BA, RECE Wander,Be Wild and Always Wonder Self-Regulation Consultant and Nature Practitioner

It can take years to master the welding profession. Only constant practice can guarantee you a new level of skill. You can do it by using simple, time-tested tips. Below are a few ideas, especially for beginners, to make their welding training more quick and simple. Change the Puddle The welding puddle forms as a result of melting of welded products and filler materials (electrodes). During the welding process, the welding arc moves along the joined parts, constantly forming a welding puddle. Accordingly, the shape and dimensions of the welding bath determine the shape and size of welds. Therefore, it determines the performance characteristics of the resulting welded joints. Pay Attention To The Good Storage Of Tools The basis of TIG welding is the purity of rods and the surface material to create a solid weld. It is a common way of storing filler rods in PVC coated pipes. Sometimes colored covers can also help to distinguish which type of electrode is located when the pipes are moving. Define the Right Travel Speed The travel speed is set depending on the current, electrode diameter, melting speed, seam type, and other factors. If the welding speed is too high, the welded rollers are narrow, with a small convexity, with large flakes. Contrariwise, if the speed of the electrode is too slow, the welded roller is too convex, the seam is uneven in shape, with an influx of edges. Calibrate Amperage And Electrode Size It is better to start learning to weld with an electrode of a diameter of 2.5 – 3mm. These are the most common electrodes in the “domestic” environment. Thinner electrodes are used to weld very thin metal. In this case, it is better to use semi-automatic welders with gas blowing off the welding place. The industries rarely use electrodes of 4 – 5 mm. And for welding, they require a powerful power grid which is not always available in the countryside. Optimize Your Workspace It is generally known that welding is a physically demanding job. That’s why it is so important to organize the workspace properly to avoid injury. First of all, it is necessary to find a stable and convenient working position in which you can stay for a while. It is also possible to use hills to bring your work up to your level so that you can easily access it. Sharp movements can cause muscles strain, so it is important to take breaks during work and not to overexert yourself.

#MeToo: A Visual Dialogue, with works by six artists: Jane Deschner, Angie Froke, John Garre, Traci Isaly, Tandy Riddle and Cathryn Reitler. Over a decade ago, Tarana Burke created the “Me Too” movement to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. The movement was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano in the fall of 2017 when she encouraged women to tweet it to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” Since then, the hashtag has spread virally and the phrase has been posted online millions of times, often with an accompanying personal story of sexual harassment or assault. In this exhibit voices will be heard through images. What began as a relatively straight-forward movement in which newly empowered women were outing men, #MeToo has come to involve all genders as it looks at the prevalence of the abuse of power in the context of gender, class and race. To what extent can our voices come together and work toward a collective truth and toward a holistic approach to health in community? The hope is to create an exchange of telling and listening that is helpful in the move toward awareness, change, healing and prevention.

Where We Are Now Suddenly it appears that water is the topic of study by numerous governmental bodies here in Napa. That would seem to imply that people want water security. We certainly agree with that premise. When you look at it, no other factor will have such a profound influence on what our lives look like in the coming years. Yes, climate change is important, and it is especially so on how it will influence our water supplies. Let’s Take a Look at the Studies Underway In 2014 the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act became law. The legislative intent is to provide for sustainable management of groundwater basins, enhance local management of groundwater, and establish minimum standards for sustainable groundwater management. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has asked Napa County to come up with a plan for water sustainability in the Napa subbasin, which has the highest priority. In late December 2019, the Board of Supervisors declared themselves the Napa County Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GWSA) and just this past week selected 25 members of the community to sit on a groundwater advisory committee. This committee has two years to develop a plan to ensure the sustainability of our groundwater supplies. In Addition, A Task Force Formed In September 2019 a group of water managers from the county and the municipalities also formed a task force to prepare for and respond to drought. This collaborative planning group will develop the following: Drought Contingency Plans: How will we recognize the next drought in the early stages? How will drought affect us? How can we protect ourselves from the next drought? Drought Resiliency Projects: Drought Resiliency is defined as the capacity of a region to cope with and respond to drought. The US Bureau of Reclamation provides grant assistance for drought resiliency projects identified in a DCP. The area that they will study is larger than the study area of the GWSA as it will encompass the following critical sources and users: • The Napa River watershed which drains into the northern edge of San Pablo Bay and includes an area of 430 square miles • Urban and residential areas, extensive vineyards and agriculture, and diverse environmental habitats • Water users in the area rely on a mixture of water supplies that include local surface water, imported surface water, groundwater, and recycled water. Let’s Focus on That Last Paragraph that Describes From Where We Get our Water If you live in the municipalities your water comes from reservoirs (surface water) and from the State via the North Bay Aqueduct (imported surface water). In fact, more than half of Napa City’s water comes from the state. If you live in rural Napa County your water likely comes from a well (groundwater). Agriculture uses groundwater and some surface water from the Napa River. The county has reserved the groundwater for agriculture as stated in the General Plan Goal CON-Reg 11: “Prioritize the use of available groundwater for agricultural and rural residential uses rather than for urbanized areas and ensure that land-use decisions recognize the long-term availability and value of water resources in Napa County.” The Problems and The Big Questions The big issue is how much water will be available for use by residences, industrial, agricultural, and environmental uses in the coming years? The state has issued numerous reports on water security i.e., “Safeguarding California Implementation Action Plans 2016” to ensure that people and communities are able to withstand the impacts of climate disruption: • Loss of snow-pack storage may reduce the reliability of surface water supplies and result in greater demand on other sources of supply”. • “As climate change reduces water supplies and increases water demands (as a result of higher temperatures), additional stresses are being placed on the Delta and other estuaries along the California coastline.” • “Each local water agency will have to contend with impacts to their local watershed, as well as upstream and downstream watersheds that influence local water supply or water quality constraints.” With 80% of Napa residents living in the cities, what is the master plan to supply them with water when the state water project is no longer able to deliver and the reservoirs are compromised by drought and/or polluting runoff? The Problem We Collectively Must Solve How much water from all sources will be available and who gets to have it? We can study this to death; we can hire consultant engineering firms and pay them to develop numerous scenarios but we think we all truly know that the earth is warming, fire dangers are increasing, the weather is changing dramatically and therefore we ought to focus on planning for the worst-case. In 2017 Napa Vision 2050 stated in a letter to the DWR that if all users of water in Napa County were to need to rely solely upon the groundwater we would be in an unsustainable situation. We still believe this to be the case. Going Forward: A Clear, Consolidated Approach vs a Fractured System Within the past month, LAFCO (our Local Agency Formation Commission*) issued a most comprehensive report, “Napa Countywide Water and Wastewater Municipal Services Review” (May 18, 2020). The report thoroughly covers the history and operation of the many water service providers with recommendations regarding their administration and operation. It is of great significance that this report introduced the concept of a county water agency and/or a county water district. Benefits to forming such a county water district include: • Efficient use of the County’s water resources • Enhanced water resource management • Solidarity amongst Napa water purveyors with greater leveraging power • Greater scrutiny of all utility providers • Enhanced technical and operational support for local providers • Elimination of redundancies and duplication of efforts amongst the smaller systems • Improved economies of scale.

Data scientific disciplines and business analysis both focus on gathering and examining data. Nevertheless , there are particular differences among these two areas. Traditionally, both disciplines have got focused on fixing problems. But the advent of Big Info has changed the way both disciplines operate. Employing both info science and business evaluation, an organization can easily improve it is features and streamline its surgical procedures. Data can be used for a various purposes, such as optimizing customer care, marketing stations, and supply chains. Data can also be intended for predictive building. Machine learning algorithms could actually help create marketing plans and sales expansion plans. The between data science and business analysis is that business analysts work more from a business perspective, when data researchers look at the tendencies that drive business. While the two are required to produce critical decisions in a business, they change in the way they will approach their particular duties. Data scientists are more likely to be mathematicians https://datatechtonics.com/2021/07/05/generated-post-2 and statisticians. The specialized knowledge is used to remove insights by massive info dumps. Then they use these types of to develop methods. This allows those to transform tender data in to meaningful silos. Ultimately, they decide how to work with the ideas to drive alter. Business Experts, on the other hand, use applications and tools. They may have strong communication abilities, organizational expertise, and a technical degree. And they need to have extensive practice in algorithms and coding. For instance , a business analyst should know using Python, NumPy, and Sci-kit-learn.

Who was Walter Elias Disney (Walt Disney)? Information about Walt Disney life, biography, works, movies and cinema career. Walt Disney; (1901-1966), American motion picture animator and producer, who created the world-famous cartoon character Mickey Mouse. Walter Flias Disney was born in Chicago, 111., on Dec. 5, 1901. He began producing advertising films in Kansas City, Mo., in 1919, and then turned to animation, but with only limited success. He moved to Hollywood, Calif., where he and his brother Roy became partners. Their first two films featuring Mickey Mouse were silent, and the partners were unable to get them released commercially, but when Disney added a sound track to Steamboat Willie (1928), Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney became internationally famous. Winner of a record 30 Academy Awards, Disney made not only cartoon shorts, such as the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Silly Symphony series, but also animated feature films, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and including Pinocchio (1938), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). When the cost of making animated features became prohibitive, he began to make such “true-life adventures” as Seal Island (1948), Beaver Valley (1950), Nature’s Half Acre (1951), and The Living Desert (1953). Later, he made live-action family films, including Davy Crockett (1955) and Mary Poppins (1965). Disney introduced a new method for synchronizing sound with animation and was the first to use the three-color process (in Fun and Fancy Free, 1932). He produced the first fea-ture-length animated picture (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and the first television series in color (Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, beginning 1961). Disney also launched Disneyland, a gigantic and lavish amusement park in Anaheim, Calif., in 1955. He died in Los Angeles on Dec. 15, 1966. DISNEYLAND, is an elaborate amusement park for adults and children in Anaheim, Calif. It was built by film producer Walt Disney and associates and opened on July 15, 1955. At the entrance is Main Street, U. S. A., modeled after an American town of the 1890’s. The four main amusement areas are Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. A hotel, restaurants, and a parking lot are provided for the several million visitors that Disneyland attracts each year. Construction was begun in 1967 by Walt Disney Productions on an East Coast counterpart of Disneyland. Located near Orlando, Fla., the new amusement complex opened in 1971 as Walt Disney World.

Written by Ahmad Naily, Marketing Executive WHAT IS ACNE? Acne is a skin condition that occurs when your hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. It often causes whiteheads, blackheads or pimples, and usually appears on the face, forehead, chest, upper back and shoulders. Acne is most common among teenagers, though it affects people of all ages. Effective treatments are available, but acne can be persistent. The pimples and bumps heal slowly, and when one begins to go away, others seem to crop up. WHAT ARE SYMPTOMS OF ACNE? The symptoms of acne are: - Persistent, recurrent red spots or swelling on the skin, generally known as pimples; the swelling may become inflamed and fill with pus. They typically appear on the face, chest, shoulders, neck, or upper portion of the back. - Dark spots with open pores at the centre (blackheads) - Tiny white bumps under the skin that have no obvious opening (whiteheads) - Red swellings or lumps (known as papules) that are visibly filled with pus - Nodules or lumps under the skin that are inflamed, fluid-filled, and often tender; these nodules may become as large as an inch across. WHAT CAUSE ACNE? Acne occurs when the pores of your skin become blocked with oil, dead skin, or bacteria. Each pore of your skin is the opening to a follicle. The follicle is made up of a hair and a sebaceous (oil) gland. The oil gland releases sebum (oil), which travels up the hair, out of the pore, and onto your skin. The sebum keeps your skin lubricated and soft. One or more problems in this lubrication process can cause acne. It can occur when: - too much oil is produced by your follicles - dead skin cells accumulate in your pores - bacteria build up in your pores These problems contribute to the development of pimples. A pimple appears when bacteria grows in a clogged pore and the oil is unable to escape. 4 STEP SKIN CARE ROUTINE FOR ACNE Step 1: Cleanse Gently but Well Using only your fingertips or a soft washcloth, thoroughly cleanse your face, including your jawline, neck, and in front of and behind the ears. Make sure you’re using the right cleanser for your skin. Pick one that contains either salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. If you’re currently using prescription acne medications, you’ll need a gentle, non-medicated cleanser instead. If you wear face makeup, or if your skin gets extra dirty or sweaty during the day (like if you play on a sports team or after you work out) do a double wash at night: cleanse, rinse well, and repeat. Step 2: Use Toner or Astringent Depending on the ingredients they contain, astringents or toners can help remove excess oil, tone, and hydrate, or help fight blackheads and blemishes. Apply toner to a cotton ball or pad and gently smooth over the face and neck to help remove any leftover makeup, cleanser residue, and oil. Astringents are designed to remove excess oil from the skin so, obviously, they are best for oily skin types. Also, pay attention to the alcohol content in the product because alcohol can be drying and irritating, especially for sensitive skin types. Alcohol-free products are the best choices if your skin is dry, or irritated by acne treatments. Step 3: Apply Your Acne Treatment Medications After your toner has dried completely, or after you’ve washed and thoroughly dried your face, smooth on your acne treatment creams as directed. This could be a medication prescribed by your doctor, or an over-the-counter acne gel or cream. Let the medication absorb or dry completely before proceeding to the next step. Need help choosing an acne treatment medication? Give your dermatologist or family physician a call. Step 4: Apply an Oil-Free Moisturizeror Gel Acne medications can dry out skin, leaving it thirsty for moisture. To reduce dry and peeling skin, apply a light moisturizer twice daily. Your moisturizer doesn’t have to leave you feeling slick and greasy. Moisturizing gels and lotions are generally lighter than creams. Either way, choose one that is labelled oil-free and noncomedogenic. Treating acne requires patience and perseverance. Any of the treatments listed above may take two or three months to start working. Unless there are side effects such as excessive dryness or allergy, it is important to give each regimen or drug enough time to work before giving up on it and moving on to other methods. Using modern methods, doctors can help clear up the skin of just about everyone. - what is acne; https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acne/symptoms-causes/syc-20368047 - what are the symptoms of acne; WebMD Medical Reference; Reviewed by; Debra Jaliman; MD on May 17, 2019; https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/acne/understanding-acne-symptoms - what cause acne; https://www.healthline.com/health/skin/acne - 4 step skin care routine for acne; by Angela Palmer; updated on November 27, 2018 https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-create-the-perfect-skin-care-routine-15658

Sunglasses are so cool! Back to school, summer, or five senses are a great time to talk about sunglasses and how they protect our eyes! Take it a step further and incorporate them into your learning centers with this set of Sunglasses Addition Puzzles! Your students are going to love these. Sunglasses addition puzzles covers the numbers 1-20 with two pieces for each puzzle. It is recommended that you print the puzzles on cardstock and laminate so you can truly make this an interactive center and also so it can last for years to come. Using addition puzzles like these in your classroom is a fun way to include the summer or vision theme in learning. Using Sunglasses Addition Puzzles Students will pick a puzzle of their choice and then find the corresponding pieces for that puzzle. This student is working on the number 10. They will then look for the correct numbers that add up to the number on the sunglasses. Incorporate number writing practice by having your students trace of the numbers as well. Once they have completed the two parts of the puzzle, they can then select another puzzle to complete. Download Your Sunglasses Addition Puzzles Below! Can you not find a resource that you would LOVE to have for your classroom? Contact me and I would be happy to make it for you. Click the picture below to download. You will immediately be redirected to the freebie printable math worksheets. Use these in any classroom or simply as fun review for your kids during spring or summer. If you choose to laminate as suggested above, they are easy to store and use over and over again! I hope that you and your students enjoy Sunglasses Addition Puzzles! If you enjoy my freebies and want the opportunity get them all (without having to sign up individually), then I would invite you to check out my Endless Freebie Bundle! Purchase on A Dab of Glue Will Do

Ten fun facts about Namibia for a fun Namibian safari.jpg Fact number 1 - Namibia is home to the world’s oldest desert Namib Desert Namibia Safari Shifting sand dunes, gravel plains, and rugged mountains make up this extremely arid ecoregion. The Namib Desert, the world's oldest desert, has been around for at least 55 million years, devoid of surface water but bisected by many dry riverbeds. A few ungulates, such as Hartmann's zebras, live in these vegetated riverbeds. Scenic photo of dunes in the Namib Desert, Namibia The south of the desert is very dry, with no dry riverbeds; the gemsbok is the only large mammal that can survive in this harsh climate. An interesting fact about Namibia is that the thick fogs are common along the coast, and they are the desert's lifeblood, providing enough moisture for a variety of interesting, well-adapted animal species to thrive. Fact number 2 - Namibia has 30 languages that are spoken in the country Himba culture of namibia Another fact about Namibia is that it has a remarkable diversity of spoken languages: about 30 overall. More than 11 languages are native to Namibia, but with its cosmopolitan culture, languages from all across the world are spoken in Namibia. In fact, English is the official language, but Namibia's comparatively small population is actually extremely diverse in language and culture. Traditional Herero Woman in Namiba Namibia has a population of close to 2.4 million, and the citizens speak up to 30 languages. The most popular of these is Oshiwambo. English is the recognized official language of Namibia. In fact, Portuguese was spoken by 4–5 percent of the total population. The most common spoken languages used in households are Oshiwambo dialects, 49 per cent of the population are Khoekhoegowab 11 per cent, Afrikaans 10 per cent, RuKwangali 9 per cent and Otjiherero 9 per cent. Fact number 3 - Namibia has some of the highest sand dunes in the world Sossusvlei Climbing Namibia Adventure Big Daddy is the highest dune in the area of Sossusvlei. This colossal dune is found between Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, and the other dunes dwarf at 325 meters. If you want the ultimate bragging rights, take a lot of water and hike to the top of Big Daddy where you can look down onto Deadvlei. Dunes in Namibia Big Daddy may be the highest dune in the Sossusvlei region at 325 meters, but it is not the highest in the Namib Desert. In fact, This honour is bestowed on Dune 7, which was measured at 388m. Dune 7 received its name by being the 7th dune on the Tsauchab River. Fact number 4 - World’s most extensive meteorite shower The Gibeon meteorite shower is the largest known meteorite shower on Earth, covering a wide elliptical area of some 275 by 100 kilometres, centred on Brukkaros south of Mariental. Namibia Capital City Windhoek Most of the pieces fell just southeast of Gibeon. To date, some 120 specimens with a weight of almost 25 tons have been recorded. In fact in Namibia, an unknown number have been collected but never recorded. The Gibeon meteorite shower occurred in prehistoric times in central Namibia. Remains from this meteorite shower are exhibited at Windhoek, Namibia's capital city. Fact number 5 - Namibia has one of the largest concentrations of rock art in Africa San Rock art in namibia The first known inhabitants of Namibia are the San (Bushmen) who belong to the Khoesan people. These hunter-gatherers – like the Ju/'Hoansi, Kxoe and the Kung – have travelled across the vast plains of Southern Africa for thousands of years until migrants armed with arms looking for new land to graze their animals and plant their food, driving them further and further east into the Kalahari Desert. The San have resided in Namibia for more than 6,000 years, and there is more than enough rock art to confirm this. Fact number 6 - Namibia has the largest population of free-roaming cheetahs in the world Cheetah Conservation in Namibia At the Cheetah Conservation in Namibia, you can run across one of the 3,000 or so free-roaming cheetahs in the country. Fact number 7 - Namibia is also home to the second-largest canyon in the world Fish river canyon Namibia adventure | Credit: Getaway Magazine The Fish River Canyon , located close to the border with South Africa, is also the oldest in the world. Researchers have determined that the canyon was formed at least 500 million years ago through water and wind erosion, coupled with the collapse of the valley floor. Fact number 8 - The most fascinating Namibia Tribes Himba Woman in Kunene Namibia The Himba tribe in the Kunene region of the country have strongly clung to their traditional ways and beliefs. They wear traditional clothes, eat traditional foods and even practice traditional religions. The women wear skirts and leave their upper body bare. Basically, they have been unaffected by modernism in any way. Fact number 9 - The Skeleton Coast is the world’s biggest gravesite for sailors and ships Skeleton Coast Namibia Travel A large number of sailors have died at this coast in Namibia, given the dense fog and the violent storms in the area. In the 1940s, a slate was discovered along with human skeletons. The slate was written by a survivor and directed anyone who found it north. Unfortunately, the wreck had happened close to a century earlier. Fact number 10 - The Namibian dollar is used interchangeably with the South African Rand Added: 2022-08-03 18:59

NATURAL COMPOUND FROM AROMATIC PLANTS AND USAGE AS BIOACTIVITY PRODUCTS IN IRAN Global Conference on NURSING AND HEALTHCARE March 27-28, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands Mohmmad Bagher Rezaee Research Institute Forests and Rangelands, Iran Posters & Accepted Abstracts : J Prim Care Gen Pract Botanicals and herbal preparations for medicinal usage contain various types of bioactive compounds. The benefits of aromatic plants extract, or essential oils have been used in remedy purposes since ancient time. Natural products provide unlimited opportunities for contain various types of bioactive compounds and new drug, because of the chemical diversity interest particularly in aromatic plants, usage and diamonds of different herbs has grown throughout the world. The Persian physician Avicenna (980 - 1,037 AD) that is being credited with perfecting the distillation process of essential oils found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers of plants. It gives plants their distinctive smells and provides plants with protection against disease. Iran also is very famous in producing essential oil and water extraction from national plants spatially Rosa damacena and menthe spp. All essential oil Samples were analysed by GC and GC/MS. The main constituents of oil extracted traditionally, samples were extracted by two hydro distillation method which designed by authors in Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands. were analayz and find it citronellol, cis-p-menth -2-en-1-ol and geraniol in Rosa damecena. These compounds and others are very popular in producing drug and effects as anti-cancer, anti-bacterial out of that and we should take care of over doses or toxicology. Iran, on herbal played a key role in connecting various cultures and civilizations. Ethno-herbal and phyto- chemical dates back to a long time ago and a number of writings regarding this issue are left by great physicians e.g. Avicenna and Rhazes. The focus of this paper is on the analytical methodologies, which include the extraction, isolation and characterization of active ingredients in herbal preparations.

It took the Winchester Arms Company a year to begin offering their popular Model 1886 lever-action rifle in the .50-110 chambering. And for 30 more years, Winchester produced a limited number of rifles in this impressive caliber. The Big Fifty was Winchester's attempt to match several British express rifle loads intended for taking big African game. It had a factory 300-grain bullet pushed by smokeless powder at over 2,200 feet per second at the muzzle. Nevertheless, the .50-110 cartridge lingered in domestic production until 1935. It was one of the last of the "half-inch" loads harkening back to the days of buffalo hunting on the Great Plains, but only a small fraction of the nearly 160,000 Model 1886 rifles made were .50-cal. guns.

MATLAB: Introduction to Programming for Behavioral Research Assignment Help MATLAB: Introduction to Programming for Behavioral Research Assignment Help By Online Tutoring and Guided Sessions from AssignmentHelp.Net This subject will introduce students to the basics of the MATLAB user interface and programming language, for the purpose of using MATLAB to conduct behavioural research. The curriculum includes learning about MATLAB syntax, general programming concepts such as functions, loops, and conditional statements, and how to analyze and visualize data in MATLAB. It also includes programming psychology experiments with the Psychophysics toolbox (a set of MATLAB functions), including displaying stimuli (visual and auditory), and collecting responses from participants. Many students face the problem while solving difficult homework in the evening. Many students face the problem of having difficulty in understanding tough concepts taught in the class. www.assignmenthelp.net provides solution to all such difficulties faced by school and college students. Assignmenthelp.net is an online tutoring website designed to provide tutoring help to school and college students. We provide online homework help, Assignment Help, project help, dissertation help and any other kind of tutoring assistance. Our expert professional tutors with masters and PHD degrees provide help using latest advanced technologies to help a student gain maximum interest in the subject. Psychology students can get MATLAB for behavioural research Assignment Help or MATLAB for behavioural research homework help. To get psychology homework help or Psychology Assignment Help all a student needs to do is to register at our website, pay a nominal fee and submit the assignment along with the deadline. As soon as we get the assignment we appoint our expert professional tutors on the task of completing the assignment within the given deadline. The assignment is only handed over to student after careful thorough verification. Contact us via phone, chat or email. We are available 24*7. Use our services to achieve very good grades in your academics.

Most of us know how important reading aloud is, but what’s surprising is how many parents just don’t do it. Perhaps most parents assume teachers at school will read aloud in class and that will be enough. However, after reading The Read Aloud Handbook by read aloud expert Jim Trelease, I realized how important it is to read aloud as much as possible. Trelease offers personal stories and advice that I found extremely insightful. His perspective on reading aloud shows how easy it is to do and the significant impact it has on children. In fact, there’s an entire day (February 1st) dedicated annually to reading aloud. Reading for Pleasure One of the most meaningful gifts you can give a child is to nurture a love of reading for pleasure. Even pediatricians prescribe books. A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics found, “...new evidence that book-sharing in early childhood may promote brain development supporting reading readiness.” In fact, it starts simply with having books around for easy access at home and in the classroom. It makes sense that children who have more accessibility to books, are more likely to utilize books for entertainment. The more a child reads, the more likely he/she will enjoy reading, thus improving reading proficiency and core reading skills (minus the worksheets and comprehension quizzes). In my research, I found that most people describe the origins of their love for books similarly: it transports them to another world. We need to make sure that books are in the hands of children, not for the purpose of gathering data or improving standardized test scores, but for sheer enjoyment. Not only will their love of reading evolve naturally, so will their proficiency in basic language skills like speaking, reading, and writing. In addition, books feed into children’s imagination and creativity, enriching their world view. Reading at Home Although it’s common for teachers to read out loud at school, can you really read enough? August House CEO, Steve Floyd, recalls reading to his young sons everyday when he got home from work, “I was fortunate to spend this very special time reading to my boys, but little did I know that I was also helping them activate their brains or that they were practicing pre-language skills that would prove so valuable later as they learned to read.” It might seem like a chore to read to your child everyday, especially after work, preparing dinner, cleaning up, etc., but reading aloud benefits both you and your child. Consider reading aloud a chance to unwind and bond with your children, all while mentally stimulating cognitive skills and improving their language skills (sounds like a win-win). Trelease explains the simplicity of reading aloud, “You don’t need a degree or forty hours of free time to effectively discuss a book with your child.” You also “don’t need 200 books in your home library to make an impact on children.” One book can actually have a life-long impact on a child. I still think back fondly on my childhood favorites like Eloise or Ramona and Beezus. Reading aloud is something everyone can do with their children. It only takes a couple minutes, and you don’t have to break the bank buying every trending or award-winning book as soon as they're released. Remember, children’s books are “evergreen,” and I’ve found amazing books of great quality at the Goodwill store. Or, make a weekly field trip by visiting your closest library branch. Books are just the first step in developing a child’s mind. As children get older, it’s important to expose them to different genres and formats of reading. Trelease recommends incorporating series into their reading list. Young readers will build strong relationships with the characters (think: Harry Potter, Curious George or Magic Treehouse). Series lend themselves to encourage reading and moving on to the next adventure. With each book, readers are enticed to continue reading. Not only does reading aloud improve comprehension and literacy, it also offers families an inexpensive way to take a mental vacation from the stress of daily routine or a healthy escape from dealing with problems. Even Jim Trelease relates the way that reading aloud helped him combat his hyperactivity as a child. As parents, older siblings, friends and relatives, it is our responsibility to give children the basic tools they need to succeed in life. As Trelease concludes, “Giving phonics lessons to kids who don’t have any print in their lives is like giving an oar to a person who doesn’t have a boat - they won’t get very far.”

What does the treatment involve? It involves encouraging the drainage of intraocular liquid (aqueous humour), since high intraocular pressure is the most common cause associated with the onset of glaucomatous damage. When is this treatment indicated? You must bear in mind that childhood glaucoma treatment is mainly surgery. Medical treatment is reserved to cases that are not fully developed and/or as preparation prior to short-term surgery. How is it performed? There are different techniques: - Angle closue surgery: goniotomy, trabeculotomy, canaloplasty. - Filtration surgery: trabeculectomy, trabeculostomy, non perforating surgery. - Drainage mechanisms (tubes): the most commonly used are the Ahmed valve and the non-valved Baerveldt valve. - Cyclodestructive procedures: conventional laser diode and MP3 probe. - MIGS (Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery). The use of each of these techniques will depend on the type of glaucoma, the age of onset, and the characteristics of the eye (particularly the condition of the cornea, the existence (or lack thereof) of eye pathologies. Any surgical technique used on children must be performed under general anaesthesia. The results depend on each of the different techniques applied, as well as the characteristics of the eye and the age of the children at the time of the diagnosis. Angular surgery (goniotomy, trabeculectomy, canaloplasty) must be performed, if possible, as a matter of principle and, filtration surgery (trabeculectomy and trabeculostomy) must be reserved to cases where the condition of the cornea prohibits it, or when angular surgery has proven insufficient for the evolutionary control of glaucoma. The rate of success of goniotomy and trabeculectomy is 75-90%. The technique used in filtration surgery has a lower rate of sucess because of high healing tendency of children, which means the technique may be less effective over the short and long term. Drainage mechanisms usually have a high rate of success, but they are not exempt from preoperative complications attributable to possible eye decompression. The child's eyeball has special anatomical and histological characteristics that condition the outcome, which means it is fundamental that the technique modifications are made to the technique compared to the technique applied to adults. Professionals who perform this treatment Frequently asked questions Does this intervention mean that I'll no longer have to use drugs to control my intraocular pressure? The objective of glaucoma surgery is to control intraocular pressure using the different forms of draining aqueous humour. Any procedure may lose efficacy over time, and in many cases medical treatment may act as a complement to surgery in order to control the disease. What is the difference between congenital and childhood glaucoma? Under the term childhood glaucoma, we find different types of glaucoma, both primary (an eye condition causing glaucoma) and secondary (to other pathologies or contiguous causes). Congenital glaucoma would be a type of primary childhood glaucoma, with 3 subtypes based on the age of onset: —neonatal: ( 0-1 month) —childhood: 1-month- 24 months —late: > 24 months From a surgical point of view, this means that congenital glaucoma has the same therapeutic plan as childhood glaucoma.

Nano-Si can be produced by two ways. One method is based on Magnesiothermic Reduction of Rice Husks, as a by-product from the production of rice that is abundant all over the world. This method is able to produce nano-Si with the exact ability to revert and conductivity as conventional silicon. Nano-Si is a high-performance material with a high surface activity along with high purity. It is also non-toxic and has high surface area. It is used in high power lighting sources. These devices utilize a small amount of nano-Si in order to create light. Nano-Si particles are tiny, less than 5 nanometers in size. Silicon nanoparticles can also be produced through chemical vapor deposition or grinding mechanically. The nanoparticles of silicon are also manufactured by plasma evaporation as well as condensation. In the western world nano-Si is made industrially through specialized companies. Some of these companies include Chemicalbook from Japan, DuPont of the United States, H.C. Stark of Germany and Tekner out of Canada. These companies make nano-Si with high purity and different particle sizes. Nano-Si is an interconnected network of crystalline silicon nanoparticles. The network is visible with HRTEM. The nanoparticles are 8-10 nm in diameter. However, larger particles are distributed in the smallest amount. The large porosity of nanosilicon powder is due to the precise etching and etching of particles. Also, it contains NaCl, a solvent that stops localized melting of the material. Nano silica fume , a mineral having a larger surface. It has greater amorphous silica concentration than quartz powder, which influences both chemical and physical Reactivity. It has a greater pozzolanic activity indicator than quartz which is 330 times higher than that of the pozzolan. This is due to the differences in the proportion and amount of aluminum oxide present within silica fume and quartz. Nano silica fume is utilized to enhance the mechanical properties of concrete. It can increase the strength of concrete via thickening the paste and speeds up the hydration process. It also enhances the properties of concrete, which includes the compressive and flexural strengths. The proportion of silica fume in concrete mixes will determine the split tensile strength as well as compressive strength. The application of nano-silica-fume for concrete has already been investigated to be used in various ways. It can be utilized as a concrete additive that helps enhance construction strength, and it can be catalyst for the production of other materials. It's been used to make high-performance polymers, as well as abrasives. It can also be used in the fabrication of ceramics. Nano-silica can come from several sources, including fly ash , and silica fume. Nano silica is essentially a fine powder. A recent study has demonstrated that it is possible for an ultra-pure nano silica particle through an alkaline extraction procedure. This is a different approach to the usual method of decomposing RHA in oxidizing environments, with high energy inputs. This new method involves acid precipitation and extraction of alkaline. It is a material made up of nanoparticles with different sizes, shapes and orientations. It comes in dry and colloidal forms. While colloidal nanoparticles are able to form an emulsion, dried nanoparticles can behave differently. High-purity nano silica powder is made from agricultural byproducts like rice husk. It is a green source, and has a substantial silica content. The process is also cost-effective and reliable. In order to make spherical silicon nanowires the process is new and has been devised. It makes use of high-energy electrons disintegrate silane gas and then release silicon atoms. This results in a silicon-based nanoparticle that can range from 20 to 80 nanometers in diameter. Researchers hope to apply the technology to other materials as well. There are two key processes to make nanoparticles from porous silicon. Electrochemical etching as well as ultrasonication. Porous Si is the first material used in hybrid preparations since it's quite simple for creating a nanocrystalline films. After a thin layer this film is formed there are various methods used, like ultrasonics can be used to break it down into smaller nanoparticles. This process starts by heating the raw powder by a thermal plasma at high temperatures. Plasma jets with high energy produce small silicon nuclei in the form of vapors, which are removed from the outer cover of the chamber as well as an inner surface of the reaction tube. Silicon nanomaterials are studied using field emission scan electron microscopy. Images processing programs are employed to determine their size. The resultant product is determined by X-ray diffractometry. Nanoparticles are small particles that could pose a threat to health of humans and other organisms. While numerous studies have been performed on the impact of nanoparticles on humans, it's still unclear whether the same risk is applicable on other types of species. In particular, studies by human subjects have proven that exposures to nanoparticles may increase chances of developing cardiovascular diseases, inhalation injury, as well as olfactory epithelium damage. Although nanoparticles are biocompatible and are utilized in numerous biomedical research, there are some concerns about their toxic effects. The amount of toxicity can differ based on the dosage and the place of deposition. Research is underway to be aware of the mechanisms that cause toxicology and determine the ideal concentration for human consumption. Nanoparticles hold enormous potential in the medical field. They can serve as drugs transport vehicles, contrast agents, or fluorescent markers. Nanoparticles are distinguished by their one dimension that ranges from 1 to 100 nanometers. Because of their small dimensions, they are able to penetrate cell membranes and stabilize proteins. Nanoparticles also escape out of lysosomes in the process of endocytosis. There are a variety of factors that determine the efficiency that nanosilica fume can provide as an appropriate nanotechnology material. The first is that the particles are extremely small and about 95% of them are smaller than one mm. Also, its physical properties are very good, which make it a great choice for nanotechnology. This material is a premium gray or white hue, and is made up of pure silica in a non-crystalline state. It is easily recognized because of its Xray diffraction capabilities. Nano silica flour is a extremely fine powder and its use is varied. It is a product of silicon smelting and is one of the pozzolanic Amorphous materials with an average particle size of 150 nm. It is used in high-performance concrete as well as in other products needing a material with high performance. It is often confused with fumed silica. However, both are distinct. In the initial study researchers discovered the nano silica fume enhanced the strength of concrete's compressive force. Particularly it was found in concretes with a high volume of fly ash. Concretes that contain fly ash had higher early age strength as well as it increased the compressive strength for 28 days. Silica fume is used in the production of a variety of concretes. It has a high level of resistance to acids, alkalis as well as other chemical agents. However, it comes with some drawbacks. It is firstly, it's hard to place and compact. Additionally, silica fume can increase its water content in the concrete mix. In addition, silica-fume cement requires a plasticizer which makes it costly. Silica fume can be found in a variety of construction of buildings, and particularly high-rise structures. The tiny particles of silica provide greater cement bonding strength, that improves the mechanical properties of concrete. It is also utilized in marine structureslike ships, and offers greater in resistance against chlorine. Nano silica can offer many advantages and benefits, such as speeding up setting as well as improving the concrete's mechanical properties. It improves the durability of concrete and the water hydration. This can lower the construction cost. It can also assist in reducing bleeding and speed up development. Silica fume can be described as a form made up of microsilica. It is utilized to create concrete. The use of nanosilica in concrete helps reduce the amount of recyclable material. However, numerous research studies have proved that nano-silica has negative impacts on human health. There are no currently proven alternatives to nanosilica in concrete or mortar. Although SF and NS usage is increasing exponentially, there is significant concern about their environmental and health risk. Furthermore, leakage into groundwater could pose serious security hazards. In reality crystallized silica dust is known to have been connected to Silicosis the potentially fatal lung disease. However the amorphous silica fume, however, does not have this risk. Nanosilica and Microsilica share the same behavior in pozzolanics. Nanosilica however has a smaller particle size as well as a larger surface area. Therefore, it will react with cement more rapidly. is committed to the advancement of technology and applications of nanotechnology and also to new material industries having extensive experience in nano-technology research and development and application of materials, is an industry leader in the supply and manufacture of chemical substances. If you need information about nanomaterials price or need to know about new materials industry Please feel free to contact us. Send us an email at [email protected] at any time. Nano silica powder Supplier TRUNNANO (aka. Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd. is an industry leader in the supply and manufacture of chemicals. Their experience spans more than twelve years. experience in producing high-quality chemicals along with expertise in the field of Nanomaterials. The company is currently working on various substances. Our company manufactures Nano silicon powder that has very high purity, fine particle size as well as low levels of impurity. Contact us by email at [email protected] as well select the product that you want to inquire about. In international trade, the indirect and local inspection of import and export commodities is closely related to the vital interests of buyers and sellers, as it involves inspection rights, inspection agencies and related claims.… According to reports, a few days ago, a case about the alleged abuse of animals in livestock transportation ended in the captain's conviction, and the shipowner and the beneficiary cargo owner were not criminally punished.… FCL by sea is similar to LCL LCL, except that the FCL is self-picked up to the factory to compete for logistics warehouse packing, while LCL is to row the goods to the designated assembly yard competition warehouse, and the assembly yard will pick up…

In addition to making the world sick, the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically illustrated the high costs of the global supply chain. For 40 years, economists have promoted globalization based on supply chains that rely heavily on cheap nonunion Chinese labor — working without adequate safety or environmental protection — to assemble sophisticated parts from around the world that are made into final products and then reshipped largely to consumers in rich countries. This was said to be an ideal international division of labor that optimized returns to all participants. Usually unmentioned was the boost this supply chain model gave to corporate profits. As Stewart Paterson, author of “China Trade and Power,” notes: “This was the largest labor arbitrage in the history of economics.” In addition to benefiting from cheap labor, companies such as Apple, General Electric, and Cisco were awarded subsidies and tax breaks by Beijing. Now, however, the hidden costs of globalization are becoming apparent. One is US dependence on China for critical pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, such as face masks and other personal protective equipment. The New York Times reported that while China makes half the world’s medical masks, it has refused to export them and is buying more on the world markets. China has since signaled to the Trump administration its willingness to provide PPE. India, another major supplier of key pharmaceuticals and PPE, has just imposed a ban on exporting many of them. The hidden cost of this high dependence on the global supply chain for medical items alone is enormous and multiplied by the thousands of other key products and technologies for which the United States is also dependent on China. Nor did American workers mostly move into equivalent or higher-paying jobs as the result of globalization. Rather, as MIT economist David Autor and his colleagues have noted, most of the 2 million to 2.4 million American workers displaced by globalization either did not get jobs or got lower-paying jobs. Moreover, those workers who kept their jobs did not see their income rise in step with rising overall US productivity. The gap between rich, middle class, and poor widened dramatically, creating large welfare problems. Also uncounted has been the cost of the supply chain in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The Environment and Energy Study Institute estimates that air and sea freight account for 4 to 5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, China’s factories emit far more pollution than those of the United States. Thus, China produces half the world’s steel in plants that emit 25 percent more gases than American or European factories. Ironically, the United States, Europe, and Japan are contributing to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions by sourcing products from China. Recently, overseas assembly operations have become automated, thereby canceling out most of the original labor cost advantage. With costs being similar worldwide, as well as the environmental cost and the uncertainty of having a single-supply location, there is no longer a strong argument for depending on far-flung centers for supplies. Indeed, the argument is now swinging in the opposite direction because of the dynamics of innovation, which occurs most often in environments containing a variety of skills and industries. People with widely different skills run into each other and produce more innovation than those isolated in monocultures. Thus, the global supply chain based on China has tended to generate innovation there while retarding it elsewhere. That the China-centered global supply chain is no longer appropriate (if it ever was) has recently been demonstrated by the multinational toolmaker Stanley Black and Decker. It shifted production of its Craftsman tools from China back to Fort Worth, Texas, a year ago. It reports no increase in costs and much less impact from the coronavirus than would have been the case if it had remained in China. Video editing equipment maker Avid Technologies moved operations from China to Mexico about a year ago and reports a 1 percent boost in profit margins. As he wrestled with the Great Depression in 1933, economist John Maynard Keynes argued that ideas and arts should be international, but added: “Let the goods be homespun.” Stanley Black and Decker CEO John Loree agrees. “We have a philosophy of ‘make where you sell.’” Clyde Prestowitz served as vice chairman of President Clinton’s Commission on Trade and Investment in Asia, and as a US trade negotiator with China, Japan, Korea, and the EU. Jeff Ferry is chief economist of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Have a point of view about this? Write a letter to the editor; we’ll publish a select few. (We’re experimenting with alternatives to the comment section for creating online conversation at Globe Opinion over the next month; you can let us know what you think of our experiments here.)

Bank Voles are easily confused with Field Voles. They are larger than Field Voles, measuring about 13 to 17 cm long. They have small eyes, small ears and a blunt snout. Adult Bank Voles have a rich chestnut-brown back compared to the grey-brown fur of the Field Vole. They also have a much longer tail than the Field Vole. Bank Voles prefer deciduous woodland, but use many other habitats including gardens as long as there is thick ground cover. They nest in underground burrows. Bank Voles generally forage during dawn and dusk. They eat berries, seeds, leaves and some insects, and though they are mostly found on the ground, they will climb for hedgerow fruits. They breed between March and October, having 5-6 litters with 4-5 young in each. The breeding period sometimes extends into the winter if there is enough food. Scotland's winter visitors: why and how do they migrate? From geese and swans to thrushes and warblers, discover the secrets of our winter birds' migration. Avian influenza - the disease, its impacts and our work From symptoms and outbreaks to impacts and mitigation, learn more about avian flu and our dedication to tackling it.

Cannabis Chemistry - What is HHC?Another synthetic cannabinoid is creating waves in non-legal states, but what is it and what are the risks? Another trendy way to capitalize on the hazy regulations regarding hemp cannabinoids, Hexahydrocannabinol, or HHC, has taken over the conversation. While HHC may be a fun way to access cannabinoids in dry markets, consumers need to know if it is safe and how to source it safely. Where Did HHC First Appear? Who Made it? Surprisingly, HHC was first reported in 1940s Chicago. Professor Roger Adam's laboratory found that HHC is a potential byproduct of the conversion of THC to CBN. CBN results from THCa, the acidic form of THC, aging into CBNa. Thirty years later, Raphael Mechoulam got involved. His contribution to the conversation was finding that there were two forms of HHC, an alpha and a beta version. The beta was found to be more potent, which he hypothesized was due to its 3D shape. The acidic cannabinoids are the precursor of their complete form. As HHC appears during THCa denigration, it does occur as part of the natural life cycle of cannabis. However, like many phytocannabinoids, it exists in trace amounts in unmanipulated cannabis plants. In the commercial market, producers employ chemists to synthesize the compound through hydrogenation, a process used to break crude oil into diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel in the petrol industry. To create HHC, hydrogenation machines add hydrogen atoms to THC isomers, the most famous being delta-9-THC. Here is the greatest danger of HHC, as large-scale production poses a risk of explosion. Safe practices ensure that such an event does not occur, such as grounding machinery, so that sparks do not escape into the material. Why the Explosive Popularity of the Compound? The most prominent reason is marketing. These lab-produced cannabinoids made from CBD promise a "legal high" in states where regulated cannabis isn't available. In a non-scientific, social media poll, the most common answer to why people consume these products is simply because it's legal. By default, most consumers believe that these legal products are safe and thoroughly tested. In other words, by taking advantage of the consumer's lack of education regarding these products, companies are capitalizing on America's demand to get high in places where the cannabis plant isn't yet legal. Additionally, many of these products continue to proliferate false narratives and misinformation by marketing these products as "All-Natural" and "Hemp-Derived," although they are anything but. As CBD falls in price, cultivators need something to do with their legal hemp stores. Originally, the most popular option was to convert their CBD-rich flower into Delta-8-THC extract as the compound was in demand and debatably legal. Now that many markets are cracking down on that compound, HHC is another way to turn rotting hemp into valuable material. While this gives many farmers a lucky break, a legal backlash is looming. Chemists will continue to create alternative cannabinoids that bypass legislative efforts to ban them. HHC is psychoactive but considered weaker than delta-8-THC, a compound considered about half as potent as delta-9-THC. There have been no conclusive studies to prove any medical efficacy. With proper regulation, HHC products would be produced by reputable labs, with mandated testing requirements and available at dispensaries. As we've seen with other lab-made cannabinoids, potency testing and labeling are rarely trustworthy, and many products are testing hot for carcinogens and toxins. Farmers should have alternative options to sell their hemp as CBD wanes in popularity and price. However, unregulated markets are mostly, if not entirely hostile to the industry. Without oversight, producers can sell anything to the public, thus causing health issues and risking the government targeting the entire cannabis industry as a result. A few bad reports regarding Vitamin E Acetate in vape carts brought cannabis into the mainstream, and with little to no positive coverage to gain from it. Irresponsible HHC production poses the same risk to the industry. Should Consumers Trust HHC Products? As with many other crazes in the cannabis world, the consumer must practice discretion when purchasing HHC. Delta 9 THC may be federally illegal, but in the legal markets, it is incredibly regulated. State legislation ensures cultivation standards, production regulations, and testing mandates that protect the buyer from potential hazards. Delta 8, Delta 10, HHC, and even CBD products, are unregulated. Without oversight, there's no promise these products are reputable or legitimate. Labs results can be bought or even altered, making it incredibly difficult to know the actual quality, potency, or contaminant levels. That's not to say there are no trustworthy producers, but it may be challenging to sort the good from the bad. Also, the most significant risk of HHC is the chance of explosion with high production volume. Proper safety measures, such as grounding the equipment to ensure no risk of static discharge, also protect producers from that risk. Of course, enforcing these safety measures only comes with greater regulation and oversight. Will HHC eclipse the traditional cannabis market? Doubtful. But it is entirely plausible that it will compete with delta 8 THC. As with other designer cannabinoids, HHC will likely face legislation that will cripple its development as a commercial product. While it's creating a stir in many dry states, the question becomes, as access to legal cannabis continues to expand, will HHC and other lab-made synthetics have a market?

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NSCAM). This month was created by the US government to provide Americans with the information and resources they need to stay safe online. At Golden Frog we are committed to online privacy and security, and we wanted to join the effort by sharing some tips for staying safe & being aware online: - Always use https when browsing online. Make sure to connect via https (as opposed to http) to ensure your connection is secure. Learn more. - Be wary of public Wi-Fi. Oftentimes these connections are insecure, and by connecting you leave yourself vulnerable to snoops. Learn more. - Use a VPN. A VPN encrypts your Internet connection to protect your privacy and security while you browse and communicate online. Learn more. - Support encryption and use devices and services that are encrypted. Encryption is one of the very best ways to remain secure when communicating online. Learn more. - Utilize two factor authentication. Two factor authentication requires you to enter two sets of credentials when logging in to an account, providing an added level of security. Learn more. - Visit the official National Cyber Security Month Website to learn more! Visit the site now. Get Involved in National Cyber Security Awareness Month Follow #cyberaware on Twitter to see tips that other organizations are sharing – and join the conversation yourself! Tell us how you stay cyber aware in the comments below, or ask us any questions you have about privacy and security online.

What is secondary research? 11/10/20 / Caitlin McAteer In the blog The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Research, market researcher Gigi Devault discusses the different types of research conducted within the field of Market Research. Here, she explains that in primary research, methods such as focus groups, surveys, and interviews are used to better understand a specific question as it relates to a company or organization. Rather than collecting data directly, secondary research aims to answer a question by understanding and applying results of previously completed studies. One significant benefit of primary research is that results are specifically related to the institution in question. With secondary research, the results are not specific to the organization or company and must be interpreted. Although the applicability of research findings through primary research can be enticing, cost is a significant reason why organizations may choose to only conduct secondary research or to use it as a precursor to primary research. This helps to ensure money is well invested and an issue is partially understood prior to methodology design. To maximize research dollars, a program or organization may choose to only conduct secondary research to learn about an issue and how other entities are addressing it. Alternatively, they can conduct secondary research to understand the issue and its context in a broad sense. While the first approach uses secondary research only, the second uses it to guide efforts in primary research to ensure the findings are useful and tailored to a specific situation. Regardless of whether you are only conducting secondary research or are using it in tandem with primary research, the same stages apply: For a detailed explanation of the first four stages, we suggest you visit the Oxbridge Essay Blog on secondary research steps. Step two includes locating relevant data or sources to the specific question or problem you are aiming to understand. If you’d like to ensure that your review of sources includes the most recent and up-to-date data sources as well as perspectives from a wide group of people, you can extend your source list beyond a review of published books and peer-reviewed articles to also include data such as case studies, interviews, newspaper articles, reports of government entities, and more. The fifth step in secondary research as detailed in the above graphic is to interpret what sources may mean or how they collectively inform your research question. This stage is not part of the Oxbridge framework, but an essential step in secondary research conducted at Corona Insights. At Corona, we often aim to understand what the sources of information say as a collective whole as well as how to apply this information to the specific context of our research question or problem in mind. The goal in doing so is to extend the findings to understand not just what each source says, but how that information collectively can paint a more complete picture. By interpreting information that already exists, we can cut down on the costs of research, understand a situation, problem, or question from multiple perspectives, and use a more complete story to inform tailored, specific, attainable, and relevant solutions or answers.

What Does Plasma-Transferred Arc Welding (PTA Welding) Mean? Plasma-transferred arc (PTA) welding is a thermal process for applying wear- and corrosion-resistant layers on surfaces of metallic materials. It is a versatile method of depositing high-quality metallurgically fused deposits on relatively low-cost surfaces. The PTA process is used in instances of extreme demands on wear resistance. It is applied to various components in a variety of industries, such as: - Oil & gas - Used to combat wear, erosion, abrasion and corrosion - Automobiles - Used for hardfacing engine valves - Power generation - Used for high-pressure steam turbine nozzles and induced-draft fan blades Corrosionpedia Explains Plasma-Transferred Arc Welding (PTA Welding) The plasma-transferred arc welding process provides a high-strength metallurgical bond, which is formed between the superalloy coating overlay and the underlying component, ensuring that the coating does not become compromised even under the highest of stresses. Soft alloys, medium- and high-hardness materials, and carbide composites can be deposited on a variety of substrates to achieve diverse properties such as: - Mechanical strength - Wear and corrosion resistance The high-energy plasma arc melts the surface of the base material. At the same time, the powdery filler material is inserted into the arc and is molten. During solidification, a substance-to-substance bond between the filler material and the base material is created. PTA welding has several significant advantages over traditional welding processes. The PTA method of welding takes advantage of the ability to control the shape and direction of the plasma plume used in all methods of electric arc welding. Other key points include: - PTA is a high-energy, low-heat, inert gas welding process. - PTA provides minimal dilution and high resistance to chipping because of its dense metallurgical structure, free of voids, oxide films, and discontinuities. - Used on parts subject to corrosion, thermal shock, severe abrasion, slurry erosion, or extreme impact forces to increase component life. Benefits of plasma-transferred arc welding include: - High productivity - High quality of powder deposits - Significantly lower cost for hardfacing Thus, many surface properties needed for special applications can be economically produced by PTA welding. Applications of PTA welding include: - Downhole drilling tools - High-wear piping components / slurry transport - Ground engagement equipment for oil sands / mining industries - Breaker screens - Valve components - Areas where traditional wire-based overlays such as chromium carbide are not providing significant wear life

Updated: Apr 8, 2020 You hear so many different things about nuts and seeds that sometimes it makes your head spin! One second, they’re the ultimate in nutrition and just a handful a day can improve your life for the better! The next second, you find that you’re worried about their presence as you do your best to keep your oral health in immaculate shape. Then, you’re right back to hearing that almonds are amazing for your smile because they are high in calcium! Good news: While this topic can be cause for confusion, it’s also one our Columbia, TN team can sort out faster than you can say pumpkin seeds! They’re Healthy, So Why Are They A Problem? You are correct in your assertion that nuts and seed are little tiny superfoods that provide you with quite a wallop of nutrition. However, many nuts and seeds are very hard, which means they can be quite hard on your teeth and other oral structures. If you consume them with reckless abandon, then you may end up with oral health concerns. Over time, using your smile to nibble open seeds can erode your tissue. Chewing your way through tough nuts or seeds may strain your jaw joints, contributing to TMJ problems. You may even break a tooth on a hard nut. It’s all about making mindful choices. How Did I Break A Tooth? Maybe you usually avoid hard nuts and you have been as mindful as you can about seeds. You know that you should be careful by removing the shell ahead of time and by selecting foods that aren’t too difficult to break down. So, how could you possibly end up cracking a tooth? Here’s another reason nuts and seeds are problematic for your oral health: Sometimes, they’re hidden. Our quick reminder is to remember to check pastries, breads, salads, and more! When you know what you’re biting into, you’re protecting your teeth. What Do I Do About This Stuck Seed? Whether you meant to eat a particular seed or a piece of a nut was hiding in your brownie, one thing is for sure: They can very easily slip between two teeth, where they become stuck. To begin, you are more than welcome to try to dislodge it by rinsing with water, brushing, and flossing. Though, keep in mind, if these efforts do not succeed, come in. It’s safer for your oral health to allow us to remove it than for you to force it! Come To Us For Any Dental Care Need Whether you have questions about nutrition, how to protect your smile, or you need help with something stuck between two teeth, remember that comprehensive dental care means we are here for it all! To learn more, or to schedule an appointment, call Creekside Family Dental Care in Columbia, TN, today at (931) 388–3384.

New Mexico could play role in saving jaguars from extinction, petition says There is only one jaguar living in the U.S., scientists believe, in Arizona, and New Mexico could be part of the species’ restoration to its historical range in the American West. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opted to remove New Mexico lands from an area designated as critical habitat for jaguars, which were listed as endangered 1972, shrinking its habitat to be used for reintroduction by about 59,000 acres in the state’s southwest bootheel region. This included areas in the San Luis and Peloncillo mountain ranges which run into southeast Arizona where the Service maintained its habitat designation for the species. This was in response to a decision filed in 2021 by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Mexico District Court following a lawsuit by agricultural trade groups the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association and the New Mexico Federal Lands Council. But in a petition filed Dec. 12, the Center for Biological Diversity the group argued both states were needed for reintroducing jaguars in the U.S. and seeing its population increase to avoid extinction. The Center argued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, despite listing the species for federal protections 50 years ago, so far failed to adequately protect the species from extinction. Jaguars are known to dwell in northwest Mexico, the petition read, but lack genetic diversity and are impeded by climate change. Expanding their range in the U.S. and reintroducing the cats would help restore its population, argued the petition. “Restoring the jaguar to a small part of its historic range in the U.S. would enrich our southwestern ecosystems, genetically bolster jaguars in Mexico, and show that we love life on earth, even in its fiercest manifestations,” said Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity. Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico was proven to have ideal jaguar habitat, the petition argued, and would be suitable for reintroduction with abundant deer, elk and javelina the cat could prey upon. Robinson pointed to reintroduction programs that proved successful in Argentina, involving a public planning process to include local communities and stakeholders. He said a return of the jaguar’s presence in the U.S. would benefit the broader ecosystem, as the species already supported the evolution of prey. He pointed to the mule deer which Robinson said developed ears that can swivel to detect the camouflaged predator. “Because all life is connected in ways that humans only partly understand, I truly believe that jaguar reintroduction will benefit the long-term sustainability of all living beings in the Southwest,” Robinson said. The petition called for the federal government or restore critical habitat designations in New Mexico and add lands in the region for a total area of about 14.6 million acres used for restoring the species in four areas between the two states. Connecting the protected lands in New Mexico and Arizona along the international border and reintroducing jaguars there would allow known populations in Mexico to travel north and breed to increase genetic diversity, the petition argued. That would entail introducing jaguars to habitat along New Mexico’s western border to Arizona in an area within Gila National Forest north of Silver City, the petition read, along with smaller areas in New Mexico’s southwest corner. The petition also sought to add lands in Arizona to the east of Phoenix and in the mountains to the north around Flagstaff and Prescott. Evidence of jaguars in North America dated back to some of the continent’s earliest indigenous peoples, the petition read, and the animal’s place in spiritual teachings of Pueblo peoples in northern New Mexico, Navajo tribes and the Apache. “Pueblo peoples throughout northern New Mexico and Arizona regarded the jaguar as one of several supernatural avatars who served as mentors in hunting,” the petition read. It was in the early 20th Century when the U.S. government began killing jaguars to protect local livestock production, hindering its survival and evolution. That was a wrong the Center argued must be rectified by designating lands in the U.S. for the jaguar to thrive and reintroducing them. “Notwithstanding the government’s deplorable consistency in hindering jaguar conservation, the passage of laws and their enforcement has led policies and practices regarding jaguars to evolve,” read the petition. And despite its listing under the Endangered Species Act, and the federal government setting aside about 764,000 acres for habitat in 2014, the jaguar still struggled to grow in numbers, the petition read, and stronger action was needed. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can do far better,” read the petition. “The geography, history, and biology pertaining to the jaguar, as well as the law, argue for a new approach to jaguar conservation.” In a statement following the court decision to remove New Mexico lands from jaguar habitat, former New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau Chief Executive Officer Chad Smith said the species' survival in the U.S. was unrealistic and efforts to restore its numbers would only add regulatory burden to the livestock industry. “This is a species that is heavily reliant on different climates other than the arid southwest,” he said. “We’re not opposed to conservation by any means. We’re an important part of that, but we also have to be smart about it.” Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

Tidal power converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power Tidal power (hydropower) converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power (mainly electricity). Description of the Process Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power - mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design (e.g. dynamic tidal power, tidal lagoons) and turbine technology (e.g. new axial turbines, cross flow turbines), indicate that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and that economic and environmental costs may be brought down to competitive levels.

According to the study conducted by the organization, due to modern technology, farmer increased debt burden due to the increased cost of the farming. In order to overcome this situation, the Organization started the Low Cost Farming Project to solve this problems - Due to the successful experiments of organic farming in the Deendayal Prabodhini, it is possible to get more crops of cotton, wheat, tour, soybean etc. - Participation of 2900 farmers from 165 villages under Low Cost farming Project - Due to low cost farming, 6 village have completely organic farming - In the Yavatmal district, research document is available on the basis of Agrarian crisis.

Medical Dictionary: Molluscum contagiosum Molluscum contagiosum is a relatively common viral infection of the skin that results in round, firm, painless bumps ranging in size from a pinhead to a pencil eraser. If the bumps are scratched or injured, the infection can spread to surrounding skin. Though most common in children, molluscum contagiosum can affect adults as well, particularly those with weakened immune systems. Molluscum contagiosum spreads through direct person-to-person contact and through contact with contaminated objects. The bumps charistically have a small indentation or dot at the center and may be itchy. The bumps usually appear on the face, neck, armpits, arms and tops of the hands in children, but may be seen on the genitals, lower abdomen and inner upper thighs in adults if the infection was sexually transmitted. The bumps associated with molluscum contagiosum usually disappear within a year without treatment but doctor-assisted removal is also an option. Source: Mayo Clinic

Data Mining and Automation IPPON is a self-contemplating semantic search engine that can analyze any type of data; automatically detecting hidden mathematical equations and statistical relationships. IPPON automatically activate libraries of mathematical and statistical formulas (EUREQA, MATLAB, EXCEL, SPSS); identify mathematical and statistical formulas which could describe the underlying mechanisms that produced the data and distills scientific and economic laws from raw data. IPPON is an invaluable tool for revealing complicated laws that have eluded scientists, economists and executives. It searches within a data set for numbers that seem connected to each other, and then propose a series of equations to describe the links. Some equations invariably fail, but some are slightly less wrong than others. The best are selected and again tested against the data. IPPON repeats the cycle over and over, until it finds equations that work. If there is not enough data to enable IPPON to find equations, it identifies the gaps in the data and recommends experiments or economists to supply the missing data. IPPON understand rejects and messages from any application and act accordingly like a human being. IPPON is an autodidact agent. IPPON imitate and learn human behavior and allow users to automate virtually any task on any application. IPPON can learn by himself by reading, indexing and understanding texts. For every specific process the "teacher" can added recording macros and scripts to handle exceptions. He can also define the relationships between the objects in IPPON vocabulary.

Things You'll Need Green construction paper Container with pebbles or sand Paper palm trees are perfect for decorating a tropical themed party or classroom event. They're fun to make, and a good project for kids to help with, too. You could even make them with a Sunday school class for Palm Sunday. And it's amazing how realistic these palm trees look. You may be tempted to spread out a beach towel and lay under them. Video of the Day You'll need cardboard tubes to make a paper palm tree. The extra long kind that come with wrapping paper work the best, but you can also tape together shorter tubes, such as paper towel tubes or even toilet paper tubes. Please see the last slide for an itemized list of tools and materials. Put enough cardboard tubes together, end to end, to make the trunk of the palm tree. Tape the ends of the cardboard tubes together with duck tape. Tear pieces of brown paper wide enough to wrap around the tubes with the edges overlapping slightly. (You may want to cut apart paper grocery bags to help make your paper palm tree a "green" project by reusing materials.) Then squeeze the pieces of brown paper to wrinkle them. The wrinkled brown paper will give it a more real look. Wrap pieces of brown paper around the tubes, holding them in place with rubber bands, and overlapping them slightly so that the cardboard tubes are completely covered. The rubber bands also do double duty as the rings on the tree trunk. Peel back the brown paper at random points to get the look of peeling bark. Cut about eight large leaf shapes from green construction paper. Fold the leaves in half lengthwise. Crease the leaves and then unfold them. Cut deep slits in the sides of the leaves to make them look like palm fronds, without cutting all the way through the leaves. Take four of the eight leaves and face them in different directions, and staple the leaves together at the base. Repeat with the other four leaves. Place the two stapled leaf sections in the top of the trunk, and secure them by squeezing a balled up piece of brown paper between them so they don't fall out. Unfold and spread the leaves so they fall in different directions around the trunk. To make the paper palm tree stand up, fill a bucket or large plant container with sand or pebbles. Insert the bottom of the cardboard trunk into the container. Try placing two or three palm trees of different heights in the same container. To make this project even more eco-friendly, paint newspapers with green tempera paint and cut leaf shapes out of them.

Since the middle of the 20th Century yield design approaches have been identified with the lower and upper bound theorem of limit analysis theory – a theory associated with perfect plasticity. This theory is very restrictive regarding the applicability of yield design approaches, which have been used for centuries for the stability of civil engineering structures. This book presents a theory of yield design within the original “equilibrium/resistance” framework rather than referring to the theories of plasticity or limit analysis; expressing the compatibility between the equilibrium of the considered structure and the resistance of its constituent material through simple mathematical arguments of duality and convex analysis results in a general formulation, which encompasses the many aspects of its implementation to various stability analysis problems. After a historic outline and an introductory example, the general theory is developed for the three-dimensional continuum model in a versatile form based upon simple arguments from the mathematical theory of convexity. It is then straightforwardly transposed to the one-dimensional curvilinear continuum, for the yield design analysis of beams, and the two-dimensional continuum model of plates and thin slabs subjected to bending. Field and laboratory observations of the collapse of mechanical systems are presented along with the defining concept of the multi-parameter loading mode. The compatibility of equilibrium and resistance is first expressed in its primal form, on the basis of the equilibrium equations and the strength domain of the material defined by a convex strength criterion along with the dual approach in the field of potentially safe loads, as is the highlighting of the role implicitly played by the theory of yield design as the fundamental basis of the implementation of the ultimate limit state design (ULSD) philosophy with the explicit introduction of resistance parameters. 1. Origins and Topicality of a Concept. 2. An Introductory Example of the Yield Design Approach. 3. The Continuum Mechanics Framework. 4. Primal Approach of the Theory of Yield Design. 5. Dual Approach of the Theory of Yield Design. 6. Kinematic Exterior Approach. 7. Ultimate Limit State Design from the Theory of Yield Design. 8. Optimality and Probability Approaches of Yield Design. 9. Yield Design of Structures. 10. Yield Design of Plates: the Model. 11. Yield Design of Plates Subjected to Pure Bending. Keywords: Mechanical Engineering - Design, Yield Design, The Continuum Mechanics Framework, The Theory Of Yield Design, Kinematic Exterior Approach, Ultimate Limit State Design, Yield Design Of Structures, Yield Design Of Plates, Continuum Mechanics

The Office of Personnel Management recently sent a memo with information they want federal agencies to distribute to their employees to encourage getting flu shots to prevent the spread of the flu virus. The memo notes that most federal employees can get flu shots for little to no cost under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. A copy of the key information sent to agencies is included below. Flu season is around the corner. The flu vaccine is your best shot at preventing influenza. Here are five important reasons you should get a flu vaccine: - Flu is dangerous. The flu is different from the everyday cold. It can last 2 weeks or more and cause serious complications such as pneumonia. Every year, flu affects millions of people. It causes between 140,000 – 710,000 hospitalizations, 12,000 – 56,000 deaths, and costs billions to the economy. Although proper etiquette for coughs and sneezes, frequent hand-washing, and other good health behaviors can help, experts agree a flu vaccine is the best way to protect against the flu. - It’s very safe. Millions of flu vaccines have been given safely for more than 50 years. Your body’s natural response to vaccination may result in common things like a little redness at the injection site or a slight fever, but these are usually mild and pass quickly. - Getting a flu vaccine can prevent flu or may make illness milder. Those who get the flu vaccine are less likely to get the flu. But, if you do get sick, being vaccinated may make your illness milder. - Flu vaccine is available through health insurance and most workplaces. Federal employees and their family members can receive the flu vaccine through their Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plan. Most FEHB plans cover flu shots at pharmacies and retail stores, in addition to doctor’s offices and clinics, with no co-pays when in-network. Many federal agencies also offer flu shots onsite at no or low cost. Ask your agency to see if this option is available to you or use the vaccine finder to see what is available in your community. - Getting vaccinated could protect your family and save someone from getting dangerously ill. Babies and young children, pregnant women, people 65 and older, and people with certain medical conditions are all at increased risk of serious complications from influenza. Getting vaccinated reduces the spread of flu from you to them, which can protect your family members, co-workers, and all those around you. These are some of the flu vaccines available and for whom they are recommended. Influenza – Trivalent (Standard) Recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older* Trivalent vaccines protect against two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus Influenza – Flucelvax (Quadrivalent preservative-free) Flucelvax is approved to prevent seasonal flu in people ages 18 years and older. A standard quadrivalent shot containing virus grown in cell culture instead of eggs protects against two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses Influenza – High Dose A high-dose trivalent shot recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as an option for persons 65 years of age and older The CDC has information on its website about other types of flu vaccines that are available. Can the Shot Give Me the Flu? One common question people often ask about flu vaccines is, “Can a flu shot give me the flu?” The answer is no. The viruses contained in flu shots are inactivated (killed), so they cannot cause infection. It is still possible, however, to get the flu after getting a flu shot. The flu vaccine is not 100% effective and does not take effect until one or two weeks after it is received. During this time, you will be just as susceptible to getting the flu as individuals who have not received the vaccination. However, the vaccination can also make your symptoms milder in the event you do get the flu.

What is a tongue-tie? "Tongue-tie" is a term used to describe tongue restriction caused by a short or tight lingual frenulum (the membrane and fascial tissue that connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth). Tongue restriction isn't always necessarily a tongue-tie, so we recommend a thorough assessment from an experienced tongue-tie practitioner, lactation consultant and paediatric osteopath. How can a tongue restriction affect feeding? For a baby to feed effectively their tongue needs to: Extend over their lip to draw in the breast tissue or bottle Move up and down to form a vacuum to effectively remove the milk and control the flow Cup and spread to sustain a deep and effective latch If these movements are restricted, then the ability to feed effectively is also likely to be affected. Neck & jaw stiffness after birth can also affect tongue function, so it's important your baby has the right diagnosis.

Wondering how cerebral palsy affects the immune system? While cerebral palsy will not directly weaken your child’s immune system, it may be the underlying cause of various problems that affect the immune system. This article will explain the effects of cerebral palsy that may indirectly affect one’s immune system as well as daily actions that can help strengthen the immune system. How Cerebral Palsy Affects the Immune System Let’s go over 3 major outcomes of cerebral palsy that can weaken the immune system: Reduced Physical Activity Your physical activity levels may impact on your body’s ability to function. Lack of mobility slows down the body’s metabolic rate and circulation, which reduces the efficiency of major body functions. Blood needs to effectively circulate throughout the entire body to fuel cellular activity. Without sufficient blood flow, your body may not be getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function properly. This may weaken the immune system and increase the risk of infections. Additionally, individuals with motor impairments are less likely to move around and be exposed to their environment, which makes them less likely to develop immunity. Cerebral palsy can affect the muscles around the mouth, making it difficult for individuals to chew and swallow their food. Feeding difficulties commonly result in malnutrition, which represses the immune system. Anxiety and Stress Individuals with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience heightened levels of anxiety and stress due to their motor impairments. This causes the brain to activate our body’s stress response and release hormones (primarily cortisol) that suppress immune cell function. Stress reduces the number of lymphocytes in the body, which are essential for fighting off infection. Actions You Can Take to Support Your Immune System: Here are some steps individuals with cerebral palsy can take to help support their immune system: 1. Use a Blender It is best to get essential nutrients from food. However, it can be difficult for individuals with CP to eat. By using a blender, the need for chewing is nearly eliminated and the child can focus on slowly swallowing the drink. Because oral motor impairments also make it difficult to swallow, choosing nutritionally-dense foods that don’t add a lot of volume such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables provide the best nutrition. If necessary, blend vitamins into your child’s drink. Vitamins C, B6, and E can help boost your child’s immune system. 2. Use a Feeding Tube If it is difficult for your child to chew or swallow, your physician may recommend using a feeding tube to ensure optimal nutrition. About 1 in 15 individuals with cerebral palsy utilize a feeding tube. Feeding tubes are surgically inserted through an opening in the abdominal wall and deliver food directly to the stomach. 3. Increase Daily Physical Activity Making an effort to move around more will help promote circulation and keep the body functioning at its best. The more you move, the better equipped your body will be to fight off infections. Regular exercise will also help regulate neurotransmitters in the brain and reduce stress levels. 4. Practice Deep Breathing Deep breathing promotes full oxygen exchange, which helps activate your body’s relaxation response. As a result, deep breathing may help reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of anxiety that suppress the immune system. CP and Immunity: Key Points Just because an individual has cerebral palsy does not mean they will have a weak immune system. However, complications of CP such as reduced mobility, feeding problems, and high levels of stress may affect the body’s ability to function optimally. Hopefully, this article provided understanding for the interaction between cerebral palsy and the immune system as well as suggestions to improve general health to live your best life. Good luck!

10 Judgements That Changed India, by Zia Mody, is a collection of ten critical judgements passed by the Supreme Court, which transformed democracy and redefined daily life for all Indians. Summary Of The Book The ten essays in 10 Judgements That Changed India, explores several themes such as environmental jurisprudence, reservations, and custodial deaths, within the Indian legal system. This book explains key legal concepts, provides a review of the judgements, and maps the impact of those judgements. It also provides a vital snapshot into India’s legal system and its foundations of democracy. This anthology of legal cases contains some of the most memorable court proceedings, which have had a direct impact on the Indian democracy. Some of the cases explored in this book are Union Carbide Corporation versus Union of India (1989), Maneka Gandhi versus Union of India (1978), Olga Tellis versus Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985), and Mohammed Ahmed Khan versus Shah Bano Begum (1985). The author’s purpose in writing such a book was threefold. First, her aim was to demolish the myth that the Indian judiciary system was weak, powerless, and purposeless. Second, through the selection and discussion of specific cases, the author attempts to demonstrate the resounding impact that the Supreme Court’s rulings had and continue to have on the Indian society. Lastly, through a detailed discussion of the court’s proceedings, Mody attempted to demonstrate the inner workings of the judicial process and the law, which is usually regarded as the domain of lawyers. After reading this book, readers will not only learn about some of the landmark decisions that have affected India, but also the social and cultural contexts in which they occurred. About Zia Mody Zia Mody is an author, and acclaimed legal consultant, who specializes in acquisition law and corporate mergers. Mody studied law at Cambridge University. She then went on to complete her Master’s degree in Law from Harvard Law School. After passing the New York State Bar exam, she worked as an attorney for five years with Baker & McKenzie. She returned to Mumbai and in 1984, and started her own practice. Over time, she formed two mergers and became the managing partner of AZB & Partners, one of the largest law firms in India. Zia Mody is married to business tycoon, Jaydev Mody, and they have three daughters. Mody is the daughter of the acclaimed jurist Soli Sorabjee. Mody resides with her family in Mumbai. Good Book. Not Great Book. Certified Buyer, Mumbai 10 judgements that changed India. HARI NARAYANAN SANKARANARAYANAN Certified Buyer, Chennai Very useful book But the Basic Structure can not change... A good book for interested in law Certified Buyer, New Delhi Best in the market! Certified Buyer, Patna Certified Buyer, Pali Review of books Certified Buyer, New Delhi

Creating the daemonCreate the file /etc/rc.d/fossil with contents like the following. #!/bin/ksh daemon="/usr/local/bin/fossil" # fossil executable daemon_user="_fossil" # user to run fossil as daemon_flags="server /home/_fossil/example --repolist --port 8888" # fossil command . /etc/rc.d/rc.subr # pexp="$daemon server .*" # See below. rc_bg=YES # Run in the background, since fossil serve does not daemonize itself rc_cmd $1 pexpYou may need to uncomment the "pexp=". rc.subr typically finds the daemon process based by matching the process name and argument list. Without the "pexp=" line, rc.subr would look for this exact command: /usr/local/bin/fossil server /home/_fossil/example --repolist --port 8888 Depending on the arguments and their order, fossil may rewrite the arguments for display in the process listing (ps(1)), so rc.subr may fail to find the process through the default match. The example above does not get rewritten, but the same commands in a different order can be rewritten. For example, when I switch the order of the arguments in "daemon_flags", /usr/local/bin/fossil server --repolist --port 8888 /home/_fossil/example the process command is changed to this. /usr/local/bin/fossil server /home/_fossil/example /home/_fossil/example 8888 /home/_fossil/example The commented "pexp=" line instructs rc.subr to choose the process whose command and arguments text starts with this: Enabling the daemonOnce you have created /etc/rc.d/fossil, run these commands. rcctl enable fossil # add fossil to pkg_scripts in /etc/rc.conf.local rcctl start fossil # start the daemon now The daemon should now be running and set to start at boot. Multiple daemonsYou may want to serve multiple fossil instances with different options. For example, - If different users own different repositories, you may want different users to serve different repositories. - You may want to serve different repositories on different ports so you can control them differently with, for example, HTTP reverse proxies or pf(4). To run multiple fossil daemons, create multiple files in /etc/rc.d, and enable each of them. Here are two approaches for creating the files in /etc/rc.d: Symbolic links and copies. Symbolic linksSuppose you want to run one fossil daemon as user "user1" on port 8881 and another as user "user2" on port 8882. Create the files with ln(1), and configure them to run different fossil commands. cd /etc/rc.d ln -s fossil fossil1 ln -s fossil fossil2 rcctl enable fossil1 fossil2 rcctl set fossil1 user user1 rcctl set fossil2 user user2 rcctl set fossil1 flags 'server /home/user1/repo1.fossil --port 8881' rcctl set fossil2 flags 'server /home/user2/repo2.fossil --port 8882' rcctl start fossil1 fossil2 CopiesYou may want to run fossil daemons that are too different to configure just with rcctl(8). In particular, you can't change the "pexp" with rcctl. If you want to run fossil commands that are more different, you may prefer to create separate files in /etc/rc.d. Replace "ln -s" above with "cp" to accomplish this. cp /etc/rc.d/fossil /etc/rc.d/fossil-user1 cp /etc/rc.d/fossil /etc/rc.d/fossil-user2 You can still use commands like "rcctl set fossil-user1 flags", but you can also edit the "/etc/rc.d/fossil-user1" file.

Elbow Method for optimal value of k in KMeans Prerequisites: K-Means Clustering A fundamental step for any unsupervised algorithm is to determine the optimal number of clusters into which the data may be clustered. The Elbow Method is one of the most popular methods to determine this optimal value of k. We now demonstrate the given method using the K-Means clustering technique using the Sklearn library of python. Step 1: Importing the required libraries Step 2: Creating and Visualizing the data From the above visualization, we can see that the optimal number of clusters should be around 3. But visualizing the data alone cannot always give the right answer. Hence we demonstrate the following steps. We now define the following:- - Distortion: It is calculated as the average of the squared distances from the cluster centers of the respective clusters. Typically, the Euclidean distance metric is used. - Inertia: It is the sum of squared distances of samples to their closest cluster center. We iterate the values of k from 1 to 9 and calculate the values of distortions for each value of k and calculate the distortion and inertia for each value of k in the given range. Step 3: Building the clustering model and calculating the values of the Distortion and Inertia: Step 4: Tabulating and Visualizing the results a) Using the different values of Distortion: b) Using the different values of Inertia: To determine the optimal number of clusters, we have to select the value of k at the “elbow” ie the point after which the distortion/inertia start decreasing in a linear fashion. Thus for the given data, we conclude that the optimal number of clusters for the data is 3. The clustered data points for different value of k:- 1. k = 1 2. k = 2 3. k = 3 4. k = 4

Posted October 15, 2019 in Oral Hygiene 4 Minute Read: Once in a while, we all have the occasional day where our breath might be a little too much for anyone close to us to handle. Maybe we had an onion and garlic bagel that morning or a puppy got into the bathroom and chewed up our toothbrush. Sometimes, though, chronic bad breath can also be an issue. While there may be dozens of causes of chronic bad breath, the best way to avoid the problem altogether is to maintain good oral hygiene practices. What Causes Bad Breath? The most common cause of bad breath is food. Garlic, onion, fish—at one point or another we have all noticed someone who had a particularly pungent lunch and brought part of it back with them to school or the office. But you do not need to avoid these foods altogether; rather, you can add another brief step into your dental health regime that will eliminate most of the post-lunch breath you have been suffering from. That step is using mouthwash or carrying a travel-size toothbrush with you to give your mouth a refresher after your meal. If you forget to grab either of these tools, sugar-free gum is a good last-resort way to break down all the residual food after a meal. You might have noticed your breath producing more odor than usual when you are fighting a sickness like strep throat or other bacterial infections in the mouth. But infections can also develop when you do not maintain proper oral hygiene. The breakdown of food in your mouth fosters bacteria growth. If that bacteria is not removed through regular brushing, flossing, and mouthwash, then it is likely to take root between your gums and teeth. In the most extreme cases, dental extraction or root canal procedures may be necessary. As these leftover particles of food rot in your mouth, bad breath inevitably takes hold. It is likely at this point that the development of decay and tartar will be so severe that you will need to visit a dentist to have it removed with a deep cleaning. Since plaque and tartar buildup is not easily removed with a toothbrush, there will be nothing you can do at that point except prevent any further development. Not only is smoking terrible for your health, but the residual smell of your cigarettes also sticks to your clothes, belongings, and breath. The smell of tobacco is distinct and is likely to linger around even if you rinse your mouth or chew gum. The only solution to this problem is to quit smoking. What Are the Best Dental Hygiene Practices? We know that keeping up with the latest dental recommendations is not an easy task, so here are four ways to ensure you are keeping your mouth as clean and odorless as possible: 1. Brush Properly Here are some pointers for making sure you are doing everything you can to avoid bad breath: - Brush for two minutes, twice a day - Use circular—not back and forth—motions - Keep your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle - Brush your tongue and the roof of your mouth 2. Make Sure You Are Flossing Even if you follow the perfect brushing protocol, some material will remain behind between your teeth. The only way to remove this stubborn plaque is to floss regularly—at least once per day—and that includes the teeth in the back of your mouth as well. 3. Rinse and Repeat Similar to brushing, we typically recommended that you rinse your mouth with an antiseptic mouthwash at least twice per day. The liquid will soak into all the nooks of the mouth and eliminate any bacteria that can cause bad breath. 4. Keep Your Dentist Appointment Regardless of how vigilant you are about prevention, conditions like cavities and infections can still occur. This is why one of the most important parts of your dental hygiene routine is to see a dentist regularly to ensure there is nothing going on inside of your mouth that could cause a problem. If you are dealing with occasional or chronic bad breath that you would like to resolve, give our office a call at 575-524-3722 to schedule a consultation today!

Buried in boat coffins in an otherwise barren desert, the Tarim Basin mummies have long puzzled scientists and inspired numerous theories as to their enigmatic origins. Since the late 1990s, the discovery of hundreds of naturally mummified human remains dating from around 2,000 BC to AD 200 in the region’s Tarim Basin has attracted international attention over their so-called ‘Western’ physical appearance, their felted and woven woollen clothing, and their agro-pastoral economy. The Tarim Basin mummies’ cattle-focused economy and unusual physical appearance had led some scholars to speculate that they were the descendants of migrating Yamnaya herders, a highly mobile Bronze Age society from the steppes of the Black Sea region of southern Russia. Others have placed their origins among the Central Asian desert oasis cultures of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), a group with strong genetic ties to early farmers on the Iranian Plateau. To better understand the origin of the Tarim Basin mummies’ founding population and who first settled the region at sites such as Xiaohe and Gumugou circa 2,000 BC, a multi-national team generated and analysed genome-wide data from thirteen of the earliest known Tarim Basin mummies, dating to circa 2,100 to 1,700 BC, together with five individuals dating to circa 3,000 to 2,800 BC in the neighbouring Dzungarian Basin. This is the first genomic-scale study of prehistoric populations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and it includes the earliest yet discovered human remains from the region. The Tarim Basin mummies were not newcomers to the region To their great surprise, the researchers found that the Tarim Basin mummies were not newcomers to the region at all, but rather appear to be direct descendants of a once widespread Pleistocene population that had largely disappeared by the end of the last Ice Age. This population, known as the Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), survives only fractionally in the genomes of present-day populations, with Indigenous populations in Siberia and the Americas having the highest known proportions, at about 40 percent. In contrast to populations today, the Tarim Basin mummies show no evidence of admixture with any other Holocene groups, forming instead a previously unknown genetic isolate that likely underwent an extreme and prolonged genetic bottleneck prior to settling the Tarim Basin. “Archaeogeneticists have long searched for Holocene ANE populations in order to better understand the genetic history of Inner Eurasia. We have found one in the most unexpected place,” says Choongwon Jeong, a senior author of the study and a professor of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University. In contrast to the Tarim Basin, the earliest inhabitants of the neighboring Dzungarian Basin descended not only from local populations but also from Western steppe herders, namely the Afanasievo, a pastoralist group with strong genetic links to the Early Bronze Age Yamanya. The genetic characterization of the Early Bronze Age Dzungarians also helped to clarify the ancestry of other pastoralist groups known as the Chemurchek, who later spread northwards to the Altai mountains and into Mongolia. Chemurchek groups appear to be the descendants of Early Bronze Age Dzungarians and Central Asian groups the from Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC), who derive their ancestry from both local populations and BMAC agropastoralists. “These findings add to our understanding of the eastward dispersal of Yamnaya ancestry and the scenarios under which admixture occurred when they first met the populations of Inner Asia,” says Chao Ning, co-lead author the study and a professor of School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University. The Tarim Basin groups were genetically but not culturally isolated These findings of extensive genetic mixing all around the Tarim Basin throughout the Bronze Age make it all the more remarkable that the Tarim Basin mummies exhibited no evidence of genetic admixture at all. Nevertheless, while the Tarim Basin groups were genetically isolated, they were not culturally isolated. Proteomic analysis of their dental calculus confirmed that cattle, sheep, and goat dairying was already practiced by the founding population, and that they were well aware of the different cultures, cuisines, and technologies all around them. “Despite being genetically isolated, the Bronze Age peoples of the Tarim Basin were remarkably culturally cosmopolitan – they built their cuisine around wheat and dairy from the West Asia, millet from East Asia, and medicinal plants like Ephedra from Central Asia,” says Christina Warinner, a senior author of the study, a professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, and a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “Reconstructing the origins of the Tarim Basin mummies has had a transformative effect on our understanding of the region, and we will continue the study of ancient human genomes in other eras to gain a deeper understanding of the human migration history in the Eurasian steppes,” adds Yinquiu Cui, a senior author of the study and professor in the School of Life Sciences at Jilin University. Header Image – Aerial view of the Xiaohe cemetery – Image Credit : Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Posted: January 14th, 2017 The Madison Corporation, a monopolist, received a report from a consulting firm concluding that the demand function for its product is: Q + 78 1.1P + 2.3Y + 0.9A where Q is the number of units sold, P is the price of its product (in dollars), Y is per capita income (in thousands of dollars), and A is the firm s advertising expenditure (in thousands of dollars). The firm s average variable cost function is: AVC + 42 8Q + 1.5Q2 where AVC is average variable cost (in dollars). a. Can one determine the firm s marginal cost curve? b. Can one determine the firm s marginal revenue curve? c. If per capita income is $4,000 and advertising expenditure is $200,000, can one determine the price and output where marginal revenue equals marginal cost? If so, what are they? Place an order in 3 easy steps. Takes less than 5 mins.

Our Rural Heritage Canada's built heritage is an important guide to our past. Buildings noted for their historic and other associated values are not only found in city centres but also in our rural environment. Indeed, Canada has a rich tradition of rural ways of life, evidence of which is expressed in many historic places. Some of them commemorate important achievements in agriculture, an industry that reaches an important peak in the late summer and fall seasons. Let's celebrate the harvest and get in the Thanksgiving spirit by exploring some of our country's rural and agricultural heritage places. The cultural landscape of Grand Pré in Nova Scotia is an excellent example of how settlers adapted farming techniques to life in a new land. In the 17th century, Grand Pré was the site of the innovations in farming techniques, including the use of wooden aboiteaus, which are still in use today. For these reasons, and for its strong ties with the Acadians throughout the world, it was listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Farmer's Market Building in Welland, Ontario (left) is a testament to the importance of agriculture to the community's historical livelihood, and the building maintains an ongoing association with its agrarian past. Built in 1919, the building is a unique blend of Spanish revival and Prairie styles. The market always took place on this site, and the building was constructed to meet the needs of a growing agricultural community and rising farming industry in the Niagara region. A less common rural building is the Strathclair Agricultural Society Bandstand in Manitoba. Built in 1900, it is located in the town's fairgrounds and was designed for use as an outdoor entertainment venue. The bandstand is a community gathering place where concerts were held for the benefit of returning veterans, among other uses. After a long day's work in the fields, farmers could come to Strathclair and enjoy a summer's evening entertainment. The Strathclair Bandstand is one of a few bandstands, both ural and urban, that are listed on the Canadian Register of Hstoric Places. buildings were in fashion across Canada for a brief period in the early 20th century. Saskatchewan's Octagonal Building (right) was built in 1905 on the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds. The building's height adds to its prominence as a landmark in the Exhibition Grounds. The Ladies' Section of the Lorne Agricultural Society initiated the construction of this building as a place to display produce, baking, needlework and horticultural products. The building's second floor was used for community gatherings and social Once found everywhere in the prairies, grain elevators are becoming rare. The Old Val Marie Elevator in Saskatchewan is one of the last remaining grain elevators in the area and speaks to the development of the grain industry in Canada's Prairies. The elevator was built around 1924, with an addition in the 1950s, and was operational until 2000. The structure still stands today and represents the community's rich agricultural history. A beautifully intact farm complex is Stewart Farm in Surrey, British Columbia (left). This farm is comprised of eight traditional farm buildings: a farmhouse, a root cellar, a wood shed, a pole barn, a bunkhouse, a machine shed, a threshing machine shed and a garage. It is the only remaining farmstead of its kind in the region and is associated with pioneer life. The farmhouse dates from 1894, while the other buildings were added between 1894 and the 1920s. The farm's development also reflects changes in society. For example, the farm's owner, John Stewart, owned an early Model T truck and he therefore needed a purpose-built garage. The Stewart Farm is protected and is operated by the City of Surrey as a museum promoting the agricultural heritage of the area. Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario is a large rural and agricultural landscape within Canada's capital city. The designation includes built and natural components of the farm, including traditional structures, a flower garden and an arboretum. The farm is also home to the Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum, a space where the public can come to learn about farm life, experimental crops and innovations in our agricultural heritage. There are so many ways to learn about our rural heritage. barns can be found across the country and remind us that our rural past is tied importantly to agriculture and farming. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to acknowledge those who have worked so hard to build Canada's rural heritage!

On the clear but chilly night of February 17, 1864, John Crosby stood on the deck of USS Housatonic a little less than six miles and three years removed from the launching point of the Civil War, Fort Sumter. The moonlight shimmered on Charleston Harbor’s still surface as Housatonic patrolled the South Carolina waters as part of the Union naval blockade that was slowly strangling the Confederacy. As Crosby gazed out at the placid harbor around 8:45 p.m., Housatonic’s officer of the deck suddenly saw something shatter the water’s glassy surface only 100 yards away on the starboard side. At first, Crosby thought it could be a surfacing porpoise or perhaps a log. But as the murky shadow rippled closer to the warship, the Navy officer sounded the alarm as he realized that the strange object closing in on Housatonic was actually a cutting-edge naval weapon—a submarine. Based on information gleaned from Confederate deserters, Union ships had been on alert for undersea vessels lurking in Charleston Harbor. Only four months before, USS New Ironsides had been partially damaged in an attack by the semi-submersible CSS David, and this windless, moonlit winter night offered perfect conditions for operating the approaching submarine, H.L. Hunley. As all hands raced to their stations on Housatonic, seven Confederate sailors inside the primitive submarine turned a handcrank that powered the propeller as another man steered toward the 1,240-ton sloop-of-war. Even if they hadn’t been bearing down on a mighty warship, the eight men were already undertaking a dangerous mission simply by being inside the submarine that had already claimed the lives of 13 men, including its inventor, during training exercises. The undersea vessel had been privately constructed in Mobile, Alabama, based on the plans of marine engineer Horace Lawson Hunley. Although Crosby initially thought he spotted a porpoise, the submarine more closely resembled a whale. It was constructed out of a 40-foot-long cylindrical iron steam boiler with a tapered bow and stern. After successful tests on the Mobile River, the submarine was transported to Charleston in August 1863 amid hopes by the Confederate navy that it could be a secret weapon in breaking the Union blockade. Recommended for you Shortly after testing began in Charleston Harbor, five of Hunley’s nine crewmembers drowned when a ship officer accidentally caused the vessel to dive while the hatches were still open. The submarine was salvaged, but less than two months later, a second training accident killed the eight-member crew, including H.L. Hunley himself. Once again, the submarine was pulled to the surface, and even though he knew its tragic history, Lieutenant George Dixon agreed to take command of the vessel in November 1863 and raised a crew of courageous volunteers. As Dixon led his men on the daring attack on Housatonic, he carried with him his good luck charm, a bent gold coin that had saved his life by slowing a bullet that wounded him two years before at the Battle of Shiloh. Although Confederate P.G.T. Beauregard had instructed Dixon to remain on the surface during any attacks, given Hunley’s previous accidents, most of the submarine still remained below the water line as it moved so close to Housatonic that the warship’s 12 cannons were useless. The captain and crew fired their rifles and shotguns in a futile attempt to halt the approaching vessel, but the bullets merely bounced off Hunley’s armor as a spar torpedo mounted at the end of a 16-foot rod that protruded from the submarine’s bow struck the warship. The spar tore into Housatonic’s starboard quarter near its powder magazine, and the rebel torpedo laden with 135 pounds of gunpowder exploded. Housatonic took on water immediately, and within minutes it was a loss, the first warship to have ever been sunk by a submarine. Most of Housatonic’s 155 crewmembers saved themselves by launching lifeboats or climbing the rigging, which remained above the harbor’s shallow 27-foot depth in time for rescue boats from a nearby Union warship to arrive. Five Union sailors died, but the outcome was even more devastating for the Confederacy as Hunley never returned to port. For the third time, Hunley slipped to the bottom of Charleston Harbor, but exactly why remains a mystery. The undersea vessel could have been fatally damaged in the torpedo explosion, hit by a shot from Housatonic or sucked into the vortex of the sinking warship. In 1995, the submarine was located beneath sand and shells by novelist Clive Cussler’s National Underwater and Marine Agency. Five years later, the well-preserved wreck of Hunley, with its eight crew still at their stations and Dixon still with his lucky coin, was raised from its murky grave and brought to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston where it was placed in a 90,000-gallon freshwater conservation tank. The crew of Hunley were given a proper burial in 2004, and an international team of scientists studying the wreck believe they are close to solving the mystery of what happened to them in the final moments of their daring mission.

Sarojini Naidu was one of the most prominent faces of Indian freedom Struggle. Apart from being a political activist, she was also a prolific writer, orator, administrator and a gifted poet. Born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad, she was a child prodigy. Her father Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay was a scientist who founded Nizam’s college in Hyderabad. Her mother Barada Sundari Devi was one of the famous Bengali poets. Sarojini was the eldest of the eight siblings. She topped the matriculation examination at Madras University when she was just 12 years old. At the age of 16, she received a scholarship from Nizam of Hyderabad and went to London to study first at King’s College, London and later at Girton College, Cambridge. Poetess par excellence Owing to a brilliant academic record, Sarojini’s father wanted her to become a scientist. However, she had an innate love for poetry. She wrote her first poem in her maths notebook. Her first literary piece titled, ‘Maher Muneer’ even impressed the Nizam of Hyderabad. Soon her literary side bloomed as she wrote a 1,300-line-long poem The Lady of the Lake. Her father also realised that her true passion lies in poetry and started encouraging her to take it more seriously. Her poetry eschews flowery words and is mostly composed of simple words that could also be sung. Her work was rich in imagery, covered a variety of themes – love, death, separation among others. Many of her literary works such as The Golden Threshold, The Bird Of Time, The Broken Wing, Autumn Song have been read widely and critically acclaimed. Her valuable contribution to English poetry earned her the sobriquet of ‘The Nightingale of India’. During her stay in London, Sarojini met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu, a non-Brahmin and a doctor by profession. After finishing her studies, she got married to him. Inter caste marriages were a taboo at that time but her father, being a progressive thinker allowed her. Sarojini was drawn into Indian freedom struggle after the partition of Bengal in 1905. She met Gopal Krishna Gokhale who asked her to use her poetry to invigorate passion for independence among masses. She played a vital role in the Civil Disobedience movement as well as Quit India movement. She was jailed along with Mahatma Gandhi and others. In 1925, she became the second woman President of the Indian National Congress. She was at the forefront of Civil disobedience in 1930 when Mahatma Gandhi was in jail. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Mahatma Gandhi and Pundit Malaviya. She also contributed to the drafting of the Indian Constitution. An exceptional orator She had a gift of electrifying audiences, and her ability to weave strength into everything she said. She didn’t prepare her speeches. To speak “was as easy for her as it is for fish to swim,” quotes Sarojini Naidu – Her Way With Words, a book based on her works. Renowned British author and philosopher Aldous Huxley wrote, “It has been our good fortune, while in Bombay, to meet Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, the newly elected President of the All-India Congress and a woman who combines in the most remarkable way great intellectual power with charm, sweetness with courageous energy, a wide culture with originality, and earnestness with humour. If all Indian politicians are like Mrs. Naidu, then the country is fortunate indeed.” Key role in drawing women to freedom movement She is credited for inspiring the women of India to participate in the freedom struggle and bringing them out of the kitchen. She traveled from state to state, city after city and asked for the rights of the women. She re-established self-esteem within the women of India. She helped in shaping Women’s Indian Association in 1917 with Annie Besant and others. The Association sought equal rights including the right to vote and represent. She presented the need to include more women in the Congress and in the freedom struggle. ‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Bulbul’ Naidu first met Gandhiji in London, an event which changed the whole course of her life, which took her away from comfortable rooms of scholars and poets and placed her before a beggar-saint. With time, they went on to share a great camaraderie. In a letter dated Aug 8 1932 to Naidu, he addressed Naidu as Bulbul and signed off as’ Little man’. Somewhere along the line she referred Mahatma as a “Micky Mouse,” a “Little Man” and Gandhiji did not mind it. According to ‘Man and his message’, a book on Gandhiji’s life by Donn Byrne, this name was affectionately given to him by British media because of the way his ears stuck out like the cartoon character (Mickey Mouse). Despite her admiration for Gandhi, Naidu dreaded Mahatma’s diet. “Good heavens, all that grass and goat milk. Never, never, never!”, quotes the book-Her Way With Words. After India gained freedom, Sarojini became the first woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh (then United Provinces of Agra and Oudh). Naidu suffered a heart attack when she was in office and died on March 2, 1949 at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. This is a part of our independence day special series where we remember and salute the women who bravely fought in the Indian freedom struggle. For interesting news videos from InUth, follow us on Youtube.com/InUthdotcom

1478 November 1, POPE SIXTUS IV (Spain) At the request of King Ferdinand V ( aka Ferdinand II of Aragon) and Queen Isabella, he issued a Bull Exigit sinceræ devotioni s empowering them to establish to investigate charges of heresy known as the Spanish Inquisition. Unlike the papal inquisition of 1230, this one was totally under royal authority. This tribunal was established ostensibly to root out "backsliding” Jews who had converted, sometimes under duress, to Christianity. Often these Jews - known as New Christians or conversos - succeeded in obtaining high social and political positions which aroused the jealousy on the part of “old Christians”. Thus, although officially religious in nature, the inquisition was a political tool. Specific signs such as no fires on the Sabbath, no eating of pork, washing hands before eating, turning the face towards the wall when dying, etc., were given to root out those who may have continued to secretly practice Judaism. The Spanish inquisition- which spread to all Spanish and later Portuguese (1536) colonies and possessions - was finally disbanded on July 15, 1834. It is estimated that over 300,000 people were tried (not all for Judaizing) and 30,000 executed.

ESL English Teaching Tips – Making a Lesson Plan While a conversation class may seem like it needs no or limited preparation (“all I have to do is talk to them – I’ll bring in my photos from India and we can talk about my trip there.”), the opposite is true. Students will more than likely be timid, especially at the beginning, and the purpose of the class is to get them talking, not for you to talk the entire time. If all they wanted was to listen to English, they could go to an American movie and save themselves time and money. So how do you go about planning for a class? Begin by deciding what content you want to cover and what your objectives are for the lesson – this will depend a lot on your class’s level and it might depend on an ESL textbook that the school has provided for you or that you have brought yourself. Ideally, these objectives will include both new vocabulary and new grammatical forms. Then think about what activities you want to use to accomplish these goals. These may include a short introduction to the class, a warm-up activity to get everyone involved, group work on dialogues, presentation of skits or survey results in front of the class, and a short conclusion reviewing what was learned and pointing out common mistakes. Finally, you should always have a “contingency plan” to fill up any space that might exist at the end of the class. These plans may consist of an additional game/activity, or of an exercise that will help students to build bridges in their minds between structures and vocabulary learned in different lessons and that learned that day. Content to be covered: Visit to the doctor/pharmacist - Review vocabulary: parts of body, where to go to find something (type of store, where in store) - Review grammar: command forms of verbs (“Take two aspirin every morning”) - New vocabulary: ways to describe illness and methods of remedying it - New grammar: giving advice “I would recommend” + [verb+ing] Introduction: quick review of parts of body, command forms - Warm-up activity: Simon Says (10 minutes) - Introduction of new material: common ailment vocabulary, advice language. Write it on the board, and have them copy it into their notebooks. - Group work: worksheets with two dialogues – doctor/patient, pharmacist/client - Report back to class: Doctors describe patient’s ailments, patients describe doctor’s advice - Review of new material, point out common mistakes - Contingency plan: review of city directions, combined with advice form. Write a command sequence on the board: take bus #12 to downtown, walk three blocks north.” Next, have your students convert it to advice form: “I would recommend taking bus #12, walking three blocks north.” Materials: Worksheets with dialogues and word replacement suggestions, large picture of human body to review parts of body. Content to be covered: Clothing/Fashion Attitudes - Review vocabulary: frequency vocabulary (once a week), commands (stand up, touch your ear) - Review grammar: expressing opinions (I think that, I prefer to) - New vocabulary: fashion, advertising terms (in style, out of style, good taste, bad taste, traditional style, latest fashion, department store, boutique, model, effective advertisement, ineffective advertisement) - New grammatical structure: reporting survey results (all, most, the majority, about half, the minority, some, a few, none + of the students) - Introduction: pass out list of new ESL terms, ask if any are familiar. Use pictures of magazines to discuss those that aren’t familiar. - Warm-up activity: Ask questions related to vocabulary and write key words on the board, then have students stand up (touch their ears or put their hands up if they agree). Report the results on the board. - Stand up if you go to department stores more than once a year. Remain standing if you go to department stores more than once a month. If not, sit down. (Twice a month, three times a month, once a week, twice a week.) [Record the results] - Do you think this woman is dressed in the latest fashion? If you do, lift up your book; if you don’t, touch your ear. [Tape the picture on the board, and record the results] - Do you think this woman has bad taste? If you do, put your hand up, if you don’t, touch the floor. [Tape the picture on the board, record the results.] - Where did you buy your shoes? If you bought them in a department store, touch your nose. If you bought them in a boutique, put your hands under your desk. [Record the results] - Introduction of new material: recording results of the survey. Introduce frequency vocabulary and demonstrate it describing results using first two questions: “Most of the class thought . . .”; “Some of the class thought . . .” If the material seems easy for the students, quickly ask for summaries of the results of other questions. If the material seems difficult, give them five minutes to work with their neighbors, then ask. - Group work: worksheets with six new survey questions related to personal shopping and fashion preferences. Break class up into groups of six so that each person is responsible for a question. Each student is responsible for asking all others in group his or her question and recording the results. - Do you wear the current fashion? - Do you dress like your friends? - Should people over thirty dress differently than people under thirty? - Do you like to wear dark colors? - Do you prefer to shop in large shopping malls or small boutiques? - When you meet someone new, is their taste in clothing important to you? - Report back to class: warn students that they should listen closely because they will need to know the general results for a homework assignment. Have each student report the results for his or her question within the group of six. - Homework: Explain to students that you want them to take the survey questions home to ask people in their family. They should then prepare five sentences comparing the preferences of their family with the preferences of the class. The next class will begin with a discussion of their results. - Contingency plan: Relay race. Divide the class into three teams. Using three identical stacks of index cards, have each student run to the front of the class, take the top card, and write the answer to the question on the card on the board, then run back to tag next person in line. Questions will ask students to make a judgment based on looking at the rest of the class – “How many students are wearing black shoes? The latest fashion? White shirts?” Students have to write one of five answers on board: all, most, about half, some, none. The winning team is the one that completes all of the questions first without having an answer that disagrees with both other teams. Materials: Lists of new vocabulary, pictures of models with different styles taken from local magazines and newspapers, worksheets with surveys, index cards with questions. ESL/EFL books abound in activities and games and they can save you a lot of time and energy in thinking of ways to pass the hours. Be sure to think about the suitability of the activities for your particular country and group of students, not only for level but for cultural relevance. Question and Answer Match-ups This activity is similar to the cocktail party game of matching famous romantic pairs, where each person is given a famous personality and has to walk around and mingle with other guests until they find their pair (Juliet has to find Romeo, Mickey Mouse has to find Minnie Mouse). In the EFL classroom, however, the activity can be expanded to include entire question and typical response match-ups. Print several questions and typical responses on separate index cards, shuffle them, and distribute them. Students have to memorize what is printed on their card. Collect the cards, and allow the students to mingle around the room until they find their match. Have the students report back to class, then have the two partners switch places (the old responder asks the question, the old questioner responds.) This activity can be adapted to suit many different lesson topics. This activity is mentioned in a few older ESL/EFL texts, and works better with high intermediate to advanced students. A crime occurs (be creative – something to do with the vocabulary you are trying to target would be ideal) and three students from the class are accused. They were all together at the time of the crime, and need to submit an alibi. Have them leave the room for five minutes to decide exactly what they were doing. Explain to the students that they will be questioned separately and that the questions will be very specific (“where in the movie theater were you sitting?”) so that they can adequately prepare. Then, each of the three students should enter, one at a time, to answer other students’ questions. Once all three have answered, the rest of the class can compare stories to find inconsistencies. This is a variation of the popular game where students have to find matches between two cards that have the same thing printed on them. The added difficulty to this game is that they have to find pairs in logical order of a sentence. Break classes into two or more teams. Place the cards with individual words on them face down in a grid, such as the following, that would test knowledge of nouns, verbs, and pronouns: Each team is allowed to ask you to turn over two cards (for example, A1 and C2). If the two are the same, and they logically follow the previous pair found in a sentence, they get a point. In this example, the first pair picked to get a point will have to be “The school” or “The girls.” The next pair picked will have to be the verb that agrees with the noun ( “The girls grades,” isn’t correct) and so on until all of the sentences are made. Meaning of the sentences is not as important as noun-verb agreement, as long as students understand the meaning of the sentences they are creating. Find a story, replace several words with blank spaces, and write which type of speech the missing word should be: The ____________________________ dance gracefully under the _________. The (number > 1) (adjective) (plural noun) dance gracefully under the (noun). Students can work in pairs or small groups, share the resulting stories with each other, and later share them all (or the group’s funniest) with the class. Divide the class into two teams. Have two stacks of cards ready with parts of speech written on them, and ordered in such a way that they could make a logical sentence (article, noun, verb, pronoun, noun, preposition, article, noun.) The first person in each team runs to you, you hand the student the first card in his or her team’s stack and the student writes an appropriate word on the board. The students then run back to tag the next person, who comes to get the second grammar card from you, and so on. Stop the game when the first team finishes the sentence. Teams get a point for each word that fits into the appropriate grammatical group and fits into the sentence.

What is radio frequency engineer? Radio frequency engineering, or RF engineering, is the study and application of radio waves with the purpose of creating technology and devices that can both receive and send signals using these waves. What does RF design engineer do? As a professional expert, an RF design engineer is hired to design radio frequency equipment and products and they can be responsible for dealing with the project through from the design processes to the manufacture and distribution of the products. How do I become an RF engineer? To become an RF engineer, you need a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering. As an engineer, you also need to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and become a licensed professional engineer. You must be familiar with Microsoft Office, Matlab, VHDL, and other analytical software. What is RF and microwave engineering? RF and Microwave Engineering is a part of the subcategory of Electrical Engineering. The specialists in RF and Microwave Engineering design, construct and operate the devices that transmit or receive radio waves. The objects in this field include radios, mobile phones, wireless equipment, and some other objects. Is RF Engineer a good career? Well, being a RF Engineer will diffidently help in India but in an Advanced professional level. Join Merchant Navy to get more scope on this, Or even join the CRPF or any research institute. It will defintely get a purpose there. What should an RF Engineer know? Those professionals looking to become an RF Engineer should focus on the following: - Should know cell site design and LTE networking. - Radio Frequency design circuitry. - Should have the ability to understand and study wireless network parameters. - Problem-solving and troubleshooting. - Proficiency in office. Is RF engineer a good career? Is radio frequency a good career? If you want to be a part of something that is constantly changing and essential to people’s lives, then RF is right for you. Whether you have a technical background in engineering or aspire to be a highly-effective marketer, the RF industry offers exciting opportunities. What are types of components in radio frequency engineering? Active Components in RF Circuits - Amplifiers. Amplifier circuits, often built around an operational amplifier, are extremely common in both low-frequency and high-frequency analog design. - Mixers. Another fundamental RF component is the mixer. - Phase-Locked Loops. Scroll to continue with content. - Data Converters. Are RF Engineers in demand? RF Engineers are in demand and have specific skills that clients are looking for. So, you need a portal to join you with exactly the clients who need you. FieldEngineer.com can do just that, working as a global on-demand marketplace service over 40,000 freelancers in networking and engineering fields. What is a DSP engineer? The DSP engineer (digital signal processing engineer) is dedicated to developing algorithms for signal processing in the broad sense. He works on projects in the fields of telecommunications, audio, video, space domain, medical imaging, etc. Are RF engineers in demand? What does a radio frequency engineer do? Radio frequency engineers are specialists within the electrical engineering field. They work with devices that transmit or receive radio waves, including wireless equipment, radios, and cellular phones. A background in general electronics, physics, and math is needed to design and improve wireless networks. How to become a radio frequency specialist? Interest in electronics or radio equipment What is a radio frequency engineer? Bodhi Biswas, a nuclear science and engineering PhD candidate working at the Plasma effect that edge turbulence can have on the propagation and absorption of radio-frequency power.” Although ray-tracing treatments of scattering do not fully capture What does a radio frequency specialist do? A radio frequency specialist is a demanding and challenging position that is part of the communications technology career path in the military. This is an enlisted service position that involves working with telecommunications equipment in order to gather and communicate information. Relaying information among air and ground troops is an important aspect of military security, and radio

When entering into a legal transaction, the parties have two options at their disposal, to say an agreement or a statement of intent. While an agreement refers to the agreement between the legally competent parties, which is usually negotiated. Conversely, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a type of agreement between legally competent parties that is not binding. Although it is not a legally binding document, the letter of intent is an important step because of the time and effort required to negotiate and draft an effective document. In order to establish a letter of intent, the parties concerned must reach mutual understanding. Each party learns what is most important to others before moving forward. A letter of intent is usually a non-binding agreement between the parties that documents a goodwill relationship between the parties. Memoranda of Understanding describe the parties` understanding of the intended relationship between them and may be the first step in establishing a formal contract. Most businessmen, government agencies, legal entities, and individuals often use these two entities in their daily lives to do with another party to achieve a common goal. The parties must understand that if they want their decisions to be binding on each other, they can argue for an agreement that establishes their essential rights for the parties, and they can also enforce them in court. However, if the parties do not want a legal obligation for them, they can opt for a memorandum of understanding. However, a letter of intent is not enforceable, if one of the parties has done something about the letter of intent and the other party has suffered a loss as a result, the aggrieved party has the right to recover the loss because the parties are bound by legal forfeiture. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) or Cooperation Agreement is a written document between the parties to work together on an agreed project or achieve an agreed goal. The purpose of a Memorandum of Understanding is to have a written understanding of the agreement between the parties. The Memorandum of Understanding can also make legally valid and the parties responsible for their obligation, or simply a partnership agreement. In the context of sharing agreements, a letter of intent is often used to define the expectations and responsibilities of each party. These MEMoranda of Understanding generally address issues such as: (1) who is responsible for the cost of maintenance and repairs, (2) insurance and liability, (3) personnel and communications, and (4) dispute resolution. Whether the terms of these agreements are legally enforceable as a contract ultimately depends on the intention of the parties. Therefore, parties to a sharing agreement should address the legal status of their agreement early in the negotiation process. Memoranda of Understanding are like contracts that define how two organizations will work together. While memoranda of understanding are technically legally binding, consider these documents as a tool to facilitate partnership and ensure a harmonious working relationship between two organizations.

A mutually helpful relationship is known as a fancy term used to describe the cooperation between two variety. It could occur among humans, fungi, bacterias, or even plants. This romance can result in various benefits and pitfalls. One of the most impressive of all of the mutually useful relationships may be the one between two species of disease. In this context, a fungus is a helpful organism that gives nutrients, normal water, and shield to photosynthetic algae, and also providing several defense from all other invading creatures. However , such a romantic relationship is only likely because of the conditions of the environment. These include a great temperature selection, and a lack of sunlight. This may not be to mention a low population density. For example , many blooming plants are unable to reproduce unless of course they may have insects to pollinate these people. An identical scenario occurs in the microbiome, which contains a host of beneficial organisms. These microorganisms help individuals digest foodstuff, protect them out of pathogens, and present them with maximum environmental conditions. A persons microbiome is mostly a complex network of cells and internal organs, in whose overgrowth can lead to disease. To combat this problem, a number of experts have recommended a solution referred to as probiotics. Those who believe in this kind of theory claim that the gut microbiome may withstand the pains of civilization, and still provide humans with numerous health improvements. A related term is cooperation, which is a highly skilled term with regards to the mutually beneficial relationship between two species. This form of interdependence https://sugardaddyaustralia.org/established-men/ is most often found between two photosynthetic species. A fungus allows a photosynthesis-powered smut to prosper in a chillier, drier environment. Its biggest drawback may be the potential for a parasitic infections. This can occur when the yeast overgrows and reverts to their asexual point out. In the same way that a feline can give you a great nights sleep, a infection can the actual same for that photosynthetic atlygis. This is not to be able to that lizards http://poiarmex.pt/obtaining-sugar-going-out-with-value-out-of-sugar-daddies/ happen to be bad for us, but people are detrimental to fungi. For instance, a single contamination can foodstuff thousands of photosynthetic algae, and will produce plenty of of recent spores every year.

At this year’s COP, the focus will be on topics such as climate finance, damage and loss (see main article), adaptation to climate change and emission reductions. “The negotiations are a process in which each step and each conference is important. The climate change conference in Glasgow last year adopted new initiatives, such as the working programmes for more ambitious aims regarding emission reductions and adaptation. Concretising these programmes during this year’s conference is very important, as global emissions continue to increase and climate effects proliferate – it is becoming increasingly clear how little time we have to reverse the trend,” says Markku Rummukainen, professor of Climatology at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC) and the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science at Lund University. What are reasonable expectations for the conference? “No single conference solves the climate issue. The world is still out of step regarding measures for the climate. But concretising the decisions taken in Glasgow can contribute to reinforce both emission reductions and adaptation. Some progress has been made in the “intermediate discussions” held during the year regarding, for example, damage and loss.” What needs to happen at COP27 for global climate collaboration to advance? “More climate finance is needed for developing countries, including compensation for what is known as climate-related damage and loss. It is also important that progress is made during the conference on the global overview, which is to compare the overall effect of the countries’ national climate plans with the Paris Agreement’s global goals – how much difference is there between the former and the latter? Our status regarding the level of ambition for emission reductions will then form the basis of updated national climate plans.” COP stands for Conference Of the Parties. The parties are those countries that signed the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was drawn up at the Rio conference in 1992. Each climate COP has a number to designate its place in the conference series. COP27 is accordingly the UN’s 27th climate change conference.

A guide for families of all backgrounds to celebrate cultural heritage and embrace inclusivity in the home and beyond. Gone are the days when socially conscious parents feel comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. A Place to Belong offers a path forward for families to honor their cultural heritage and champion diversity in the context of daily family life by: - Fostering open dialogue around discrimination, race, gender, disability, and class - Teaching "hard history" in an age-appropriate way - Curating a diverse selection of books and media choices in which children see themselves and people who are different - Celebrating cultural heritage through art, music, and poetry - Modeling activism and engaging in community service projects as a family Amber O'Neal Johnston, a homeschooling mother of four, shows parents of all backgrounds how to create a home environment where children feel secure in their own personhood and culture, enabling them to better understand and appreciate people who are racially and culturally different. A Place to Belong gives parents the tools to empower children to embrace their unique identities while feeling beautifully tethered to their global community.

The Special Operations Force is an important component of the Naval Power, and its mission is to organize, prepare, train, supervise and maintain in an optimal state of readiness Special Operations and Rescue Units, in order to provide operational elements capable of acting with success where required by National Interests; in this sense, this operative force groups the Naval Special Operators and the Salvation Divers of the Navy, courageous men who, in their respective fields of action, are capable of taking personal risks, in order to successfully achieve exceptional tasks that for many border with the impossible. In doing so, the Special Operators emulate their daring predecessors of the Guerra del Salitre, Ensign of Frigate Carlos Bondy Tellería, who on July 3, 1880, through an action of sabotage with explosives in the bay of Callao, made a successful blasting of the Chilean ship Loa; and the Ensign of Fragata Decio Oyague Neyra, who on September 13, 1880 in the bay of Chancay, sank the Chilean schooner "Virgen de Covadonga", using a similar course of action. On the other hand, Salvation Divers emulate the diver José Hilario Morales, who served under the command of Grand Admiral Miguel Grau, and had the distinction of being one of the survivors of the Huáscar Monitor, since he was embarked on that ship carrying out risky works of diving, from May of 1879 to October 8 of that year, date in which he fell prisoner, in the epic of Angamos. Special Operators assume as their philosophy of life the maxim "Man is the weapon", because they are characterized by having great physical and mental strength, based on solid moral values, which allows them to perform risky missions, stealthily infiltrating small groups by land, sea or air; to be able to identify and beat targets of high military value, which can not be reached by conventional forces, as they are heavily guarded within territories controlled by the enemy. The rescue divers are professional divers who work alone in the cold and dark depths of seas, rivers and lakes, to recover all or part of vessels, ships, submarines, aircraft, structures and / or people who have suffered some sinister in water. Throughout its Institutional trajectory, this Force has acquired great reputation both nationally and internationally, because between the 80's and 90's its special operators developed innumerable combat operations in the Fronts of Ayacucho, Huallaga, Ucayali and the Cenepa, with an incredible record of zero casualties, and in the last decade they have been carrying out special operations in the convulsive area of the VRAEM; likewise, divers from the Salvage Group managed to successfully rescue the naval personnel trapped in the BAP Pacocha submarine, when it was sunk 130 feet deep, and then, after a year of hard work, it was taken again to surface, when its refloating was achieved. The sailors who make up the Special Operations Force are aware of the risk involved in their work and the commitment of honor they swore for their country; that is why when undertaking their dangerous missions, they entrust themselves to God invoking the prayer that says "Lord, please grant us both Victory and Return, but if it is to be one thing, O God, grant us only Victory"

A hearing aid has three basic parts; a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker. When someone speaks to a hearing aid wearer, their voice is amplified from the mic to the speaker in or near the ear. This amplified sound is useful for those individuals with hearing loss caused by damage or aging. Once patients have been diagnosed with hearing loss, their audiologists can help them decide which of the three types of hearing aids are best for the patients’ needs. The Three Types Of Hearing Aids - Behind-the ear (BTE) are made of a plastic case worn behind the ear which is connected to a plastic earmold that fits inside the outer ear. BTE hearing aids are utilized by patients of all ages and levels of hearing loss. - In-the-ear (ITE) aids fit completely inside the outer ear, and include a magnetic telecoil feature which makes it easier to hear phone conversations. ITE’s are applicable for all levels of hearing loss. - Canal aids can be either an in-the-canal (ITC) style made to fit the size and shape of a patient’s ear canal, or a completely-in-canal (CIC) style which is hidden within the ear canal. These types of aids are used mostly by those with mild to moderate hearing loss, due to the fact that this style has a reduced size and limited power and volume. Each of these hearing aids work differently based on their style of electronic programming: - Analog aids are programmable, and after being set by the manufacturer initially, can be adjusted later by both the audiologist and the user. Adjustments can be made using a program on a computer for changes in the listening environment (from small, quiet rooms to large open areas). - Digital aids convert sounds using numerical codes, which allow the hearing aid to adjust automatically based on different pitches and/or loudness. Digital conversion also allows the hearing aid wearer to focus on sounds coming from a specific direction. Choosing The Type Of Hearing Aid Right For You After a careful diagnosis by and discussion with your doctor and/or audiologist, you might need a custom designed hearing aid for you specific hearing problem, but if you simply have mild to moderate hearing loss like most people with hearing problems, the surgeon designed, MDHearingAid can be an effective and affordable choice. A follow up appointment may be necessary for custom hearing aids in order to receive proper fitting, setting, and counseling on wear and care for this important purchase. With over the counter hearing aids, they really are plug and play, with a small a mount of time on getting comfortable wearing the aid and used to the simple settings. Remember, no matter what type of hearing aid you may get, it takes some time and patience to learn about and adjust to wearing a hearing assisting device. Once this period of adjustment has occurred, the short time and effort involved will prove to be worth a lifetime of enjoyable, good hearing!

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and sepsis in hospitals are a common and unfortunate complication. Every year, around one out of every 25 hospital patients develops an HAI, with many of these infections developing into sepsis or other complications. The consistent rate of HAIs occurring in hospitals across the United States has the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations taking an aggressive approach to prevent infections and ensure that hospitals adhere to standards. Read on to learn more about HAIs and sepsis in hospitals, and what these often preventable infections could mean for your health. If you have questions about HAIs and your legal rights, contact our Houston medical malpractice lawyer to discuss your case. HAIs are More Dangerous than Viral Infections Unlike the more common viral infection, HAIs are caused by bacteria, which is aggressive and often resistant to antibiotics. This makes HAIs a tremendous concern for patients and the healthcare community at large. Without immediate and appropriate treatment, HAIs can quickly develop into complicated infections, such as sepsis or septic shock. In fact, a large portion of HAIs reported in hospitals are related to sepsis. Sepsis is a type of HAI that occurs most commonly after surgery, among patients with compromised immune systems, patients with chronic health conditions, and the elderly. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences estimates that over one million Americans develop sepsis in hospitals each year. Of those, 15 to 30 percent die. Furthermore, these rates have continued to rise in recent years. The continued increase in the rate of sepsis in hospitals is attributed to: - Increased tracking and data collection. - Average age of Americans increasing, making the population of individuals living with chronic conditions also increasing. - Many infections are resistant to antibiotics, which can increase the risk of developing sepsis. - Organ transplants continue to be more common. Patients receiving an organ transplant are at a much higher risk of developing an HAI or sepsis. Why is Sepsis So Common in Hospitals? Sepsis is the body’s immune response to infection, most commonly caused by bacteria. The chemicals released into the bloodstream to combat infection restrict blood flow and cause inflammation. Rather than fighting the infection, the overwhelming response leads to oxygen deprivation in the organs, a drop in blood pressure, and can lead to multiple organ failures. In hospitals, sepsis is often caused by an underlying infection or bacteria that has been introduced into the body during the course of medical care. Some of the most common causes of sepsis in hospitals include: Also called central venous catheters or intravenous catheters (IV), central lines are one of the most common causes for HAIs and sepsis in hospitals. Central lines are inserted into large veins in the neck, chest, or groin areas, and depending on the condition being treated, the line may remain in place for several days or weeks, or even months. Because central lines are inserted into major veins and are kept in place for longer durations, the risk of infection and serious complications are higher. Urinary Tract Infections Many hospital patients require the use of a urinary catheter. This catheter is inserted into the urethra, and serves as a drain for urine during hospitalization. Urinary catheters are a common cause of infections, including the common catheter-associated urinary tract infection, or CAUTI. These are the most common HAI occurring in hospitals, with at least 75 percent of all UTIs occurring in hospitals being classified as a CAUTI. Surgical Site Infections Surgical site infections are a common risk factor in hospitals. Any time surgery is performed, there is a chance of bacteria entering the body. During recovery, there are also further opportunities for bacteria to move into the wound if it is not properly cleaned, covered, and taken care of. Surgical site infections are called SSIs, and can easily develop into sepsis or septic shock. Bloodstream infections, including sepsis, following surgery occur at a rate of 5.23 percent, meaning that more than five percent of all surgical patients will develop an infection. Patients who need help breathing may be placed on a ventilator. Ventilators have tubes that run down the throat and into the airway. The machine helps expand and retract the lungs and helps the patient breathe easier. Unfortunately, ventilators have been known to increase the risk of pneumonia. Ventilator tubes may provide an avenue for bacteria to travel into the lungs. Pneumonia, as a bacterial infection, is a common cause of sepsis in hospitals. Strategies to Prevent HAIs and Sepsis in Hospitals Due to some of the concerning rates of HAIs in U.S. hospitals, the CDC has initiated a series of prevention strategies. These strategies use surveillance, laboratory research, and outbreak investigations to develop improved prevention techniques. The CDC offers healthcare providers with toolkits and other information about how to prevent HAIs and protect providers and patients from infection. The CDC has specific guidelines for infection control and prevention, including: - Disinfection and sterilization - Hand hygiene - Proper handling of laundry - Environmental infection control - Isolation precautions - Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) - Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) - Organ transplantation - Surgical site infection (SSI) - Dialysis infection control - Disease/organism-specific infection control guidelines: - Tuberculosis (TB) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also developed a committee dedicated to the prevention of HAIs and sepsis in hospitals. The HHS Steering Committee for the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections began in 2008 and continues offer support for prevention strategies and healthcare education. The Committee developed a National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: Road Map to Elimination, which includes the following: - Phase One: Focuses on the top six high priority HAIs: - Surgical site infections - Central line-associated bloodstream infections - Ventilator-associated events - Catheter-associated urinary tract infections - Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections - Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections - Phase Two: Expands infection control efforts outside hospitals to outpatient settings including end-stage renal disease facilities and ambulatory surgical centers. Phase two also promotes better influenza vaccination rates among healthcare providers. - Phase Three: Further expands efforts to include long-term care facilities like nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, and skilled-nursing facilities. - Phase Four: Reviews federal antibiotic stewardship efforts in various healthcare settings, and highlights the importance of stewardship in the prevention of HAIs. Most healthcare facilities also have their own policies and procedures for infection control. It is up to those working in these environments, however, to follow policies and procedures that will prevent HAIs and sepsis. Sepsis Specific Guidelines Several organizations also have specific guidelines for preventing and treating sepsis in hospitals. Many of these guidelines are similar to that of HAIs, but they address more specific factors associated with sepsis in hospitals, including factors related to the environment, patient condition, and prevention policies. CMS guidelines are titled “Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle”. These guidelines were established in 2015 with the goal of preventing sepsis, identifying infections earlier, and ensuring that treatment is initiated as soon as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has guidelines for managing sepsis in healthcare settings. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign is one of the most widely-accepted sets of guidelines. Created in collaboration between the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the guidelines include guidance from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The guideline bundles available for hospitals include critical care, intensive care, clinical practice guidelines, and severe sepsis guidelines. All of the guidelines are based on evidence-based practices and are intended to improve outcomes for patients. The essential guidelines include: - Hospitals must measure serum lactate levels in patients with severe sepsis within three hours of a diagnosis being made. - Hospitals must obtain blood cultures within three hours of diagnosis. - Broad-spectrum antibiotics must be initiated within three hours of diagnosis. - Healthcare providers should being rapid administration of crystalloid if hypotension (low blood pressure) is diagnosed, or if serum lactate levels are below a certain level. - If, during or after fluid resuscitation, the patient’s blood pressure is still low, vasopressors should be applied. - If the patient is diagnosed as being in septic shock, a further series of steps must be followed within six hours. It is important that healthcare providers and staff adhere to infection control policies in order to preserve patient safety and health. Infection In Hospitals Could be a Sign of Negligence Healthcare facilities have a tremendous responsibility to care for patients and maintain an environment that is safe and healthy. Often, hospitals are kept clean and safe, and infection control policies are followed. Sadly, as the data discussed above shows, there are plenty of reports of noncompliance to raise concern. Sepsis in hospitals could be the result of unavoidable complications, or it could be a sign of negligence. If hospital staff do not follow infection control guidelines, then patients may be at risk for developing preventable illnesses or complications.

Vaccinated people are less likely to get so-called long COVID, while those infected while unvaccinated may recover from persistent symptoms faster if they get the shot, a U.K. Health Security Agency review determined. Fully vaccinated people who became infected with COVID-19 were roughly half as likely to have any symptoms lasting more than a month, 78% less likely to have symptoms lasting 12 to 20 weeks, and 13% less likely to have at least one symptom at 6 months, according to six of the eight studies summarized in a rapid evidence briefing document. One preprint study of moderate quality suggested the opposite -- a more than twofold higher risk of symptoms at 4 weeks from the date of diagnosis versus unvaccinated participants -- but it wasn't clear why this study contradicted the rest, the document noted, calling for more analysis. In studies that broke down symptoms individually, there was lower likelihood of developing olfactory dysfunction and significantly lower risk at 6 months for anosmia, fatigue, hair loss, interstitial lung disease, myalgia, and "other" pain. These findings are likely an underestimate of the effectiveness of vaccination in preventing long COVID, since the studies included only vaccinated people who were infected, not those who had infection prevented entirely, the document pointed out. The review also found that people who already had long COVID but then got vaccinated were more likely to have improvement in symptoms -- either immediately or in the weeks afterward -- compared with those who remained unvaccinated, although most had no change in symptoms and a small number had worsening after vaccination. The one study that looked at timing of vaccination suggested that getting the shot sooner was much better than later in terms of likelihood of symptom improvement. "These studies add to the potential benefits of receiving a full course of the COVID-19 vaccination," said Mary Ramsay, MBBS, head of immunization at the U.K. agency, in a statement. "Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself from serious symptoms when you get infected and may also help to reduce the longer-term impact." An estimated 2% of the U.K. population reported COVID symptoms lasting more than 4 weeks after infection as of Dec. 6, 2021, well into the Omicron wave of the pandemic. According to a prior review of mobile app data tracking cases in U.S., U.K., and Swedish populations, symptoms persisted in up to 13% of infected individuals at 1 to 2 months and in 2.6% for 3 months or longer. Potentially more reliable data from clinic-based assessments suggested that 33% to 98% of survivors have symptoms for at least a month after infection. The U.K. Health Security Agency analysis included a total of 15 studies of long COVID: four from the U.S., four from the U.K., two from India, two online with participants in multiple countries, and one each from France, Indonesia, and Israel. Full vaccination was universally considered two doses of a two-dose vaccine series or one of a single-dose vaccine. The document cautioned that all of the studies considered were observational. "As there are many differences between people who are and are not vaccinated, there is a risk in all these studies that factors other than vaccination status may have influenced the results (in any direction)," it pointed out. Additionally, the studies varied widely in their definition of long COVID, and the rapid review precluded pooled or meta-analysis of the findings together. U.K. Health Security Agency Source Reference: UKHSA COVID-19 Evidence Team "The effectiveness of vaccination against long COVID: A rapid evidence briefing" U.K. Health Security Agency 2022.

How to Use Graphs Effectively Many times, you can use a graph to represent data in a more organized way, and in a more visual way. Say we have the equation y equals 2x minus 3. What can do is plug in a couple of numbers for x and then find out what number we get for y, and then we can come out with some coordinates plug them in here, and then draw a line representing the values of this equation. We’re going to start out by plugging in 0 for x. I’m just going to put parentheses like that. 2 times 0 is 0, minus 3, equals -3, so y equals -3. The first coordinate we get is x equals 0 and y equals -3. We’re going to plug in 5 for x, so we’re going to put 5 in parentheses. We get 10 minus 3 equals 7, so y equals 7. In this case x equals 5, y equals 7. We have these two coordinates you just plug these in to this graph right here, and we can get a line. We have these dash marks here. I need to go ahead and label these, so we have this x axis, which runs horizontal, left to right. Then we have the y axis, which runs vertical, or up and down. On the right side of the y axis the x axis is positive, and on the left side it is negative. This works similarly for the y axis. Above the x axis it’s positive, and below it’s negative. First, we’re going take a look at this coordinate right here. We have the x coordinate and the y coordinate, we find x first which is 0, so we are right here. Then we go down to -3 and draw a dot, and I’m going to go ahead and put the coordinates right there. Then we look for the x coordinate first and then the y coordinates. We find 5, then we need to go all the way up to 7, we’re going to need to extend this line a little bit to make it up there. We’re going to go from 5 all the way up to 7 and draw a dot. Then we just need to draw a line all the way up there. If you’re using a piece of paper, you can often use a ruler, so I’m just going to attempt to freehand this which means the line is not going to be very straight as you can see, but we do need to draw the coordinates -or write the coordinates for that too. Then we have a line, and you can go all the way up this line and see different points on it. You can go “Oh okay, if x equals this certain number, then y is equal this certain number.” Because you can follow it across here, you can go down and find the x coordinate, and then go across and find the y coordinate to figure out some other coordinates here, or to figure out some other values for x and y. Here you just have coordinates written on a page. It may not mean much to you, it’s hard to visualize what that looks like. Here you have a real visual format, real organized way to view a lot of data, and then be able to keep it and comprehended.

An independent panel will be set up to investigate the deaths of thousands of dead crabs and lobsters that were washed ashore onto North Sea beaches last year, the UK government has announced. Mass numbers of dying crustaceans were found along parts of the north-east coast of England between October and December 2021. There were distressing scenes of large numbers dead on beaches with fishing crews warning that sparse catches offshore following the event was “catastrophic” for their livelihoods. Chief scientific adviser from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Professor Gideon Henderson, said the deaths were “unusual” and that “it is important we understand its cause.” The panel will consider the impact of dredging around a freeport development in Teesside and the presence of pyridine, a chemical pollutant, among other potential causes, Defra said. What happened on the Teesside and North Yorkshire coast? Residents of coastal communities close to the mouth of the River Tees have been raising the alarm over the deaths of crustaceans since autumn last year. An initial report by Defra blamed a naturally occurring algal bloom. But independent researchers blamed chemicals released by dredging operations linked to the development of the government’s flagship freeport at the mouth of the Tees. The development on Europe’s largest brownfield site is expected to bring as many as 18,000 new jobs to the area. But some fear the extensive demolition, rebuilding and dredging work has disturbed pollutants that have lain dormant in the area and the surrounding seabed for decades. Earlier this month the chair of the House of Commons environment select committee called for an urgent investigation into whether dredging had caused the deaths. However, Defra stopped short of granting the request of Sir Robert Goodwill, MP of Scarborough and Whitby, to minimise dredging while the investigation took place. Joe Redfern, secretary of Whitby Commercial Fishing Association, told Defra’s select committee that he thinks further dredging could bring an end to the North East fishing industry. He believes it is “undoubtable” that dredging and pyridine have played a part in the die-offs. What have investigations found to have caused the deaths? An official investigation into the incident was led by Defra and it pointed the finger at an algal bloom as the likely cause. It concluded it was unlikely that dredging, chemical or sewage pollution or animal disease had been the cause. However, subsequent research by academics, backed by the fishing industry, suggested the incident could have been caused by industrial pollutant pyridine, possibly from dredging in the mouth of the River Tees to maintain channels for port traffic. There have been calls for a halt to dredging for the new Teesside freeport pending a full analysis of the situation. In a letter to the parliamentary Defra’s committee, which has been examining the issue, fisheries minister Mark Spencer said an independent group would be established to assess the evidence around the incident and consider all explanations. This would include the possible roles of algal blooms, dredging and pyridine. Mr Spencer said that Professor Henderson, who has not previously been involved in considering this issue, would liaise with the government chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance to establish the independent group. It would consider the findings of the Defra-led investigation published in May 2022 and subsequent analysis from university researchers. What has been said about the further research? Mr Spencer said: “I recognise fishing communities in the North East want as thorough an assessment as possible into the crab and lobster deaths last year. Defra’s investigation concluded that the most likely cause was an algal bloom, but we have always recognised this is a complex area of science and have remained open to further research. “That’s why it is right that all the evidence is now assessed by independent experts and I look forward to receiving their advice.” Professor Henderson commented that the “death of a large number of crustaceans last year in north-east England was unusual” and the causes have been “assessed and informed with a wide range of measurements, by Government agencies and by university researchers, with more than one explanation put forward to explain the deaths.” He added: “The increased sea life mortality has important consequences for local communities and it is important we understand its cause.”

In Greek mythology, Prometheus (ancient Greek: Προμηθεύς, "forethought") is the Titan honored chiefly for stealing fire from Zeus and giving it to mortals for their use. For this transgression, Zeus ordered that Prometheus be chained to the summit of the Caucasus Mountains for eternity. On each day that followed, an eagle would come and eat his liver. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver always regenerated, and so he was left to bear this horrible pain every daily. Prometheus is commonly depicted in myth as an intelligent and cunning figure who had sympathy for humanity; today, the term "Promethean" is used to describe people who are connected with great creativity, intellect, and boldness. Place among the gods Prometheus was a son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the Oceanids. He was also a brother of Atlas, Menoetius, and Epimetheus (the "one who thinks too late;" his polar opposite). He surpassed each of these siblings in cunning and deceit. He would go on to become the father of Deucalion with Pronoia. It was Prometheus who warned Deucalion of Zeus' plan to send a flood to destroy humankind, and subsequently advised his son to build an ark in order to sail to safety. In general, Prometheus was not fearful of the gods, and he openly ridiculed Zeus, although he was favored by the supreme god for his assistance in the fight against Cronus. Furthermore, it was Prometheus who helped cure Zeus of a particularly horrendous headache. No healer was able to emancipate the king of the gods from this ailment, and so Prometheus came to him and declared that he knew the appropriate remedy, then promptly took a rock from the ground and hit Zeus over the head with it. Out of the wound on Zeus' head climbed the Goddess Athena, and Zeus' headache disappeared. Alternative versions of these myths identify Hephaestus or Hera, rather than Prometheus, as the individual who split Zeus' head open. Creation of humanity Prometheus, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, is credited with the creation of human-beings "in godlike image" from clay, a role which is assigned to Zeus in other variations of the creation myth. According to the myths, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were ordered by Cronus to make creatures that would populate the earth. Prometheus carefully crafted a creature after the shape of the gods: A man. Prometheus and Epimetheus journeyed to Earth from Olympus, then ventured to the Greek province of Boitia and made clay figures. Zeus took the figures and breathed life into them. The figures that Prometheus had created became human beings and honored him. The figures that his brother Epimetheus had created, meanwhile, became the beasts, which turned and attacked him. Zeus was angered by the actions of Prometheus and Epimetheus, and he forbade the pair from teaching humanity the ways of civilization. Athena chose to go against Zeus and taught Prometheus so that he might teach humanity. For their actions, Zeus demanded that a sacrifice be made to the Gods from human beings to demonstrate that they were obedient and worshipful. The gods and mortal man had arranged a meeting at Mecone where the matter of division of sacrifice was to be settled. Prometheus slew a large ox, and divided it into two piles. In one pile he put all the meat and most of the fat, cleverly covering it with the ox's grotesque stomach, while in the other pile, he dressed up the bones artfully with shining fat. Prometheus then invited Zeus to choose a pile for the gods. Zeus, however, saw through the trick, but nonetheless chose the pile of bones, since he realized that in willfully getting tricked he would have an excuse to vent his anger upon mortal humans. Alternative sources claim that Zeus did not, in fact, see through this ruse. This provides a mythological explanation for the common practice in ancient Greece whereby worshipers would sacrifice only bones to the gods, while keeping the meat and fat for themselves. In his wrath, Zeus denied humankind the secret of fire. In the wake of this punishment, Prometheus watched his creations as they shivered though the cold winter nights and was overcome with sympathy. He decided to give his most loved creation a great gift. He stealthily stole fire from the hearth of the gods and brought it to humans in a hollow wand of fennel that served him in place of a staff. He brought down the fire and gave it to the humans, then instructed them as to how they could cook and stay warm. Zeus was enraged by Prometheus' insubordinate action. However, Zeus could not simply take fire back, because a god or goddess was not able to take away what another had god or goddess had given. For Prometheus' act of hubris, Zeus devised a punishment that would suppress all of humankind while rendering Prometheus unable to succor them. Zeus had Prometheus carried to Mount Caucasus, upon the summit of which he was bound to a rock. Here an eagle by the name of Ethon would arrive daily to peck at his liver. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver would grow back each day, and so the eagle would be able to eat it again. In other variations of this story, Zeus has Prometheus tortured on the mountain because he had come to know the name of the person who, according to prophecy, would overthrow the king of the gods. This punishment was to last for eternity. About twelve generations later, Zeus's very own son Heracles, passing by on his way to find the apples of the Hesperides as part of his Twelve Labors, freed Prometheus. Once free, Prometheus captured Ethon and ate the bird's liver as revenge for his pain and suffering. Zeus was not overly perturbed upon hearing that Prometheus had again evaded his punishment, as the act brought more glory to his son. However, there was a problem, since Zeus had already decided that Prometheus would be tied in the rock for eternity. According to Greek mythology, this could never change, even if Zeus himself wished it. Finally, a solution was found: Prometheus was invited to return to Mount Olympus and was given a ring by Zeus that contained a piece of the rock to which he had been previously bound. Prometheus liked this ring and decided to wear it thereafter for eternity, technically fulfilling the conditions of Zeus' earlier decree. To punish human beings for the offenses of Prometheus, Zeus told Hephaestus to "mingle together all things loveliest, sweetest, and best, but look that you also mingle therewith the opposites of each." So Hephaestus took gold and dross, wax and flint, snow and mud, honey and gall, the bloom of the rose and the toad's venom, the voice of laughing water and the peacocks squall, the sea's beauty and its treachery, the dog's fidelity and the wind's inconstancy, and the mother bird's heart of love and the cruelty of the tiger. All these and other contraries beyond enumeration he blended cunningly into one substance and this he molded into the shape that Zeus had described to him. What resulted was a maiden as beautiful as a goddess, who Zeus named Pandora which meant "all gifted." Zeus breathed upon her image, and it lived. The king of the gods sent her to wed Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus, and although Prometheus had warned his brother never to accept gifts from the Olympians, Epimetheus was love-stricken, and he and Pandora wed. The gods adorned the couple with many wedding gifts, and Zeus presented them with a beautifully wrought box, known today as Pandora's Box. When Pandora opened the box, all suffering and despair was unleashed upon humankind, and Zeus had finally taken his revenge. As the introducer of fire and inventor of crafts, Prometheus was seen as the patron of human civilization, thus, it is not surprising that he was commemorated to some extent in Greek worship. A small shrine to Prometheus was located in the Kerameikos, or potter's quarter, of Athens, not far from Plato's Academy. As is common in many altars and votive reliefs to Prometheus, he was honored in an altar with Hephaestus. In the Akademia, located just outside of Athens, there stood another altar to Prometheus, from which athletes raced to the city carrying burning torches. The contest involved keeping the torch alight while running; if the torch of the lead runner came to be extinguished, he lost his claim to victory. The festival during which these torch races took place was known as Promethia. In Argos, the chief city of Argolis in Southern Greece, the citizens kept a tomb of Prometheus and honored him as a dead hero. The city of Opous in Central Greece also claimed to honor a grave of Prometheus. The myth of Prometheus is one of the most popular Greek myths, and has enjoyed reverberations in art, literature, and even science. His story has inspired many authors, composers, and artists throughout the centuries, and various works have been created that either allude to Prometheus or use his story as a template. Among the most famous of these are the play Prometheus Bound, traditionally attributed to Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.E.), and Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, the alternative title of which is The Modern Prometheus. The following year, Shelley's husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, also contributed a play with similar themes entitled Prometheus Unbound. Shelley, among other Romantics, saw Prometheus as the prototypical genius. Prometheus inspired a number of poems in which he was the titular character, such as those by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Lord Byron. Ludwig van Beethoven provided a musical composition inspired by the Promethean myth entitled Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, op. 43. Additionally, Prometheus is alluded to in the works of literary giants such as Shakespeare, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, and Thomas Hardy. In the twentieth and twenty-first century, Prometheus has also been a subject of numerous avenues of popular culture in general, spanning a gamut of mainstream media including fiction, film, and comic books. Additionally, Prometheus has also been widely acknowledged by science, as he represents the continuous unraveling of human understanding. As such, many scientific discoveries have been given his name. One of Saturn's inner satellites is named Prometheus after the Titan, as is the asteroid 1809 Prometheus. The name for the sixty-first element Promethium is also derived from Prometheus. In 2003, the first ever cloned horse to be born from and carried by its cloning mother was named Prometea, the feminine form of Prometeos, the Italian form of "Prometheus." - Graves, 52. - Avery, 470. - C. Galli, et al., 635. ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees - Avery, Catherine B. The New Century Handbook of Greek Mythology and Legend. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972. ISBN 0390669466 - Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion (John Raffan, trans.). Oxford: Blackwell Press, 1985. ISBN 0631112413 - Buxton, Richard. The Complete World of Greek Mythology. Thames & Hudson, 2004. ISBN 978-0500251218 - Galli, C., et al. "A cloned horse born to its dam twin." Nature 424 (Aug. 7), 2003. 635. - Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1960. ISBN 014020508X - Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 978-0415046015 All links retrieved December 1, 2022. 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To Collect or Not to Collect As higher visitation and climate change increasingly threaten artifacts, can the Park Service afford to leave them in place? The olla lay in a hollow under a boulder on the right bank of the Colorado River for a very long time. Sheltered from monsoon rains, shaded from the desert sun and perched above the floods that scoured the Grand Canyon every spring until dams were built upstream, the ceramic jar sat as a silent reminder of the Ancestral Puebloan people’s millennia-long relationship to this place. National Park Service archaeologists first documented the pot in its niche in 1990. Though park staff sought to keep its location secret, word of the remarkable object started to spread. In 2008, rangers noted a faint trail up to the olla’s perch from the riverbank. “The pot remains intact and in place, though it has clearly been removed and handled, perhaps multiple times,” read a monitoring report. In early 2012, staff noted that “the site is regularly visited with a well-defined social trail.” In May of that year, rangers returned to find the nook empty and the pot sitting on the ground a short distance away. “It sure seemed like someone was getting ready to steal it, but then got cold feet,” said Ellen Brennan, an archaeologist who’s spent half of her long career at Grand Canyon National Park and recently wrote a paper about the olla. Brennan and her colleagues faced a tough choice: Should they pluck this invaluable object from its longtime home, severing its connection to this particular bend in the river and carrying it off to sit in a dark room miles away up on the canyon rim? Or should they leave it in place and risk coming back to find it shattered, or worse, gone? The case of the wandering olla reflects both the promise and the peril of caring for America’s heritage in the 21st century. In part to honor the wishes of Indigenous communities with ancestral ties to national parks, archaeologists now strive to leave artifacts where they’re found. This is a significant change from the era of indiscriminately collecting Indigenous cultural objects. But with growing park visitation and the widespread use of social media and mapping apps, visitors are ever more likely to stumble upon or seek out objects that have long persisted by dint of their relative obscurity. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are exposing and damaging artifacts that were once safely buried. All of that means that leaving irreplaceable objects in their original locations also raises the risk of theft or destruction and that Park Service archaeologists are increasingly facing difficult decisions about the cultural resources in their care. “I’m sure you’ve heard all about the paradox of the parks, right?” asked Josh Torres, the Park Service’s acting chief archaeologist. “We desperately want people to come and enjoy the amazing resources that we’re entrusted to preserve and protect for the American people. But there are times when doing so is almost antithetical to conservation and protection.” Conflicts between the agency’s preservation mandate and its public access goal are nothing new, but it’s up to each new generation of park stewards to renegotiate those competing priorities as attitudes evolve and new threats and challenges arise. Well into the 20th century, archaeologists in national parks tended to collect whatever artifacts they came across, often without regard for either scientific rigor or the rights of the people whose ancestors created these objects. A Finnish museum, for example, currently houses about 600 Ancestral Puebloan artifacts that an archaeologist removed in the 1890s from what would become Mesa Verde National Park. (In 2020, the museum repatriated the remains of 20 people and 28 funerary objects that had been part of its collection to the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Acoma, the Pueblo of Zia and the Pueblo of Zuni.) Yellowstone National Park’s museum holds over 35,000 archaeological objects collected within the park in the past 150 years. Brennan said the museum at Grand Canyon holds boxes of “random soils, pottery and wood” that archaeologists collected in the 1960s and ’70s but failed to process. “I liken it to looters or pothunters, who knowingly are stealing archaeological materials that serve no greater purpose than to grace their mantels,” Brennan said. “It doesn’t do anyone any good to collect artifacts without identifying information so they can be studied further into the future and tied back to furthering an understanding of human use and behavior.” For many Indigenous communities, when archaeological sites are disturbed — whether by archaeologists, bulldozers or looters — much more than scientific data is lost. “The Zunis have a very personal, psychological, emotional connection to these ancestral places, which non-Zunis call archaeological sites,” said Kurt Dongoske. He’s the Tribal historic preservation officer for the Pueblo of Zuni, one of the 11 federally recognized Tribes with ancestral ties to Grand Canyon. “From a Zuni perspective, the ancestors that are residing in their eternal homes in these sites are still very much a live presence in spiritual form.” The removal of artifacts for archaeological research has severed vital connections to their ancestors, Dongoske said. Preserving and restoring access to sacred sites and artifacts has been a priority for Indigenous activists and elders who’ve fought for Tribal sovereignty and self-determination since the American Indian Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. As a result, laws such as 1979’s Archaeological Resources Protection Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 require federal agencies to formally consult Tribal governments and other descendant groups before excavating a site. As archaeologists established working relationships with Tribal leaders, they began to realize that many of the answers they were seeking had been there all along. This shift in perspective made it harder for archaeologists in national parks to justify collecting objects in the name of research. “Certain descendant groups say, ‘There’s literally no question you could ask about that artifact that I couldn’t just tell you the answer to, so just leave it alone,’” said Elizabeth Hora, an archaeologist at the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, which consults with the Park Service on archaeological research in the state’s national park sites. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t pocket artifacts, light a campfire in an archaeological site or scratch your name in a petroglyph panel. But is it OK to check out a secret spot you read about online? As smartphones have made it easier to collect and share information about sites off the beaten path, archaeologists say each visitor’s calculus matters more than ever. “If you see something on social media, and the park hasn’t built a trail to it, there’s probably a reason for that,” Josh Torres said. “It behooves all of us as stewards of our parks to not go out and try to find it.” If you do stumble across an artifact, the Park Service implores you not to post about it online. And while relic hunting forums and Instagram influencers are obvious targets of archaeologists’ anxiety, they’re not counting out the risks of good old-fashioned word of mouth. “You might just share something with your small group of friends, and they’re all good people,” said Ian Wright, cultural site stewardship coordinator for the Utah State Historic Preservation Office. “Then each of them shares it with their small group of friends, and they’re all good people. Even if nobody’s doing anything bad, that’s still a lot of people tromping around out there.” Photo ©RINUS BAAK/DREAMSTIME “Going across the landscape and collecting materials is a thing of the past” for park archaeologists, Brennan said. Instead of relocating objects to controlled storage, park staff are now figuring out how to preserve artifacts where they’re found, but that’s not always possible. “There are lots of instances where we do collect material if it looks like those resources will be lost or stolen,” said Torres. “We have an obligation to mitigate those adverse effects to those resources however we can.” These days, Park Service policy dictates that whenever park managers need to make a call about artifacts or sites that are at risk, they discuss options with the descendant communities of the people who created them. “In some instances, the management actions necessary to preserve or protect a particular site from destruction or a federal project may be counter to wishes of the Tribes,” Torres acknowledged. “But that’s the whole purpose of the consultation process: to try and work out amenable solutions.” And as more material traces of the continent’s human past disappear under rising seas, wash away in freak storms, burn up in raging wildfires and melt out of waning ice patches, these sorts of decisions will only become more common. After unusually heavy rains in 2013, rangers at Arizona’s Wupatki National Monument noticed that a partially exposed structure built out of sandstone slabs on a hillside had started to erode. They spotted three clay vessels, exposed to the elements and teetering in a newly formed gully. Park staff couldn’t figure how to stabilize the slope, so in concert with Tribes associated with the park and Arizona’s State Historic Preservation Office, they decided to excavate the whole structure. All told, they found seven intact pots dating to the 12th century. It’s rare to find one intact pot in the field, let alone seven, said Gwenn Gallenstein, museum curator for the three national monuments near Flagstaff including Wupatki. “It caused quite a bit of excitement in the community.” Friends of Flagstaff National Monuments drummed up some funding for a new visitor center display, which would feature the vessels and other objects as part of a story about how climate change is accelerating threats to the park’s archaeological resources. But in consultation for the exhibit with a group of Hopi elders, Gallenstein learned that the site had most likely been a shrine that could have been created to contain something harmful, like an illness. The elders explained that “its contents shouldn’t be utilized for any purpose, handled by any person or kept in storage for research,” Gallenstein recalled. It would have been better, the elders told her, if park staff had left the pots to erode away, but federal regulations mandate that archaeological objects recovered from federal land be preserved, meaning Gallenstein couldn’t just return the pots to the gully where they’d soon be smashed to bits. So the Hopi elders and the park’s superintendent struck a compromise. A few weeks later, park archaeologists dug a pit in a stable area near the site and reburied the shrine’s contents. Back at Grand Canyon, Brennan and her colleagues also sought a solution somewhere between accessioning the olla into the park’s permanent collection and leaving it in its increasingly perilous home. Tribal representatives had told Brennan that they wanted the pot to stay in the canyon — unless it seemed the object was in danger. “Once someone took it out of the site context, we knew at that point we had to remove it,” she said. You can read this and other stories about history, nature, culture, art, conservation, travel, science and more in National Parks magazine. Your tax-deductible membership donation of $25 or more entitles…See more › So with a go-ahead from the Tribes, park staff orchestrated a rescue mission involving cotton gloves, bubble wrap, a sturdy metal box and a 166-mile river journey through dozens of major rapids. (“Intact vessels are so fragile and so rare. You don’t want to be the one that breaks it,” Brennan said. “So yeah, it’s nerve-wracking.”) The olla arrived at the park’s museum undamaged. In the past, the park’s archaeologists might have proceeded to zap the pot with an X-ray machine, swab its surface for traces of ancient pollen or put it on display in the visitor center, but Brennan and her colleagues made a different plan. “It wasn’t just that I want to protect the object from theft,” she said. “I was also thinking about how the Tribes think about these sites as still-living entities.” So she hopes that someday the pot can be returned to its riverside home. “In the meantime, we haven’t done anything with it,” she said. “It’s just been sitting, waiting quietly for us to put it back.” About the author Julia Busiek Author Julia Busiek has worked in national parks in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Washington state. She lives in Oakland, California.

What is a “national monument” established by the President? A “national monument” established by the President protects “objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government” (54 U.S.C. § 320301, known as the Antiquities Act). If the national monument is administered by the National Park Service (NPS), as many national monuments are, it is subject to the same laws and policies as govern other units of the National Park System. Thus, an NPS national monument established by the President is a protected area similar to a national park, administered for the protection and enjoyment of its resources and values. How does an area become a national monument? To be established by the President, the area must meet the criteria of the Antiquities Act (54 U.S.C § 320301), including having objects of historic or scientific interest located on land already owned or controlled by the Federal government. The views of the public are carefully considered in the process. National monuments can also be created by Congress under their own enabling statutes, rather than the Antiquities Act. National monuments can be administered by Federal agencies other than NPS. The Presidential proclamation or Congressionally-enacted statute creating the national monument typically indicates which Federal agency will administer it. What constitutes Camp Nelson National Monument? Camp Nelson National Monument protects and interprets three discontiguous locations in Jessamine County, consisting of approximately 380-acres of the core historic Civil War-era Camp Nelson site, roughly 20 miles southwest of Lexington, Kentucky. These locations include the main encampment area and sites associated with the Home for Colored Refugees. Many Union supply depots were situated in or near large urban areas such as Louisville, Chattanooga, New Orleans, and Chicago, and their associated landscape and remaining archeological resources have been destroyed by post-Civil War development. Because of its rural location and grass roots preservation efforts within Jessamine County, Camp Nelson is considered one of the best-preserved Civil War-era depots, hospitals, recruiting centers, and refugee camp sites in the nation. The national monument is comprised of pastures, open fields, and wood lots similar to the site’s pre- and post-war appearance. Camp Nelson’s well-preserved landscape includes numerous features from the Civil War era; they include earthen fortifications, entrenchments, building foundations, historic road remnants, and springs. The Oliver Perry House/“White House” is the only surviving extant structure associated with Camp Nelson’s Civil War history. This 1855 Greek Revival house was commandeered by the Union army for use as the Quartermaster and Commissary officers’ quarters and eventually returned to the Perry family after the war. Operated in partnership with Jessamine County, a visitor center featuring museum exhibits on the history of Camp Nelson as well as a reconstructed army barracks building are located within the National Monument. The Camp Nelson National Monument is also recognized as an official site on the NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Today, the site of Camp Nelson remains one of the best preserved landscapes and archeological sites associated with Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops recruitment camps and the African American refugee experience. The site speaks to the stories of transformation from enslavement to citizenship and of the extraordinary endurance and courage of the individuals who reshaped their own lives and the course of our nation. What happens now that the area has been designated a national monument? The National Park Service is beginning to work on the development of a management plan, to ensure that the new national monument preserves the site’s resources and provides for an outstanding visitor experience. The National Park Service’s planning for the new park will be done with full public involvement and in coordination with Jessamine County, Kentucky and other stakeholders. Open houses and public meetings will be held to discuss the management plan and invite the public to share ideas for the future of the monument. Last updated: December 16, 2019

Oakridgers takes up on MIT extreme weather challenges with Nord Anglia Education - 6 May 2022 The world is witnessing hotter days and heatwaves with each passing year since 1950. We will see more changes in weather extremes by end of the 21st century if we don’t act now. It begins with educating children to fight the crisis. As part of Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium school organization, students at Oakridge International School Bachupally get an opportunity to work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to find the problem–solving ideas. Nord Anglia Education with MIT brings in a new age of challenges for its students all over the globe every year. Overall, 620 students participated in all STEAM-based activities, of different genres. A total of 270 students participated in the MIT challenges on Earth, this academic year focuses on extreme weather. “Global campus MIT gave me a lot of opportunities to learn, develop skills, and be innovative and creative in science and technology. I’m always excited to log onto the global campus and learn something new every day, like learning about weather from the videos of Dr. Kerry Emmauel, Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer, and Dr. Kristen Bergmann, the climate scientists in the extreme weather challenges gave us many interesting insights”, says Jiya, a grade 6 student from Oakridge Bachupally.

I have been requested to talk about what is real and what is not. After some hesitations here are few thoughts. When asked to define reality and non-reality the Buddha replied in many ways often contradicting himself. Maybe his contradictions had a purpose since he did not like metaphysical or philosophical stuff, preferring being down to earth. For example he would rather answer the following: What are the causes of suffering and how to prevent them? Regarding what is reality and not, he replied the following: “If you think, nothing is real because our thoughts are immaterial” Another day he would teach this: “Everything is real when I am using my 5 senses.” Or in modern English he also said: “I don’t know the difference, what is the point of your question?” So, this is a difficult topic to talk about and I am not sure about its practical value in making your life easier, better and more serene. However this is a good challenge for discussion. The first step is to try to define and differentiate 2 key words that seem somewhat similar: To exist and to be real. Is there a difference between them? By definition, nothing exists per se if not present in the present moment. Its antonym is immaterial, virtual. This distinction is very important and should help somewhat in the following second step. Let us use 2 practical examples to differentiate the 2 words If I pinch my skin I am aware of it because my skin does exist in the current moment and is real because my skin is material with a proven concrete reality. In fact, by using our 5 senses one can confirm that something exists – that is now- and is real or not. 2) B exists; does it mean that B is real? The answer is NO in the following example. You have a thought. Does this thought exist? Yes of course, because this thought is present in the current moment. But your thought, whatever true or not, is not real because it does not have any material reality. The distinction between ”what is existing” and “what is real,” sounds purely academic and useless. However its importance is crucial because, by definition, our mind’s world does exist but are immaterial. Our perception, thought, emotion, belief, desire, expectations, memory do exist and maybe true or not but they are not real since lacking concrete reality. So, everything created by our mind 1) does exist if perceived in the current moment, 2) maybe true or not, 3) but is not real per se since being immaterial. Zen says: “Don’t believe in all your thoughts, just observe them since, despite existing, they are not real”. In summary and using a very pragmatic and simple approach: Something exists only in the current moment. It may or may not be real that is with a concrete reality. Something that is real - material - must exist because of the verb to be is in its present form “IS real” that is now. An existing state can be real or virtual. A real state always exists Being aware of what is real and of what is not such as our perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions is a giant step in discovering your dormant awakening. For your reflections:

The critically endangered black bearded saki is endemic to a small region of the far eastern Amazon rainforests in Brazil, primarily in the Maranhão Babaçu Forests ecoregion. The black bearded saki is known for using its hands for scooping up drinking water, a method that is believed to help with pruning their large beards. At certain times of the year 90% of this primate species’ diet consists of immature seeds. The black bearded saki has reportedly coped with fragmentation of its habitat by consuming more flowers and non-reproductive plant parts, ingeniously allowing the plants to recover and not depleting their scarce resources. Unfortunately, their population is still decreasing and more intensive conservation actions are needed. The Maranhão Babaçu Forests are located in eastern Brazil at the very eastern and southern flank of the Amazon Basin. This region comprises a transition zone between the moist evergreen forests of the Amazon Basin and the drier woodlands and scrub savannas of Brazil’s central plateau. The terrain is flat to gently rolling and is dissected by many rivers that drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Elevations inland reach 150 m and drop toward the coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 1,000–1,500 mm, mostly falling during a 6-month period every year; then the region goes through 5–6 months of drought. Annual temperature ranges from 25°–28°C. The bottomland soils are rich from river deposits of different materials. The most striking features of the region are the extensive high-density stands of the economically important oil palm babassu. While the palm is native to the ecoregion, human activities in primary forests including burning and deforestation, from which this species is adapted to recover quickly, have assisted its spread to become the predominant vegetation. Abundant trees of primary forest include yellow mombin, membrillo, suradan, and Protium heptaphyllum (used for incense). This ecoregion originally supported a collection of rare endemic birds, fishes, and insects. Habitat degradation of the area has caused reduced the biodiversity. There are still 112 mammals recorded such as the lowland paca, agouti, Brazilian porcupine, spiny rats, and hog-nosed skunks. Around 268 bird species have been recorded as well. About half of this ecoregion is covered by secondary forest and degraded pasture. No large protected areas exist here. Severe deforestation during the past 70 years has eliminated most of the original moist forest, and only remnant patches remain. The babassu palm continues to proliferate on deforested sites, which are in great supply as human activities such as agriculture and ranching require cleared land. The remnants of natural savanna and forest vegetation are threatened by strong demand for land for large-scale intensive production operations, such as cattle-ranching and sugar cane plantation. Introduced grasses for pasture such as Hyparrhenia rufa compete with native savanna species. All these factors increase the stress on the original moist forest habitat and lead to further fragmentation of the ecosystem. The priority conservation actions for the next decade are to: 1) introduce more natural resource based, sustainable cattle ranching and agriculture practices; 2) promote restoration of degraded areas; and 3) create protected areas within the remaining fragments of moist forests. 1. Sears, R. 2018. Eastern and Southern flank of the Amazon basin in Brazil. https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0139 Accessed November 17, 2018. 2. Anderson, A. B., P. H. May, and M. J. Balick. 1991. The Subsidy from Nature: Palm forests, peasantry, and development on an Amazon frontier. Columbia University Press, New York. 3. Anderson, A. B. 1983. People and the Palm Forest: Biology and utilization of babassu palms in Maranhão, Brazil. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 4. Veiga, L.M., Silva Jr., J.S., Ferrari, S.F. & Rylands, A.B. 2008. Chiropotes satanas. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T39956A10297662. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T39956A10297662.en. Accessed November 17, 2018.

White Clover Seeds 6735. Open Pollinated. Perennial. Robust, adaptive, drought resistant legume that is also somewhat shade tolerant. White clover is often seeded into established lawns or in areas where turf grasses tend to struggle. This variety is not naturally recumbent. Requires regular mowing to keep at 7.5-10 cm (3-4″) in height. A superb plant for sowing into rough or non-maintained and low maintenance areas, for land stabilization projects and as honey bee fodder. Also an excellent choice for use as a green manure. Legumes capture atmospheric nitrogen and fix it to their roots making this very valuable nutrient available for other plants to use. Perennial hardy to Zone 4. How to Grow The best time to sow white clover is early April through mid-May. Late summer sowing should only be done a minimum of 6 weeks before freezing to ensure the root structure is large enough to properly establish before winter. Dormant late fall sowing is done just prior to the ground freezing. Sow 250 g (1/2 lb) per 90 sq. m. (1000 sq. ft.). For larger areas, sow at 9 kg per hectare (8 lb per acre). Avoid using nitrogen based fertilizer where white clover is present.

Despite a gap of nearly two thousand years, Boudica remains at the forefront of the public imagination. Her story has been passed down the generations from the original writings of the Romans and she has been continually reinvented to serve as a woman of many times from Elizabeth 1st to Margaret Thatcher. Set against beautiful watercolours of Norfolk, (Using found objects from Norwich Castle Museum and the banks of the River Thames, to create collage animation and characters). Emma Calder’s film looks at Boudica the woman, what motivated her to keep her freedom and what her story means to us now, that we know so much more about her and her people from very recent archaeology. The film shows Boudica and the Iceni tribe and their rebellion against the Romans in first century Britain. The film contrasts the worlds of the indigenous Iceni people and their Roman Invaders. Boudica A Norfolk Story, contains all the key ideas from this most interesting period in British history whilst being attractive, playful and engaging for all ages. Conceived, animated and directed by EMMA CALDER. Produced by Pearly Oyster Productions 2013 © Pearly Oyster Productions. Format digital, Colour, length 5 mins 32 secs. A Pearly Oyster production commissioned by Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service and supported by the Arts Council of England.

Here are all the minor scales and their key signatures. They are written first as a natural minor scale and second as a harmonic minor The minor scales with sharps in their key signatures are first. Keys with flats are second. Here are the minor scales with flats in their key signatures. Need to check out any more scales? Go to the main piano scales page for major scales, pentatonic scales, scale modes and information about what makes up a scale. Return from Minor Scales to Piano Lessons Info Homepage.

When we are sick or injured we know exactly what we want. We want to feel good again, to not be sick; we want to get better, to be healthy. But what does that mean to be healthy? Good health is a result of what we eat, what we think, how we express emotions, what we feel, what we do and how we live. Our thoughts, actions, and choices make incremental changes in our way of life, dictating our current outlook and health. Making healthy choices is an ongoing process that leads to good health or poor health. We can start off with big goals, of exercising, eating right, getting our health back on track. We get up, do a spiritual contemplation, work out, have a shake and then we are off to work. When that becomes a routine, it can work really well. We can get used to feeling well rested, and having the right thoughts, and starting the day out fresh. If something happens that we are not quite prepared for, our goals can go out the window. If we don’t pay attention, our habits get side-tracked by our thoughts, food choices, environment, and the company we keep. We give ourselves a break; we compensate, perhaps we have a negative thought for that unfortunate event, or think we deserve a treat that isn’t in our body’s best interest because it was a stressful day. We feel sorry for ourselves and reward ourselves in ways that feel good for the moment, but may not be good for us in the long run. We skip our good habits and fall into a rut that may not be working for us. It’s like the person who wants to drown their sorrows in drink at the end of a stressful day who either doesn’t know or care how they will feel in the morning. Everything has consequences. Sometimes we just can’t see the connection of how are actions are influencing our present. In this case it is our health. We have to begin anew to build the good health habits. Our bodies are our big life experiment. We have over three trillion cells, and more bacteria than we can count. We choose what to allow our body to experience by what we feed it, the kind of water we drink, how hard we work the body, what we think about, and the environment where we live. Our thoughts are affected by our emotions and we generate feelings from those emotions. We cannot always choose what life brings to us, but we can choose how we respond to our life. When we choose to follow a plan to good health, it leads to new choices, habits, and thoughts that change to accommodate this new lifestyle of good health. You might notice you feel better from the increased flexibility or home made food you are eating, or you don’t have as many headaches, dark moods, or aches and pains. You find new thoughts and new ideas come your way. New ways of being rewarded reinforce the new healthy habits. It takes cells about 120 days to reproduce and copy over their new blueprint of being well. That way all the cells have the healthy blueprint, and not just some of them. Because it takes so long, it is best to stick to a program of taking a supplement, protocol, or herbal for about 3-4 months, if you are trying to uproot it. For someone who can ask the body, you can check to see what the body wants. Do we ever get there? Do we get where we have good health and now we can stop? Since life is an increasing collection of our thoughts and understandings, we find ways to keep improving, to continue growing. There is always another step to take, to learn, to help others. That is the part of us that is creative, or divine. Good health is the process; it is taking the steps to becoming who we truly are.

Q: The fruit on my Nagami kumquat this year is variable and somewhat bland. Larger fruit have little to no acidity and can even be mealy, while smaller fruit are closer in tartness to previous years. Is this a result of weather? A: Exposure to freezing temperatures can cause icky, mealy citrus fruit. Kumquats are relatively cold tolerant (for a citrus), but if the fruit is exposed to freezing temperatures, the skin can crack and leave you with a dry, mealy, bland crop. The larger fruit contain more water, so they are more likely to crack and dry out. Keep in mind that these cracks may not be visible when you harvest the fruit, but they are still enough to ruin your crop. Q: I have a mature dwarf tangerine tree in my backyard. It has flourished and produced very well over the last 20 years or so. Now, it is not doing so well. Leaves are fading in color from green to yellow and are dropping. The bark on the trunk is wrinkling and pieces are falling off. It gets plenty of water and sunshine. Also, it seems to be a home for a great number of ants. What is going on and is there hope? A: Your tangerine may be suffering from any number of maladies. The presence of ants indicates the presence of either aphids or scale insects. Usually these are minor nuisance insects, but in great numbers they can weaken a tree. The peeling bark could be caused by insects, irregular watering, sun/wind damage or exocortis (an uncommon viral disease). I recommend applying fertilizer especially formulated for citrus. Yellowing leaves are a common symptom of nutrient deficiency (especially nitrogen). Citrus trees require regular feeding, so this is a good place to start. If you suspect sun damage (this is likely if the damage is on the south or west facing side), paint the trunk with white latex paint that has been diluted 1:1 with water. Q: When is the best time to prune a grapefruit tree? A: Most citrus does not require extensive pruning. At any time you can remove dead branches, water sprouts (long, nonproductive, extremely vigorous branches that grow straight up) and branches that are rubbing together. If you want to prune to keep the tree’s height under control, do so either right before it blooms or after fruit set. Pruning encourages new growth, which is susceptible to frost damage, so avoid doing it late in the year. Lower branches can be pruned to improve access to fruit. Q: After the rain, I found all these mounds in the ground. Do you have any idea what they are? A: Your photo shows a bunch of 1/4-1/2-inch diameter holes next to little piles of excavated soil. These are earthworm holes, and they often appear after heavy rain. Earthworms produce tunnels beneath the soil surface as they feed on decaying organic matter. When the soil becomes waterlogged, these tunnels begin to collapse and the worms migrate upwards to escape. As they make their way to the surface, they re-dig these tunnels and the displaced soil ends up outside. This is one case where holes in the ground are a good thing! Have questions? Email [email protected]. Looking for more gardening tips? Here’s how to contact the Master Gardener program in your area. Los Angeles County San Bernardino County

It is becoming increasingly apparent that sustained corporate success lies in harmony with a healthy society and environment. At Process Street we also recognize the increasing priority adopting a sustainable business model should have. In this article, we explain what a sustainable business is, why it is important, how it can benefit your business in both the short and long term, and how you can implement sustainable actions into your business. At the end of the post, we provide you with templates that act as aids to make your common business processes more sustainable. - What is a sustainable business? - Why business sustainability is important: The three principles of sustainability - A model of sustainability: Three-nested dependencies model - Case studies for sustainable business - The short term benefits of a sustainable business - How you can be a sustainable business Let’s get started. What is a sustainable business? Sustainability is defined as: If we consider sustainability in a business sense, business sustainability is the preservation of a business through time. This means infinite business success and profitability. Who wouldn’t want that? Despite the attractive outcome, business sustainability as a concept did not come about until the early 70s and was met with controversy. Publications such as The Limits To Growth addressed business economics beyond the profit and loss statement. This was the dawn of the green business model. The green business model, or a sustainable business, consider social and environmental dimensions that envelop and interact with business economic development. In short, to attain a sustainable business, environmental, social and financial demands need to be managed and regulated. The green business model as a domain once attracted little attention. But there has been exponential growth in the number of businesses and organizations looking to minimize their social and environmental impacts. Many corporate giants, such as Wal-Mart, have named sustainability as a key priority, understanding its importance for business success. Why business sustainability is important: The 3 principles of sustainability Business sustainability consists of three principles, also known as pillars: - Pillar one: The environment - Pillar two: The society - Pillar three: The economy The next part of this article explains the impacts these three pillars have on business when they are not managed sustainably. We will also consider how these pillars interact with each other in a business sustainability model. Pillar one: The environment and its impacts on business News reports suggesting that our planet is heading towards catastrophe aren’t rare occurrences. The Guardian tells us that glaciers are melting at a rapid pace. The New Yorker broadcasts that the state of Louisiana is losing a football field of land every ~1.5 hours due to rising sea-levels. The Atlantic informs us that the Brazilian Amazon burns under the weight of unsustainable agricultural practices. The human impact on planet Earth – in addition to its animals and plants – is outlined in the quote below: “Humans have caused the annihilation of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants, the authors of the report found. And it’s not just that humans are wiping out wildlife — they’re also determining the animals and plants that remain. Of the birds left in the world, 70% are poultry chickens and other farmed birds. And of the mammals left in the world, 60% are livestock, 36% are pigs, and a mere 4% are wild.” – Erica Sanchez, Jana Sepehr, and Joe McCarthy, Humanity Has Killed 83% of All Wild Mammals and Half of Plants: Study As upsetting as such news is on a personal level, we stand back and ask ‘what does this mean for business?’ This is the question that pillar one, the environment, addresses. According to reports from 2018, $125 trillion is the financial worth of nature. All businesses utilize our planet’s resources to obtain a slice of the $125 trillion pie. Whether that is using materials for physical products or energy, or relying on important natural cycles for freshwater, pollination or seed dispersal. All in all, business profits ultimately rely on what our planet gives us. It makes sense for businesses to ensure that $125 trillion is sustained into the future, and not squandered over a short time period. By preserving natural resources, extinction in a business sense is prevented. Business and environmentalism as concepts are, therefore, very compatible. By ensuring our natural world and its resources are sustained into the future, businesses are maintained by virtue. Pillar two: The society and its impacts on business Pillar two, social sustainability, is about understanding human needs. From a business perspective, social sustainability is realizing the impacts corporations have on workers and society as a whole. This includes accounting for human rights, health and safety, community engagement, work-life-balance, philanthropy, diversity, and equality. Professor of Accountability and CSR at the Middlesex University Business School, Adrian Henriques, states: “Social impact includes anything that affects company-stakeholder relationships: from how much and how reliably suppliers are paid, to how a product affects lives. From how small shareholders may be treated to the impacts of alcohol on health and communities.” – Adrian Henriques, Understanding a company’s social impact is crucial to sustainability One key element that’s certainly contributing to Google’s success is high employee satisfaction. 86% of Google employees state they are satisfied with their jobs. Providing flexible working hours, fun offices and encouraging collaboration and trust, Google integrates social responsibility into its business strategy and delivers a profitable company culture. Walt Disney certainly practices what it preached in the childhood classic movie Winnie the Pooh. Take Disney’s voluntEARS program for instance. The program encourages employees to donate time to community service efforts. It’s a successful program, as 2.9 million hours of service have been put in since its inception. Pillar three: The economy and its impacts on business It is at pillar three, the economic pillar, where we find common ground with most businesses. To be sustainable, businesses must make a profit. Activities that fit under the economic pillar include compliance, proper governance and risk management. Let’s consider the oil company Shell as an example to explain pillar three. Often deemed as ‘evil’, oil companies receive a lot of pressure to reduce the use of fossil fuels and switch to renewable sources. Investment in Shell occurs due to the returns Shell brings. But abruptly dropping fossil fuels will mean losing returns and thus investment. The adoption of renewable energy resources, therefore, has to be slow and incremental. To achieve a successful balance, Shell has set targets to cut its net carbon footprint by 50% by the year 2050. If Shell meets these targets, Shell will have successfully balanced economic factors to meet the environmental climatic demands of being more sustainable. Gorging on a finite resource to maximize profit has grave environmental and social costs. Yes, profit is vital for corporate success but it cannot be at the expense of the other two pillars. To truly understand why, read the next section of this article. A model for sustainability: Three-nested dependencies model There has been some debate over how the three pillars of sustainability interact with one another. The most accurate model proposed is the 3-nested-dependencies model. This model represents a co-dependent reality between the environment, society, and the economy. Human society and our economy are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the environment. Neither can prosper in the long-run without prosperous, healthy surroundings. Beyond the environment, economic success is then driven by the exchange of goods and services. This exchange is determined by social constructs and choices that make up a society. Economic success does not come with fragile, poverty-stricken, despondent communities. In summary, a healthy economy cannot be sustained without a healthy society or environment. From the small-scale economy of a single business, up to the larger-scale global economy, all financial facets are at the mercy of social and environmental factors, and it is the environment that ultimately deals the trump card. The next part of this article outlines case studies to show the sustainable business model and its interacting three principles, in real-life scenarios. Case studies for sustainable business Sustainable business case study one: The collapse of cod fisheries The year 1993 saw the commercial extinction of the Northern Cod. Commercial extinction is the depletion of a species population to the point where not enough can be caught and sold to earn a profit. Technological advances, like ocean-trawling and pinpointing fish using radar and electronic navigation systems, meant the number of fish caught in Canadian catches dramatically rose. Peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the economic success of Canadian fisheries skyrocketed with the overexploitation of our environmental resource. This success was, however, short-term. Negative repercussions soon prevailed in 1992 as the cod species projected towards extinction. The environmental resource was not sustained. The Canadian cod fisheries consequently collapsed. 35,000 fishermen and fish plant workers lost their jobs in the largest industrial closure of Canadian history. A non-sustained environmental resource resulted in adverse social and economic repercussions. Displaced workers were given financial aid and provided with retraining programs, all at a cost to the Canadian economy. Sustainable business case study two: 2015 Indonesia fires In February 2015, 5,000km of Indonesia burned under a thick smog. The vast palm oil monocultures, which provoked this catastrophe, were reduced to ash. Torching a wonderland rich in endemic species to clear the way for plant monocultures of palm oil had always imposed a hazard. In 2015, which was a warmer year than usual, that hazard spread like wildfire over Indonesia. Again, activities that did not account for sustaining nature caused a delayed backlash that whipped havoc over Indonesia’s society. Accounting for both direct deaths from the blaze and indirect deaths from the lingering smokey haze, 100,000 people were estimated to have died from the disaster. The economic impacts were just as cutting. The estimated cost of these fires for Indonesia, due to humanitarian aid and loss of productive land, was around $1.6 billion. Sustainable business case study three: Dhaka garment factory collapse On April 24th, 2013, the factory known as Rana Plaza in Dhaka cracked and shuddered under the weight of its workers and machines. The Bangladeshi factory, serving the fast fashion industry, had its workers stitching and sewing over twelve hours a day, to take home as little as ~$50 a month each. Structural cracks in the eight-story commercial building were reported, causing the closure of shops in its lower floors. The garment factory owners ignored warnings of potential collapse and ordered workers to continue as normal. Only hours after the cracks appeared, the entire building crumpled, killing 1,138 workers and injuring 2,600. The world’s attention turned to the human cost of cheap, fast fashion. Brands associated with the Rana Plaza such as Mango, Primark, and H&M suffered both financially and in reputation. By short-cutting their business’ social responsibility, these fashion companies paid an economic price in the long-run, having to fork out $21.5m to the Rana Plaza Trust Fund. The disaster brought about a campaign concerning fashion retailers and the often unfair treatment of their workers. Sustainable business case study four: Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign As counter-intuitive as this advertisement may seem, the crux of Patagonia’s message is strong: do not take unless you truly need. Founded by Yvon Chouinard, a strong environmental activist, Patagonia puts the environment at the forefront of its business operations. The social impacts of doing so are substantial. Honesty in its campaigns means Patagonia gains trust from its consumers. Taking a charitable sentiment by investing in the environment builds a strong brand that people will support, and often pay more to do so. Patagonia’s healthy environmental stance has positive social effects for the company, creating a firm foundation of brand evangelists. In addition, the company has only a 4% employee turnover due to its strong brand message and good working conditions. The environmental and social sustainable actions of Patagonia contribute to the company’s economic success. In 2017 Patagonia obtained $209 million in revenue, and it continues to use its increasing profit to strengthen its environmental and social mission. The short term benefits of a sustainable business From the above case studies, it is evident that long-term success and unsustainability are mutually exclusive. But what about the short-term benefits of sustainability? Let’s take the business mentioned in the last case study – Patagonia – as an example. Adopting sustainable actions heightens Patagonia’s brand value, thereby providing them with loyal customers who are willing to financially support a brand which aligns with their own ethics and values. In fact, 81% of consumers suggest they will make a personal sacrifice to address social and environmental issues. For Patagonia, this is a huge short-term economic advantage. The short-term benefits of sustainable actions don’t end with heightened brand value and the acquisition of loyal, well-paying customers, either: - Being a sustainable business can help you when bidding for contracts from governmental or corporate bodies who work with sustainability. - Focusing on sustainability allows you to scrutinize your overall business functions – specifically, where you are wasting time, effort, and money. For example, by incorporating environmental accounting procedures, you can reduce your energy costs. By improving your workplace environment, you will reduce employee turnover, save money, and benefit from increased productivity, engagement, and innovation. Ultimately, being a sustainable business won’t just result in benefits that take years upon years to reap; there are plenty of short-term advantages that directly result in profitability. How you can be a sustainable business In this post, we have considered what business sustainability is, and how a sustainable business is made up of three different principles. We have also seen why business sustainability is needed, and considered the negative impacts of being unsustainable, in addition to the positives that being a sustainable business brings. Now we’ll look at how you can do your bit to help create a more sustainable business, and how Process Street can help you achieve your sustainability goals. How to use Process Street to help you become a more sustainable business As a piece of business process management (BPM) software, Process Street has targeted common business procedures and looked at how they can be made more sustainable. We provide advice, information and template resources to facilitate you in reaching your sustainability goals. For example, use Process Street’s environmental accounting template to make your accounting processes more sustainable. Save money by doing so and support a healthy active workforce by implementing schemes such as the cycle to work scheme. Below are some of Process Street’s resources to help you get started and become more sustainable in your business operations. - 12 Inspection Checklists to Maximize Safety in the Work Place - Office Safety Inspection Checklist - Hotel Safety Inspection Checklist - What is IS0 31000? Getting Started With Risk Management - ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Audit - Warehouse Safety Checklist - 5 Free ISO 14001 Checklist Templates for Environmental Management - Environmental Accounting Internal Audit - Hotel Sustainability Audit - What is Workplace Diversity? Improving Diversity in the Workplace (8 Free Templates) - How to Build Better Employee Accountability with Processes - How to Get, Process and Act on Employee Feedback - Why You Should Unleash Team Collaboration and How to Do it Our templates have the following features to provide you with an excellent BPM tool: - Dynamic task due dates so no task is ever left incomplete. - Stop tasks that ensure task order. - Integrations with other pieces of software so you can synchronize your processes. - Conditional logic to create a dynamic process that caters to your specific needs. - Task assignment so that you can assign the relevant team members to specific tasks. Business sustainability is becoming increasingly important - Unsustainable actions and long-term business success are mutually exclusive. - Sustainable actions can provide short-term benefits as well as a myriad of long-term benefits. - Our economy is enveloped within our society; a society that is encased within our environment in a nested-dependencies model. - It is our environment that deals the ultimate trump card. Environmental changes will ripple down to society and finally our economy. Focusing on the final bullet point, it is becoming more and more important for companies to adopt sustainable actions. With looming climatic changes, mass overexploitation of resources, habitat destruction, and extinction, we are pushing environmental conditions to their limits. But by taking a precautionary principle and adopting sustainable actions, you can help both your business and the environment to thrive. We’d love to hear about the different ways you are sustainable in your business operations in the comments, and any questions you have regarding business sustainability. Who knows, you may even get featured in an upcoming article!

Beverly Gaventa has spent her career gleaning what we can get from these ancient texts. For historical purposes, there really is nothing quite as useful for understanding early Christianity – the first generation of early Christianity – than the letters of Paul. They are the first evidence we have. When I talk with students, I often start with First Thessalonians, which is a tiny little letter and easier to understand than most of Paul’s. And they give us a little glimpse of what he was thinking and concerned about with a particular group in Thessaloniki – probably the earliest evidence of any sort we have for Christianity. Of course, the letters are biased in a certain way – everything that we do is biased, none of us can speak from a perspective other than our own. But Paul’s letters still give us some insight. For example, we can learn from First Thessalonians that this group was mostly composed of Gentiles, people who weren’t Jews. We can learn that it’s a city phenomenon; that people worked; we can learn something about their social status. We can deduce some things about what might have attracted them to Christianity. It is sometimes frustrating, because you’d like to know more. That’s why people like me get into this business. A very famous New Testament scholar wrote some generations ago: “You have to forgive us, we only have so many pages of Greek New Testament, you have to forgive us if we think we can hear the grass grow and the bedbugs cough.” So, sure, it gets to be frustrating; but then that’s the way historical work always is, especially when you’re dealing with ancient texts.

Who needs coffee in the morning when you can just shine an orange light in your eyes? A team of European scientists has shown that exposure to an orange light improves alertness and cognitive brain function. Light, both natural and artificial, affects our circadian rhythms, causing alertness and sometimes upsetting our sleep patterns. Scientists believe this physiological interaction with light acts through the body’s photoreception system, which relies heavily on a recently discovered light-sensitive cell or photopigment called melanopsin found within the eye. These cells work separately to the rods and cones needed for vision. Previous research on animals in the last few years has shown that, if melanopsin is absent, non-visual functions are disrupted. Their built-in biological clock becomes deregulated and ‘free runs’ independent from day-night cycles, and light no longer has a stimulating effect. Researchers from the University of Liège, Belgium, and INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, France, wanted to find out how melanopsin affects the human brain, what effect different wavelengths of light had on melanopsin and how this influences executive brain responses – cognitive brain functions such as anticipation, working memory, sequencing (breaking tasks into smaller units and ordering them), problem-solving and decision-making – and alertness. The researchers put 16 young and healthy test subjects through a week of regulating their sleep/wake patterns (with approximately 8 hours of sleep each night). On the days of the experiment, participants arrived 2 hours after waking and were exposed to white light for 5 minutes to standardise their light history. The subjects than underwent consecutive and identical functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, during which they performed a simple auditory detection task and a more difficult auditory working memory task while continuously exposed to the same test light (green light at 515 nm). Just over an hour before each recording, the subjects were exposed to 10-minute blasts of either blue (at 461 nm) or orange light (at 589 nm – strictly speaking, quite a yellowy orange light). They were blindfolded at all times when not undergoing light exposures or their scan and brain tasks. The researchers were able to show that executive brain responses were influenced by the wavelength of the light to which individuals were exposed some 70 minutes prior to each recording. Prior exposure to the longer wavelength orange light enhanced the subsequent impact of the test light – the subjects showed greater brain activity in several regions of the frontal lobes related to alertness and cognition – while prior exposure to the shorter wavelength blue light had the reverse outcome. “This wavelength-dependent impact of prior light exposure is consistent with recent theories of the light-driven melanopsin dual states. Our results emphasize the critical role of light for cognitive brain responses and are, to date, the strongest evidence in favour of a cognitive role for melanopsin, which may confer a form of ‘photic memory’ to human cognitive brain function,” write the researchers in their published paper. In a press release from INSERM, the researchers write, “Ultimately, these findings argue for the use and design of lighting systems to optimize cognitive performance.” Given melanopsin’s cognitive effects, perhaps the concept of ‘smart’ lighting systems in schools and universities has a whole new meaning. The research was published online ahead of print on 10 March 2014 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Chellappa, S.L., Ly, J.Q.M., Meyer, C., Balteau, E., Degueldre, C., Luxen, A., Phillips, C., Cooper, H.M. and Vandewalle, G. (2014). Photic memory for executive brain responses. PNAS (In press): 1320005111v1-201320005. Published online ahead of print 10 March 2014. www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/03/07/1320005111.abstract

About Forensic Dentistry As we enter a new millennium, society is faced with fresh challenges in every conceivable area. Despite leaps in modern technology, medical breakthroughs and the geographical changes that the last century has brought, crime still persists in all aspects of our lives. Violent and heinous activities that shatter the lives of victims, friends and families occur everyday. The apprehension and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrator(s) is essential to maintain law and order. Through the specialty of forensic odontology, dentistry plays a small but significant role in this process. By identifying the victims of crime and disaster through dental records, dentists assist those involved in crime investigation. The most common role of the forensic dentist is the identification of deceased individuals. Dental identification takes two main forms. Firstly, the most frequently performed examination is a comparative identification that is used to establish (to a high degree of certainty) that the remains of a decedent and a person represented by antemortem (before death) dental records are the same individual. Information from the body or circumstances usually contains clues as to who has died. Secondly, in those cases where antemortem records are not available, and no clues to the possible identity exist, a postmortem (after death) dental profile is completed by the forensic dentist suggesting characteristics of the individual likely to narrow the search for the antemortem materials. Dental identification of humans occurs for a number of different reasons and in a number of different situations. The bodies of victims of violent crimes,, fires, motor vehicle accidents and work place accidents, can be disfigured to such an extent that identification by a family member is neither reliable nor desirable. Persons who have been deceased for some time prior to discovery and those found in water also present unpleasant and difficult visual identifications. Dental identifications have always played a key role in natural and manmade disaster situations and in particular the mass casualties normally associated with aviation disasters.

Seven point framework aims to improve government use of automated or algorithmic decision-making systems. According to recent surveys by the EU and the British Computer Society, there is a distinct distrust in the regulation of advanced technology. A review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life found that the government should produce clearer guidance on using artificial intelligence ethically in the public sector. Automated decision-making refers to both solely automated decisions (no human judgement) and automated assisted decision-making (assisting human judgement). Current guidance can be lengthy, complex and sometimes overly abstract. Decision-makers should not assume that automated or algorithmic decision-making is a ‘fix-all’ solution, particularly for the most complex problems. Therefore, the new seven point framework has been published with the aim of helping government departments with the safe, sustainable and ethical use of automated or algorithmic decision-making systems. It has been developed in line with guidance from government (such as the Data Ethics Framework) and industry, as well as relevant legislation. Government departments should use the framework with existing organisational guidance and processes. The framework sets out common risk areas: When departments use automated decision-making in a service, they should consider the following seven points: The framework includes practical examples and case studies in certain sectors, such as healthcare, policing and fintech.

The Bodleian Library at Oxford University has a manuscript with the earliest image of English people playing something that looks like cricket. It dates from 1344 CE. One of the players is a woman. She actually looks rather more proficient, preparing to release the ball underarm, than the batsman who seems to have made up his mind to swipe it one-handed on the full with an early version of a reverse sweep. Women have been part of the story of English cricket for nearly seven hundred years since. But for half of those years they were invisible. A historian, Dr. Rafaelle Nicholson, has uncovered their story in an excellent book Ladies and Lords: A History Of Women’s Cricket In Britain. She relates it to the entire social, economic and cultural history of women in Britain. One finds many echoes of the story of women’s cricket in Pakistan, and perhaps in every country. England’s women cricketers did not face the intense struggle experienced by the pioneering Khan sisters of Karachi, which I was privileged to hear from them at first hand. But England’s women also had to battle against prejudice and neglect. Until very recently, they never got paid and met all their expenses, including overseas tours, without sponsorship or support. They were expected to be grateful to men, especially husbands and employers, for the chance to play at all. They endured mockery, even from experienced cricket journalists who should have known better. Women disappeared from the records and images of English cricket for four centuries until in 1744 CE a local newspaper published an account of an all-women’s match between two rural villages. Other such games attracted crowds and sponsorship – and gave rich men another outlet for betting. But then Victorian men decided that women should not play sport but watch themselves play it. Medical “experts”, including Britain’s best-known doctor, W G Grace, told them, on no evidence, that cricket was dangerous for their delicate constitutions especially their ability to bear children. In this W G ignored the early cricket training he and his brothers received from their mother, Martha, and indeed the cricket played by his two daughters at school. Eventually private girls’ schools gave some experience of cricket to pupils from wealthy families. Some enjoyed it so much that they formed their own clubs to continue playing matches in adult life, mostly on private grounds in country houses. One of the leading female players of late Victorian times was Lucy Ridsdale. Her future husband fell in love with her when she scored a fifty in one such match. He was Stanley Baldwin, who would become a Conservative Prime Minister three times in the 1920s and 1930s – and President of the MCC. A generation later, Betty Archdale, who would become the first England women’s captain, grew up with a very different political outlook. Her mother was a militant campaigner for votes for women: young Betty helped her to throw stones through the windows of government buildings and leading gentlemen’s clubs. Public education expanded greatly in early twentieth-century Britain, for girls as well as boys, but very few girls in state schools got any chance to play it. Some enlightened factory owners provided cricket facilities for their women workers but generally English women’s cricket remained the preserve of wealthy English women with supportive husbands. It had no encouragement or even recognition from the MCC or the English counties, and not until 1926 did English women’s cricket acquire its own administration. The Women’s Cricket Association had a deeply conservative outlook on dress and deportment for women players – and for years it would oppose any form of payment to them, even support for travel expenses on the overseas tours which started in the 1930s. The formidable Marjorie Pollard was a strong enforcer of its codes as a leading player and organizer over nearly thirty years, but in many ways she was a modern figure, especially in her recognition of the power of the media to promote cricket. She produced a regular magazine, Women’s Cricket, and became the first woman anywhere in the world to become a radio commentator on cricket. The Second World War brought millions of English women out of home into the services and factories – but it did not make much difference to women’s cricket afterwards. Another major expansion of state education continued to exclude cricket for girls, so just as before most women players, especially on England international duty, were privately educated with the time and the means to play as amateurs. This was reinforced by public policy in the 1970s and 1980s. Although successive governments decided to promote sporting activity for women they all assumed that women were not interested in team games and instead promoted activities like swimming, keep-fit classes and dancing. Moreover, when laws were introduced to provide equal pay for women and outlaw sex discrimination these excluded cricket. To this day it is lawful in England to pay a female cricketer less than a male one of similar skill. However, two post-war great players broke the mould of genteel women amateurs grateful to play cricket on terms set by men. The all-rounder Enid Bakewell had a better Test match batting average than Javed Miandad (although from only 12 Tests, which were much rarer than men’s in her time and have become much rarer now.) A miner’s daughter, Enid was fortunate and unusual in being introduced to cricket at her state school. She was even more unusual in identifying as a socialist and a feminist. Rachael Heyhoe, later Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, was the first England women’s cricketer to become a household name. As a campaigner for women’s cricket and, especially, payments for women cricketers, and one who embraced the media and commercial sponsorship, she was a dramatic, modernizing, one-woman force. She never feared to confront the Establishment in both men’s and women’s cricket. Later in life she joined the Establishment herself as the first female cricketer to become a member of the House of Lords. Often called the W G Grace of women’s cricket, she will follow Grace in having gates named after her at Lord’s. In the late 1990s under government pressure, the WCA dissolved itself and women’s cricket was subsumed into the England and Wales Cricket Board. As with similar mergers in other countries including Pakistan this change had big consequences. English women’s cricket gained huge new resources, which finally allowed England’s top women cricketers to become the first in the world to get paid as full-time professionals. But there are still regrets among women cricket players and supporters that English women’s cricket is no longer run by women who knew it and loved it and that they have been replaced almost entirely by white middle-aged male strangers. Around the same time, women finally broke into the bastion of the MCC, at the direction of an enlightened President, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, the former Hampshire captain. Long waiting lists (the current time is 29 years!) have ensured that it is still dominated by male members. Lord’s did not stage a women’s match until 1976 and the present fixture list is virtually a male preserve. This may change under Claire Connor, former England women’s captain, as the first female President. T20 has given English women’s cricket a huge stimulus, especially the proliferation of overseas T20 competitions, which has given the best women players new earning opportunities. The advent of “double headers” – top grade men’s and women’s T20 matches played on the same day – forced the media to show and report women’s cricket seriously. Coverage, spectatorship and above all participation in English women’s cricket have risen exponentially in just the last five years. Improved playing standards, international success, above all the World Cup victory in 2017 followed by millions on television, have made the game commercially attractive. The top players such as Sarah Taylor, widely recognized among the best wicketkeepers in the world, female or male, have gained name recognition and good incomes from playing and product endorsements (although still unequal to men’s). But there are clouds over England women’s cricket as over men’s and indeed over cricket worldwide. Linked barriers of class and race continue to make the game far more accessible to white privately educated girls than to minority ethnic girls and those from low-income families in state schools. Moreover, there is a rural-urban divide: the clubs with thriving women’s and girls’ teams tend to be concentrated in the countryside and suburbs rather than inner cities. There are major worries too about the survival of long-form cricket for English women. It was in trouble before the pandemic and since then financial imperatives have generated even greater focus on T20, the form which makes far and away the most money. The career of Heather Knight, the present England women’s captain, gives a vivid illustration of the trend. She recently completed 200 international appearances – but just eight of them were women’s Test matches. Richard Heller’s latest book The Prisoner Of Rubato Towers is an increasingly crazed account of lockdown life in London without cricket.

Posted by Jamie Canterbury on June 18, 2018 • flint and steel In the late 19th Century the government passed the homesteading act and really fueled the desire for Americans to get their own little piece of this nation. So, families packed up important tools, like their guns, tools, flint and steel all began migrating west. Most Used Tools As you can imagine the hammer was worth its weight in gold. This metal, bludgeoning tool was used to do all sorts of things from fixing the wagons to plunging stakes. Without a quality hammer, it was back to putting in nails with rocks. It is said that a pioneer wouldn’t go a day without using his hammer for at least one task. To limit the weight in the wagon, pioneers would often remove the handles of their tools and make new ones when the stopped at their next camp. Flint and Steel A frequently used fire starter was flint and steel. These pioneers would have likely had a fire every day if not several times a day when they were on the trail. This fire would be integral to sanitizing water and cooking food. It might also be a means of keeping warm, depending on the time of year. The interesting part about the pioneer’s fires was that they used brush, cow pies and fat to sustain fires because parts of the trail were very low on wood. Still, without that flint and steel they weren’t getting a spark! They also were big proponents of the cotton-based char cloth to start fires. Just like in survival today, the pioneer's knife was an important part of daily life. While most would assume that this knife was used for all sorts of activities, it was primarily used to slice meats and cut things that required the finesse of a sharp blade. They might have also kept a couple of knives for different tasks. In most cases they would have had a knife for working wood and surely a knife, that was kept razor-sharp, for cutting meats and slicing. Additionally, while flint and steel were ideal for starting fires, knives would also spark a flame for these settlers. The shotgun protected the pioneers and their families. This was also the best way they could provide viable fresh meat for their party. The shotgun would be their best method for hunting big game like bison and deer. They would then be able to cook this big game using flint and steel to spark a fire; any remaining parts animal, such as the fur, would be used for clothes or other necessities. Our ancestral pioneers were promised land and some even gold if they picked the right plot of land. Not to mention the incredible gift of solitude surrounded by some of the most beautiful surroundings on the planet. With little more than a few tools, such as flint and steel, they undertook the most incredible journey. There is a lot for us to learn from these early settlers of the west as survivalists hone their skills today.

During the Iron Age, the Cairns Broch—a tower-like stone building of monumental proportions—dominated the landscape of Windwick Bay, a rocky cove in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney. Equal parts house, fort and status symbol, the broch stood at the center of an ancient settlement until some point between the later 1st and mid-2nd century A.D., when it was sealed and subsequently abandoned. Today, the broch continues to stand over the Cairns region of South Ronaldsay. This month, researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute announced two singular discoveries made during ongoing excavations at the site: a 2,000-year-old wooden bowl likely used to serve food or drink, as well as strands of human hair dating to the same Iron Age period. The Scotsman’s Alison Campsie reports that both the hair and bowl were found in “The Well,” a subterranean chamber of the broch. According to the UHI Archaeology Institute’s blog, the underground space is exceptionally well preserved, boasting an intact roof and stone-cut steps leading down into the heart of the chamber, which is filled with muddy silt. The chamber appears to have been sealed in an anaerobic state, or without oxygen, meaning that bacteria were unable to damage the items. Given that the chamber was sealed around the same time the broch was abandoned, the archaeologists believe their finds date to the later 1st through mid-2nd century A.D.; however, they plan on conducting radiocarbon dating tests to determine if the items are even older than estimated. Martin Carruthers, UHI lecturer and excavation director, tells Campsie that the team unearthed about 20 strands of hair, with more likely hidden in muddy soil samples still to be analyzed. “It looks like human hair,” Carruthers says. “It is pliable, if you blow on it, it moves. It is shiny, dark and measures around [three to four inches] long, so potentially it records eight to 10 months of information about diet and the conditions people were living in.” Although the team has previously recovered human remains—mainly teeth—from the site, the hair represents a unique opportunity to learn more about the lifestyle and health of the broch’s inhabitants. As Richard Gray wrote for the Telegraph while reporting on the discovery of 200,000-year-old hair back in 2009, soft tissue such as hair, skin and muscle typically doesn’t survive longer than a few hundred years. In 2015, Kelly Knudson, an associate professor at Arizona State University who analyzed 2,000-year-old hair found on Peruvian mummies, further explained to New Historian’s Adam Steedman Thake that “we can use hair to look at diet because, quite simply, we are what we eat. By looking at how far the hair is from the scalp, we were able to look at what they were eating in particular weeks or months before they died.” The Cairns archaeologists’ other significant find, the 2,000-year-old wooden bowl, is the oldest of its kind found in Orkney thus far. According to the Independent’s Chiara Giordano, the team has dubbed the bowl the “Cairns Cog” in honor of the region’s traditional wedding cog, an alcoholic drink passed around in a wooden vessel at marriage receptions. “In appearance, the bowl is similar in shape to certain of the pottery vessels of the period, and in particular it looks like the sort of vessel we suspect to have been used for serving food or drink,” Carruthers explains in a statement. “Its round base makes you think that it would have been required to be constantly held when full, and perhaps used socially, passed around from hand to hand, person to person.” The alderwood bowl measures nearly 12 inches across and features an outward-facing rim, globular body and rounded base. Although the bowl split at some point in its millenia-long history, it remained held together by the subterranean chamber’s muddy silts. In addition to the bowl and hair, UHI archaeologists discovered an array of ancient artifacts at the Cairns site, from pieces of wood that mirror modern-day tent pegs to preserved plant fibers likely woven by human hands and a glass bead. “There is still much work to do in The Well, and there are other amazing remains to be recovered from the silts there, as well as across the site,” the UHI blog states. “The excavations are ongoing and more waterlogged items are likely to be raised during that time. The next steps will be to conserve and assess the objects.”

Morse's 1837 telegraph receiver prototype, built with a canvas-stretcher. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives A crowd of hushed spectators packed into the small red factory house at the Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey, unsure of what to expect next. Samuel Morse, along with his colleagues Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail, had packed over two miles of wire into the building, attempting to demonstrate to the public that his strange new invention could be used to transmit messages over long distances. Finally, the inventors manipulated a primitive transmitter, and a receiver scratched Morse’s simple message—”A patient waiter is no loser”—via a code of lines and curves. On this day in 1838, the small group of onlookers saw something special: the first-ever public demonstration of the telegraph. Of course, as with all technological breakthroughs, the development of the telegraph had started years earlier, says curator Harold Wallace of the American History Museum. But unlike many other inventions, the telegraph was the result of an unusual mix of personal circumstances, artistic influences and pure happenstance. For the first four decades of his life, Morse was first and foremost an artist. “He was a painter of modest renown,” says Wallace. “Not top tier, perhaps, but his name was known.” Morse was first provoked to think about communications technology because of a tragedy: in 1825, while painting the portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette in Washington, D.C., he received a letter indicating his wife was sick. By the time he reached his home in New Haven, Connecticut, she had already been buried. Stricken by grief, he vowed to develop a faster way to send messages in such crucial circumstances. For several more years, Morse struggled in vain to succeed in the art world, but in 1832, serendipity intervened. On a transatlantic voyage, returning home from study in Europe, he met Charles Thomas Jackson, a Boston physician and scientist, who showed him a rudimentary electromagnet he had devised. Morse became convinced that he could somehow send a message along a wire by opening and closing an electrical circuit, which could be recorded by an electromagnet on a piece of paper via a written code. Back in the U.S., he moved forward with his idea, meeting with Joseph Henry, another scientist working in electromagnetism—and the man who would later become the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in 1846. “He met with Henry, who explained how the electromagnets worked and showed his experimental ones,” says Wallace. “And if you look at the electromagnets—the ones Morse uses, and the experimental ones from Henry—it’s obvious they’re the same design. He’s definitely riffing off of Henry, as far as the electromagnet, which is one of the most important pieces of the apparatus.” Morse returned to his New York apartment and, in 1837, he crafted a primitive telegraph receiver—now part of the Smithsonian’s collections and currently on display at the American Art Museum—that was able to register and record the fluctuations in an electrical circuit. “The most interesting thing about the prototype is that he took an artist’s canvas stretcher and made it into a telegraph receiver,” Wallace says. “So right there, you can see the shift from painter to telegrapher, all in one piece.” With a means of recording electromagnetic signals theoretically in place, Morse worked with Gale, Vail and others over the next several years to improve the system and make it practical for use over far distances, incorporating Vail’s transmitter key and a code of dots and dashes, which of course would become known as Morse Code. Despite these improvements, the group had some difficulty convincing others that telegraphy was a worthy investment. “It was not difficult to convince people at the time that it was potentially useful,” Wallace says. “What really was the hard sell that Morse and others had to make was whether it could be practical. Could you create wires miles and miles long and send a signal through them?” To raise capital for long-distance lines, he turned to the U.S. government, and after a small-scale demonstration with wires strung between different committee rooms within the Capitol, he was awarded $30,000 to build a 38-mile line from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. On May 1, 1844, Morse’s communication device was finally met with wide scale public enthusiasm, as the Whig Party’s presidential nomination was telegraphed from Baltimore to D.C. far faster than a courier could have traveled. Later that month, the line was officially opened for public use—with a message quite a bit more well-known than that of the the earlier Speedwell Ironworks demonstration. This, too was recorded on a strip of paper, which now resides in the American History Museum’s collections. Short yet meaningful, the bible quotation set the stage for the approaching age of electronic communication: “What Hath God Wrought.” Text: Joseph Stromberg

The SAT is a college entrance exam that many colleges and universities in the United States use as part of the college admissions process. Looking for basic information about the SAT test format? We've got it! The SAT is a standardized test that measures a student's skills in three core areas: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Students in grades 11 and 12 take the SAT so that they can submit their scores to colleges as part of the college application process. The SAT is composed of three main sections — Math, Evidence-Based Reading, and Writing. There is an optional 50-minute essay*, and total testing time with the essay is 3 hours and 50 minutes. The breakdown of each remaining section can be found in the table below. *In January 2021, the College Board announced that they will be discountinuing the optional SAT essay section after the June 2021 administration. StudyPoint is a national leader in one-to-one, in-home test prep and academic tutoring. The test-taking techniques and strategies taught in our SAT tutoring and ACT tutoring programs enable students to earn higher test scores and gain admission to competitive colleges and universities. Our expert subject tutors and personalized lesson plans help students earn better grades and become happier, more confident students. Whether you're looking for a math tutor, or any other type of academic tutoring, StudyPoint can help. To learn about tutoring programs in your area, feel free to contact us for more information. StudyPoint offers private, in-home SAT, PSAT, ACT & SSAT tutoring. Our staff also includes expert math, science, foreign language, and writing tutors. Our newsletter is designed to offer you grade- and season- specific information that will help you navigate and stay on top of the college admissions process. We need high school graduation year to provide you with timely, relevant information. You can unsubscribe at any time. If you'd like to learn more about one of our programs or are ready to enroll your child in tutoring, please contact us. Our Enrollment Consultants are experts in their fields and would be happy to help with recommendations for tutoring programs, courses of study, standardized tests, and admissions support. Thank you for your interest in our programs! You can expect one of our Enrollment Directors to be in touch within one business day. If you have an urgent tutoring need, you can reach out to a member of our staff directly at 1-87STUDYPOINT (1-877-883-9764). We are certain we can be a resource for you and your family this school year, and we look forward to speaking with —The StudyPoint Staff privacy seriously. None of this information will ever be shared or sold.

When a fire broke out in 58-year-old Sim Buay Piak’s Tampines flat last year, firefighters had to struggle to get through stacks of hoarded items that towered to the ceiling. When they finally got to Sim, it was too late to save the elderly man and he was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. In 2019, at least two other similar cases of extreme hoarding have appeared in the news. One involved another elderly man in Bedok North who was discovered among mounds of rubbish only after a neighbour complained of a strong stench. We hear of it only seldom. Yet the hoarding behaviour may be more prevalent in Singapore than we think. In fact, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) estimates that one in 50 Singaporeans will display hoarding behaviour during their lifetime. While it is the individuals that suffer from hoarding behaviour, there are potential ramifications for the community at large. When items clutter up at home and spill into shared corridors, they become an obstruction to neighbours, attract pests and in some cases, become a dangerous fire hazard. Considering the potential harm caused to the individual and society, what can we do to help curb the phenomenon and how can we better support sufferers? Spotlight on hoarding Hoarding refers to an excessive acquisition of objects and inability to part with apparently valueless possessions. It has been classified as a pathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and is known to manifest with other psychiatric conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. However, not all hoarding behaviour is pathological. As a field study conducted by Lin Sng Hock, a PhD student in Gerontology from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) shows that the factors underlying the condition are varied and complex. Many hoarders attach ‘saving’ and ‘sentimental’ value to the items that they collect. The ‘saving’ value they attach refers to their belief that the items will one day come in useful, and hence it would be wasteful to discard them. As for ‘sentimental’ value, items take on heavy emotional significance, making it difficult for hoarders to throw them away. There is also evidence that ethno-cultural factors may predispose people to think and feel this way. In Chinese culture for example, the emphasis on thriftiness normalises the behaviour of holding on to items that were achieved through hardship. Additionally, socioeconomic factors also play a role. Childhood deprivation and emotional insecurity born out of difficult livelihoods can manifest in hoarding behaviours. One of the study’s subjects, an elderly lady, regards stuffed toys – which are still wrapped in their original plastic bags – among her prized possessions. She notes that growing up in a poor family meant her mother could never afford to buy stuffed toys. Hence, the plush toys she collected has grown in emotional value. Seniors are particularly susceptible to hoarding tendencies as ageing often causes support circles of friends and family to shrink, leaving seniors in greater social isolation. In Lin’s study, all the interviewees were living alone and had little to no social support to speak of. Finally, hoarding is known to be a chronic and progressive condition – life events and ageing-associated factors may introduce stressors and increase the severity of hoarding. As clutter builds up, hoarders are more likely to experience cognitive indecisiveness – paralysing them and their ability to decide what, in their vast collection, to discard. Community-based approach to building awareness needed There is more than one way to treat hoarding behaviour, and much of it depends on whether it stems from an underlying mental health issue. In such cases, treating the issue can sometimes reduce the person’s hoarding tendencies. For example, psychotherapy – specifically cognitive behavioural therapy – is increasingly recognised as an effective treatment. However, if the underlying factors of poverty and social isolation are not treated, hoarders can very easily fall back into old habits. This calls for a community-based approach aimed at alleviating these factors. To this end, Singapore has established a Hoarding Task Force that brings together the expertise and respective powers of multiple agencies such as the Ministry of National Development (MND), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), Housing Development Board (HDB) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Other agencies like the National Environment Agency, People’s Association, Institute of Mental Health and the Singapore Police Force will also play a part in this task force. Led by HDB, which will be coordinating responses from relevant agencies, the task force relies heavily on grassroots organisations and volunteers to tackle the problem of hoarding. While it serves as a useful first port of call to report cases of hoarding, greater awareness among members of the community must prevail to bring more cases to light. We should also look at the Habitat for Humanity Singapore, a non-profit organisation, which runs Project HomeWorks. The initiative is aimed at improving the living conditions of the elderly, sick and disabled in one- and two-room rental flats in Singapore. They deal with two to three cases of hoarding every month, going in to check up on hoarders regularly and respectfully helping them to clear clutter. More resources could be channelled into a similar volunteer-run group dedicated to the issue of hoarding alone. Hoarders need compassion and understanding to thrive Clearly, hoarders do not engage in such behaviour with the intention of causing harm to others. Hence, to help seniors with this condition thrive, we need to approach them with greater understanding and compassion, especially in our attempts to alleviate the poverty, isolation and loneliness underpinning their hoarding tendencies. The path to helping people overcome their hoarding behaviours is one paved with great care and sensitivity. We can all play a part. This article has been adapted from an end-of-course assessment: “Ageing in Multicultural Contexts” by Lin Sng Hock, a PhD student in Gerontology with Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

Dambadeniya is the third kingdom of Sri Lanka. It was situated in the Udukaha Western Korale of the Dambadeni Hatpattu in the Kurunegala district. As a result of the invasion of Rajarata by the Indian invader Kalinga Magha, the natives of the country were confronted with an unstable political atmosphere. At first, this place was chosen as a center to establish his leadership by Vijayabahu Ill in 1232 A.D. Parakramabahu ll, Vijayabahu IV, and Buwanekabahu I was the successors of Vijayabahu Ill who was ruling Dambadeniya. All these rulers belonged to the Dambadeni dynasty. Though Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa kingdoms survived for a long time, Dambadeniya was held as a kingdom only for about forty years from 1232 to 1272 A.D. Even within this short period Dambadeniya acquired a prominent place as a center of royalty. Dambadeni rulers were successful in winning all three foreign invasions carried out respectively by Kalinga Magha from South India, Chandrababu from East Asia, and Pandya from South India. As a kingdom associated with several important occurrences of the country’s history, it is important to study the historical significance of the Dambadeniya kingdom. Below are the Kings who were ruling in Dambedeniya:- King Vijayabahu III is the first king of the Dambadeniya kingdom. Native Sinhalese began to move to the South or Maya rata because of the tough Tamil ruler Kalinga Magha who was ruling Polonnaruwa. While he was the king of Polonnaruwa, King Vijayabahu III was successful in ascending the throne of Dambadeniya. He was successful enough to convey the tooth relic and Lord Buddha’s alms bowl to Dambadeniya from it’s hiding place in Kotmale. His reign was largely spent reconstructing the shattered Buddhist infrastructure of the Sinhalese. The Vijayasundararama temple at Dambadeniya was used as the tooth relic shrine in the Dambadeniya era. After King Vijayabahu III his elder son Parakramabahu became the king of Dambadeniya and he rescued Polonnaruwa from Kalinga people by 1244 AD. He was given a nickname as “Kalikala Sahithya Sarvagnana Panditha Parakramabahu”. It was given because he was a great poet and was very experienced in literature. Kavi Silumina is one of his great creations. Then he renounced his throne in favor of his eldest son Vijayabahu and he was sent for the completion of the recovery of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura areas. King Vijayabahu IV became the sole king after his father King Parakramabahu’s death. But he could carry the crown only for two years because he was assassinated by his general Mitta. The next king of the country was king Vijayabahu’s younger brother Buwanekabahu but he moved the capital from Dambadeniya to Yapahuwa. Thus marking the end of the Dambadeniya kingdom with the end of King Vijayabahu IV ‘s reign. There were some specific coins used in the Dambadeniya era. Those were used in the reigns of king Parakramabahu II, King Vijayabahu IV, and King Buwanekabahu respectively. The name of the relevant king appears on each coin and those are written using Brahmee letters. Dambadeniya was maintained as a Kingdom only for a short period from 1232-1273. Yapahuwa became the capital with the end of the Dambadeniya era. Claim listing is the best way to manage and protect your business. Singup to our Newsletter and recieve amazing information about the attractions, Things to Do, Travel Deals, Hotels, Dining options and many more Links For Business Owners

Weather forecasts in the US could be in trouble, as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – the guys in charge of flogging off the wireless spectrum for the 5G network to be developed – are being warned by meteorologists that it could make weather reports around the world. It’s a tough situation for the FCC, as the feds now have to decide whether accurate weather forecasting or a faster mobile phone signal is more important. Meanwhile, 5G bods around the world could soon be facing a similar conundrum. The acting chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Neil Jacobs, took to Capitol Hill on Thursday last week to say that interference from 5G phones could hit weather reports, making them 30 percent less accurate. This is quite a substantial change, Jacobs said to the House Subcommittee on the Environment: “If you look back in time to see when our forecast scale was roughly 30 percent less than today, it was 1980.” This was reported by WIRED, who have dug a little more into what this means. Related: What is 5G? When asked for examples, Jacobs suggested that the reduction in capabilities could lead to inaccurate predictions of storm paths, and even two or three fewer days of preparation time for coastal residents faced with hurricanes. The reason behind it is a real moment of weird science: water vapor emits a very faint signal at the 23.8 GHz frequency. Meteorologists monitor this using satellites. Now, the FCC began auctioning off its 24GHz frequency band to wireless carriers around the world, faced with objection from NOAA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American Meteorological Society. The 24GHz band is pushing pretty close to the magic 23.8 GHz the weather bods need. Related: 5G Smartphones And the NOAA reckon that interference to its satellites from 5G could result in a 77 percent loss in data. While the FCC could switch to a different bandwidth, the FCC has already planned 5G auctions for frequencies close to the ones used to detect atmospheric temperature (50.2 – 50.4 GHz), rain and snow (36 – 37 GHz) and clouds and ice (80-90 GHz) so the problem isn’t a simple fix. This will come to the world stage in October, with a world radio conference taking place in October for nations around the world to come together and hash out the interference level. However, while countries with milder weather might be okay, places dealing with dangerous weather could have a tough dilemma on their hands: do they want the fastest possible internet or accurate weather predictions

The Death of Moses 1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. No Sermons were found for this passage. No Series were found this for passage. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

US Pharm. 2018;43(9):14. National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) data indicate that 15.5% of all women who intend to become pregnant are infertile (unable to conceive after 1 year of trying) and 6.7% of married women aged 15 to 44 years are infertile. Fecundity is impaired (i.e., physical difficulty in conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to live birth) in 12% of women, regardless of marital status, and in 23.6% of married childless women. Prevalence: The NSFG reported that from 2011 to 2015, among women aged 15 to 44 years, the percent distribution of those who were childless was 45.1%, and that of women who were involuntarily childless (physically unable to have children) was 2.1%. According to the National Women’s Health Resource Center, couples aged 29 to 33 years with normal-functioning reproductive systems had a 20% to 25% chance of conceiving in any given month, and after 6 months of trying, 60% of couples conceived without medical assistance. Treatment: For the period from 2011 to 2015, the NSFG reported that 11.9% of women (7.3 million) aged 15 to 44 years received infertility services from healthcare professionals. The types of services provided were advice (6.3%), medical help to prevent miscarriage (5.4%), testing (5.2%), ovulation drugs (4.2%), and artificial insemination (1.4%). Among infertile women, 44% sought medical intervention and 65% gave birth. Approximately 85% to 90% of female infertility cases were treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures. Fewer than 3% needed advanced reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). According to the CDC’s report on assisted reproductive technology (ART) success rates, live birth rates per fresh nondonor embryo transfers were 38%, 32%, 23%, 14%, 7%, and 3%, respectively, in women aged <35, 35 to 37, 38 to 40, 41 to 42, 43 to 44, and >44 years. Of the 263,577 ART cycles performed in 2016, 25% resulted in 65,996 live births (i.e., deliveries of 1 or more infants), 29.2% resulted in 76,930 live-born infants, and 25% (65,840) were performed with the intention of freezing the embryos for the future. Demand for ART has doubled over the last decade, and currently 1.7% of all infants born every year are conceived via ART. Emotional Impact of Infertility: Fewer than 50% of women who could benefit from medical/behavioral services received such services. In couples diagnosed with female factor infertility, wives experience significantly more depression than their husbands. Compared with women who conceive naturally, those who conceive after IVF have greater pregnancy-specific anxiety, poorer quality of life, less depression, similar self-esteem, more positive attitudes toward pregnancy demands, and higher levels of maternal-fetal attachment. To comment on this article, contact [email protected].

The lens is a normally clear structure that acts as a focusing device for the images projected on the retina in the back of the eye. Cataracts are opacities that develop in the lens, preventing image projection, which can eventually lead to vision loss. Veterinary Referral Center (VRC) is welcoming Dr. Zachary Badanes, who is reestablishing our hospital’s ophthalmology service. Since cataracts are a fairly common eye issue, knowing more about the condition can help you recognize signs in your pet. Cataract causes in pets The lens is composed of thin, clear, highly organized protein fibers. A cataract causes a permanent change, transforming the clear protein to a milky, white opacity. Numerous conditions can result in cataract development, including: - Genetics — The most common cause of cataracts in dogs is a genetic predisposition. Hereditary cataracts have been identified in several dog breeds, including the Afghan hound, bichon frise, Boston terrier, Chesapeake Bay retriever, German shepherd, golden retriever, Labrador retriever, and cocker spaniel. - Diabetes — About 75 percent of diabetic dogs develop cataracts. When the dog’s blood sugar rises, the sugar level in the eye fluids also increases. The lens absorbs this excess sugar, which ultimately results in cataract formation. Early referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist is the best way to manage these dogs. - Geriatric — As pets age, the proteins and fibers in the lens begin to break down, resulting in cataract formation. - Inflammation — Cataracts can occur when inflammation breaks down the proteins and fibers in the lens. - Trauma — If the capsule that encloses the lens is disrupted, the immune system recognizes the lens proteins as foreign, and attacks, resulting in inflammation and potential cataract formation. - Congenital — Some pets are born with cataracts. - Dietary deficiencies — Amino acid deficiencies, including histidine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, and arginine, have been linked to cataracts. - Toxins — Certain toxins, including ketoconazole and disophenol, have been linked to cataracts. - Electric shock — The exact cause is unknown, but receiving an electric shock can cause cataracts. Cataract signs and diagnosis in pets A cataract causes the lens in the center of your pet’s eye to appear white, gray, or cloudy. Cataracts can affect only part of the lens, or the entire structure. The opaque area impedes normal image formation, and causes vision loss. Pets are exceptionally good at adapting to vision loss, especially if the loss is gradual. This means you may not realize your pet has developed a cataract until you see the changes in their eyes, at which point the cataract may be advanced. Advanced cataracts often incite more inflammation inside the eye, which can decrease your pet’s eligibility for cataract surgery. Having a veterinary professional regularly monitor your pet’s eyes is the best way to detect cataracts early, when they can best be managed. If your pet has developed a cataract that causes vision loss, our ophthalmology department will assess whether they are a good candidate for cataract surgery. Diagnostics include: - Blood work — Screening blood work will be performed, to ensure your pet is healthy enough to undergo general anesthesia. - Ultrasound — An ocular ultrasound will be performed to assess the back of your pet’s eye, since an advanced cataract makes visualization difficult. - Electroretinogram (ERG) — An ERG measures the retina’s electrical activity in response to a light stimulus, assessing your pet’s retina health. Pets who have retinal degeneration or retinal detachment are not typically good surgery candidates, as cataract removal is unlikely to restore their vision. - Tonometry — Your pet’s eye pressure will be evaluated, to determine if they are affected by glaucoma. Pets who have glaucoma may not be good candidates for cataract surgery. Cataract medical management in pets The primary goal when medically managing a cataract is to maintain the pet’s comfort, and manage inflammation to prevent secondary complications, such as lens luxation and glaucoma. Medical management cannot restore vision, but for pets who are not surgery candidates, this approach is the best way to keep their eyes pain-free. Regular monitoring by a veterinary professional is important to evaluate for secondary complications. Potential long-term management protocols can include topical lubricants to maintain corneal health, and possibly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories to manage inflammation. Other medications will be needed if your pet develops glaucoma. Cataract surgery in pets Surgery is the only vision-restoring option to manage cataracts, and involves a process called phacoemulsification, in which special surgical equipment uses sound waves to break apart the lens. The pieces are then removed from the lens capsule, and an artificial lens is implanted. Cataract surgery is approximately 90 percent successful, and pets who have early stage cataracts typically experience fewer complications and have better outcomes. After surgery, pets usually stay one night in the hospital, and they will wear an Elizabethan collar to prevent them from rubbing their eyes. You will need to administer three to four topical eye medications to your pet for several weeks. Initially, the drops should be given four times a day, with the frequency decreasing over time. Dr. Badanes will need to reevaluate your pet at one week, three weeks, six weeks, three months, and six months after surgery, and potentially more frequently, if complications occur. Possible complications include: - Retinal detachment — The retina lies along the back of the eye, and is important for normal vision. Retinal detachment occurs when the retinal layer separates from the back of the eye. This can cause permanent vision loss, but this complication is not common after cataract surgery. - Glaucoma — Glaucoma occurs when inadequate fluid drainage causes increased pressure inside the eye. Topical medications can control ocular pressure. - Chronic inflammation — Some inflammation is expected after cataract surgery, but persistent inflammation requires long-term management. Cataracts can significantly affect a pet’s vision, but when caught early and managed appropriately, their vision can be salvaged. If you think your pet may have cataracts, contact our VRC team, so Dr. Badanes can evaluate your pet and determine whether they are a good cataract surgery candidate.