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In the book for which Elie Wiesel is most famous, namely Night, which is recommended reading in public schools across this country, Wiesel paints an horrendous picture of life in Auschwitz from April 1944 to January 1945 when he was there. Although many hundreds of thousands of Jews were supposedly gassed there during this time, Wiesel makes no mention of gassings or gas chambers anywhere in his book, as Jürgen Graf and Robert Faurisson have pointed out to us. He does however claim to have seen flames from the chimneys and Dr. Mengele wearing a monocle. Both claims are clearly lies. When the Russians were about to overrun Auschwitz in January 1945, both Elie and his father “chose” to go west with the retreating ‘Nazis’ and SS rather than be “liberated” by America’s greatest ally. They could have told the whole world about Auschwitz within days–but, both Elie and his father as well as countless thousands of other Jews chose instead to trek west with the ‘Nazis’ on foot at night in the middle of one of the coldest winters and continue working for the defense of the Reich thereafter. In effect, they chose to collaborate. Some of Wiesel’s exact words in Night are: “The choice was in our hands. For once we could decide our fate for ourselves. We could both stay in the hospital, where I could, thanks to my doctor, get him [the father] entered as a patient or nurse. Or else we could follow the others. ‘Well, what shall we do, father?’ He was silent. ‘Let’s be evacuated with the others,’ I told him.” Elie’s tale in this regard is corroborated by other “survivor” accounts including that of Primo Levi. In Levi’s book Survival in Auschwitz, we have his words for January 17th, 1945: “It was not a question of reasoning: I would probably also have followed the instinct of the flock if I had not felt so weak: fear is supremely contagious, and its immediate reaction is to make one try to run away.” But he’s talking here about running away with the ‘Nazis’–and not ‘Nazis’ who were mere rank and file party members but supposedly the worst of the worst. He’s talking here about running away with the same ‘Nazis’ and SS who had supposedly carried out the greatest imaginable mass murders of Jews and others in the entire history of the universe. He’s talking about running away with the people who supposedly did the actual killings of thousands daily for several years. But, according to his own words he would probably have gone with them nonetheless, except that he was not feeling good that day; he was feeling weak. The “fear” that he overcame was clearly fear of the Russians and not the ‘Nazis;’ there is no mention of fear of what the ‘Nazis’ and SS might do when the evacuees entered the forest or sometime later. The choices that were made here in January 1945 are enormously important. In the entire history of Jewish suffering at the hands of gentiles what moment in time could possibly be more dramatic than this precious moment when Jews could choose between, on the one hand, liberation by the Soviets with the chance to tell the whole world about the evil ‘Nazis’ and to help bring about their defeat–and the other choice of going with the ‘Nazi’ mass murderers and to continue working for them and to help preserve their evil regime. In the vast majority of cases, they chose to go with the ‘Nazis’. The momentous choice brings Shakespeare’s Hamlet to mind: “To remain, or not to remain; that is the question: to remain and be liberated by Soviet troops and risk their slings and rifles in order to tell the whole world about the outrageous ‘Nazis’–or, take arms and feet against a sea of cold and darkness in order to collaborate with the very same outrageous ‘Nazis.’ Oh what heartache–ay there’s the rub! Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.” So what was the final score–here a drum roll seems fitting in the background as Vanna White comes onto the stage with the sealed envelope and the answer to the great riddle. The envelope is torn open and the choice is–drum roll again–according to Levi himself 800 choose to remain in Auschwitz, but 20,000 choose to go and collaborate with the ‘Nazi’ mass murderers. Wow! Such a surprise–already! We see the same deliberate pro-‘Nazi’ collaboration in the “survivors” from Schindler’s List. In their well-known story, as the Russians were about to overrun Płaszów just thirty miles down the road to the east from Auschwitz in November 1944, Schindler and more than a thousand Jews chose to go west with the retreating ‘Nazis’ rather than hang back and be “liberated” by the Soviets. Some even spent the next several weeks at Auschwitz–and none were gassed, not even in the movie. The hoax has certainly had its day. If there had been any kind of extermination of Jews at Auschwitz, all of the Jews in Cracow and Płaszów would have known about it as well, no question about it. All of the Jews who went west in effect also denied the Holocaust albeit only with their hands and feet. The Jews themselves were the first true Holocaust deniers, and it is about time they get all the credit they deserve. The rather simple analysis of Holocaust survivor tales I have given here is an easy to understand refutation of the hoax in general. I urge all readers to reexamine “survivor accounts” for themselves but critically and systematically. The internet with search engines like Google allows anyone to analyze literally thousands of survivor accounts in seconds for major flaws of the type I have discussed. Just search for keywords like “evacuation” or combinations of words like “holocaust survivor Auschwitz.” One last piece of literature for this discussion is the highly acclaimed book Sophie’s Choice by William Styron. What does Styron have to say about Sophie or any other Auschwitz survivor going west in January 1945? The book is a novel, but it is an historical novel by a great writer and intellect–or so we are told–and where we might find an explanation or insight for Elie’s kind of choice. But there is really nothing there. The important choice Sophie made in the book was between her two children; which one should be killed in the gas chamber and which one should live? Certainly, that would have been a heart-wrenching choice and worthy of a great novel–but as to the later choice to go west with the ‘Nazi’ mass murderers, even the murderers of one of those same precious children, there was nothing except for the following: “The Russians were coming and the SS wanted the children destroyed. Most of them were Polish; the Jewish children were already dead. They thought of burning them alive in a pit, or shooting them, but they decided to do something that wouldn’t show too many marks and evidence. So in the freezing cold they marched the children down to the river and made them take off their clothes and soak them in the water as if they were washing them, and then made them put on these wet clothes again. Then they marched them back to the area in front of the barracks where they had been living and had a roll call. Standing in their wet clothes. The roll call lasted for many, many hours while the children stood wet and freezing and night came. All of the children died of being exposed that day. They died of exposure and pneumonia, very fast.” If anything like that had actually happened, it would have been all the more reason to stay in Auschwitz and wait for the Soviets to arrive rather than go west with the ‘Nazis’ and the SS. I dare say there is not even the slightest corroboration for Styron’s tale of the freezing children–but his obscene tale is published and widely disseminated without any serious resistance at all–such is the state of literature in America today. Although Styron does not tell us, Sophie apparently chose to trek west with the Nazi murderers as well. The fact is that hundreds of thousands of Jews chose to collaborate and help defend the Reich and Europe because they knew perfectly well, from their own experience over several years, that they would be treated well and given food, shelter, medical attention, protection and more (they were probably paid for their works as well) from the SS. Why else would they have possibly chosen to go west with the Nazis. Fear of communism or the Soviets? Many Jews were communists themselves. I dare say, every Jew knew the Soviet Union was their friend where Jews were protected and had risen to positions of influence and power out of all proportion to their numbers. And yet, they generally preferred to go west. Obviously, the Jews were either in deep denial, or the Holocaust story is a monstrous hoax just as revisionists claim. The horrors in many camps at the end of the war were an indirect result of Allied bombing and strafing. The SS were indeed the good guys and all of us owe them our eternal gratitude for keeping at least part of Europe free from communism–and that is what almost certainly gave the rest of the world a chance as well. The Jews must have understood that–but, of course, when the war was over they changed their tune completely: they were suddenly the greatest victims in the entire history of the world and, of course, deserved special consideration far above and beyond everyone else who suffered in the war. The truth is that six months earlier they were lining up by their own choice to stay with and work for the Nazis. No doubt, Anne Frank and her father were among the Jews who preferred the company of alleged Nazi murderers rather than that of the Soviets. That is why she died in Bergen-Belsen, far to the west, rather than in Auschwitz. The good guys were the Nazis. Author: Friedrich Paul Berg Edited by k0nsl.
English / Spanish - click below Every day at sunrise, Professor Veer Bhadra Mishra takes his morning dip in the Ganges. He has taken a ‘holy dip’ every morning since 1950, apart from times when he was ill or away from his home city of Varanasi. He is one of 60,000 Hindu faithful bathing in the Ganges each day, many of them pilgrims coming to Varanasi from far away in the belief that the water will purify them and wash away their sins. But Mother Ganga, considered pure and holy by Hindus, has itself been in need of healing for some time. Around 1963, Professor Mishra started noticing changes in the water. As a hydraulic engineer, formerly head of Varanasi University’s engineering department, he knew all about water pollution, its causes and effects. But it was his direct contact with the water of the Ganges as a Hindu high priest – his other “job” - that made him one of the first witnesses to the emergency faced by India’s holy river. Seeing the first signs of the deteriorating condition of the Ganges had a profound effect on him. “One day around 1963 during my morning dip I saw raw sewage floating on Ganga-ji,” he says. (“Ganga” is Ganges in Hindi, -ji a suffix added to nouns as a form of respect.) “I started searching for a cleaner place to take my holy dip. It was a very painful and disturbing experience for me.” A few years later effluent from Varanasi’s newly built Diesel Locomotive Works began to encroach on the tranquility of Prof Mishra’s morning dips, chemical pollution adding to the growing volume of human sewage flowing into the Ganges. “One day I saw thousands of small fish dead and floating on Ganga-ji. Some white foam-like thing was floating in the water coming from the Diesel Locomotive Works, into the Assi river, and then into Ganga-ji.” These experiences later led Prof Mishra to set up the Clean Ganga Campaign together with other concerned citizens of Varanasi, under the auspices of the Sankat Mochat temple of which he is the Mahant (high priest.) Almost fifty years down the line the world has woken up to the plight of India’s holy river, a lifeline for 400 million people living in its basin. International journalists and film-makers flock to Varanasi to interview Prof Mishra about his work for the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) on the Clean Ganges campaign. He and his fellow campaigners have been battling against an inhuman beaurocratic machine for almost 30 years now, trying to convince officials of the need for a modern solution for sewage treatment. As for the river, not that much has changed, apart from the number of people emptying their sewage into it. Although considered holy and pure by Hindus, the river as it is today is far from clean. At the bathing ghats of Varanasi, Ganges water contains 1 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml. The maximum concentration permitted for bathing is 500. To put it crudely, the water is full of shit. It has not always been that way - before India’s population explosion started to take effect Ganges water was both clean and pure. Given that one billion litres of raw sewage flow into the river each day, plus the remains of around 200 bodies cremated here at Varanasi, it is no wonder the water is dirty. The fact that it looks relatively clean makes it all the more dangerous – many pilgrims are unaware that bathing in it can bring on skin diseases, while ingesting it can cause severe diarrhoea and can be lethal. It is not that India’s government has ignored calls to clean up the Ganges. Shortly after the SMF started to demand politicians act on the river’s deteriorating state in the ‘80s, the Government miraculously responded with a Ganga Action Plan (GAP) and proceeded to build sewage treatment plants along the river. $700m of public money were spent on GAP. Twenty years later, not much has changed for the Ganges. Water quality has not improved for the growing numbers of people relying on it, according data gathered by the Sankat Mochan Foundation’s laboratory, says Ashok Pandey, SMF program manager. According to Government data, however, the water has grown cleaner in line with the money invested for that purpose. “The government has spent a lot of money, and wants to show results,” says Ashok Pandey. “When they had spent 25% of the GAP funding, they said 25% of the pollution is gone, and so on. We have a very good laboratory here, we measure at many locations daily. Their results and our results are very different.” With no significant improvement in water quality, the Ganga Action Plan has essentially failed, the foundation believes. One of the main reasons is electricity, followed by faulty design. Sewage treatment plants built under the GAP, all of them electric, are often out of action due to unreliable power supply, or don’t work at all in those municipalities that can’t afford the electricity bills. Varanasi suffers frequent power cuts that often last for hours - as I can duly testify, having lost a part of this article after the lights went out Being engineers as well as concerned citizens, Prof Mishra and other MSF members did not stop at criticism, but went as far as developing a detailed project proposal for sewage treatment that bypasses the need for electricity altogether. The micro-algae pond system the foundation proposed for Varanasi works on photosynthesis, i.e. sunlight – a resource of which the city isn’t short. It is also cheaper, and more efficient in killing faecal coliform than the government’s solution, independent experts have said. Most importantly, it does not stop for hours at every power cut, leaving raw sewage flowing into the river. The pond system, which has operated successfully across the world for decades, has been adapted for Varanasi by Indian and American engineers. The foundation proposed the pond system in 1996, and has since been joined by Varanasi City Council in its attempts to implement it. Despite local government’s right to deciding local environmental questions guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, state-level government has since blocked their efforts. A court case that has dragged on for nine years so far is to decide the fate of the Ganges at Varanasi – and, knowing Indian bureaucracy, it may continue for some time to come. Those in positions of power in the Ganges Action Plan – a bureaucratic structure that seems to have acquired a life of its own – want to hold on to their seats, while those who helped implement it do not want to lose face by admitting its failure. "We are just a few concerned citizens, some university professors, engineers. But we have proposed a project that is both economically, technically and environmentally viable. That is why we are seen as a danger by the government. The government would just like us to disappear, to evaporate.” While awaiting the court’s decision, the foundation is concentrating on awareness-raising and education to help build public support. At 69, he is getting tired with interviews. “Everyone is making films and programs about Ganga-ji, but nothing ever happens,” he says. And taking a holy dip in a clean Ganges remains a dream – for now.
Zika virus: data update PHE has updated the number of cases of Zika infection diagnosed in the UK which includes the first likely UK case of sexual transmission. Public Health England (PHE) believes that the woman was infected by a partner who had recently visited an area where there is active Zika transmission. She has since made a full recovery. The update also included the number of pregnant women with Zika infection since the beginning of the outbreak in early 2015. Professor Dilys Morgan, Zika Incident Director at PHE said: It is important to remember that the main risk relates to travellers to countries classified as high or moderate risk for Zika infection. Zika infection is usually a mild, self-limiting illness, and PHE’s advice is based on the fact that our main concern is to avoid infection in pregnancy, in order to avoid risk to the unborn child. Sexual transmission of Zika virus is not common, and the mosquito which transmits the virus is not present in the UK. Travellers should follow PHE’s advice on bite prevention while in affected areas. PHE advises all male travellers regardless of symptoms to avoid conception and use condoms and other barrier methods during sexual activities for 6 months following return from a Zika high or moderate risk country. Women who have travelled to an area regarded as high or moderate Zika virus risk, should avoid conception and use condoms or other barrier methods for 8 weeks after leaving the area. The number of known UK cases as at 30 November 2016 are provided below. See cases diagnosed in the uk for latest figures, updated monthly. \|Known UK Zika cases\|\|265\| \|Number of pregnant women diagnosed with Zika virus\|\|7\| \|Number of sexually transmitted cases\|\|1 (likely)\| Dr Dipti Patel, director at NaTHNaC said: As we move towards holiday season with increased numbers of people visiting friends and relatives in Zika affected areas, we recommend that all travellers seek out the latest travel health advice. This particularly applies to pregnant women going to an area with active Zika virus transmission who should ensure they seek travel health advice from their GP or a travel clinic well in advance of their trip and consult the NaTHNaC website for up to date information on current outbreaks and country information. We strongly advise all travellers to avoid mosquito bites and urge pregnant women to postpone non-essential travel to areas reporting high Zika transmission. If travel to these areas is unavoidable, or if they live in areas where Zika virus transmission is occurring, they should take scrupulous insect bite avoidance measures. Women who are planning to become pregnant and their partners should discuss their travel plans with their healthcare provider to assess the risk of infection with Zika virus and receive advice on mosquito bite avoidance measures. Tailored advice for pregnancy and travel is available at NaTHNaC’s website. Published: 30 November 2016 From: Public Health England
Today New York High Line Park gives us a feeling as one of excitement, optimism and pride that New York city was able to take something that was just a gleam in eyes a few years ago and turn it into something that everyone, and hopefully generations to come, can enjoy. While we view slick renderings of concepts for urban green spaces almost everyday, it is an entirely different thing to actually step into a completed project and see it with our own eyes. New York High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. For New Yorkers the High Line Park is the beginnings of an urban space revolution, a tangible manifestation of what the future could look like. The High Line was originally constructed in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off of city streets. Abandoned in the 1980's the High Line went into decay and disrepair and was rediscovered in popular consciousness in 2000, after acclaimed photographer Joel Sternfeld captured the beauty of the industrial relic in photos: overgrown with wildflowers — an abandoned human structure essentially reclaimed by nature in a matter of 20 years. The City of New York was originally planning to tear down the High Line, but a group formed, called ‘Friends of the High Line’, to protect, preserve, and renovate the High Line. The preservation and transformation of the High Line at the West Side Rail Yards into public open space has long been one of Friends of the High Line's top priorities - the goal of New York High Line Park. This eventually lead to a design competition, and the commissioning of landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scodifio + Renfro to rehabilitate this abandoned space into a lush, green, elevated paradise for Manhattanites. New York High Line Park is sure going to be a starchitect-designed renovation to maintain the simple, stark beauty of the original, overgrown High Line – the one that had captured the imagination of so many Manhattanites in 2000. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. Friends of the High Line is working with the City of New York, under the leadership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, to preserve the High Line at the West Side Rail Yards and transform it into an extraordinary and inspiring public space. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of this historic structure. New York High Line Park looked like this: 1.) The most prominent features of the long and winding park are the preserved rail tracks that poke out through the porous layer of concrete that has been cut away in strips here and there emphasizing a linear aesthetic. The High Line is a 1-mile (1.6 km) New York City linear park built on a 1.45-mile (2.33 km) section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan; it has been redesigned and planted as an aerial greenway. 2) Lush shrubbery, reedy grasses and watercolor-hued flowers surround the rust-red tracks in a way that seems deliberate yet natural. Farther down along the meandering pathway, sunbathers relaxed on blocky wooden chaise lounges, some of which have casters that look like they can roll right along the tracks. The High Line Park will run from Gansevoort Street, one block below West 12th Street, in the Meatpacking District, up to West 34th Street, through the neighborhood of Chelsea to the West Side Yard, near the Javits Convention Center. 3) The 23rd Street Lawn is a favorite new gathering space on the High Line, offering open green space for picnicking, sunbathing, and people-watching. 4) Vistas that were unseen to most New Yorkers, like a view of the clubs in the Meatpacking district from above and peeks into the posh lofts that are at the same level as the High Line were now visible. 5) Ocassionally, there are lovely wedding couples who celebrated their special day having their photo session at the High Line make it another great landmark to be remembered at New York city - what a beautiful and symbolic way to commemorate their special day! The High Line is located on Manhattan's West Side, it runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues. Daily opening hours for New York High Line Park is now from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM; for more park information, please call the High Line Information Line: (212) 500-6035. Here are the New York High Line Park rules, park rules prohibit: New York's High Line Park: New York High Line Park in the sky New York High Line Park gives us a feeling as one of excitement and pride that New York city was able to take something and turn it into something that everyone can enjoy. Revival of New York's High Line Park The revival of the New York High Line and its surrounding areas in Manhattan has received a boost and set for a brighter future. Impact of New York's High Line Park New York 's High Line Park has great impact, its makes good economic sense - add value to the site by increasing the value of the surrounding real estate and drawing tourists to the area too.
Hypothalamic dysfunction is a problem with part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus helps control the pituitary gland and regulates many body functions. The hypothalamus helps control the pituitary gland. The pituitary is a small gland at the base of the brain. The pituitary, in turn, controls the: The hypothalamus also helps regulate: - Body temperature - Production of breast milk - Salt and water balance - Weight and appetite The most common causes of hypothalamic dysfunction are surgery, traumatic brain injury, tumors, and radiation. Other causes include: Symptoms are usually due to the hormones that are missing. In children, there may be growth problems, either too much or too little growth. In other children, puberty occurs too early or too late. Tumor symptoms may include headache or loss of vision. Low adrenal function symptoms may include dizziness or weakness. Kallmann syndrome is a genetic type of hypothalamic dysfunction. Symptoms include: - Lowered function of sexual hormones (hypogonadism) - Inability to smell (in some people) Exams and Tests The doctor will perform a physical examination and ask about your symptoms. Blood or urine tests may be ordered to determine levels of hormones such as: Other possible tests include: Treatment depends on the cause of the hypothalamic dysfunction: - For tumors, surgery or radiation may be needed. - For hormonal deficiencies, missing hormones need to be replaced by taking medicine. Many causes of hypothalamic dysfunction are treatable. Most of the time, missing hormones can be replaced. Complications of hypothalamic dysfunction depend on the cause. - Permanent blindness - Problems related to the brain area where the tumor occurs - Vision disorders - Problems controlling salt and water balance - Heart problems - High cholesterol - Inability to deal with stress (such as surgery or infection), which can be life-threatening by causing low blood pressure GROWTH HORMONE DEFICIENCY - High cholesterol - Short stature (in children) When to Contact a Medical Professional Call your doctor if you have: - Symptoms of hormone excess or deficiency - Vision problems If you believe you have an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia, get medical attention. These conditions can be life-threatening. If you have symptoms of a hormonal deficiency, discuss replacement therapy with your health care provider. Giustina A, Braunstein GD. Hypothalamic syndromes. In: Jameson JL, De Groot LJ, de Kretser DM, et al, eds. Endocrinology: Adult and Pediatric. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 10. Molitch ME. Neuroendocrinology and the neuroendocrine system. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 223. Review Date 10/28/2015 Updated by: Brent Wisse, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology & Nutrition, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
The defining physical characteristic of vertebrates, of course, is their backbone, an evolutionary development that dates back some 500 million years and includes a broad array of animals, from birds and amphibians to fish and homo sapiens. With such a vast array of animals that are categorized as vertebrates, finding evolutionary commonalities beyond the development of a skeletal structure is difficult. Because the question is specific to those vertebrates that survive on land, however, there are evolutionary developments that definitely helped them to survive on land. The first important evolutionary development involved the formation of respiratory systems that enabled early amphibians to survive out of the water. Without the development of lungs, animals would have been unable to breathe the air and could not have survived. A second important evolutionary step could be the development of hard-shelled eggs, which enabled the reproductive cycle to continue on dry land, with the environmental threats on land differing from those under water. Reptiles, a living link to the distant past, emerged from the seas and evolved according to the requirements of dry land, including hard-shell eggs, as well as skin coatings to protect from land-based threats and to store water, a third evolutionary development. Snakes are vertebrates, yet lack arms and/or legs, so the following evolutionary development might not suffice for purposes of answering this question, but the growth of limbs was essential for amphibians to emerge from the water and survive on land. Similarly, birds are technically dry land animals, but may not qualify for inclusion in this discussion. Nevertheless, the development of wings and feathers was certainly vital to the survival of that category of vertebrates. These are just a few examples of evolutionary developments that helped vertebrates to survive on land.
The Forgotten War Against Chinese-Americans. I bought the book "Driven Out" a couple of years ago, and tried several times to read it all the way through, but had been unable to because of the very harrowing nature of the work. The book - written by a Jewish-American academic - details the almost continuous barrage of racial attacks, pogroms, and riots, over a period of at least six decades, targeting the early Chinese immigrants to the US, beginning in the mid-nineteenth-century. I've finally, in recent weeks, made the decision of finish the book and I am now almost through it, but it is still not easy reading. The book covers a period of American history from the 1850's through to the early decades of the 20th century, that has been completely white-washed from the mainstream and Asian-American historical consciousness alike. The first Chinese immigrants began to arrive in the US in the early 19th century following the forced opening of Chinese markets to the West. As is always the case, exchanges of products were accompanied by the transfer of people and communities, so, in part because Westerners began to colonize China and create economic and social disadvantages for the Chinese, many Chinese sought economic security and opportunities in foreign countries that were no longer possible at home. Many indentured themselves - the so-called "coolies" - and found work in far-flung places like South Africa, The Caribbean, Australia, and South America. The Chinese who came to America came as free men in search of opportunities and only a small minority came as indentured servants. Since almost the beginning of the Chinese presence in the US, they were under attack - and it has to be said that even though it was white Americans who propagated the violence, there was some participation of other minorities. There were cases where Mexicans and Native peoples participated in the violence, and even some African-Americans took sides against the Asian immigrants in editorials in black publications (but it has to be said that other African-American commentators gave support to the Chinese). But the vast majority of attacks were initiated and carried out by whites. The stories of violence and manifestations of hatred are almost unbelieveable - they are so savage, brutal, and sadistic, that the perpetrators and the violence that they committed sounds like little more than a caricature of a medieval warlord and his mob of rampaging peasants. If one were to write a novel - or make a movie - with these kinds of incidents, most people might find the characterizations to be too far-fetched. But these things did happen, and the sadistic brutality was real, yet, the entire episode has almost disappeared from the American consciousness. Certainly, I have heard people talking about the prejudice against the early Chinese, but it has always seemed to be strangely sterile in the telling - even Asians seem to downplay the sheer savagery of the violence. Even worse, this hugely significant episode in American, and Asian-American, history has been given no place in the consciousness of Asian-American cultural output, when in my opinion, it should form the basis for the ontology of Asian-American culture. It is impossible to document all of the attacks against the Chinese in a single blog post - there were literally hundreds of episodes that affected thousands of Chinese - such was the level and degree of violent depravity of America's pioneers in the West. Having come to America lured by the promise of work, or riches in the gold mines, the Chinese quickly established themselves as a more reliable and cheaper alternative than white workers in many of the West coast's fledgling industries. Fairly soon, small communities of Chinese - mostly men - sprang up throughout the West Coast. Almost just as soon, anti-Chinese sentiment began to emerge. Driven by labor movements, and local authorities, but legitimized by xenophobic politicians, the anti-Chinese sentiment played upon the sense of white entitlement to whip up hatred towards the peaceful Chinese. Significantly, then as now, the media played a huge role in galvanizing and promoting anti-Chinese feeling - using stereotypes, caricatures, and a general strategy of defamation, the media succeeded in dehumanizing the Chinese such that few people saw a moral contradiction between the brotherly love of their Christian faith, and the culture of murder and disenfranchisement that they allowed to occur in their towns, and in which many were happy to participate. Laws came into being that made it illegal for the Chinese to own property, and they were "discouraged" or forbidden from renting near whites - the so-called "Chinatowns" were actually ghettos, that served as a means of racial segregation, in run down and decrepit parts of town, and in buildings often considered too dangerous for human habitation. Special "taxes" and "fees" were introduced with the aim of specifically targeting Chinese workers and business owners. Still, the Chinese endured. They made these areas their own, and soon Chinese merchants were in operation, providing services and products for the community. But this segregation didn't satisfy the bloodlust of the West Coast's white population. Anti-Chinese sentiment, given momentum by xenophobia of politicians, and fueled by a media campaign of dehumanization, stereotyping, and defamation, soon flared up into a full-scale ethnic cleansing that would last into the 20th century. What is unsettling is how these actions of hatred and the methods and attitudes that drove them, seem echoed in the modern-day experience of Asian-Americans. Then, as now, American society exhibited a moral acceptance of dehumanization of the Chinese - most would not act on it, but seemed to be either apathetic about the moral dilemma at best, or at worst, willing to justify or downplay prejudice. Then, as now, Asians could build communities and businesses, and the mostly apathetic mainstream would go along with it without much fanfare. Yet, most often in the 19th century American West, a handful of determined people were able to galvanize public action, such that white Americans who had lived, worked, and become friendly with their Chinese neighbours in towns all over the west coast could either turn on them, or simply look the other way while mobs of angry white men burned Chinese communities, forced Chinese people to leave town, or simply beat and murdered them. White agitators would protest the presence of Chinese communities in their towns, galvanize the support of the local community and its authorities, made businesses and landlords sign petitions promising to never employ or rent to the Chinese, made those who already employed or rented to the Chinese - through intimidation or simple persuasion - to promise to fire or evict them. Boycotts of Chinese businesses were used as a weapon (as it is today against Asian merchants and powerful Asian economies) to financially ruin successful businessmen. Once this base of support had been solidified, then the campaign against any given Chinese community would usually become violent and brutal. Mobs of men (but sometimes including women and children) would enter Chinatowns, forcing the Chinese out of their homes and businesses, they would be beaten (or killed) and then made to walk miles to the coast or railway stations where they would be forced onto trains and ships and removed from the town. Then the homes of the Chinese would be ransacked and burned. In some instances, Chinese homes and dorms would be set on fire with the Chinese men still inside, who were then shot at and murdered as they tried to escape the flames. Often, local authorities would serve notices to the Chinese communities informing them of the decision to have them removed from town, and in some instances the Chinese agreed to leave, yet, sometimes, violence took place even when the Chinese agreed to leave town. By providing violent racism with the veneer of legalism, America made ethnic cleansing of the Chinese a respectable and justified endeavour. With only the most flimsy of justifications, Chinatowns throughout the west coast were eradicated, ransacked and burned, and the Chinese men who populated them were beaten, killed, or falsely imprisoned. In the six or so decades between the 1850's and the early 20th century, there were hundreds of such incidences, that drove Chinese communities out of dozens of American West Coast towns, killing many Chinese men and injuring thousands more. Following the so-called "dog-tag" laws in the 1890's that required the registration of all Chinese, the idea was floated that any Chinese who could not show that they were legal should be placed in "enclosures" - a disturbing foreshadowing of Japanese internment. Yet, the Chinese were never passive in the face of this hostility, not only did they resist, they went on the offensive. They fought back with acts of civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts, and even used lawsuits and the legal system to win recompense for their material losses. Across the region, groups of Chinese men armed themselves with rifles and pistols, and defended their homes and properties. In some towns - such as San Jose - after repeated arson attacks that destroyed Chinatown, the Chinese community rebuilt in brick and stone, and surrounded their community with a high retaining wall accessible through a single guarded entrance gate. When local thugs tried to harass the local shop-keepers, the Chinese bought lawsuits against the perpetrators. These acts of self-defence and defiance sent clear statements of intent that they would not be intimidated into leaving, and that they were asserting their rights as American residents. Lawsuits bought by the Chinese against local and federal authorities - several of which they won - served as the legal precedent for reparations paid to the Japanese for internment and to several native American groups. A lawsuit bought against the state of Califıornia by a Chinese family is considered one of the most important civil rights decisions in American history - it forced the states to provide public education for all of its children, regardless of their race or origin. Chinese resistance also tested the 14th amendment's provision for equal protection under the law. Yet, these civil rights precedents have disappeared form the American consciousness, and even worse, it has been forgotten or ignored in the Asian-American consciousness. The experience of the early Chinese immigrants set the tone for America's attitude towards its Asian populations ever since. Subsequent populations of Asian immigrants - almost all male - like the Japanese and Filipinos, faced a similar campaign of violence. Both these groups faced segregation, violence, lynchings, and exclusion. Mobs attacked their neighbourhoods, and campaigns to prevent them from gaining employment and places to live were often successful. And even the big "Driving Out" - Japanese internment - can be viewed as simply a manifestation on a larger scale of the policy of excluding or driving out Asian populations from American towns. It is almost a mirror image of the manner in which the Chinese were brutalized; agitation from local people, coupled with xenophobia from federal policymakers, resulted in notices being served that the Japanese would be driven from their homes and businesses, and their property would be basically ransacked and stolen by the white population. Japanese internment, violence against the Filipinos, and the driving out of the Chinese, reflect a single line of political and racial thinking that, because it has been forgotten or whitewashed from history, presents obstacles to any meaningful understanding of the attitudes and hatreds that lie at the foundation of anti-Asian racism that still inform America's attitudes towards Asians in the present. It is eerie to realize that American culture still maintains this culture of dehumanization towards Asian people, that normalizes racism, and creates an attitude of low-grade resentment that can be manipulated to justify racist behaviour and violence. In this way, genuine engagement with the Asian community is never required, and society can distance itself from any moral consideration of Asian humanity, when political convenience, or economic resentments, necessitate the need for demonization of Asian people. The latest episode in this decades-old cultural practice of maintaining moral distance from Asians, saw its most recent manifestation in the LA riots of 1992. America's cultural propagation of anti-Asian resentment of the 1970's and 80's, and the normalization of demeaning behaviours and dehumanizing stereotypes, created an environment in which a pogrom against Korean merchants and their businesses was largely deemed to be morally justified by the mainstream. There was little sympathy and almost no empathy for the Koreans, and they were even castigated for defending themselves. It is difficult to sympathize and empathize with a group of people about whom that racial mockery, and dehumanizing resentments, are the standard manner of conceiving of them. Understanding the experiences of the first Chinese immigrants, should help us to see how the attitudes that drove anti-Chinese violence were founded on a basis of low-grade, but pervasive, derogatory stereotypes that enabled communities to distance themselves from any moral consideration towards the Chinese. Although hatred drove the violence, it was the equally important culture of dehumanization that made possible the apathy, acquiescence and assistance of the majority. This culture of dehumanization of Asians is still going strong to this day, and the experiences of the Chinese shows me that even if you are an established community, this dehumanization leaves open the possibility for the kind moral distancing that makes violence inevitable. I do not think that it is coincidental that this early history of struggle by Asian immigrants has largely disappeared from the cultural consciousness of both Asian-Americans because these histories involved mainly Asian men, and in modern day America, it is the feminine voice that is the acceptable voice of Asian-America. As we all might agree, the feminine voice of Asian-America, generally defers to the importance the white male presence in Asian existence, whereas the facts of history of Asian-America implicitly marginalizes the white male as a vindictive, frightened, and violent savage, who attempted to murder, or persuade others to murder, his way to ethnic purity, and economic hegemony. This leaves no room for a history that not only shows that America engaged in ethnic cleansing against Asians, it also leaves no room for the preferred narrative in which Asian men are not the weak timid creatures who are easily pushed around. The early Chinese fought back in any way they could think of. That is probably why mainstream America prefers to forget, and Asian-Americans who strive for mainstream inclusion at all costs, generally acquiesce to pretending this history never happened.
Libya is one of the richest countries in the Mediterranean basin for archaeology and cultural heritage, with five enlisted UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The ancient Greco-Roman cities of Cyrene in the east, Sabratha and Leptis Magna in the west, have some of the best-preserved archaeological remains, presenting many amazing mosaics. The armed conflict that started in January 2011, leading to the Gaddafi regime’s fall in October of the same year, raised concerns in the international community for the safety of archaeological sites in Libya. An article in Nature, of the 2nd of March 2011, reports that “The regime's crackdown and the resulting conflict — as well as subsequent chaos and risk of looting — also threatens ancient archaeological sites, as have recent uprisings in nearby countries”. These concerns were picked up by international organisations involved in the preservation of cultural heritage. In June 2011 the UNESCO Director-General divulgated a call for the protection of two of the World Heritage Sites, the Old Town of Ghadamès and Leptis Magna. Blue Shield, an international NGO born in 1954 as emblem of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, declared two official statements highlighting the threats faced by Libyan cultural heritage, the first in March and the second in June 2011. Particularly, concerns were focused on the site of Leptis Magna: in June 2011 the Washington Post reports fears that the site could become a target for NATO bombing if found out to be a military basis of Gaddafi’s troops. Fortunately, later in the year it seemed that Libya’s archaeological sites had survived the conflict with little damage: in an article of November 2011 Mustafa Turjman, head of research at the national department of archaeology (who recently gave an interview on this blog), stated that Tripoli’s National Museum had suffered little damage, mainly concerning symbols of Gaddafi’s regime. In this context, a successful initiative was the establishment of a “No Strike List” by the ‘Blue Shield Committee’ and ‘The International Military Cultural Resources Work Group’ in cooperation with NATO, indicating sites that were to be kept safe from the international military intervention. Crucial was the work of local professionals: in November 2011 an article in Culture in Development titled “Libyan World Heritage Sites Safe”, reported that the international team “was very impressed by the excellent precautionary measures of the local museum professionals and archaeologists”. After the fall of Gaddafi in October 2011, and the establishment of a temporary government (NTC), efforts have focused on continuing the safeguard of these important sites. Even though the armed conflict is officially over, there are still serious threats to archaeological sites in Libya. One of these is the looting and smuggling of antiquities, as well as uncontrolled development. Unfortunately, similar risks have become real in some cases, the most evident one is the demolishment of part of the ancient necropolis of Cyrene for selling building lots. The UNESCO site of Tadrart Acacus, presenting rock art from as early as the 12th millennium B.C., was recently vandalised with graffiti. The challenge that Libya faces now, in a post-revolutionary phase still tormented by internal conflicts, is the establishment of a system to ensure the protection of its unique cultural heritage. William Brown, non-resident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program, gives a detailed analysis of the situation in his essay “Heritage, Democracy and Development in Libya”, indicating as possible aims a remake of heritage laws, the strengthening of cultural heritage authorities, and a public awareness campaign. List of sources: 02/03/2011 Nature, Libya's 'extraordinary' archaeology under threat 14/06/2011 UNESCO, The Director-General calls for the protection of the Old Town of Ghadamès 14/03/2011 Blue Shield Statement of Libya 21/06/2011 2nd Blue Shield Statement of Libya 15/06/2011 The Washington Post, Fear for Libya’s Roman ruins 03/11/2011 Culture in Development, Libya's historic treasures survive the revolution 04/01/2012 NATO, Protecting Libya’s heritage 30/09/2011 Culture in Development, Libyan World Heritage Sites Safe 03/06/2014 Archaeology, Prehistoric rock art in Libya vandalised 06/08/2012 The Tripoli Post, UNESCO Signs Agreement with Libya on Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites 25/09/2013 Libya Herald, UNESCO training to combat the looting of Libyan antiquities 08/11/2011 William Y. Brown, Heritage, Democracy and Development in Libya
Find more Grzechowiak relatives and grow your tree by exploring billions of historical records. Taken every decade since 1790, the U.S. Federal Census can tell you a lot about your family. For example, from 1930 to 1940 there were 45 more people named Grzechowiak in the United States — and some of them are likely related to you. What if you had a window into the history of your family? With historical records, you do. From home life to career, records help bring your relatives' experiences into focus. There were 140 people named Grzechowiak in the 1930 U.S. Census. In 1940, there were 32% more people named Grzechowiak in the United States. What was life like for them? In 1940, 185 people named Grzechowiak were living in the United States. In a snapshot: As Grzechowiak families continued to grow, they left more tracks on the map:
The evaluation of e-health services seems not to be high on the research agenda and yet finding ways to evaluate such initiatives and provide feedback to developers could support existing e-health projects and lead to better quality and efficiency in future initiatives. The outcome would hopefully be to the benefit of patients and healthcare workers alike. Writing in IJBIS, a team from http://www.brunel.ac.uk/bbs at Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK, explain that e-health is a rather broad term that encompasses various disparate activities in what is still an evolving field. The World Health Organization (WHO) sees e-health as “the leveraging of information and communication technology” for healthcare purposes whether connecting providers and patients and governments, educating and informing healthcare professionals, managers and patients or stimulating innovation in care delivery and health systems management. That is indeed a broad and perhaps less than useful definition given that the variety of e-health applications is vast and ranges from simple self-help guides online for treating common ailments at home to virtual clinics and surgeries offering not only diagnostic consultations between patients and practitioners at distant sites and the possibility of remote treatment. However it is defined, Brunel’s Hamid Alalwany and Sarmad Alshawi suggest that, “E-health has the potential to change the healthcare industry worldwide in terms of infrastructure, costs and quality of service.” In their analysis of e-health they highlight NHS Direct, a service of the UK’s National Health Service that is available to patients via telephone, a satellite TV channel and on the web. The telephone service handles millions of calls each year while the TV channel is available to about 18 million homes. The NHS Direct website gets tens of millions of unique visitors each year and offers patients and carers a range of information: - Self-help guide about treating common health problems at home. - Heath encyclopaedia which allow users to search for a treatment or condition. - Comparison of available treatments for specific conditions. - Answers to common health questions and problems. - Hot topics on the latest health issues, often debunking tabloid scare stories. - Database of local health services, including physicians, hospitals, dentists, pharmacies. - Online health enquiry service. NHS Direct is one of the biggest e-health services in the world. As such, Alalwany and Alshawi suggest that evaluating it qualitatively and quantitatively could provide researchers with a useful framework with which to study other similar services currently in place and to determine the merits and limitations of experimental and future e-health services. The team’s analysis of NHS Direct found several limitations the identification of which could either be used to improve that service or guide the development of its successor or other national e-health services, for instance. Either way, their approach could be applied to evaluating holistically any e-health service. Hamid Alalwany, & Sarmad Alshawi (2012). The rationale of e-health evaluation: the case of NHS Direct Int. J. Business Information Systems, 9 (4), 484-497
Oral Bacteria May Signal Pancreatic Cancer Risk “Pancreatic cancer is highly lethal and difficult to detect early. In a new study, researchers report that people who had high levels of antibodies for an infectious oral bacterium turned out to have double the risk for developing the cancer…” See full article on Science Daily This research is preliminary and is no reason to turn to your family doctor and ask about your oral health, but it is interesting. The long and the short of it, is that people who have a large number of antibodies for certain types of bacteria in their mouth, also seem to have a higher likelihood of having pancreatic cancer. It doesn’t mean that the antibodies (or the bacteria) in the mouth lead to cancer, or vice verse. It just means that there is an association there. Something is related between the two. Let’s hope researchers can figure something out that may help with pancreatic cancer.
Location: Sugarcane ResearchTitle: Identification of sources of resistance to sugarcane red rot Author Submitted to: International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists Proceedings Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 9/16/2009 Publication Date: 3/7/2010 Citation: Hale, A.L., Hoy, J., Veremis, J.C. 2010. Identification of sources of resistance to sugarcane red rot. In: Proceedings of International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, ISSCT XXVII Congress, March 7-11, 2010, Veracruz, Mexico, 27:1-8. Interpretive Summary: Red rot is a fungal disease that rots planted stalks of sugarcane. The fungus primarily enters stalks through cut surfaces, and then proceeds to damage the buds along the stalk from which the new crop develops. Red rot can cause yield reductions and even complete stand failures. The most effective way to control the disease is through the development of resistant varieties. Unfortunately, genes for resistance are not plentiful in the current sugarcane genepool. However, there are other potential sources of resistance. In this study, several species of Erianthus, a group of grasses related to sugarcane, were screened in multiple years for their ability to resist infection by sugarcane red rot in comparison to a susceptible sugarcane variety. Stalks of these species were inoculated with the red rot causal fungus and subsequently evaluated for their disease response. Varieties within the Erianthus genus showed near complete resistance to the disease. In addition, some varieties from within the more closely related species, Saccharum spontaneum and S. barberi, were identified as possessing resistance. Varieties which showed stable resistance over multiple years should be considered as potential sources of genes for resistance to the disease. The Erianthus genus possesses high resistance and should be used as parental material in breeding programs where enhanced red rot resistance is needed. Other more easily utilized sources of resistance to red rot within the Saccharum germplasm are selected S. spontaneum and S. barberi accessions. Technical Abstract: Red rot, caused by Colletotrichum falcatum, adversely affects sugarcane stand establishment in Louisiana by rotting planted stalks. Since cultivar resistance is the most effective control method, a study was conducted to identify sources of resistance to red rot and evaluate variability within Saccharum species and Erianthus. Saccharum spontaneum, S. robostum, S. sinense, S. officinarum, S. barberi, and Erianthus clonal accessions were evaluated for resistance alongside susceptible commercial cultivars in three experiments. Harvested stalks were inoculated with C. falcatum. Following a 6-week incubation, each stalk was split and rated for red rot symptoms including number of nodes passed (NP), number of nodes rotted (NR), internode rot severity (IRS), and a rot index (RI). Significant differences were detected among species and accessions within species for all traits. Among the Saccharum species, S. barberi, S. robustum and S. spontaneum exhibited the lowest red rot symptom severity means, while S. officinarum and S. sinense had the highest severity means. A high level of variation was observed within S. spontaneum with RI means ranging from two to 29. Three of 31 accessions (10%) had an NR mean less than 5, and 26% had a mean less than 10. S. barberi exhibited a high level of resistance, with RI means ranging from one to 20. Four of 14 accessions (29%) had an RI mean of less than 5, and six (43%) had a mean of 10 or less. The least amount of variation was seen among the Erianthus accessions, with all showing little, if any, red rot symptoms. The Erianthus genus possesses high resistance and should be used as parental material in breeding programs where enhanced red rot resistance is needed. Other more easily utilized sources of resistance to red rot within the Saccharum germplasm are selected S. spontaneum and S. barberi accessions.
CHIPINGE, ZIMBABWE — Lush tracts of bamboo spread across southeastern Chipinge district, where the tall plant is increasingly regarded as green gold by villagers. They are harvesting it commercially while helping preserve Zimbabwe's fast-dwindling forests. Bamboo is native to Zimbabwe, according to Bio-Innovation Zimbabwe, a research organization specializing in underutilized plant species. The giant grass stays green all year round, and its woody, hollow stem grows again rapidly after it is cut down. In countries like China, bamboo has long been an industrial crop, but it is only now gaining popularity among agricultural entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe who are promoting it as an alternative to traditional timber. For villagers like Natalia Sithole, a 27-year-old mother of three from Mount Selinda in Chipinge, growing bamboo has proved a reliable safeguard against poverty. Sithole, who started eking out a living from bamboo at the age of 17 after having her first child, sells the plant to people around the country who use it to make products, earning her about $120 weekly. "My life has changed for the better thanks to bamboo, and I'm managing to support even my poor parents and siblings, besides my own children," Sithole said. The Chipinge agricultural office said about 580 women in the district were growing bamboo commercially as of early this year. Just as important to some Zimbabweans are the environmental benefits. The plant is proving a boon to the country's dwindling forests, where an estimated 330,000 trees are lost annually to deforestation, much of it for commercial reasons. Environmental experts say the rate of forest loss would be far higher were it not for the bamboo in areas like Manicaland Province. Zimbabwe's environment ministry says around 85,000 trees are saved annually through the use of bamboo as an alternative. "Bamboo can help rural communities become less vulnerable to poverty and climate change impacts when people include the grass in sustainable forestry and agro-forestry systems," said Louise Bragge, a bamboo consultant with Bio-Innovation Zimbabwe. Bamboo thrives in wet areas like Mount Selinda, but agriculture experts say it can also tolerate harsher conditions. "Bamboo is drought-resistant as it has roots that grow slightly deeper, enabling it to reach out to more water underground," said Regis Mhandu, a government agricultural extension officer. In Mount Selinda, villagers use bamboo in place of timber for a range of wood products, from household furniture and cooking utensils to toothpicks and coffins. Many local buyers of bamboo products, like Melford Dhliwayo, say they have fallen in love with items made from the grass, and are pleased they help reduce deforestation. "Furniture made from bamboo is quite durable even for outdoor use, unlike wood, and this means forests now are at [less risk] of being destroyed," Dhliwayo said. Bamboo is also a handy substitute for wood in housing construction. According to the Mount Selinda Women's Bamboo Association, a six-member group set up in 2011, approximately 600 village huts have been erected here using bamboo poles instead of wood over the past several years. Environmental activists anticipate bamboo will become popular across the country because of its economic incentives. "While bamboo is helping in the fight against deforestation, its popularity is set to grow owing to the financial returns the grass offers to growers. So as people fend off deforestation, they also make money from it," said Patience Chiri, an independent environmental activist. The bamboo harvested from one acre of land sells for $220, much less than timber which sells for $350 per acre, according to the Mount Selinda women's group. But bamboo matures more quickly. Erinus Ngadziore, a bamboo producer in Chipinge, says it is far less labor-intensive to cultivate than replanting trees after they have been felled. "The bamboo also grows faster than normal trees, reaching full growth in two to three months, meaning early returns for us," he added. Some tobacco growers have started using bamboo to cure the golden leaf. According to statistics for 2015 from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, around 9 percent of Zimbabwe's 72,000 tobacco growers now use bamboo to cure their crop. The shift appeals to tobacco farmers such as Munyaradzi Ngorima from Manicaland Province. "The days of going all out in search of firewood to cure tobacco could soon be over," Ngorima said.
MONDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Girls who are born into families with high levels of stress are more likely to suffer from anxiety and disruptions in brain function as teenagers, new research suggests. In addition, the researchers found that female babies who lived with stressed mothers had higher levels of a stress hormone known as cortisol as preschoolers. And the girls with those higher cortisol levels were more likely to have less effective wiring in their brains between areas that regulate emotion. Males, however, didn't seem to be affected by these issues, the study authors noted in the report, which was published in the Nov. 4 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. The researchers looked at nearly 600 children and their families who were enrolled in the Wisconsin Study of Families and Work in 1990 and 1991. Some of those children (now aged 21 and 22) continue to take part in the study. The current findings are based on MRI brain scans of 57 participants -- 28 females and 29 males. "We wanted to understand how stress early in life impacts patterns of brain development, which might lead to anxiety and depression," the study's first author, Cory Burghy, of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said in a university news release. "Young girls who, as preschoolers, had heightened cortisol levels, go on to show lower brain connectivity in important neural pathways for emotion regulation -- and that predicts symptoms of anxiety during adolescence," Burghy added. Another expert, Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry and a director at the Waisman Lab, explained the importance of this research. "Merging field research and home observation with the latest laboratory measures really makes this study novel," Davidson said in the news release. "This will pave the way to better understanding of how the brain develops, and could give us insight into ways to intervene when children are young." "Our findings raise questions on how boys and girls differ in the life impact of early stress," said Davidson, who noted that the disparity is not surprising. "We do know that women report higher levels of mood and anxiety disorders, and these sex-based differences are very pronounced, especially in adolescence." Although the study showed an association between being born into a stressed family and developing anxiety as a teen, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. For more about stress, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine. SOURCE: University of Wisconsin, Madison, news release, Nov. 4, 2012 Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Computer history starts in 1623, when Wilhelm Schickard built mankind's first automatic calculator. Schickard's machine could perform basic arithmetic operations on integer inputs. His letters to Kepler, discoverer of the laws of planetary motion, explain the application of his "calculating clock" to the computation of astronomical tables. The non- programmable Schickard machine was based on the traditional decimal system. Leibniz subsequently discovered the more convenient binary system (1679), an essential ingredient of the world's first working program- controlled computer, due to Zuse (1941). Top: Replica of the non- programmable Schickard computer. computer history speedup page for a list of the most important computer science breakthroughs since 1623.
This is a great time to teach/review calendars, time/clocks and anything using the number 12, especially fractions. You can also focus on the number 10 since 2010 begins a new decade (vocabulary word). - Review math facts for numbers 10 and 12 according to what they have learned (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) - Get a 2010 calendar and write in everyone's birthday that you celebrate. Count up the number of birthdays each month and write an extended equation to see how many birthdays you will celebrate this year. - Use the numbers in 2010 to form equations using only those 3 numbers (0,1,2). See how many you can come up with. - Last year, Kelly made 6 resolutions. She kept 3 of them. What percentage of her resolutions did she keep? - Gage's family is hosting a New Year's Eve party from 8PM until 1AM. How long will the party be? - How much more time is left in this year? Express your answer in days, hours, and minutes. (Adjust as necessary for child's ability) - Test the accuracy of a sand timer or, if you do not know how long the timer should be, determine the time. Watch a second hand on a clock or watch or use a digital timer with a count up feature to see how long it takes for the sand to run out. - Figure out how many days until your birthday. - Learn the number of days in each month. An easy way to remember is to make a fist. Touch the first knuckle and say "January", then move to the space between the 1st and 2nd knuckle and say "February", then to the 2nd knuckle and say "March" and so on. When you reach the last knuckle (July), touch it again and say "August" and then continue back across the hand until you reach December on the middle knuckle. Each month that "falls" on a knuckle has 31 days, the others (except February) have 30 days. - This is also a good time to introduce the military clock. Midnight is 0000 (zero one hundred) hours. _ You can also discuss time zones and celebrate as different places welcome in the new year. - Make a calendar for the new year. - Draw some party hats, using different types of triangles (Isoceles, equilateral, acute). This is a good way to reinforce ruler skills and to teach triangle types. - Draw, or otherwise create, and decorate your own "ball" to drop on New Year's Eve.
CONSCIOUSNESS is a living force, and like the law of conservation of energy, it can neither be created or destroyed. The consciousness that wells up within us is our constant core, says Theosophy, and can be transformed, but never destroyed. Man is, therefore, not a physical thing, says Theosophy, but a self-cognitive entity using a physical life form. Our bodies makes it seem we are merely “carbon-based units,” as depicted in the sci-fi series StarTrek – (see “The Mysterious Builder.”) But, the “consciousness which wells up within us,” H. P. Blavatsky wrote, is essentially the same as “the impersonal reality pervading the Kosmos—the pure noumenon of thought.” Practically speaking, all forms in nature are constructs of consciousness. As humans, as the forward point of evolution, we are described by spiritual teachers as ‘Immortal Perceivers’ with unlimited potential. Metaphysically, the eternal conscious core of the universe, and therefore of all manifested beings within it, is “devoid of all attributes and is essentially without any relation to manifested, finite Being,” says mystical Theosophy: “It is ‘Be-ness’ rather than Being.” The “absolute Reality” of the universe, according to The Secret Doctrine, is also the central core of our ‘be-ness’ nature. This nature of ours is always overarchingly superior to whatever we might mentally ‘know,’ or may have memorized at any particular time. This post is updated and republished at:
Many people have seen the signs and heard the slogan: “CPR Can Save Lives” But just how effective is Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, also called CPR? What are the side effects? And, if someone is lucky enough to survive a cardiac arrest and is resuscitated, what does that mean for that person’s long term health? Let’s look at some numbers. According to the most recent statistics provided by the American Heart Association, 88% of cardiac arrests happen at home, where there are no doctors or nurses, which is why it is so vitally important that everyone be skilled in providing CPR. The average bystander that is skilled in CPR can triple the chance that a victim survives a cardiac arrest, however the chances of receiving CPR from a non-professional in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest situation is only approximately 32%. Furthermore, of those victims that receive CPR outside of a hospital, less than 8% survive. According to the National Institute of Health, in a hospital setting, approximately 15% of patients are resuscitated and survive to discharge, a number that has remained relatively stable over the past three decades. (more…) CPR is short for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. It is a technique used to save a person’s life that has a sudden cardiac arrest. During this procedure, a person initiates a series of steps in order to help the victim’s blood continue circulating and maintain oxygen levels in the victim’s body. The steps include breathing (“rescue breaths”) into the victim’s lungs and compressing the victim’s chest. Let’s break this down even further to better understand CPR. The word “cardio” basically means the heart. Our heart is one of the most important organs in our bodies. The heart is a very strong muscle, found in the chest, which expands and contracts more than 60 times every minute and pumps blood, which is rich in oxygen, from the lungs to the rest of the organs in the body. If the heart stops pumping that all-important oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, tissue begins to die because the body’s vital organs are being deprived of the oxygen it needs to survive. This can lead to organ malfunction, brain damage or, in the worst case, death. The word “pulmonary” essentially means the lungs. The lungs are as important as the heart because when you take a breath (which you do up to 25 times a minute!), you fill your lungs with much needed oxygen and that oxygen combines with sugar to fuel your body and its vital organs. Since the tissues in our body do not store much oxygen, it is essential that they remain constantly oxygenated. The “R” in CPR is the most important letter and it means “resuscitation.” It basically means bringing someone who is apparently “dead,” back to life. It sounds more like a sci-fi movie than it really is. The human body only has a short supply of oxygen once the heart stops and the lungs are no longer receiving adequate oxygen. Once it runs out of oxygen, cell and tissue damage ensue, which can lead to brain damage and even death. When resuscitating a victim, it is important to remember that without oxygen, cell and tissue death begins between four and six minutes after being deprived of oxygen. But, when would you possibly need to perform this life-saving technique? A situation in which oxygen may be prevented from reaching the lungs includes: - Heart attack - Electric shock - Ventricular fibrillation (in which the heart’s rhythm goes awry) Today, CPR learning is important for everyone including the non-healthcare professionals like teachers, coaches, personal trainers, daycare workers, babysitters, construction workers, etc. By knowing how to provide CPR, one can literally save a life! And, since over 80% of people will experience sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting, by providing CPR you can possibly restore up to 40% of the normal circulation that has stopped, giving your loved one, or a perfect stranger, a greater chance at survival. Online CPR certification and re-certification is available through CPR Select’s convenient, flexible live classes. Go to http://www.mycprcertificationonline.com/ and sign up today so that you, too, can learn to save life of victim during the crucial time. Seeing a child that has become unresponsive or stops breathing can be terrifying. And it can happen to you or a loved one. Most researchers believe that the most common place for your child to be injured is not where you think. It’s not on the football field. It’s not at school and it’s not in an automobile on a major highway. Research suggests that over 4 million childhood injuries that result in emergency room visits occur in the home every year. Let’s take a look at some numbers about children and accidents due to choking and drowning: - Over 10,000 children each year choke on their food and are taken to the local emergency room. - Over 16 million children a year are hospitalized for accidental injuries, which include drowning and choking. - In children under the age of 5, 90% of deaths occur from small foreign objects. - In infants, the most common cause of choking is liquids. - 19% of children under age 14 had choking-related injuries due to candy. - 18% of children ages 1-4 had choking-related injuries due to coins. - Drowning is the second-highest cause of accidental injury and death in children under age 14. - Drowning occurs in the home more than 70% of the time and it occurs throughout the year. - Drowning is NOT seasonal. It only takes one inch of water for a small child to drown. Now let’s look at some important Child CPR Facts: - If CPR is done correctly and performed early enough, it could save 100-200 thousand children annually. - Taking 25 minutes out of your time could help you save a child’s life. According to recent research a person needs approximately 5 minutes training on using an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and just 20 minutes training in CPR to be effective. - More than 90 thousand people are saved every year, thanks to someone who took the time to learn CPR. Any child who is accidentally injured in a choking or drowning accident needs CPR immediately. Given all the facts, it is vitally important that everyone who has or is around children be certified in Child CPR. Are you prepared to perform CPR on your child of any of these accidents should occur in your presence? Remember, it only takes a few minutes of training to save a child’s life. You can help lower the staggering statistics above by learning how to perform Child CPR.
On this page: Definition of the noun ethnocentrism What does ethnocentrism mean as a name of something? noun - plural: ethnocentrisms - belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group - example: Monolingualism is like a disease as it leads to ethnocentrism and culture isolation. But this disease can be cured. - lexical domain: Cognitive Processes - nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents - more generic words: partiality / partisanship = an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives Alternative definition of the noun ethnocentrism - The tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. - "Ethnocentrism" is a book by Władysław Bartoszewski. - also known as "Ethnocentrism beliefs and stereotypes, a study of Polish-Jewish relations in the early 20th century" - "Ethnocentrism" is a book by M. K. Du Toit. - also known as "Ethnocentrism: we are wonderful" Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture. Ethnocentric individuals judge other groups relative to their own ethnic group or culture, especially with concern for language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic distinctions and subdivisions serve to define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity. Ethnocentrism may be overt or subtle, and while it is considered a natural proclivity of human psychology, it has developed a generally negative connotation. - also known as 民族優越感 Printed dictionaries and other books with definitions for Ethnocentrism Click on a title to look inside that book (if available): Us Against Them (2010) Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion by Donald R. Kinder, Cindy D. Kam Ethnocentrism is a mental habit. It is a predisposition to... by Judith Dwyer Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's cultural norms are superior to those of other social groups. Cultural relativism ... Sociology: The Essentials (2016) by Margaret L. Andersen, Howard F. Taylor Ethnocentrism is the habit of seeing things only from the point of view of one's own group. Ethnocentrism is a powerful force because it combines a strong sense of group solidarity with the idea of group superiority. Intercultural Communication (2014) A Contextual Approach by James W. Neuliep Whereas racism refers to the hierarchical ranking of one race above the others, ethnocentrism refers to the strong preference for... by Christian Ndubueze Anyanwu Ethnocentrism is a sociological terminology first used by William Graham Summer. Casting Light or Shadow by Craig E. Johnson Ethnocentrism is the tendency to see the world from our cultural group's point of view. From this vantage point, our ... The First Decade of the New Millennium by Chris Rowley, Malcolm Warner Ethnocentrism is a universal phenomenon, exhibited by virtually all groups throughout the world which makes it... by Illinois State University Nweze Nnakwe, Nweze Nnakwe Ethnocentrism is a way of looking at the world through a personal lens that has been influenced by personality, genetics, by Donald B. Pope-Davis, Hardin L. K. Coleman Ethnocentrism is a major obstacle in the field of counseling and psychotherapy for two reasons. First, one of the world's leading centers of rescarcli and practice in the area of counseling and therapy is the United States. Second, the dominant ... Cross-Cultural Management (2008) Essential Concepts by David C. Thomas Ethnocentrism is an attitude that one's own cultural group is the center of everything, and all other groups are evaluated... Although related to a narrow or provincial perspective often labeled parochialism, ethnocentrism is a universal tendency ... by Don H. Hockenbury, Sandra E. Hockenbury This tendency to use your own culture as the standard for judging other cultures is called ethnocentrism (Triandis, 1994). Although it may be a natural tendency, ethnocentrism can lead to the inability to separate ourselves from our own cultural ... A Guide to Building Relationships with People of Other Faiths and Cultures by Rajendra Pillai STAGE Form: EMBRACING ETHNOCENTRISM Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own race is superior to all others. In varying degrees some form of ethnocentrism is ingrained in most cultures of the world. Some traditions reinforce it in the ... Archaeological Theory (2011) An Introduction by Matthew Johnson Ethnocentrism is the belief that the values and attitudes of one's own culture are normal and universal. Thus an assumption that, for example, witchcraft belief is ' irrational' is ethnocentric, since it assumes that Western logic is the only form of ... Social Marketing (2012) by Michael T. Ewing E THNOCEN TRISM Ethnocentrism is a sociological concept first introduced by Sumner (1906) that refers to a tendency to regard the beliefs, standards, and code of behaviour of one's own as superior to those Albert Caruana and Saviour C ... Urban Family Medicine (2012) by Richard B. Birrer Ethnocentrism is the result of underemphasizing culture values and assuming similarities where they don't exist. Culture and Dignity (2012) Dialogues Between the Middle East and the West by Laura Nader Ethnocentrism is a disease, one that breeds hubris no matter what its origin. A knowledge of the history of our whole world can help reduce its pernicious consequences. Such a world history enriches Western-centric stories and disrupts ... The Social Art (2006) Language and Its Uses by Ronald K. S. Macaulay Ethnocentrism is that state of mind in which the ways of one's own group seem natural and right for all human beings everywhere. Roger Brown and Eric Lenneberg, “A Study in Language and Cognition” ... Cosmos & Hearth (1996) A Cosmopolite's Viewpoint by Yi-fu Tuan THE UNITED STATES Ethnocentrism is a trait common to all societies. This does not mean, of course, that societies are equally ethnocentric, that they — to anything like equal degree — see themselves not only as the center of the world, ... by Yo Jackson See also Ethnocentrism; Institutional Racism; Multicultural Counseling Competencies; White Privilege FURTHER READING... Ethnocentrism is broadly defined as an interpretive framework based on the perception that one's own ethnic or ... by Richard T. Schaefer Ethnocentrism is a tendency to see one's own group as the center of the world and to rate all other groups according to the norms, values, and characteristics of the observer's group. William Sumner is often credited with the ... by Vincent N. Parrillo Myers See also Cultural Values; Ethnic Group; Ethnocentrism; Subcultures Further Readings Goldstein, Eric L. 2006. The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Jacobson ... by Wilhelm Kirch Cross-References ▷Ethnic Identity Ethnocentric Strategy ▷Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism Synonyms Ethnocentric strategy Definition Ethnocentrism is a bias based on the assumption that one's own culture is superior to other cultures. by W. Edward Craighead, Charles B. Nemeroff ETHNOCENTRISM 337 338 ETHNOCULTURAL PSYCHOTHERAPY. animal relation. Therapists use animals as adjuncts in individual therapy (animal- assisted therapy). Residential group settings also use caring for animals as a vehicle for ... Issues, Terms, and Concepts by Lena E. Hall there can be several problems related to ethnocentrism in psychology. There may be problems related to the tasks used in crosscultural studies. The assumption may be that the ... by Chris Brooker ethnocentrism n the belief that one's own culture and lifestyle are superior to those of other groups. Often makes the assumption that the beliefs, values, priorities and views of one's culture are ... Online dictionaries and encyclopedias with entries for Ethnocentrism Click on a label to prioritize search results according to that topic: Video about Ethnocentrism Video shows what ethnocentrism means. The tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own traditional, deferred, or adoptive ethnic ... See also the pronunciation examples of Ethnocentrism! Scrabble value of E1T1H4N1O1C3E1N1T1R1I1S1M3 The value of this 13-letter word is 20 points, but it's not an accepted word in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. Share this page Go to the usage examples of Ethnocentrism to see it in context!
I cringe when I hear the word normal. I mean what does it mean? I’ve heard that word used too many times since we realised that there may be problems during my pregnancy. Normal scans, abnormal scans…then it became quite odd when Samuel would have an EEG done and we’d ask about the results and the doctor would say ‘abnormal’ but normal for Sam. I’ve been around a while now and met a lot of different people along the way. Some of them society may deem as being ‘normal’ whereas I thought they were anything but, I think quirky is often a word I’ve used in the past about such characters. How different do you have to be to not be ‘normal’? But then I look into my world with an outsiders eye, or compare my world to perhaps my sister or friends and think, ‘ok, maybe we aren’t quite the conventional normal’. I had a quick look online as to what the definition of normal is and found this at dictionary.reference.com: - conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural. - serving to establish a standard. - Psychology: a) approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment b) free from any mental disorder; sane. - Biology, Medicine/Medical a) free from any infection or other form of disease or malformation, or from experimental therapy or manipulation b) of natural occurrence. Perhaps I shouldn’t dwell too much on that definition. But we feel very normal in our world, in our bubble. Samuel is our first child, so apart from nieces and friends children who we may have occasionally looked after, we don’t have a direct comparison. This is all we know of having children. Rather than us not being normal (does that makes us abnormal), I see it that our world is just a bit different from others. Welcome to our world: Drugs – Sam has quite a collection of drugs in his red box which includes Clobazam, Topiramate, Vigabatrin twice a day, Midazolam for emergencies, Chloral Hydrate at bedtime, Gaviscon three times a day, Lansorprozole once a day. Feed – Samuel takes no feed orally but instead has a gastrostomy button on his tummy and he his fed through that for all meals (and medicines). We hook him up on a feeding pump for each meal. The professionals – There are a lot of people that we deal with on a regular basis and they form part of Team Sam. Development milestones – Well, yes we are different here as Sam hasn’t really met any development milestones. He is about 17 months old now and still very much like a little baby. He cannot support his neck or head, doesn’t make eye contact, reach or grab for things, laugh or smile. Stuff – We have a lot of stuff around the house that may be different to what’s at your house. We have boxes and boxes of bottles for the feed pump, purple extension sets which connect Sam to the pump, syringes (we always have a lot of syringes). Sam has a turquoise tumble-form chair (although we are hoping to upgrade to a special high chair), a bath seat to make bath time much gentler on mum and dad’s back. Oh yes and we don’t have many toys that are just here for the sake of it, most of Sam’s toys have some kind of developmental/sensory element to them which we use in play. People – Our relationship to people is different now. To be honest if you don’t really show that you care and are interested in Samuel then I probably don’t have the time for you (literally, my world is Sam so you just have to fit in). Special needs can scare people away and we have noticed that some ‘friends’ have disappeared off the radar since Sam was born. People also feel sorry for us which I find frustrating and worry so much about what is the right and wrong thing to say they don’t really say anything at all. The hard stuff – We have conversations with doctors that a lot of parents (thankfully) don’t have to have. We have to talk care plans. We have to have What If? conversations. We are part of conversations about prognosis and life expectancy. BUT do you know what? Cuddles are top of the to-do list in this house. Is that normal? If you could overdose on cuddles we’d have been in trouble a long time ago! Sam may be developmentally behind but he knows what makes a good cuddle and he is very giving. When his Dad his home at the weekend we spend most of it all together in our bubble, just spending time enjoying being together and cuddling. When things get tough our motto is KEEP CALM AND CUDDLE. Tell me, is that normal? This (rather long) post is written as part of the bloghop #definenormal. Pop over to Just Bring the Chocolate to find out more, join in and you get a fab badge too!
Officially called the High-Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS), this ultra powerful laser will emit 100,000 times more power than all of Earth's power stations combined. It's received the nickname "Death Star "Laser" for its similarity to Darth Vader's laser wielding base in Star Wars. Continue reading for a video and more information. The Daily Mail reports: "The system combines technologies from across Europe and around the world. It relies on a scheme referred to as 'double-chirped pulse amplification,' enabling high signal to noise in the output pulses which will seed HAPLS. 'HAPLS's high repetition rate will make possible new scientific discoveries. While scientists have long performed experiments with powerful single-shot lasers, they have never had an opportunity to repeat experiments at 10 times per second,' said Livermore physicist and HAPLS project manager Constantin Haefner."
The State of Ohio first required statewide registration of motorcars in mid-1908, when an official license plate was issued. Thus, there are no Ohio state licenses in the pre-state era. Several Ohio towns and cities did, however, use license plates in the years leading up to and including 1908. In fact, the state waived the requirement for auto owners to obtain state license plates until 1909 if their machines were registered with a municipality. By 1909, however, display of the official state license was mandatory and local plates were declared obsolete. As stated elsewhere, Cleveland was possibly the first American city to require numbers on automobiles. Starting in 1901, Cleveland motorists registered their machines with the city government and received a license number. There was, however, no requirement that the name “Cleveland” appear on the owner-provided tags, so it is not possible to identify any tag as coming from Cleveland unless the paper registration is also present. It is also known that Toledo required tags similar to Cleveland, but none can be verified. Cincinnati was two years behind Cleveland in requiring automobiles to be registered. Different from Cleveland, however, Cincinnati in 1903 mandated the display of the owner’s initials on the machine – a practice no doubt borrowed from New York State, which employed a similar means of identification in the years leading up to 1903. Like New York, Cincinnati motorists had to provide their own licenses, and most likely – as in New York – the system was abandoned at the end of 1905 due to fraudulent and duplicative use of initial letters. Cincinnati issued official license plates to its motorists in 1906, ’07 and ’08. These were handsome stamped brass plates of beautiful and elaborate designs, and are among the most collectable of all the pre-state plates today. The capital city, Columbus, issued official license plates to its motorists in 1907 and 1908. These were dated annual tags; porcelain enamel over steel. Other Ohio cities known to have used local license plates include: - Delhi Township (1908, aluminum), - Lorain (undated, porcelain), - Massillon (undated, plastic over sheet metal), - Warren (1908, dated), - Canton (undated, leather), - Springfield (stencil brass on leather, undated), - Hamilton (1907, brass) - Dayton (1905 and 1907 known). Many of these are shown here.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder. It is due to aging and wear and tear on a joint. Hypertrophic osteoarthritis; Osteoarthrosis; Degenerative joint disease; DJD; OA; Arthritis - osteoarthritis Cartilage is the firm, rubbery tissue that cushions your bones at the joints. It allows bones to glide over one another. When the cartilage breaks down and wears away, the bones rub together. This often causes the pain, swelling, and stiffness of OA. As OA worsens, bony spurs or extra bone may form around the joint. The ligaments and muscles around the joint may become weaker and stiffer. Before age 55, OA occurs equally in men and women. After age 55, it is more common in women. Other factors can also lead to OA. - OA tends to run in families. - Being overweight increases the risk for OA in the hip, knee, ankle, and foot joints. This is because extra weight causes more wear and tear. - Fractures or other joint injuries can lead to OA later in life. This includes injuries to the cartilage and ligaments in your joints. - Jobs that involve kneeling or squatting for more than an hour a day, or involve lifting, climbing stairs, or walking increase the risk for OA. - Playing sports that involve direct impact on the joint (football), twisting (basketball or soccer), or throwing also increase the risk for OA. Medical conditions that can lead to OA include: - Bleeding disorders that cause bleeding in the joint, such as hemophilia - Disorders that block the blood supply near a joint and lead to bone death (avascular necrosis) - Other types of arthritis, such as chronic gout, pseudogout, or rheumatoid arthritis Symptoms of OA often appear in middle age. Almost everyone has some symptoms by age 70. Pain and stiffness in the joints are the most common symptoms. The pain is often worse: - After exercise - When you put weight or pressure on the joint With OA, your joints may become stiffer and harder to move over time. You may notice a rubbing, grating, or crackling sound when you move the joint. "Morning stiffness" refers to the pain and stiffness you feel when you first wake up in the morning. Stiffness due to OA often lasts for 30 minutes or less. It can last more than 30 minutes if there is inflammation in the joint. It often improves after activity, allowing the joint to "warm up." During the day, the pain may get worse when you are active and feel better when you are resting. As OA gets worse, you may have pain even when you are resting. And it may wake you up at night. Some people might not have symptoms, even though x-rays show the changes of OA. Exams and Tests A health care provider will examine you and ask about your symptoms. The exam may show: - Joint movement that causes a crackling (grating) sound, called crepitation - Joint swelling (bones around the joints may feel larger than normal) - Limited range of motion - Tenderness when the joint is pressed - Normal movement is often painful Blood tests are not helpful in diagnosing OA. An x-ray will likely show: - Loss of the joint space - Wearing down of the ends of the bone - Bone spurs OA cannot be cured. It will most likely get worse over time. However, your OA symptoms can be controlled. You can have surgery, but other treatments can improve your pain and make your life much better. Although these treatments cannot make the arthritis go away, they can often delay surgery. Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers can help with OA symptoms. You can buy these medicines without a prescription. Most doctors recommend acetaminophen (Tylenol) first. DO NOT take more than 3 grams (3,000 mg) a day. If you have liver disease, talk with your doctor before taking acetaminophen. If your pain continues, your doctor may recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Types of NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. Supplements that you may use include: - Pills, such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate - Capsaicin skin cream to relieve pain Staying active and getting exercise can maintain joint and overall movement. Ask your health care provider to recommend an exercise routine. Water exercises, such as swimming, are helpful. Other lifestyle tips include: - Applying heat and cold to the joint - Eating healthy foods - Getting enough rest - Losing weight if you are overweight - Protecting your joints from injury If the pain from OA gets worse, keeping up with activities may become more difficult or painful. Making changes around the home can help take stress off your joints to relieve some of the pain. If your work is causing stress in certain joints, you may need to adjust your work area or change work tasks. Physical therapy can help improve muscle strength and the motion of stiff joints as well as your balance. If therapy does not make you feel better after 6 to 8 weeks, then it likely will not work at all. Massage therapy may provide short-term pain relief. Make sure you work with a licensed massage therapist who is experienced in working on sensitive joints. Splints and braces may help support weakened joints. Some types limit or prevent the joint from moving. Others may shift pressure off of 1 portion of a joint. Use a brace only when your doctor or therapist recommends one. Using a brace the wrong way can cause joint damage, stiffness, and pain. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese treatment. It is thought that when acupuncture needles stimulate certain points on the body, chemicals that block pain are released. Acupuncture may provide short-term pain relief for OA. S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe, pronounced "Sammy") is a manmade form of a natural chemical in the body. It may help reduce joint inflammation and pain. Severe cases of OA might need surgery to replace or repair damaged joints. Options include: - Arthroscopic surgery to trim torn and damaged cartilage - Changing the alignment of a bone to relieve stress on the bone or joint (osteotomy) - Surgical fusion of bones, often in the spine (arthrodesis) - Total or partial replacement of the damaged joint with an artificial joint (knee replacement, hip replacement, shoulder replacement, ankle replacement, elbow replacement) Organizations that specialize in arthritis are good resources for more information on OA. Your movement may become limited over time. Doing everyday activities, such as personal hygiene, household chores, or cooking may become a challenge. Treatment usually improves function. When to Contact a Medical Professional Call your provider if you have symptoms of OA that get worse. Try not to overuse a painful joint at work or during activities. Maintain a normal body weight. Keep the muscles around your joints strong, especially the weight-bearing joints (knee, hip, or ankle). Hochberg MC, Altman RD, April KT, et al. American College of Rheumatology 2012 recommendations for the use of nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies in osteoarthritis of the hand, hip, and knee. Arthritis Care Res. 2012;4:465-474. PMID: 22563589 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22563589. Lozada CG. Treatment of osteoarthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Gabriel SE, McInnes IB, O'Dell JR, eds. Kelly's Textbook of Rheumatology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2013:chap 100. Nelson AE, Jordan JM. Clinical features of osteoarthritis. In: Firestein GS, Budd RC, Gabriel SE, McInnes IB, O'Dell JR, eds. Kelly's Textbook of Rheumatology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2013:chap 99. Reviewed By: Laura J. Martin, MD, MPH, ABIM Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
According to the Egyptian account of creation, only the ocean existed at first. Then Ra, the sun, came out of an egg (a flower, in some versions) that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra brought forth four children, the gods Shu and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut became the atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became the earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled over all. Geb and Nut later had two sons, Set and Osiris, and two daughters, Isis and Nephthys. Osiris succeeded Ra as king of the earth, helped by Isis, his sister-wife. Set, however, hated his brother and killed him. Isis then embalmed her husband's body with the help of the god Anubis, who thus became the god of embalming. The powerful charms of Isis resurrected Osiris, who became king of the netherworld, the land of the dead. Horus, who was the son of Osiris and Isis, later defeated Set in a great battle and became king of the earth. From this myth of creation came the conception of the ennead, a group of nine divinities, and the triad, consisting of a divine father, mother, and son. Every local temple in Egypt possessed its own ennead and triad. The greatest ennead, however, was that of Ra and his children and grandchildren. This group was worshiped at Heliopolis, the center of sun worship. The origin of the local deities is obscure; some of them were taken over from foreign religions, and some were originally the animal gods of prehistoric Africa. Gradually, they were all fused into a complicated religious structure, although comparatively few local divinities became important throughout Egypt. In addition to those already named, the important divinities included the gods Amon, Thoth, Ptah, Khnemu, and Hapi, and the goddesses Hathor, Mut, Neit, and Sekhet. Their importance increased with the political ascendancy of the localities where they were worshiped. For example, the ennead of Memphis was headed by a triad composed of the father Ptah, the mother Sekhet, and the son Imhotep. Therefore, during the Memphite dynasties, Ptah became one of the greatest gods in Egypt. Similarly, when the Theban dynasties ruled Egypt, the ennead of Thebes was given the most importance, headed by the father Amon, the mother Mut, and the son Khonsu. As the religion became more involved, true deities were sometimes confused with human beings who had been glorified after death. Thus, Imhotep, who was originally the chief minister of the 3rd Dynasty ruler Zoser, was later regarded as a demigod. During the 5th Dynasty the pharaohs began to claim divine ancestry and from that time on were worshiped as sons of Ra. Minor gods, some merely demons, were also given places in local divine hierarchies. The Egyptian gods were represented with human torsos and human or animal heads. Sometimes the animal or bird expressed the characteristics of the god. Ra, for example, had the head of a hawk, and the hawk was sacred to him because of its swift flight across the sky; Hathor, the goddess of love and laughter,was given the head of a cow, which was sacred to her; Anubis was given the head of a jackal because these animals ravaged the desert graves in ancient times; Mut was vulture headed and Thoth was ibis headed; and Ptah was given a human head, although he was occasionally represented as a bull, called Apis. Because of the gods to which they were attached, the sacred animals were venerated, but they were never worshiped until the decadent 26th Dynasty. The gods were also represented by symbols, such as the sun disk and hawk wings that were worn on the headdress of the pharaoh. The only important god who was worshiped with consistency was Ra, chief of cosmic deities, from whom early Egyptian kings claimed descent. Beginning with the Middle Kingdom (2134-1668 BC), Ra worship acquired the status of a state religion, and the god was gradually fused with Amon during the Theban dynasties, becoming the supreme god Amon-Ra. During the 18th Dynasty the pharaoh Amenhotep III renamed the sun god Aton, an ancient term for the physical solar force. Amenhotep's son and successor, Amenhotep IV, instituted a revolution in Egyptian religion by proclaiming Aton the true and only god. He changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning “Aton is satisfied.” This first great monotheist was so iconoclastic that he had the plural word gods deleted from monuments, and he relentlessly persecuted the priests of Amon. Akhenaton's sun religion failed to survive, although it exerted a great influence on the art and thinking of his time, and Egypt returned to the ancient, labyrinthine religion of polytheism after Akhenaton's death. Burying the dead was of religious concern in Egypt, and Egyptian funerary rituals and equipment eventually became the most elaborate the world has ever known. The Egyptians believed that the vital life-force was composed of several psychical elements, of which the most important was the ka. The ka, a duplicate of the body, accompanied the body throughout life and, after death, departed from the body to take its place in the kingdom of the dead. The ka, however, could not exist without the body; every effort had to be made, therefore, to preserve the corpse. Bodies were embalmed and mummified according to a traditional method supposedly begun by Isis, who mummified her husband Osiris. In addition, wood or stone replicas of the body were put into the tomb in the event that the mummy was destroyed. The greater the number of statue-duplicates in his or her tomb, the more chances the dead person had of resurrection. As a final protection, exceedingly elaborate tombs were erected to protect the corpse and its equipment. After leaving the tomb, the souls of the dead supposedly were beset by innumerable dangers, and the tombs were therefore furnished with a copy of the Book of the Dead. Part of this book, a guide to the world of the dead, consists of charms designed to overcome these dangers. After arriving in the kingdom of the dead, the ka was judged by Osiris, the king of the dead, and 42 demon assistants. The Book of the Dead also contains instructions for proper conduct before these judges. If the judges decided the deceased had been a sinner, the ka was condemned to hunger and thirst or to be torn to pieces by horrible executioners. If the decision was favorable, the ka went to the heavenly realm of the fields of Yaru, where grain grew 3.7 m (12 ft) high and existence was a glorified version of life on earth. All the necessities for this paradisiacal existence, from furniture to reading matter, were, therefore, put into the tombs. As a payment for the afterlife and his benevolent protection, Osiris required the dead to perform tasks for him, such as working in the grain fields. Even this duty could, however, be obviated by placing small statuettes, called ushabtis, into the tomb to serve as substitutes for the deceased. 5000+ referate online Iti recomandam ca referatele pe care le downloadezi de pe site sa le utilizezi doar ca sursa de inspiratie sau ca resurse educationale pentru conceperea unui referat nou, propriu si original. Referat.ro te invata cum sa faci o lucrare de nota 10!
Talk given by Jim Forest 10 March 2009 at Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia : “All we are saying,” sang the Beatles, “is give peace a chance.” We sing it still, not only with a fond memory of John Lennon, who wrote the song in 1969, but remembering all the people who made it into an anthem of the peace movement during the long struggle to end the war in Vietnam. “Give peace a chance” is a line notable for its modesty. It’s a polite invitation to live in a way that makes it more likely that we can do with our lives something constructive rather than destructive. Perhaps those few words might be seen as a pop translation of the words of Jesus in the first part of the Sermon in the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Blessed — that’s not a word we use very often. When’s the last time you used it in conversation? What does it actually mean? The original New Testament texts are in Greek. The Greek word we translate as “blessed” is makarios. In classical Greek makar was associated with the gods. Kari means “fate” or “death,” but with the negative prefix ma the word means “deathless, immortal, no longer subject to fate,” a condition desperately longed for by mortals. It was because of their immortality that the gods, the hoi Makarioi, were the blessed ones. One way to translate makarios into English would be to say “Risen from the dead.” “Risen from the dead are the poor on spirit … Risen from the dead are the peacemakers…” Each of the eight beatitudes has to do with what it is like to be a person living in the kingdom of God, and not at some future time but here and now. Such a person is poor in spirit, such a person mourns, such a person is meek, such a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness, such a person is merciful, such a person is pure of heart, such a person is a peacemaker, such a person is ready to be insulted and persecuted for his or her their faith. Such a person as already risen from the dead — that is from the kind of mortuary life we experience every time we make choices based on fear rather than love. The Beatitudes are a brief summary of the Gospel. Peacemaking is one of the most basic elements of Christian life. However many Christians fail to practice peacemaking, or even become war makers, peacemaking is one of the essential components of the life Christ calls his followers to lead. In fact it’s emphasized in other religious traditions as well — in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism. While followers of these other traditions may be just as likely as Christians to participate in war, and even at times to regard war as a sacred duty, in fact they too belong to religions in which peace and mercy are supposed to be at the core of religious life. The problem isn’t the principle, it’s our practice. We sing “all we are saying is give peace a chance,” and we approve of Jesus’ saying “blessed are the peacemakers,” while all the while doing very little in our day-to-day lives to be peacemakers. In fact many of us actively promote division and conflict. We argue over just about anything, from who took the biggest slice of pie to whose ideas about God are more correct. Not too may people these days would remark about Christians, “See how the love one another” — and still fewer would express amazement at how well Christians practice Jesus’s commandment to love our enemies. But there are important examples of Christians who gave an extraordinary example of peacemaking. Earlier in the day I talked to students at the School of Education about one of them, Erasmus of Rotterdam, the 16th century academic and educator. Let me repeat here a little of what I said a few hours ago. Erasmus was one of the great scholars of western civilization. His most famous book, The Praise of Folly, remains one of the most brilliant satires ever written. Erasmus lived in a time of war and extreme religious conflict — the Reformation — yet was one of the great peacemakers of all time. Through letters and his published works, Erasmus repeatedly strove to prevent war between nations and schism between Christians. “There is nothing more wicked, more disastrous, more widely destructive [than war],” he wrote, “nothing more deeply tenacious or more loathsome. …Whoever heard of a hundred thousand animals rushing together to butcher each other, as men do everywhere?” One of his sayings was: “Man is a creature born without claws.” In common with many artists of the period, he saw death, portrayed as a skeleton carrying a scythe, striding triumphantly at the end of all military expeditions and parades. In The Complaint of Peace, a book similar to The Praise of Folly, Peace herself rises to complain about how much her name is praised by everyone, including kings and generals, yet how few live peaceful lives. “Without me,” she points out, “there is no growth, no safety for life, nothing pure or holy, nothing agreeable,” while war is “a vast ocean of all the evils combined, harmful to everything in the universe.” It would be unfair to lions to compare them to human beings. “Only men, who above all other species should agree with one another and who need mutual understanding most of all, fail to be united in mutual love … not even by the awareness of the many evils resulting from war.” Erasmus was also one of the great Christian reformers — a relentless critic of the sins and shortcomings of the Catholic Church as it was in the late 15th and early 16th centuries — but in this area too he fought to overcome enmity and promote unity. He wanted a reformation, but without a rush and without schism. His influence on Luther and other leading Protestants was huge, but Erasmus refused to sanction any solution that led to fragmenting the Church. Not only did he take seriously Christ’s commandment that his followers should remain together in unity, but he was also put off by the incivility and humorlessness of the Protestants he knew. “I have seen them,” he wrote, “return from hearing a sermon as if inspired by an evil spirit. Their faces all showed a curious wrath and ferocity.” And no doubt he had occasions of seeing Catholics in a similar state. It was not easy finding Christ-like people on either side of the wall that was being built. While himself involved in many theological debates, Erasmus argued that not every question need to be given a final answer in this life. There are various ways of understanding certain aspects of Christian teaching, but what is very clear is we have to love each other even when we disagree. By all means let us debate our points of view, and learn what we can in the process, but then patiently wait until we reach the next world to find out who was right. For all his criticism of popes who lived more like kings than ambassadors of Christ, Erasmus sought to hold the middle ground in the religious earthquakes of his time. While condemning corruption, he urged patience, dialogue and toleration. Ironically, in times of conflict, such a stand rarely gains friends. Leaders on both sides insist that whoever is not with them is against them. Luther was bitterly disappointed with Erasmus for failing to do as he had done. The fact that Erasmus remained Catholic didn’t, however, mean he was esteemed by the popes of the Counter-Reformation. When the Catholic Church decided to publish a list of prohibited books, all the works Erasmus were placed on the Index. Erasmus would have been grieved but not surprised. He knew what people are like when they get into combat mode. One of the people who has most influenced my life, Thomas Merton, was very like Erasmus in many ways. Merton, also Catholic, was one of the most widely read Christian authors of the past half century — indeed, remains widely read even though it’s now 40 years since his death. There are passages in Merton that could have just as well been written by Erasmus. Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, published in 1948, has sold millions of copies, appeared in numerous translations, and has never gone out of print. The Seven Storey Mountain is one of the most gripping accounts of religious conversion ever written, but it has its flaws. Every now and then Merton gets a little preachy. He tends to present the Catholic Church in an entirely uncritical light while only pointing out the shortcoming of Protestant Christianity. One has to keep in mind that he was a fairly young convert at the time and that, in those days, there was something a Berlin Wall separating Catholics and Protestants, and still another wall separating both Catholics and Protestants from the Orthodox Church. What’s remarkable is how much Merton changed in the twenty years between publication of his autobiography and his death in 1968. He became one of the most prominent Catholic participants in dialogue with non-Catholic Christians, both Protestant and Orthodox, and then widened the circle even further to include people from other religious traditions. One of the last photos we have of Merton, taken just a few weeks before his death, shows him in the Himalayas side by side with the Dalai Lama. His friends came to include Protestant and Orthodox Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists and Hindus. There are a few passages in Seven Storey Mountain that give a hint where Merton would be going in his later life. One of these concerns a Hindu monk named Bramachari whom Merton got to know when he was studying at Columbia University. It was Bramachari who encouraged Merton to read The Imitation of Christ — a book that was also important to Erasmus, by the way. In Merton’s later writing there is a tremendous emphasis on opening doors that a lot of people prefer to keep closed and padlocked. Merton came to see his own spiritual life as the place where one begins to overcome division. Here’s how he puts it in a key passage in one of my favorite Merton books, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: “If I can unite in myself the thought and devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and the Latin Fathers, the Russian and the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided Christians. From that secret and unspoken unity in myself can eventually come a visible and manifest unity of all Christians. If we want to bring together what is divided, we cannot do so by imposing one division upon the other. If we do this, the union is not Christian. It is political and doomed to further conflict. We must contain all the divided worlds in ourselves and transcend them in Christ.” In fact Merton took the principle even further, to include not only with his fellow Christians but also non-Christians. It’s striking to see how deep that dialogue was and also how wide open it was. For example, probably the best statement Merton ever wrote about how God is both One and a Trinity was not made to a fellow Christian but to a Moslem correspondent. It wasn’t that Merton forced the topic on his Moslem friend, but he was quite ready to answer a question like that when it was asked. It is sometimes assumed that Merton’s deep interest in other religions suggests he was engaged in a search for a new spiritual home that met his needs better than Christianity, or perhaps was seeking to put religions into a blender and pour out of it his own “baptized Buddhism.” In fact for Merton the faith into which he had been baptized was never at issue. As he put it in a journal entry made three years before his death: “I may be interested in Oriental religions, etc., but there can be no obscuring the essential difference — this personal communion with Christ at the center and heart of reality as a source of grace and life.” But it seemed to Merton that, thanks to the activity of the Holy Spirit, there was great wisdom to be found in other religious traditions and thus it was of mutual benefit for friendships to take root across all religious borders. At the very least, this kind of dialogue contributes to an increase of love and a lessening of enmity in the world. One of the people Merton got to know was Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk and poet from Vietnam who has since become one of the best known Buddhist writers. In May 1967, Nhat Hanh spent two days at the monastery in Kentucky where Merton lived. Merton immediately recognized Nhat Hanh as someone very like himself — a similar sense of humor, a similar outlook on the world and its wars, one of which was at the time killing many people in Vietnam. As the two monks talked, the different religious systems in which they were formed provided bridges. “Thich Nhat Hanh is my brother,” Merton wrote soon after their meeting. “He is more my brother than many who are nearer to me in race and nationality, because he and I see things exactly the same way.” When Merton asked Nhat Hanh what the war was doing to Vietnam, the Buddhist said simply, “Everything is destroyed.” This, Merton said to the monks in a talk he gave a few days later, was truly a monk’s answer, three words revealing the essence of the situation. Merton described the formation of young Buddhist monks in Vietnam and the fact that instruction in meditation doesn’t begin early. First comes a great deal of gardening and dish washing. “Before you can learn to meditate,” Nhat Hanh told Merton, “you have to learn how to close the door.” The monks to whom Merton told the story laughed — they were used to the reverberation of slamming doors as latecomers raced to the church. Less than two months before his death, Merton was in Calcutta to speak at a conference that brought together people belonging to various religions. In the talk he gave, Merton stressed that unity cannot be attained by “interminable empty talk, the endlessly fruitless and trivial discussion of everything under the sun.” This kind of “inexhaustible chatter,” which we imagine puts us in closer contact with each other, in fact is rarely remembered by anyone even a week later. “The deepest level of communication is not communication,” he said, “but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity. My dear brothers, we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.” But this didn’t mean, Merton added, that we can get closer to each other by minimizing differences or pretending they don’t exist. As he put it, “There can be no question of … a mishmash of semi-religious verbiage and pieties, a devotionalism that admits everything and therefore takes nothing with full seriousness.” Rather “there must be a scrupulous respect for important differences.” Merton is not remembered by those whom he met in Asia in those last few months of his life as a post-Christian, but rather as a Christian with genuine interest and respect for non-Christians and a readiness to learn from them and enjoy their company. One of the signs of the significance such conversations had is the visit made to Merton’s monastery by the Dalai Lama in 1994. He arrived by helicopter, then sat in silent meditation on Merton’s grave. Once when he was asked his opinion of Jesus, he replied, “Whenever someone speaks to me about Jesus Christ, I think of Thomas Merton.” Asked on another occasion if he believed in God, a question many Buddhists find problematic, the Dalai Lama replied. “It depends on what you mean by ‘God.’ If you mean by ‘God’ what Thomas Merton means, then yes, I do.” It’s not surprising that Merton had a special interest in Gandhi. Here was a Hindu who, partly inspired by the Sermon in the Mount, developed a nonviolent method of struggle which contributed hugely to India obtaining its freedom. It seemed to Merton that Christians could learn a great deal from such a man. One of Merton’s books has the title Gandhi and Nonviolence. Merton also greatly admired Martin Luther King, a Baptist Christian who had been influenced by Gandhi. King was due to visit Merton in 1968 and would have done so had be not been murdered in Memphis. We see in all these lives that “giving peace a chance” is not something that just happens. It’s a way of life made up of big and small choices that are based on respect for life, a respect for the other person, a refusal to dehumanize those whom we regard as opponents or enemies, a readiness to listen, an active effort to prevent division or overcome it once division occurs, and a real search for nonviolent alternatives in situations that otherwise could easily turn to violence. It’s a refusal to be dragged along like cattle being herded to wherever the trail boss wants to take us. We can see what these qualities look like in the lives of people like Erasmus, Merton, Gandhi and Martin Luther King — famous people — but we can also see what they look like in unfamous people whom we happen to know, perhaps someone in our family, some teacher or friend or neighbor. Such people exist and most of us know one or two or them. Let me end with a story of how these qualities looked in the life of one ordinary family. At the center of the story is an elderly black woman, Mrs. Louise Degrafinried, 73 years old at the time, and her husband, Nathan. They lived near Mason, Tennessee, a rural community northeast of Memphis. Both were members of the Mount Sinai Primitive Baptist Church. The other key participant is Riley Arzeneaux, a former Marine sergeant who was serving a 25-year prison term for murder. Along with four other inmates, he had escaped from Pillow State Prison several days before. Somehow they obtained weapons. Once on the run, Riley went his own way. The police were in active pursuit both in cars and helicopters — a massive manhunt. Riley had been sleeping rough. It was winter. There was ice on his boots. He was freezing and hungry. Having come upon the Degrafinried home, Riley threatened Louise and Nathan with his shotgun, shouted, “Don’t make me kill you!” Here comes the astonishing part. Louise responded to their uninvited guest as calmly as a grandmother might respond to a raucous grandchild playing with a toy gun. She started out by identifying herself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. “Young man,” she said, “I am a Christian lady. I don’t believe in no violence. Put down that gun and you sit down. I don’t allow no violence here.” She had a certain authority and also showed not a trace of fear. Riley obediently put the weapon on the couch. He said, “Lady, I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten in three days.” Louise calmly asked Nathan to please get dry socks for their guest while she made breakfast. Within a few minutes she prepared bacon and eggs, toast, milk and coffee, setting the table not only for Riley but for Nathan and herself. A striking detail of the story is that she put out her best napkins. When the three of them sat down to eat, Louise took Riley’s shaking hand in her own and said, “Young man, let’s give thanks that you came here and that you are safe.” She said a prayer and asked him if there was anything he would like to say to the Lord. Riley couldn’t think of anything so she suggested, “Just say, ‘Jesus wept.’” Later a journalist asked how she happened to choose that text. She explained, “Because I figured that he didn’t have no church background, so I wanted to start him off simple; something short, you know.” The story crosses yet another border with a confession of love. After breakfast Louise held Riley’s hand a second time. She had asked about his family and learned of the death of his grandmother. Riley, trembling all over, said that no one in this world cared about him. “Young man, I love you and God loves you. God loves all of us, every one of us, especially you. Jesus died for you because he loves you so much.” All the while the police had been searching for Riley and the other convicts. Louise had been on the phone when Riley arrived — as a result of the abrupt ending of the call, the friend she had been talking with alerted the police. Now they could hear the approaching sirens of police cars. “They gonna kill me when they get here,” Riley said. Louise told Riley to stay where he was while she went out to talk to the police. Several police cars had surrounded the house. Guns ready, policemen had taken shelter behind their cars in expectation that Riley might open fire on them. Instead they found themselves face to face with Louise Degrafinried. Standing on her porch, she spoke to the police exactly as she had spoken to Riley. “Y’all put those guns away. I don’t allow no violence here.” There are people who have a voice-from-heaven authority. The police were as docile in their response to this determined grandmother as Riley had been. They put their guns back in their holsters. With their arms around Riley, Louise and Nathan escorted their guest to one of the police cars. He was taken back to the prison. No one was harmed . The story of what happened to two of the other escaped convicts is a familiar tragedy. They came upon a family preparing a barbecue in their backyard. The husband, having heard about the escaped prisoners on the radio, had armed himself with a pistol. He tried to use it but was himself shot dead. The men took his wife hostage, stole the family car, and managed to drive out of the state before they were captured and the widow was freed. Another of the five, Ronald Lewis Freeman, was killed in a shot-out with police the following month. The Degrafinried story does not end with Riley’s return to prison. Louise and Nathan were asked to press charges against Riley for holding them hostage but refused to do so. “That boy did us no harm,” Louise insisted. As both she and Nathan refused to testify, the charges were dropped. Thanks to the Degrafinrieds, Riley’s life was not cut short, though twenty more years were added to his prison sentence for having escaped. Louise initiated correspondence with Riley. She asked for his photo and put it in her family album. Throughout his remaining years in prison — he was freed in 1995 — Louise kept in touch with Riley and he with her. Louise actively worked for Riley’s release. “He usually called on her birthday and around Christmas time,” Louise’s daughter, Ida Marshall, related to a journalist after her mother’s death in 1998. It was Ida Marshall who wrote Riley with the news of Louise’s death. Louise had enormous impact on Riley’s life. “After looking back over all my life in solitary, I realized I’d been throwing my life away,” he said in a 1991 interview. Riley recalls praying with Louise Degrafinried when she came to visit him in prison. “She started off her prayer,” he recalled, “by saying ‘God, this is your child. You know me, and I know you.’” “That’s the kind of relationship I want to have with God,” Riley said. In 1988, Riley became a Christian. “I realized,” he explained, “that meeting the Degrafinrieds and other things that happened in my life just couldn’t be coincidences. After all that, I realized someone was looking over me.” Louise Degrafinried was often asked about the day she was held hostage. “Weren’t you terrified.” “I wasn’t alone,” she responded. “My Savior was with me and I was not afraid.” It’s similar to a comment Riley made when explaining the events that led to his conversion. “Mrs. Degrafinried was real Christianity,” he told mourners at her funeral. “No fear.” Riley sat in the front pew at the service and was among those carrying Louise Degrafinried’s coffin to its burial place. Riley Arzeneaux now lives in Nashville where he works as a foreman of a tent and awning company. He and his wife have a son. Not long ago Riley was invited to tell his story to the children of a local primary school in Mason, Tennessee, whose principal is one of Louise and Nathan’s children. The story hasn’t yet reached an ending. The consequences of that extraordinary encounter in Mason back in 1984 are still underway. Thanks to the welcome extended by two elderly people, no guns were fired at the Degrafinried house. No one was looks back on that day with regret or grief. A man who might have remained a lifelong danger to others has instead become a respected member of society and a committed Christian. Louise and Nathan have died, but their pilgrimage from fear continues to touch the lives of others. Time to end. Let me just suggest that you hang on to that story for a while and think about the Degrafinrieds and their unexpected guest. Think about it the next time you happen to hear “Give Peace a Chance” or the next time you read the words, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” * * *
God's glory – his primary concern Isaiah had been telling his people that the nation was going to carted off to Babylon for a new period of captivity. Such a captivity would not take place because the gods of the nations had triumphed over the LORD but because of the sinfulness of the people. The Lord had established his covenant with his people and in doing so he had granted them great blessings. Along with these covenant blessings went covenant responsibilities, responsibilities which Israel had dismally failed to fulfil. Politically the people were about to lose their freedom being brought into national bondage and it was all due to their wilful spiritual blindness. Was God giving up on his people? What do these events mean? What are we to learn from them? Although the people of Israel were still capable of saying the right things they were incapable of doing the right things! They were, it seems, quite happy to describe themselves as being in a relationship with the Lord and yet their lives showed little if any evidence that this was a living reality for them. In some ways what Isaiah has to say about Israel in this chapter brings little new information as he had already prophesied against them when he declared just what the Lord's assessment of them was: Is.29:13 "And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men," How easy it is to say things! The people of Israel found it far easier to say than to be and to do: matters haven't changed materially since then. In the NT era Jesus was confronted by exactly the same problem with the Scribes and the Pharisees. They made a good show of religious devotion and commitment but all they really did was to promote their own human traditions while setting aside what the Lord God had actually said. And so Jesus quoted this same passage from Isaiah: This is one more of those instances where it is clear that actions speak louder than words. And how do we match up? If we were accused of being Christians would there be sufficient evidence to convict us? Or would we be found to be following another path, another set of traditions of our own? Israel did belong to the LORD but had slipped into a state where she thought that profession was all that was necessary. But the LORD has never been content with lip service – he wasn't then and he isn't now! Yet in his mercy the LORD does not give up on his people. He wasn't about to give up on Israel and he won't with you if you truly belong to him. However the way ahead for Israel would involve the uncomfortable afflictions of stern discipline. And this is a true sign of divine love – while the Lord passes by many others leaving them in their sin he chastens and disciplines the one he loves. Israel would have been wiser to follow the path of obedience and so render discipline unnecessary – and so too would we! He won't give them up – because they're so nice? We're not to imagine that the LORD is akin to some doting grandparent who is blissfully ignorant of the misdemeanours of his descendants. We're not to think that he winks and turns a blind eye towards their wrong- v.4 "Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass," This spiritual obstinacy was nothing recent either; it was something that characterised Israel's entire existence: v.8 "You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel." Here we have clear statements concerning the complete lack of any sort of merit to be found in the people of God. In short – indeed Israel was no better than Babylon or any other of the nations! Isaiah would develop this further in just a few chapters time: Is.53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;" In the NT the apostle Paul would summarise his early argument in the Book of Romans by writing: The argument from prophecy Not only did was the Lord fully aware of the shortcomings of his people he addressed them. Isaiah tells us that one of the reasons why prophecy had such a significant role to play in Biblical religion was to shatter all the possible excuses the people might try to advance to cover their obstinacy. The fact that the LORD had announced what was going to happen before it did and then act in order to bring it about was designed to drive Israel into a corner where she would be forced to recognise the truthfulness of God and her own duplicity. In the distant past God had prophesied what would take place to destroy any attempts Israel might make to attribute any success to the idols that charmed them: v.5 "I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’" In the (then) present prophecy was given so that Israel's claims to possessing great knowledge might be exposed: So the LORD knew all about the perfidy of Israel – he wasn't committed to them because he held a rose- If the reason why the Lord would not give up on his people was not to be found in them it must be located elsewhere and that is what we are told next. God had his own reasons and Isaiah tells us that they are bound up with his own honour and praise: v.9 "For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off" v.11 "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." It is just because the LORD sees his own honour and prestige as being inextricably bound up with the people he has chosen and called to himself that the people themselves, and us as Christians along with them, may be confident concerning our final salvation. Our ultimate deliverance is directly linked no so much to our ability to persevere but to his determination to see his own name honoured and glorified. The security of God's people is as sure as the Eternal Honour of God himself. This had significant implications for Israel and it has significant implications for us too. God will do what is necessary to prepare his people for their salvation. If they go astray he will discipline and discipline just as severely as is necessary: v.10 "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." Yet even when the process of purification seems so difficult and they may even be tempted to misread his treatment as abandonment they are reminded that his dealings with them are always gracious. Indeed they are NOT treated as they deserve – if they were refined as silver there would be nothing left at all for they possessed nothing that was inherently good in themselves. This is what we affirm when we say that salvation is all of grace!! The Call is Renewed Isaiah reminds the people of Israel about their God before he expresses his disappointment over how they had turned from him to their own hurt. But rebellion against such a God and the forfeiture of such blessings need not be final – this same God still offers his salvation to a recalcitrant people if only they will trust and obey. Firstly, Isaiah describes the God who thus addresses his people: He is a speaking God – how this fact is underscored! The chapter opens with the words "Hear this," and then continues with a list of references to the LORD making things known to his people. Now here in v.12 we have another invitation/command issued "Listen" which is repeated in v.14 "Assemble… and listen!" He is eternal – the first and the last v.12 He is the Creator and Sustainer v.13 – the heavens hear and obey He is the Sovereign who rules vv.14- The success that Cyrus would know was also available to God's people because the LORD's instructions to his people were in no way hurtful to their true interests: How foolish Israel was in turning her back on the Lord's commandments! In doing so she forfeited: a wonderful peace that just kept on and on flowing like a mighty river, a glorious righteousness that was as endless as the waves on the sea stretching out as far as the eye can see an enduring prosperity – such a large number of descendants that would prove impossible to number – the fulfilment of the divine promises made so long before to Father Abraham a good reputation – an enduring name both in the presence of men and of God Instead of these blessings Israel was destined for that painful, humiliating exile in Babylon! They knew what they should have done but stubbornly refused to heed God's Word. How foolish! How often do we act in such similar ways to God's people of old? Haven't we heard? Don't we know that the Lord's way is best? And still we turn so often to this side or to that preferring our own wisdom to his! How foolish! I wonder how often we have sung those words of the hymn: O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer! How many times have we done similar things as well, acting as though the LORD was out to spoil our lives rather than enrich them? Could it be that Israel had definitively missed God's best? Could it be that we, by our disobedience, have missed it too? Well Israel would be restored from exile in Babylon and so enjoy a great national and political deliverance but the underlying problems ran deeper and those underlying problems no man like Cyrus would ever be able to resolve. For this more profound deliverance a greater deliverer would be necessary – one endued with the Spirit of God. Isaiah could only prophesy – it would take the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, to provide the solution! Israel, even after having known such a poor track record with such a list of failure, would yet be spoken to again by her Lord and called to leave Babylon to return home. The Lord hadn't finished with his people and there would yet be a homecoming. And what a homecoming it would be too marked, not by sadness and regret, but by joyful shouting and rejoicing. This deliverance would be great and news of it would encircle the globe. When the call would come it would be accompanied by reminders of just how the Lord had provided for his people in earlier times yet when the circumstances had been so very similar. If the LORD had been able to provide so abundantly for his exodus- And looking ahead down the centuries from Isaiah's time to the gospel era those who hear and heed his call to follow Jesus will be able to "come home", as it were, rejoicing. After all if the angels, who dwell constantly in what must be the absolutely wonderful presence of God, are said to rejoice when a sinner is saved surely the saved sinner himself has cause for rejoicing in his own salvation!! For us today then we too can look back and see not only how God brought his people home from Egypt, or how he returned the exiles from Babylon, we can see how down through the centuries of the Christian era how he has kept his promises, built his church, extended his kingdom and brought his redeemed to glory! We need fear no weakening of his resolve to honour his own name and so he will keep his promises, his power will not diminish in the slightest and so will be well able to keep us and save us to the end. We too should be characterised by outbursts of real joy as we respond to his graciousness! There is tremendous hope here in this chapter. Even though Israel had messed up big- And yet there is a conditional element to it all. Yes, salvation is of the LORD but Israel must leave her sins. That is the meaning of the very last verse of the chapter: v.22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked." Would you know this peace, peace with God, everything ordered and in its rightful place – the rich and full blessings that flow from being in a right relationship with the Living God? Then you must understand that such blessing is simply incompatible with wickedness and that you must turn from it in what the Bible calls repentance. But remember too that the Bible doesn't call for a negative renunciation of wrong- May we not be deceived by the enemy who will try to get us down one way or another – we may have fallen far but not so far that the Lord cannot yet restore. Failures in the past don't need to set the tone for how we live today and tomorrow. To God be the glory.
Today, we’re going to play with words. Not any old words, but words that Jane Austen used; they are rich, delicious, decadent words that are worth knowing. You may well know some or all of them already, and if you do, pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself on the breadth of your vocabulary. This will be the first of three posts in the style of an ABC book – one Austen word for each letter of the alphabet. Today we explore A-H. Ablution – meaning “ritual washing.” It is often used in a derisive, sarcastic way. This word was only used once by Jane Austen, but it was such a perfect usage that the word stuck with me. “And that is quite impossible; for he is now in the custody of his friend, and Mr. Darcy would no more suffer him to call on Jane in such a part of London! My dear aunt, how could you think of it? Mr. Darcy may, perhaps, have heard of such a place as Gracechurch Street, but he would hardly think a month’s ablution enough to cleanse him from its impurities, were he once to enter it; and, depend upon it, Mr. Bingley never stirs without him.” ~ Pride and Prejudice Barouche – I admit that this word didn’t make much of an impression when I was first reading Austen, although she used it on 23 occasions in her novels. When I saw the 1995 Pride and Prejudice series, however, and Lady Catherine attempted to entice Elizabeth to stay longer with the promise of traveling in the “Barouche box”, I was intrigued. I assumed it was the modern-day equivalent of a Rolls Royce. Well, it was certainly a carriage for the wealthy, but the more I learned about the carriage, the more I understood Lady Catherine. My initial supposition that the “Barouche box” was a sub-type of a Barouche carriage was wrong. The “box” referred to is a storage box that the driver sits on, and Dawson, (Lady Catherine’s maid) does not object to the box—meaning Lady Catherine will assign her maid to sit up on the box with the driver to make room for additional passengers. The Barouche is a summer vehicle that seats four passengers, and it’s not enclosed. There is a hood that can be raised to cover the back two passengers, sort of like a partial convertible. Unfortunately, any passengers in the rear-facing seat behind the driver will be exposed to sun and rain. Lady Catherine, in her final insult, made the offer to take just one person, unless the weather was cool. What was the other person, Mariah Lucas, to do if it’s warm? “Oh! your father of course may spare you, if your mother can. — Daughters are never of so much consequence to a father. And if you will stay another month complete, it will be in my power to take one of you as far as London, for I am going there early in June, for a week; and as Dawson does not object to the Barouche box, there will be very good room for one of you — and indeed, if the weather should happen to be cool, I should not object to taking you both, as you are neither of you large.” ~ Pride and Prejudice Coxcomb – a conceited dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments. The word is derivative of “cockscomb” which was a style of hat worn by a professional fool or court jester. To apply this word to a person is not a compliment. Synonyms include: dandy, fop, motley and fribble— none of which Austen used. Are you wondering to yourself which of the Austen characters was referred to as a coxcomb? There were three, but my favorite one is Mr. Robert Ferrars. He addressed her with easy civility, and twisted his head into a bow which assured her as plainly as words could have done, that he was exactly the coxcomb she had heard him described to be by Lucy. Happy had it been for her if her regard for Edward had depended less on his own merit, than on the merit of his nearest relations! ~ Sense and Sensibility Descried – from descry, which is “to see, discern” and “to proclaim.” This is a word I learned entirely from Austen, and although she uses it but four times, it is always to great effect, as in all the instances where she uses it, it adds a certain energy and drama to the act of “seeing.” I’ve given two examples below. Shortly afterwards Miss Bates, passing near the window, descried Mr. Knightley on horseback not far off. ~ Emma It was fixed, accordingly, that Mrs. Clay should be of the party in the carriage; and they had just reached this point, when Anne, as she sat near the window, descried, most decidedly and distinctly, Captain Wentworth walking down the street. ~ Persuasion Encamped – to settle or lodge in a camp. Austen only used this word once, and I think we’re all familiar with that reference. I included this word due to my initial confusion about the situation of the militia when they were in Meryton. There, they were actually quartered in the local inns and taverns. There was no camp of soldiers in Meryton. “They are going to be encamped near Brighton; and I do so want papa to take us all there for the summer! It would be such a delicious scheme, and I dare say would hardly cost anything at all. Mamma would like to go too of all things! Only think what a miserable summer else we shall have!” “Yes,” thought Elizabeth, “that would be a delightful scheme indeed, and completely do for us at once. Good Heaven! Brighton, and a whole campful of soldiers, to us, who have been overset already by one poor regiment of militia, and the monthly balls of Meryton.” ~ Pride and Prejudice Feelingly – with great feeling. This is the word that made me realize I had immersed myself in Austen’s work and JAFF so much that words that felt normal to me felt “off” to others not “into” this genre. I had read a portion of a chapter aloud to a group of authors for a critique, and they stopped me on this word – feelingly – and said they didn’t even think it was a word. Well, it didn’t take me long to find that Austen had used this word nine times. I’ll share an excerpt using this word below and let you all weigh in on what you think of it. It’s notable that many contemporary authors avoid the use of “ly” words at all. Marianne assented most feelingly to the remark; and her mother was led by it to an enumeration of Colonel Brandon’s injuries and merits, warm as friendship and design could unitedly dictate. Her daughter did not look, however, as if much of it were heard by her. ~ Sense and Sensibility Greatcoat – a heavy coat worn over clothes in winter. I know. The definition doesn’t begin to convey the masculine beauty that is bestowed upon the wearer of the greatcoat. Austen used this word only five times, but the wonderful costumers of period adaptations everywhere have established the greatcoat as the must-have outerwear for swoon-worthy Austen heroes and villains alike. Catherine Morland certainly knew the effect of a greatcoat on an impressionable female heart. Henry drove so well — so quietly — without making any disturbance, without parading to her, or swearing at them: so different from the only gentleman–coachman whom it was in her power to compare him with! And then his hat sat so well, and the innumerable capes of his greatcoat looked so becomingly important! To be driven by him, next to being dancing with him, was certainly the greatest happiness in the world. ~ Northanger Abbey Haberdasher’s – seller of small articles of trade such as caps, purses, beads, thread, and stationery. Austen only used the word once, yet it is a word that I simply love. I love to say it out loud. I love to say it in my head. I was confused about its meaning for a while since it has taken on a different meaning in America, where it’s a somewhat obsolete name for a retail dealer in men’s clothing and accessories and has nothing to do with notions. Highbury had a haberdasher’s shop, and it’s Austen’s single use of the word. Ford’s was the principal woollen-draper, linen-draper, and haberdasher’s shop united; the shop first in size and fashion in the place. “And so, there she had set, without an idea of any thing in the world, full ten minutes, perhaps — when, all of a sudden, who should come in — to be sure it was so very odd! but they always dealt at Ford’s — who should come in, but Elizabeth Martin and her brother! ~ Emma Excerpt from WIP Constant as the Sun: Darcy wagged his head impatiently. “If you truly came to cheer me, you have failed, utterly failed. Leave. Leave now, before Georgiana knows you’re here.” Richard’s brows raised, his eyes lit with a gaiety that belied anything amiss. “I bring you naught but good news, and you still reproach. You and your pride, Darcy, must learn that it is unwise to demand such a degree of perfection in life. I daresay that absolute perfection ought to be avoided at all costs. Such a thing breeds envy and resentment, and before you know it, your former friends must despise you for their own sakes. How are they to retain their dignity when in company with such a man? It is far better to own a fault or two, Darcy, I assure you. Miss Bennet exchanged words with Lady Catherine at the ball. It is not a disaster; it is not as though she disgraced you.” Darcy shook his head impatiently and rolled his eyes. “Miss Bennet is not to blame. She could not help it that Lady Catherine allowed her vexation over Anne to overcome all sense of decorum.” Colonel Fitzwilliam’s expression softened. “What an excellent attorney you are in defending her mistakes, or your own, for that matter. Are you not a rather harsh judge, however, when others err? Be serious, Darcy! These little things are not the stuff of scandal, but are merely fodder for a day or two of gossip. Mother said that Miss Bennet gave a triumphant exhibition, in spite of all that had gone before.” Darcy finally bestowed a smile on his cousin. “She did, indeed.” The colonel raised his brows and shook his head. “You may fool the others, but you cannot fool me. I detect a degree of exultation in your eyes. Was her performance that good?” Darcy nodded once. “I would have been pleased had she merely done well. Her singing always brings me great pleasure; she owns a voice that is like the purest crystal. She has always sung without pretension or artifice; yet, last night there was something new. Her playing was somehow more proficient than in the past, and her manner of singing demonstrated a vast leap in the finer points of musicianship; it was as though she had undergone the instruction of a master. Beyond this, she sang with such feeling that the entire room was in tears.” “Tears you say?” The colonel waggled his eyebrows. “Including you, Darcy? Did you weep as well?” “Do not be ridiculous, Fitz.” “Mother said you were upset by the performance.” “Her ladyship presumes to know my feelings.” “Well?” the colonel prompted. “Well what?” Darcy suddenly stood and moved to the window, turning his back on his cousin as he looked out into the grey winter morning. “Why did it upset you?” “You are too much like your mother.” Darcy’s breath frosted the glass. “So it did … upset you.” Darcy’s nod was nearly imperceptible. He pressed his lips together as he considered his reply. When he finally spoke, he still faced the glass, his features obscured from his cousin’s view. “She sang Lascia ch’io pianga.” The colonel’s brows shot up. “From Rinaldo? That is a haunting piece.” “Indeed, it is. Is it possible … do you think … could it be that she sang it so feelingly because it expresses the truth of her heart? Could the life … the society I offer her actually seem like a prison of sorts to her?” Darcy rubbed his forehead as though speaking his worry aloud had brought on a headache. “I have always believed that my wife’s situation would contain such extraordinary sources of happiness that she could have no cause to repine. Am I wrong on this score?” “Miss Bennet is not the sort of woman who would indulge in unhappy feelings were she to encounter them, Darcy. Indeed, I have seen her laugh herself out of taking offense on several occasions already. She is the type who will bloom wherever she is planted; be it in high society, or lower, she will cheerfully adapt.” Now it’s your turn. Do you have any favorite words you learned from Austen or from JAFF? What about “feelingly”? Do adverbs bother you as a reader of historical fiction?
Here's the evolution column that ran in the Inquirer this morning: By Faye Flam INQUIRER STAFF WRITER You didn’t need to be a solar physicist to be riveted by the “solar storm” that sent a blast of charged particles our way this month. That particular flare-up fizzled, but in the long term, the sun’s temper is worthy of our attention. Our sun changes, and living things adapt or die. Our planet circled a very different star when life first emerged on Earth some four billion years ago. The sun was dimmer and cooler, but more violent, sending deadly blasts of X-rays as well as particles that would have lit up the skies with spectacular auroras. The displays would have been visible worldwide, but probably had no spectators, since life needed to stay deep underwater or buried inside minerals to survive until the sun calmed down. For most of human history no one realized that the sun was fickle, breaking out in spots, flares, and eruptions, and would eventually kill all life on our planet. “It was a huge part of Western culture that the heavens were forever and unchanging,” said University of Michigan astronomer Fred Adams, who has written books on the beginning of the universe and the end. Galileo was the first to see spots on the sun, which did not ingratiate him with the church. Even Einstein was influenced by the cultural bias toward unchanging heavens, Adams said, altering his theory of general relativity to work in a static universe. Soon after he published his theory, Edwin Hubble showed the universe was in fact expanding. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that people realized the sun was running on nuclear fusion, and that when its fuel started to run low, the sun would die a violent death, blowing up into an enormous red giant. For those concerned that the Mayans have forecast the end of the world this year, the astronomers’ threat of more solar storms may seem even more ominous. It’s true we’re moving into a stormy season that should last into 2013, but this happens every 11 years, said Douglas Duncan, an astronomer at the University of Colorado and director of the Fiske Planetarium. Astronomers still don’t know why solar storms come in cycles or why it takes 11 years, he said. Duncan has catalogued similar cycles on other stars, and learned that sunspots and solar storms come in cycles all over the galaxy. The cycles vary in length depending on a star’s age — the cycles lengthening as stars get older. During the peaks, or solar maxima, the spots on the sun increase, and the sun bursts with flares and storms. The sun always sends us a solar wind of protons and electrons, but during a solar storm, these shoot out in gusts. When the particles reach Earth, they light up molecules in our atmosphere as if it were a giant fluorescent bulb. The effects on Earth are more dramatic if the gusts are released on a direct path to Earth, as scientists thought happened earlier this month. That would be unlikely to affect human health directly, but it could have disabled satellites, particularly ones that channel GPS signals. When Duncan was comparing sunspot cycles on different stars, he said he got a call from Carl Sagan wanting to know how solar activity might influence the course of life on Earth. That, Duncan said, would take an expert on our planet’s early history. We humans couldn’t have tolerated the ultraviolet radiation and X-rays that pummeled our planet during life’s early history. About three billion to four billion years ago, the UV intensity was between 8 and 20 times what we have now, said geochemist Stephen Mojzsis of the Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, France. So for several billion years, life survived protected by water. As the sun cooled down and oxygen began to rise with the advent of blue-green algae, he said, life expanded to fill up the land as soon as it became habitable. The sun was also cooler and was red rather than yellow, and we may carry an evolutionary fossil of that time in our eyes, he said. On the early Earth, microbes that were just starting to use photosynthesis began manufacturing a pigment called rhodopsin, which is good for absorbing red light. As the sun became yellow, the ability to make rhodopsin persisted, though different organisms used it for other purposes. We use it in our retinas for night vision. The sun was also 30 percent dimmer in the distant past, said Mojzsis. If it dimmed that much now, the Earth would freeze solid, but on the early Earth, different configurations of land masses and a different atmospheric chemistry kept the oceans liquid under such a cool sun. The sun is getting hotter because it’s fusing hydrogen into the heavier element helium. That’s causing the sun to get denser and the nuclear fusion that powers it to become more efficient. Scientists estimate that in 500 million to 1.5 billion years, the sun will be hot enough to wipe out all life on Earth. Moving to Mars would only postpone the apocalypse. Our neighbor, Alpha Centauri, shines in a brighter, more bluish light because it’s older and hotter than our sun. If it had any habitable planets, they are now burnt to a crisp, said Mojzsis. In an additional five billion years, the sun will start to run out of fuel, and before it dies, it will expel its outer layers, becoming a red giant. Astronomers used to assume that the sun would swallow our planet, said Duncan, but more recent calculations show it will expand to just about the size of Earth’s orbit. Either way, it will broil us. As for those pessimists who worry about the Mayan predictions, Duncan said he’s looked into the matter and the ancient civilization didn’t really predict the world would end this year. Mayans did create an advanced calendar that was so good they extended it many centuries into the future. It just happened to end with 2012. Contact Faye Flam at 215-854-4977, email@example.com, on her blog at www.philly.com/evolution, or @fayeflam on Twitter.
Whats The Weather Like In Miami? \|\|Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the statistics of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.
The focus of this article is to show the relationship and development of the motifs used in the first movement of Beethoven’s Tempest sonata. At this point in his composing, Beethoven began to distill his motifs to very short phrases, often just a few notes. The Tempest sonata is a great example of how Beethoven uses fragmented motifs as the essential components of the sonata’s thematic material. The opening of the sonata is the most dramatic that Beethoven had yet to compose. Within just six measures we have three different tempi, which also contrast motivically and by mood. The slow rolled chord followed by three notes which outline the dominant chord of A-major sounds like an introduction, but make no such mistake, this is a motif on which much of the movement is built, recurring in faster tempi and various keys. Take a look at Ex. 1, below, and notice the different tempi and motifs: The opening Largo is the basis for the first theme of the piece. In Ex. 2, I’ve circled just the four-note motif in the Largo. This develops into the first full theme of the piece shown in Ex. 3. Both of these examples are below: Circled in red in Ex. 3 is the opening motif from the Largo, which is being used as a fully developed theme. You’ll also notice that Ex. 3 has a blue-circled motif as well. This is actually used, rather discreetly, as an accompaniment for the second theme of the piece. More on that as I discuss the second theme. The Allegro of the opening bars is the basis of the second theme, which I’ve isolated in Ex. 4. It is characterized by small two-note phrases. This developed into the second theme as shown in Ex. 5. See them both below: In Ex. 5 You’ll notice two different colored examples. The blue-circled material shows the full development of the motif first stated in the opening Allegro as shown in Ex.4. Also, notice the circles in red. This is the accompaniment of the second theme that uses, again rather discreetly, the motif from the first theme shown in blue in Ex. 3. Compare the blue in Ex. 3 with the red in Ex. 5. While the original statement in Ex. 3 uses quarter notes and the accompaniment uses eighth notes, the contour of the line is the same and is a play off that original motif. Here is a live recording from one of my recent recitals. This took place at Stage 7 in Kirkland, WA on 1/16/16.
Canine biology and care Learn the biology of the dog and their care in this level 3 course from Animal biology and care education Biology and care of the dog covers anatomy and physiology for canine care, nutrition and dog behaviour and welfare. Set at level 3 you will learn about their digestive system, other body systems, what is in canine foods and how to combine all that into understanding their behaviour. There are four units each with an assignment set at pass, merit and distinction. The course will be beneficial to animal shelter workers, animal welfare officers, dog owners, dog walkers and pet sitters. Course fee: £325.00 Instalments: these are made by standing order at £32.50 p.c.m. International transactions will incur additional fees. You can try unit 1 before committing to the whole course. Course materials are sent via email but paper copies are available for an additional fee of £15 per unit. Postage charges may need to be added depending on your location. Course fee £325.00 (outline of what you will be able to do after completion of the course) Anatomy and Physiology part 1 Describe how certain body systems are structured to meet their function for the dog; explain in detail how selected body systems are structured to meet their function for the dog and; analyse relationships between specific body systems (circulatory, skeletal, respiratory) and their involvement in the care of the dog Anatomy and Physiology part 2 Describe how specific body systems are structured to meet their function for the dog; explain in detail how the structure of the digestive system functions for the dog and; discuss the relationship between the digestive system and the nervous, endocrine system and circulatory systems Identify nutrients listed on the packaging of commercial dog foods according to the food groups and give an outline of their various functions to the dog; explain in detail the functions of nutrients to the dog and compare critically, the nutritional quality of commercial dog feeds and information provided and; analyse the nutritional value of commercial dog and relate and justify this to nutritional problems of the dog Behaviour and welfare Recognise signs of behaviour expression in the domestic dog to support their proper care; Potential to conduct a simple investigation into the behaviour of the domestic dog and report the findings and; justify how application of behavioural knowledge supports the proper care of the dog
Water retention may be a problem that you’re facing and this is something that you wish to check into. There are distinct types of the condition and many individuals are not even aware of what their difficulties may be. Can be obtained by you on which you have to do to remove it, as you understand exactly what the trigger is actions. We’re also likely to speak about what it may mean if we’re talking that you might be having. Individuals have a tough time knowing how it affects your health and the condition is known as edema. The main reason that this happens is because you are keeping fluids. You have to know there is no problem if you’re currently drinking a lot of water. You are in trouble, if you are not drinking enough water. Your system will go to try to replace everything you are losing when you’re losing water. For example, from passing urine through your your kidneys will attempt to replace fluids. However, if you drinking more water is being lost by your body and the kidneys possess a moment. Additionally, if you begin to have color you may see it’s easy for germs to grow. There are medications which may help prevent or cure a sort of skin cancer that is brought on by the accumulation of toxins within the body. These might be used in the treatment of an range of skin disorders and a number of people will experience them. Fortunately, you are able to take care for the origin of your illness and take out the symptoms using a detox remedy it causes. You may stop water retention and keep it by applying this kind of solution.
Science all around us! This week Wonwell class took their Science learning outside. Our focus this half term is on sound, which links to our project 'Beat Band Boogie'. The children had to fold a piece of paper into 4 and draw themselves in the middle. They found a space outside and listened carefully. When they heard a sound they had to draw it to show whether it was in front, behind , left or right of them. We linked this learning to points on a compass and compared the sounds we heard with other people. Science in action in the real world! Please click here to see more photos.
What is it that really affects our quality of sleep? Although all of the tips presented in this series may help you sleep, what they are really doing is helping our internal systems do what they are supposed to do. These systems are designed to bring about a balance in our bodies that allows them to function properly. According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the definition of ‘homeostasis ‘ is… “The ability or tendency of a living organism, cell, or group to keep the conditions inside it the same despite any changes in the conditions around it.” A simple metaphor would be the cruise control in a car. Once you set the ‘balance point’, say at 50 mph, when the car is going downhill, the cruise controller actually slows the engine down so that the car does not go over the ‘set point’ by more than a couple of mph. Similarly, in going uphill, the controller speeds up the engine so that the car maintains its ‘balance point’ speed. Obviously, our bodies are a lot more complicated than cruise control on a car but the many functions of the body operate in much the same manner. If the temperature outside is cold, mechanisms within our bodies kick in to keep our bodies as close to optimum body temperature as possible. If a harmful bacteria enters your body, defenses are put into play to counter any ill effects. A body in balance is healthy and functions well for a long time. However, a body out of balance suffers from illness, gets overweight/underweight, can’t get restful sleep, can’t focus or think clearly. There are several systems in our bodies that work to maintain this optimal balance that keeps us healthy. The main system I am referring to, however, is the endocrine system. The Endocrine System Very simply (please do some research for your own edification), the endocrine system is a series of glands that produce hormones. Hormones are produced as needed by the cells throughout the body to regulate their functions (making them work properly). You may have heard of the term ‘hormonal imbalance’. In this case, either the gland is unable to produce enough of the needed hormone or possibly none at all. ThIs imbalance causes functions in your body to go awry, causing all sorts of problems. One of the most important hormone produced while we are growing up is Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Up until we reach our late 20s, this hormone, secreted by our pituitary glands, not only regulates our physical growth, but it helps us to heal quickly, develop toned muscles, get restful sleep and much more. After our 20s, our bodies produce less and less of this HGH hormone – thus causing the onset of aging and its related symptoms (i.e., wrinkled skin, loss of muscle tone, slower healing, etc.). Most people know of HGH because they have heard of athletes, body builders, weight lifters, etc. using the injectable version. Not only do you need a doctor’s prescription for that version, but it is prohibitively expensive as well. In addition, the large doses can have serious side effects. A better way is to reactivate your own pituitary gland to start producing more HGH than it currently is. (For information on a new over-the-counter product that helps reactivate the HGH production in our bodies, see this three-minute video – and then contact me if you are intrigued or have questions.) In conclusion, sleep is essential for balance in our bodies. An important way to enhance restful sleep and add to homeostasis throughout our bodies is through adding HGH to our health routine. To your Health!
Circle one option A, B, C or D that best rewrites each of the following sentences: Câu 1: " That's a lovely new dress, Jean" said her mother. A. Jean's mother said she liked her dress. B. Jean's mother complimented her on the lovely new dress. C. Jean's mother wanted to buy a lovely new dress. D. Jean's mother told her to buy that lovely new dress. Câu 2: " A Cigarette? " he asked. " No, thanks, " I said. A. He asked if I was smoking, and I denied at once. B. He mentioned a cigarette, so I think him. C. He asked for a cigarette, and I immediately refused. D. He offered me a cigarette, but I promptly declined. Câu 3: Unlike her friends, Jane prefers an independent life. A. Jane doesn't like her friends because she prefers an independent life. B. Her friends live in an independent life and Jane doesn't like it. C. Jane doesn't like her friends to live in a dependent life. D. Jane prefers an independent life but her friends do not. Câu 4: Jack bought that second- hand car and he then recognized that he shouldn't have done that. A. Jack wished that he has not bought that second- hand car. B. Jack regretted to have bought that second- hand car. C. Jack wished that he didn't buy that second - hand car. D. Jack regretted having bought that second- hand car. Câu 5: Because Sandra had informed us, we found the contract quite normal. A. The contract was quite normal because of Sandra informed us. B. Being informed by Sandra, the contract was quite normal. C. But for Sandra's information, we couldn't find the contract quite normal. D. We could find the contract quite normal thanks to Sandra's informing us. Identify one underlined part that is incorrect in each of the following sentences by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C or D Air pollution, together with littering, are causingmany problems in our large, industrial cities today. With his father's guidance, Mozart began playing the clavier at the age of three and compose A B C D at the age of five. Not having been to New York before, Susan found the city such attractive. A B C D School children in the same grade in Vietnamese schoolsare usually the same old. A B C D Read the passage then circle the best option A, B, C or D to complete the following questions or statements: Since the dawn of time, people have found ways to communicate with one another. Smoke signals and tribal drums were some of the earliest forms of communication. Letters, carried by birds or by humans on foot or on horseback, made it possible for people to communicate larger amounts of information between two places. The telegram and telephone set the stage for more modern means of communication. With the invention of the cellular phone, communication itself has become mobile. For you, a cell phone is probably just a device that you and your friends use to keep in touch with family and friends, take pictures, play games, or send text message. The definition of a cell phone is more specific: it is a hand- held wireless communication device that sends and receives signals by way of small special areas called cells. Walkie - talkies, telephones and cell phones are duplex communication devices: They make it possible for two people to talk to each other. Cell phones and walkie- talkies are different from regular phones because they can be used in many different locations. A walkie- talkie is sometimes called a half- duplex communication device because only one person can talk at a time. A cell phone is a full- duplex device because it uses both frequencies at the same time. A walkie-talkie has only one channel. A cell phone has more than a thousand channels. A walkie- talkie can transmit and receive signals across a distance of about a mile. A cell phone can transmit and receive signals over hundreds of miles. In 1973, an electronic company called Motorola hired Martin Cooper to work on wireless communication. Motorola and Bell Laboratories ( now AT& T) were in a race to invent the first portable communication device. Martin Cooper won the race and became the inventor of the cell phone. On April 3, 1973, Cooper made the first cell phone call to his opponent at AT& T while walking down the streets of New York city. People on the sidewalks gazed at cooper in amazement. Cooper's phone was called A Motorola Dyna- Tac. It weighed a whopping 2.5 pounds ( as compared to today's cell phones that weigh as little as 3 or 4 ounces) After the invention of his cell phone, Cooper began thinking of ways to make the cell phone available to the general public. After a decade, Motorola introduced the first cell phone for commercial use. The early cell phone and its service were both expensive. The cell phone itself cost about $ 3, 500. In 1977, AT & T constructed a cell phone system and tried it out in Chicago with over 2, 000 customers. In 1981, a second cellular phone system was started in the Washington, D.C and Baltimore area. It took nearly 37 years for cell phones to become available for general public use. Today, there are more than sixty million cell phone customers with cell phones producing over thirty billion dollars per years. Câu 11: What is the main idea of the passage? A. The increasing number of people using cell phone. B. the difference between cell phones and telephones. C. the history of a cell phone D. how Cooper competed with AT& T. Câu 12: What definition is true of a cell phone? A. The first product of two famous corporation B. A hand- held wireless communication device C. Something we use just for playing games. D. A version of walkie- talkie Câu 13: What is wrong about a walkie- talkie? A. It has one channel B. It was first designed in 1973. C. It can be used within a distance of a mile. D. Only one person can talk at a time. Câu 14: The word" duplex" is closest meaning to..................... A. having two parts B. quick C. modern D. having defects Câu 15: To whom did Cooper make his first cell phone call? A. his assistant at Motorola B. a person on New York street. C. a member of Bell Laboratories. D. the director of his company Câu 16: How heavy is the first cell phone compared to today's cell phones? Câu 17: When did Motorola introduce the first cell phones for commercial use? A. in the same years when he first made a cell- phone call B. in 1981 C. in 1983 D. in the same year when AT& T constructed a cell phone system. Câu 18: When did AT& T widely start their cellular phone system? A. in 2001 B. in 1977 C. in 1981 D. 37 years after their first design Câu 19: What does the word" gazed" mean? A. looked with admiration B. angrily looked C. glanced D. started conversation Câu 20: The phrase " tried it out" refers to A. made effort to sell the cell-phone B. reported on AT& T C. tested the cell-phone system D. introduced the cell-phone system Read the passage then circle the best option A, B, C or D to complete the following questions or statements: During the 19th century, women in the U. S organized and participated in a large number of reform movements, including movements to reorganize the prison system, improve education, ban the sale of alcohol, and most importantly to free slaves. Some women saw similarities in the social status of women and slaves. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone were feminists and abolitionists who supported the rights of both women and blacks. A number of male abolitionists, including William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips also supported the rights of women to speak and participate equally with men in anti- slavery activities. Probably more than any other movement, abolitionism offered women a previously denied entry into politics. They became involved primarily in order to better their living conditions and the conditions of others. When the Civil war ended in 1865, the 14th, and 15th, Amendments to the Constitution adopted in 1868 and 1870 granted citizenship and suffrage to blacks but not to women. Discouraged but resolved, feminists influenced more and more women to demand the right to vote. In 1869, the Wyoming Territory had yielded to demands by feminists, but eastern states resisted more stubbornly than ever before. A woman's suffrage bill had been presented to every Congress since 1878 but it continually failed to pass until 1920, when the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. Câu 21: What is the topic of the passage? A. Women's suffrage B. Abolitionists C. The Wyoming Territory. D. The 14th and 15th Amendment Câu 22: What is not among the reformation movements of women? A. reorganizing the prison B. passing the laws C. freeing the slaves D. prohibiting the sale of alcohol Câu 23: According to the passage, why did women become active in politics? A. to improve the conditions of life that existed at the time. B. to support Elizabeth Cady Stanton C. to amend the Declaration of Independence D. to be elected to public office. Câu 24: The word" primarily" in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ................. A. somewhat B. above all C. always D. finally Câu 25: What had occurred shortly after the Civil War? A. The eastern states resisted the end of the war. B. Black people were granted the right to vote. C. The Wyoming territory was admitted to the Union. D. A women's suffrage bill was introduced in Congress. Câu 26: The word " suffrage" could be best replaced by.................... A. citizenship B. right to vote C. pain D. freedom Câu 27: What does the 19th Amendment guarantee? A. Citizenship for women B. Citizenship for blacks C. Voting rights for women D. Voting rights for blacks Câu 28: When were women allowed to vote throughout the US? A. After 1920 B. After 1878 C. After 1870 D. After 1866 Câu 29: What is wrong about William Lloyd Garrison? A. He was living at the same time with Lucy Stone and Wendell Phillip. Câu 30: What can not be inferred from the passage? A. The blacks were given the right to vote before women. B. The abolitionists believed in anti- slavery activities. C. A women's suffrage bill had been discussed in the Congress for 50 years. D. The eastern states did not like the idea of women's right to vote. Read the passage and choose one word or phrase marked A, B, C or D that best fits each of the gaps: CARE (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) was (31)______ in 1945 to help people after World War II. It (32)______ over one hundred millions food packages. Meanwhile, it started self-help programs. Today, it has development programs in thirty-seven countries. CARE gives equipment and teaches people how to build water systems, roads, schools, houses and (33)______ centers. It also teaches people how to increase (34)______ on their farms, how to (35)______ areas, and how to start small village industries. Doctor and nurses (36)______ to go remote villages. They provide health (37)______ for the villagers. They also teach them how to (38)______ their health. They train people to provide simple medical care. CARE also provides food for about thirty million people each year and (39)______ of them are children. It gives special help when there is a flood, an earthquake, a (40)______, or a war. Câu 31: A. established B. undergone C. organized D. deleted Câu 32: A. distributed B. overused C. improved D. parachuted Câu 33: A. healthful B. healthiness C. healthy D. a. health . Câu 34: A. consumption B. collaboration C. contribution D. production Câu 35: A. restrain B. reforest C. recover D. refresh Câu 36: A. defend B. eliminate C. volunteer D. compete Câu 37: A. beat B. care C. mention D. limitation Câu 38: A. solve B. improve C. establish D. conserve Câu 39: A. most B. either C. almost D. altogether Câu 40: A. shower B. stream C. brook D. drought Choose from the four options given ( marked A, B, C or D) one best answer to complete each of the following sentences. Câu 41: Only by buying 5 items at the same time.............................................. . A. can you get the reduction B. get reduction C. can you got the reduction D. you can get the reduction Câu 42: Intelligent as Martha was, ......................................... C. a nice weather D. nice weather is it Choose one word marked A, B, C or D whose stress pattern is different from the others in each groups. Câu 76: A. engineering B. compulsory C. communicate D. philosophy Câu 77: A. agree B. prepare C. Summer D. await Câu 78: A. renovation B. responsible C. renovation D. regulation Câu 79: A. recent B. answer C. fertile D. remove Câu 80: A. advertise B. consumption C. influence D. history --------------- Hết --------------
Back to the course Research in the area of work and employment, traditionally described in Anglophone countries as Employment, Industrial or Labour Relations, or Labour Studies, was established as an independent field of study in the 1920s in the USA and subsequently after the Second World War in Britain and other Anglophone countries. Though originally established by US institutional labour economists, it soon came to be seen as an interdisciplinary field incorporating labour economists, industrial psychologists, personnel management scholars, industrial sociologists, and other social scientists working on labour issues. In continental Europe, and indeed in the rest of the world, research on work and employment has remained multi-disciplinary and thus a component of various social science disciplines, in particular political science and sociology (Frege, C. (2007) Employment Research and State Traditions: A Comparative History of Britain, Germany and the United States, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Frege, Carola, and Kelly, John, eds. Comparative Employment Relations in the Global Economy. Florence, GB: Routledge, 2013. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 2 July 2016:2). Let's see some trends about Russian migrations. Where have migrants left? Where are migrants coming from? Where everyone in the world is migrating—in one gorgeous chart It’s no secret that the world’s population is on the move, but it’s rare to get a glimpse of where that flow is happening. In a study released in Science, a team of geographers used data snapshots to create a broad analysis of global migrations over 20 years.The study was conducted by three geographic researchers from the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna. The researchers presented their data in five-year increments, from 1990 to 2010. Their research is unique, because it turned static census counts from over 150 countries into a dynamic flow of human traffic. Migration data is counted in two ways: Stock and flow. “The stocks are the number of migrants living in a country,” says Nikola Sander, one of the study’s authors. Stock is relatively easy to get—you just count who is in the country at a given point of time. Flow is trickier. It’s the rate of human traffic over time. Keeping accurate account of where people are moving has stymied the UN, and researchers and policy-makers in general, for a while. The European Union keeps good track of migrant flows, but elsewhere the data are sparse. Static measurements are plentiful, but it is hard to use them to get a picture of how people are moving on a broad scale, because each country has its own methodology for collecting census data. Last year, however, the UN brought stock data from nearly 200 countries into harmony by erasing the methodological seams between them. To turn this stock data into five-year flow estimates, the researchers used statistical interpolations from stock data from the UN, taken mostly from 10-year country censuses, but supplemented with population registers and other national surveys.
GMOs are usually used as a reference for food products, but it is an abbreviation that stands for “genetically modified organism.” A GMO is created when the genes from one species are artificially forced, in laboratory conditions, into the gene structures of unrelated plants or animals. These genes can originate from any living being, plant, or creature, including humans, and be forced into the genetic structure of any other living organism. Sometimes GMOs are referred to as transgenic products. That is because of the genetic transfer which occurs during modern GMO research. The process may also be referred to as genetic modification or genetic engineering, but all these terms lead to the same approach to organism modification. And the reason why GMOs are usually referenced to food products is because that is where most GMOs are found. Since the 1990s, when the first GMOs were introduced into the human food supply chain, the advantages and disadvantages of this technology and its outcomes have been debated. The US has somewhat embraced GMOs, while the rest of the world has treated them with great hesitation. Here are the key advantages and disadvantages of GMOs to think about. What Are the Advantages of GMOs? 1. GMO crops can be tailored to provide better health benefits. GMO foods can be modified so that they provide a complete nutritional profile. Multiple vitamins and minerals can be built into the crops as they grown by adjusting the genetic profile of the plant, making it possible for people to get what they need with fewer foods and lower costs. That makes it possible to provide more people who are living in poverty with the food resources they need to maintain their health. 2. There is the possibility of an increased shelf life. GMO crops can be engineered to last longer once harvested, which makes it possible to extend the distribution life of the food product. That makes it possible to use the existing infrastructure for food distribution to send healthy foods further around the world. That means locations which are experiencing food deserts or shortages can still receive affordable foods that can benefit the general population. 3. It takes less land to grow more food. GMO crops can be engineered to produce higher yields from the same croplands. In some instances, the crop yields can potentially double when the transition from traditional crops to GMO crops is completed by local farmers. That makes it possible to meet the food demands that future generations are going to face. By 2050, upwards of 10 billion people are expected to be living on our planet. Oxfam currently estimates that global food production is enough to feed about 8 billion people. 4. Genetically modified crops can conserve energy, soil, and water resources. That allows our food distribution networks to make less of an impact on the environment. Food can be grown in areas that receive very little rainfall and have zero irrigation with proper genetic modifications. Crops can be grown on fields with little soil. Because the crops have an increased resistance to disease, weeds, and pests, there is greater consistency in the yields that can be produced. That makes it easier to budget food resources for a larger population base. 5. Simple changes to certain crops can have a major impact. The United Nations, through their Food and Agriculture Organization, suggests that the easiest way to decrease vitamin A deficiencies is to genetically modify rice to have higher levels of this nutrient. Because half of the world’s population consumes rice on a daily basis, the high rates of this vitamin deficiency could be resolved with this one simple change. Bananas in Uganda are being looked at for this vitamin enhancement as well, while soybeans provide higher levels of Omega-3s without trans-fats. 6. Fewer harmful agents need to be applied to crops. GMO crops are more resistant to pests, weeds, and other threats. That means farmers have less of a need to apply pesticides or herbicides to their crops, which saves them money and potentially increases the health benefits of the food being grown. Farmers can also make more money from their existing croplands because there are greater yields with GMO crops. Even the sustainability benefits, such as drought-resistance, can maintain yields so that fewer subsidies are required. 7. It can save core crops from extinction. Many of the foods we eat today are products of a single initial resource. Every naval orange, for example, is essentially a clone of one original tree that was grafted to created additional trees. That lack of genetic variation puts the crop at-risk should a virus or bacteria be able to attack the basic genome of the crop. We’ve already seen that happen with the Hawaiian Rainbow Papaya and genetic engineering helped to save the industry. Something similar could happen to naval oranges or any other crop. 8. Farmers can use better ground-care methods. Because GMO crops have a greater overall tolerance, no-till farming methods become a possibility. Even if tilling is required, less may be necessary to successfully plant a crop. That means less irrigation may be necessary. Less nutrient runoff may be experienced. Soil erosion can be reduced. At the same time, the safety and nutritional value of the crops are not placed at-risk. 9. Future GMOs could eliminate food allergies or intolerance issues. Current genetic engineering research is focused on removing the allergen triggers that are present in common foods, like peanuts. Intolerance issues that are caused by gluten-containing foods or other triggers are also being examined. The future of food science in the world of GMOs could make it possible for people with food allergies or intolerance issues be able to safely eat foods they love in the future. 10. GMO crops use less water. From 1980 to 2011, the amount of irrigation water required for fields planted with corn decreased by 53%. For cotton fields the amount of irrigation water decreased by 75%. Soybeans, rice, and potatoes all saw decreases of at least 38%. Even wheat fields saw a 12% decrease in irrigation water consumption when planted with GMO crops compared to traditional crops. 11. There may be a positive environmental impact with GMO crops. In general terms, GMO crops require fewer in-field operations and applications to maintain the quality of the yield. Because of this, fewer passes over the field are required. That reduces the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are created through fossil fuel combustion with tractors, combines, and other farming equipment. Carbon dioxide is also stored in the soil, so fewer passes means less of a release occurs there as well. 12. GMO foods must meet the same standards as traditional foods. For GMO food products to be sold in the United States, they must meet the same quality and safety standards as any other food product. When compared to organic foods, Stanford University has even found that there are no additional health risks when eating GMO foods or organic foods. Although there are food allergy concerns, especially in children, any food at any time has the potential of creating an allergy. From a pure nutritional standpoint, GMO foods are equal or greater than what is found at the average grocery store. 13. GMOs can even safe beneficial insects. When Bt proteins are used in genetic engineering, it targets a specific group of insect pests that are dangerous to that specific crop. Other beneficial insects that would be killed when spraying a general pesticide are saved. Those included proteins have a minimal effect on them. Although there are stories of shepherds letting loose sheep into Bt fields and losing thousands of head of livestock because of it, there are often more positives than negatives to find here. What Are the Disadvantages of GMOs? 1. In the US, the FDA does not require GMO labeling. GMO ingredients can be placed into food products and US shoppers wouldn’t even know it. There are currently no national-level labeling requirements for foods that have GMO ingredients. Some states have looked at creating labeling laws to require GMO information, but for the most part, only non-GMO foods tend to be labelled right now. The Non-GMO Project reports that 64 countries, including the entirety of the European Union, Japan, and Australia all require labeling. 2. Most core foods have some level of genetic modification. Commercialized crops include cotton, corn, and soybeans. More than 90% of these crops being grown today have some level of genetic modification. Even sugar beets, grown at commercial levels, are more than 90% GMO. Any products that are derived from these core foods, such as corn syrup or soybean oil, still contain the genetic changes from the core ingredient used to make the item. 3. There may be an increased risk of allergies or food intolerance. Animal testing may be highly controversial, but it should be noted that GMO foods studied in animals have found organ impacts in virtually every circumstance. In humans, there may be an increased trend of food allergies and digestive intolerance because of genetic modification. When plants produce pesticides inside of the plant to kill insects, by basic definition, that plant is toxic. 4. GMO crops can contaminate other fields. The crops may be genetically modified, but they still grow the same way as any other crop. That means pollination is required for the crop to produce the “fruit” that is being grown. Bees do much of the pollination work, which means they are exposed to the genetic changes of the plant. Seeds are produced by these GMO crops as well in many instances, which can be spread to other fields and contaminate them. If cross-pollination occurs, there is no predictable outcome for both fields, though soybeans are an exception since they don’t cross-pollinate. 5. Animal proteins could be affected by GMO crops. The vast majority of the core crops in the US that are grown are GMO crops. These crops are then fed to livestock, aquaculture, and apiculture, which impacts groceries that are based on animal proteins. GMO ingredients can be found in milk, seafood, eggs, and animal muscle tissues. Even honey can have GMO ingredients when bees are pollinating genetically modified crops to produce it. 6. Many GMO crops are trademarked, patented, and legally protected. Farmers that grow GMO crops may be required to sign an agreement to exclusively grow a specific product. They may be asked to take steps that protect the crops being grown from contamination. Farmers that don’t take these steps could be taken to court because of breeching that contract. Some companies have even sued farmers who have patented crops growing in their fields because of natural pollination or distribution patterns, despite the fact that no seeds were ever planted by them. 7. It encourages the use of additional herbicides. More than 80% of GMO crops grown around the world are created to be tolerant to herbicides. Farmers have increased the number of toxic herbicides because of this by more than 1500% since the first GMO crops were introduced. One of those most common herbicides being used, glyphosate, has been listed by the World Health Organization since 2015 as being a probable carcinogenic. 8. GMOs create super weeds. If nature knows how to do one thing well, it is to adapt. As crops have grown more resistant to weeds, the weeds have grown stronger and more resilient to the chemicals applied to them that try to kill them. Because of this, some farmers have resorted to using ingredients such as 2, 4-D, which is one of the primary ingredients found in Agent Orange. The US Veteran’s Administration has a long list of presumptive diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure, with many of them being cancers. 9. GMOs create super bugs. As pesticides are applied to insects that provide a threat to crops, a few of them tend to survive the application. Each subsequent generation becomes more resilient to the pesticide. That means either more needs to be applied or a stronger agent needs to be applied. When something stronger is placed on the crops, the cycle of resilience begins again. Although GMO crops reduced pesticide use by over 1 billion pounds from 1996-2010, the threat of resilient super bugs that could destroy entire croplands without being affected by a pesticide could reduce food supplies instead of increasing them. 10. There are concerns that GMO foods may help to create antibiotic resistance. One of the ways that crops are modified to be more resilient to disease is to artificially place antibiotic genes within the DNA of the crops. Because there is evidence to suggest that continuing exposure to an antibiotic can lead to disease resistance, the GMO efforts to create a safer food supply could be a contributing factor to the “super bacteria,” such as MRSA, that are increasing in regularity. 11. Genetic engineering doesn’t solve everything. Atrazine is one of the most common herbicides that is applied to US croplands. According to the National Institutes of Health, atrazine resistance has been studied since the early 1970s. There are dozens of weed species that are already resistant to this herbicide, with research studies by Bettini, Shimabukuro, and Anderson showing over three decades that resistance is growing. The advantages and disadvantages of GMOs is a necessary conversation we must have. At some point, we must figure out how to feed our growing population levels. New farming methods can only produce a limited amount of change. With this technology, we have the potential to maximize our resources. Of course, maximizing those resources while creating health problems for future generations may not be the right answer either. We should be working to prevent resistance instead of encouraging it. How do you feel about GMO crops? Do you feel safe eating them? Why or why not? About the Author of this Article Natalie Regoli is a seasoned writer, who is also our editor-in-chief. Vittana's goal is to publish high quality content on some of the biggest issues that our world faces. If you would like to contact Natalie, then go here to send her a message.
Story of Discovery: The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions And Complications Study Thirty Years of Research That Has Improved the Lives of People with Type 1 Diabetes Diabetes slowly damages major organs in the body, such as the eyes, kidneys, and heart. Impressive research progress toward combating diabetes complications was achieved through a large clinical trial launched by the NIDDK in 1983. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) was a multi-center clinical trial in 1,441 people ages 13 to 39 years with type 1 diabetes. It compared the effects of intensive versus conventional treatment of blood glucose levels on the development of microvascular complications (those affecting the small blood vessels in the eyes, kidneys, and nerves). Participants in the intensive treatment group kept their blood glucose levels and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) levels—which reflect average blood glucose levels over a two- to three-month period—as close to normal as safely possible through a regimen that included frequent monitoring of blood glucose and at least three insulin injections per day or use of an insulin pump. The study’s conventional treatment, based on what was standard practice at the time the DCCT began, consisted of one or two insulin injections per day, with once-a-day urine or blood glucose testing. The two treatment groups achieved markedly different average HbA1c levels over the course of the trial, and strikingly different rates of microvascular complications. The DCCT proved conclusively that intensive therapy reduces the risk of microvascular complications, such as diabetic eye, kidney, and nerve damage, by 35 to 76 percent compared with what was then conventional treatment. It also demonstrated that HbA1c measurements could be used by health care providers and patients to monitor disease management by assessing blood glucose control and predicting risk of developing complications. The DCCT findings had a profound impact on clinical practice for the management of type 1 diabetes by leading to the development of clinical guidelines to recommend HbA1c targets for people with the disease; it also spurred the creation of the National Diabetes Education Program, co-led by the NIDDK and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to disseminate the findings to patients and health care providers (www.ndep.nih.gov). Long-term Benefits of Intensive Blood Glucose Control Upon completion of the DCCT, participants who had received conventional treatment were taught the intensive treatment methods, and all were encouraged to use intensive treatment on their own, although the intervention itself stopped. Nearly all people who participated in the DCCT volunteered for the follow-on Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study, which began in 1994. EDIC was established to determine the long-term outcomes of reducing exposure of the body’s tissues and organs to high blood glucose levels. About five years after the transition to EDIC, blood glucose control (as measured by HbA1c levels) in the former intensive and conventional treatment groups converged to a similar level. This convergence occurred because of changes in glucose control in both groups. The level of blood glucose control in the participants from the former intensive treatment group was not quite as tight as it was during the DCCT, when they had the advantages of the clinical trial setting—although they were still able to achieve better glucose control on their own after the DCCT than they had before the trial. At the same time, those who were in the conventional treatment group during the DCCT began implementing a more intensive control regimen afterward, and thus improved their glucose control. With both groups now striving for intensive control on their own, the net result was that blood glucose control became nearly identical in the two groups during EDIC. In 2002 and 2003, DCCT/EDIC investigators reported that, even though the two treatment groups had similar blood glucose control during EDIC, the former intensive treatment group had long-term health benefits from the finite period (averaging six and a half years) of intensive glucose control during DCCT: they continued to have reduced risk for microvascular complications seven to eight years after the end of DCCT compared to the former conventional treatment group. The phenomenon of long-lasting effects of a period of intensive or non-intensive glucose control has been termed “metabolic memory.” More recent observations show that the differences in new cases of diabetic eye disease between participants who received the intensive treatment and those who received conventional treatment are beginning to narrow. Nonetheless, three decades after the start of DCCT, the two former treatment groups have substantially different rates of complications, suggesting that people with type 1 diabetes implement intensive glucose control as early in the course of the disease as possible. An important unanswered research question after the DCCT ended was the effect of glucose control on cardiovascular disease (CVD), as CVD can take a long time to develop and the participants were too young to examine this complication during the DCCT. That question was answered in 2005—over 20 years from the start of the trial—when the DCCT/EDIC research group reported that intensive blood glucose control reduced the risk of nonfatal heart attack, stroke, or death due to CVD by 57 percent. These results showed for the first time that intensive control of blood glucose levels has long-term beneficial effects on CVD risk in people with type 1 diabetes. These findings are particularly significant because people with type 1 diabetes face a 10-fold increased risk of CVD death compared to the general age-matched population.1,2 Insights continue to emerge regarding the long-term benefits of early and intensive blood glucose control. In 2009, DCCT/EDIC researchers found that, after 30 years of diabetes, DCCT participants in the former intensive treatment group had about half the rate of eye damage compared to those in the former conventional treatment group (21 percent versus 50 percent). They also had lower rates of kidney damage (9 percent versus 25 percent) and cardiovascular events (9 percent versus 14 percent) compared to those in the former conventional treatment group. These findings suggest that with early intensive therapy to control blood glucose levels, the outlook for people with type 1 diabetes is better than ever. More good news was reported in 2011 related to the long-term risk of developing kidney disease. During the DCCT, the participants were too young for researchers to examine the effect of glucose control on actual kidney disease, which (like CVD) can take a long time to develop. The researchers did find that at the end of DCCT, intensive therapy reduced a condition associated with kidney damage, called albuminuria. However, following the participants for longer timeframes in EDIC allowed the researchers to examine the development of kidney disease. In 2011, after an average 22-year follow up, DCCT/EDIC demonstrated that controlling blood glucose early in the course of disease not only continued to reduce albuminuria, but also decreased participants’ long-term risk of developing kidney disease by 50 percent. This important finding showed that controlling blood glucose early in the course of type 1 diabetes yields huge dividends, preserving kidney function for decades. In 2013, the DCCT/EDIC researchers and patient volunteers celebrated a remarkable 30 years of participation in research since the launch of the DCCT in 1983. To date, 95 percent of living DCCT patient volunteers continue to participate in EDIC. This unwavering dedication to research has transformed how type 1 diabetes is treated: when people with the disease visit their doctors today, the advice that they receive stems directly from DCCT/EDIC research findings—a testament to the impact that DCCT/EDIC research has had on a public health level. Research To Combat Hypoglycemia and To Help People Achieve Recommended Levels of Blood Glucose Control Even though the results of DCCT/EDIC show that intensive glucose control is beneficial for long-term prevention of complications, type 1 diabetes is a burdensome disease to manage. It requires patients (or parents of young children) to check their blood glucose levels with finger sticks, monitor food intake and physical activity levels, and administer insulin. In addition, a severe limitation to the practice of intensive therapy is the potential for acute episodes of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose. The immediate effects of hypoglycemia can be severe, including changes in cardiovascular and central nervous system function, cognitive impairment, increased risk for unintentional injury, coma, and death. Therefore, the DCCT/EDIC findings underscore the importance of research to develop new tools to help patients achieve recommended levels of glucose control with less risk of hypoglycemia. NIDDK-supported researchers have already been successful in contributing to the development of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved continuous glucose monitoring technology, which may enable better glucose control by providing patients with real-time measurements of glucose levels every few minutes and sounding alarms when glucose levels are too high or too low. The NIDDK also supports research to develop artificial pancreas technology, which would integrate continuous glucose monitoring with automated insulin delivery based on the glucose data, representing an important current opportunity to help people with diabetes implement intensive blood glucose control. Other research is pursuing strategies to develop approaches to replace or regenerate the body’s insulin-producing beta cells, which are lost in type 1 diabetes, as a potential cure for the disease. Through these multi-faceted approaches, the NIDDK remains committed to helping people with type 1 diabetes safely achieve good blood glucose control with less burden, to realize the full benefits of the DCCT/EDIC findings. Benefits for Type 1 Diabetes and Beyond Findings from the DCCT/EDIC have transformed the management of type 1 diabetes, but have also benefited people with type 2 diabetes. For example, the results of DCCT/EDIC stimulated the conduct of trials assessing the role of blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes. These trials have informed clinical guidelines developed by the American Diabetes Association and other groups, which now include HbA1c targets for most people with diabetes. However, lack of standardization of HbA1c tests made it dificult to utilize these targets in medical practice. In other words, there were many different types of HbA1c tests being used that gave varied results, so results were not comparable from one laboratory to another. To address this gap, the NIDDK and the CDC launched the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program in 1996 to improve the standardization and reliability in measures of HbA1c. The standardization effort has been a great success: variability of HbA1c test results has steadily reduced, and the availability of a standardized testing method has allowed international experts to recommend expanding the use of HbA1c beyond monitoring of blood glucose control during treatment to use it as a more convenient test to diagnose type 2 diabetes. Thus, standardization of the HbA1c test has not only benefitted management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes by enabling health care providers and patients to accurately and meaningfully assess blood glucose control and risk for complications, but has expanded the utility of the HbA1c test to be used for diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. In addition, the DCCT established the value of HbA1c as an outcome measure for clinical trials in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This has dramatically shortened the cost and duration of trials for new therapies because improvements in HbA1c levels are detected long before changes in complications become apparent. The use of HbA1c as an outcome measure was the basis for FDA approval of approximately 10 new classes of drugs for type 2 diabetes, as well as for improved forms of insulin. These are just a few examples of the far-reaching benefits that have stemmed from DCCT/EDIC research. A Long-term Investment in Research Improves the Lives of People with Type 1 Diabetes The DCCT/EDIC demonstrates how a long-term investment in research has had a profound impact on the health of people with type 1 diabetes. Thirty years after the beginning of the DCCT, researchers are still demonstrating significant findings that continue to improve the care of people with type 1 diabetes and also have implications for people with type 2 diabetes. Because the cohort of DCCT patients was too young for examination of cardiovascular complications and kidney disease when the study began, the long-term follow up was necessary to assess the effect of intensive glucose control on these devastating and life-threatening diabetic complications. The research shows that the full benefits of treatment may not be seen for decades, especially for complications of diabetes, which can progress slowly but have devastating consequences. It has only been through 30 years of steadfast dedication of the DCCT/EDIC research group and patient volunteers that these benefits continue to emerge. They are a key reason why people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, healthier lives than ever before.
\|← Web 2.0\|\|Progress of Technology →\| Buy custom Televisuality Establishment essay The history of media is divided into the four categories, known as waves. The first wave refers to the era of photography as the main form of media used in America. Photography came in as the world was getting used to the rise of industry in the West, and the aesthetic reaction to transformations, known as romanticism. The second generation is the era of cinematography between the years 1900 and 1950. The photographs were animated, and since the dawn of recorded history, truly new time-based art was created. The cinema affected not only the way people saw the world, but also the way they framed and understood stories. The third wave of the television refers to the evolution of TV from 1950 to 2000. This is the era, where the television comes to the houses. If cinema is considered to be urban and modern, then television is post-modern and suburban medium. The televisions then were made of the cathode ray tube, unlike today’s LCDs; this started to be used in the year 1931 on televisions, which were still considered to be a luxury. Radio was in the general use for the ship-to-shore communication by the year 1910. Although sound was transmitted through wires, it is not until 1906 that the audio tube was invented, which allowed for sound to be sent through the air. However, during the World War I radio was restricted, and it is not until 1919 that broadcasting took off and a daily schedule of programs started. By 1926, commercial radio was highly established and networks got to the national level. By the mid 30s, the economy of broadcasting was good and programs had developed into diverse niches and genres: comedies, sport, and news among others. By the start of the World War II, radio was massively accepted in homes and was a very profitable enterprise. This caused it to be given wartime restrictions. It is at about this time that radio got a major competitor, the television. In the year 1946, only 0.5% of the American population owned a TV set in their home, as compared to the 40 million radios spread across America. This changed to 90% in the year 1962. Today’s television style cannot point to one specific thing, as an explanation of what it is; rather, it can be attributed as a result of economics, technology, and aesthetics. Significant shift from sequence as programming to sequence as flow has been noted over the years. The media has a very strong hold on our social lives, no matter how much we might ignore that fact. The influence that media has on our social lives is not of the conventional type. The type of socialization offered by the media is not the interactive kind. The most common and typical influential media is television. Although TV gives a child an impression that they are interacting with a person on the screen, the fact remains that they are not. This can be a disadvantage, since it does not help a child to develop his/her social skills; on the contrary, it might serve to destroy a child’s social life. The average kid spends three to four hours watching television; this time that could be spent playing with other kids and learning, things that could help to establish effective interactions with other people. However, it is not all bad, when a child watches television; he/she can learn the common things that might be hard to teach in class. A child who watches Friends, the comedy, will know how friends treat each other and how they relate, things they do to each other and those that they do not. Although subconsciously absorbed, it will show up later, when the young children will relate to their friends (Benschop, 2009). A child can also get certain information about doctors and nurses, what they do, and how they relate to each other from a medicine based TV show. They will also learn about such institutions of the society like hospitals, and which purpose they serve. The TV series, X-files, is an example of what television has inherited from modernism. It is a show that focuses on the republicans, and the way American’s popular consciousness has to spend sleepless nights on racism, imperialism, war, and genocide. This caused the show to be the center of popular culture, which it was able to describe in much of the nineties. Scully’s character presented feminism strongly; this molded a very conservative culture and pushed it to the margins (Hardy, 2002). We live in the post- modern time; however, culture is viewed as the reality itself, not the art mirroring life as it was before. Television is changed in these times, and a lot of experimenting is engaged; it contains bricolage and mixes up the narrative traditions. It also employs the use of surreal things with the real ones; for example, humans and machines/robots. Television does not lay a very admirable role in molding unimodernism. Series, like The Walking Dead, display the world as a destroyed place. The future is supposedly full of burning buildings, hungry zombies, and starvation to the point of eating wild animals. The series, however, do not offer the ways of making the future a valuable partner. This means that we are faithful consumers of culture, art, and technology, but we give nothing important in return. This is a lack of balance that will sooner or later create cultural diabetes. The computer is the biggest promoter of this kind of culture, since it is a perfect mix between the TV, radio, and telephone. With this machine, libraries will be forgotten and reinvention will be the order of the day (Benschop, 2009).The computer’s incorporation into all the aspects of the popular culture makes it the 21st century culture machine. Photography, literature, film, and even socializing in the current days are all conjoined into the computer. The situation is made worse by the constant addition and editing of information for the worldwide cultural database. A networked computer is wonderful in that it allows you to produce, distribute, receive, and communicate in an effective manner. This encourages passive consumption, which, in turn, promotes laziness among other things. Majority of the population is on the download mode with less people uploading/producing, this strips the people of a defining constituent of humanity (Hardy, 2002). This pyramid of production has, however, been like so for ages, television – a popular medium – is defined by downloading. Effective uploads, on the other hand, are creations and experiences that others should adhere to. Applications like tumblr.com allow people to share their pictures or experiences with a potential of creating stickiness. According to Lunenfield, we should be determined to change from the television, conditioned downloading into an uploading culture; he states that this should be easy, as we already have the necessary resources to make it happen. He also thinks, agreeably, that it is what will determine our future. Broadcast media includes various subtypes such as radio, film, recorded music, and television. These transmit information electronically. Digital media, on the other hand, is made up of the internet and mobile types of mass communication. These two are not one in the same thing, but they do, however, have their differences and similarities. The similarities involved include the fact that they both transmit similar media types and do it electronically. However, there are also certain differences in the two media types; digital media deals with info that can be stored for later use. For example, if you are a student, who cannot make it to class on a day that a guest speaker is lecturing, you can depend on your friend to get it all on tape and avail it for you to see later. However, it can be a tad bit difficult to record a certain song playing on the radio. Digital media also allows content to be multiplied, unlike the broadcast media. Digital media has no physical boundaries to bar anyone from producing; broadcast media only allows for one producer, who is specific (Benschop, 2009). The Sopranos, a gangster TV series, use impressive cinematic artistry, which should be understood in a different light. The actors use illusions, as most of them have appeared on other gangster movies using the roles they had there on the TV series. Also some of the happenings in the series coincide with other ones from the famous movies. For example, when Christopher Multisanti kills a member of an eastern crime mob, the camera cuts to close-ups of actors associated with important film gangsters, who are often linked to the real world organized crime. It is clear that the media’s role in this day and age is of a great relevance to our culture and social life. Television being the biggest of the influencers, followed by the computer, we will devoted a special attention to. The television is categorized as broadcast media, while the computer is categorized as digital media. While these two are very different, they possess some factors, which make them similar in certain ways. The two media are both made up of institutional and technical methods of production. They are also all aimed at information distribution, when their producers come up with the products: videos, podcasts, films, or blogs; their main aim is to pass a message to the masses. However, the two media are transmitted in an entirely different manner. Digital media is static and any person can access the info at any given date, even years after the production date, while broadcast media can only be accessed in real time. If you are a Joel Osteen fan and he produces a podcast on Friday the thirteenth, a day which you cannot access it, you can log onto his website on the eighteenth and still access it effortlessly. If, on the other hand, you wanted to see the Lakers playing Miami Heat on ESPN but, unfortunateely, couldn’t on the said date, it would be difficult to watch it on another day in the same station (Dienst, 1995). Apart from socialization, televisuality has established aesthetics. Aesthetics is not only concerned by how the story is told, but by the quality image that is presented. Television is not only assessed by how stories are told in pictures but by their image quality. This has added to the discussion of light, color, space, and lines the additional length of sound editing and sound effects (Cubitt, 1998). Television has pushed the discussion in another route by including the serial quality, which enables the postponement of narrative’s closures for an almost indefinite amount of time. Guiding Light is a classical example, as it holds the record of 68 years, 53 of those on TV. Without a doubt, the serializing capability of television combines with the discussion of TVs image quality and visual plus aural, which further edits the possible discussions on the aesthetics of narrative detours and of picaresque and multi-episodic narratives. Television has influenced our today lives a lot and on very many different aspects. These include aesthetics, politics, military adventures, and even wars. Television aesthetics has changed throughout time by borrowing techniques from films and videos, which have always been ahead. Additions of other visual aids, which help in absorption of information like charts, animations, and graphs, have been embraced largely. Powers of Ten, a short film by Charles and Ray Eame, embraces this type of mixing in its production. It combined a first person point of view, intertwined with didactic narrations and graphics, which are informative; this has created a complete job, which has achieved what it was set out to (Dienst, 1995). The media has also influenced politics in a major way in this world of unfolding occurrences and current events. John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of America, was one of the first people, who realized the potential television had towards politics. He encouraged its use to educate the mass public through such programs like presidential debates. The world picked on that and through programs like Sound Bites influenced the public mass’s perspective in politics. In the recent years, however, the media has created a negative image of politics. This has proved to be influential, since there has been a decline in voting. The media has provided digital platforms, which can and have changed the perception, opinions, values, and outcomes of the cultural sphere. Use of aesthetics was also embraced by the showing of graphs, charts, and diagrams to help with the presentation of information to the public. A program like The X-Files played a large part in activism politics, as it influenced for change from the then conservative way of life. The themes of the series, which included feminism, changed the perspective of the common American woman and slowly but gradually pushed towards implementation of the agenda (Cubitt, 1998). The media has also had the capacity to cover the American military operations in real time and inform the operations to the public. After the 1991 Gulf War, the Balkan conflicts and Somalia, there have been questions about the possible influence of news on the strategies used by the military. George Washington University’s assessor, Steven Livingston, refers to it as the CNN effect, and hypothesizes that the viewing of images on television without a doubt influences the way the events tend to unfold on the politico-military decisions. In the Gulf War of 1991 the media influenced, albeit indirectly, the decision made during the war. General Colin Powel knew that a war would be televised publicly and the action, deaths, and consequences would be communicated to the ones back home; needless to say, it would be impossible and unsupportable back at home. A general lieutenant was put to watch CNN, a 24hour news station in order to know what was going out publicly. Colin also told the reporters to restrict some of the information they presented upon finding any information, as a precautionary measure for the troops (Dienst, 1995). However, as many restrictions as the military tried to put up, the reporters did everything they could to get a story for the front page. However, with the reporter’s agilities and the coverage by the Baghdad news agencies, the war was televised. This influenced a couple of decisions, one of them being a change of tactic by the American military after a live report was done by a reporter on the artillery duel between the 82nd airborne division and the Iraqi troops. This ensured the Iraqi intelligence could be able to communicate with the artillery units and locate the 82nd Airborne division; thus, be in a position to act in their favor. The news reporting would also destroy the element of surprise that America had on the Iraqis. Related Technology essays Most popular orders BUS330 Week 3 Discussions Built to Last Research Article Critique and Research Proposal in the Public Relations Issues Morita Akio: Biography Narrative and Research Play in Education
We spend about thirty percent of our lives sleeping. While people follow diets and spend hours in the gym to improve their health, there is very little public attention for the importance of a healthy sleep. To appreciate its importance, we first need to understand why we need sleep, and what happens in our brain while we are sleeping? In this edition of Science Café Wageningen, two experts will discuss this fascinating, but poorly understood topic. Neurobiologist dr. Ysbrand van der Werf will discuss what happens in our brain while we are asleep and why this is important for our normal functioning. Somnologist/neurophysiologist dr. Sebastiaan Overeem studies patients with sleep disorders, and will discuss what these can tell us about the importance of normal sleep. Dr. Ysbrand van der Werf(1971) studied biology and psychology in Groningen and obtained his PhD in Amsterdam. As a senior researcher he is working at the Dutch Institute for Neurosciences (NIN) and as assistant professor at the medical centre of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He wants to connect fundamental neurosciences and related practical applications. He has developed a research line on sleeping disorders. He recently discovered that when persons observe a skill that they wish to learn right before going to sleep, their performance in that skill improves the following day. Since 2010 he is a member of ‘De Jonge Akadamie’ a platform for young scientists in the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Somnologist / neurophysiologist dr. Sebastiaan Overeem (1977) obtained his PhD at Leiden University Medical Centre after studying Medicine in the same university. He is currently working as an assistant professor at the Department of Neurology at Radbouw University in Nijmegen, and as a somnologist at the Sleep Medicine Centre Kempenhaeghe. His interests are into Narcolepsy, sleep disorders in Parkinson disease, parasomnias and Restless Legs Syndrome. He is investigating the mechanism(s) responsible for the positive effects of ‘powernaps’ in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In 2010 he received a prestigious Vidi grant for his research.
In recent years, 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM Technology), has come to the attention of armies all over the world. The U.S. set aside 13.2 billion of its 2018 military budget for this technology, highlighting how the possible benefits are increasingly being recognised. The technology has become more accessible, with smaller, lighter, and cheaper models of printers becoming available. This could aid in improving operational readiness through the speed of procurement of missing equipment, particularly for difficult to access locations. It can simplify logistics; military units can transport the raw materials alone, rather than individual spare parts or weapons. Further, soldiers trained in 3D printing can produce customised parts for unique situations or individuals. In turn, this increases military innovation and efficiency, while reducing overall costs for production. By providing 3D printers to various military bases, 3D printing can be seen as potentially ‘“revolutionising the industrial supply chain”’. Source: (23 January 2018), Baker, Berenice. “Made to measure: the next generation of military 3D printing”, Army Technology. [Accessed on 1st October 2018 https://www.army-technology.com/features/made-measure-next-generation-military-3d-printing/] Germany has also delved into the possibilities this technology could offer. The German army is currently testing out this pilot project, taken on by the Bundeswehr Logistics Command and the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw). So far, it seems the introduction of this technology, in the military supply chain could ““reduce the waiting time for the spare part””. In order to reduce waiting time even further, there is also a project aiming “to build up a digital spare part library.” Yet, difficulties arise when parts are too complex to manufacture with 3D printing alone. Certain objects are also protected by intellectual property laws and cannot be scanned and printed. This could lead to a transformation of the present form of military supply contracts. Rather than continuing to use traditional supply contracts, military and defence manufacturers could begin to sign “intellectual property agreements to provide the 3D printing pattern”. The rise of this technology has caught the attention of the European Defence Agency (EDA). In the Strategic Report on 3D printing, commissioned by the EDA, a general failure to explore the full potential of 3D printing was found, resulting in a tangible “technology gap”. Source: (January 2018), Santos González, David & González Álvarez, Almudena, “AM Manufacturing Feasibility Study & Technology Demonstration EDA AM State of the Art & Strategic Report”, European Defence Agency. [[Accessed on 1st October 2018 https://eda.europa.eu/docs/default-source/projects/eda-am-study-and-strategic-report_v6.pdf] The analysis identified certain limitations and barriers: the need for training, standardisation, qualification, and certification; Intellectual Property Rights; and relevant regulatory frameworks surrounding, health, environment, and safety. The report discusses how far such limitations and gaps can be overcome in order to extend the capability of 3D printing within defence. Significant technological improvements with regards to speed, part size capacity as well as evaluating how to reduce the costs both of operational and raw material acquisition. As with any new technology, EDA note that we should “expect to see improvements on the current ‘initial versions’ of AM technology and accumulated experience will allow for a more rational use.” The importance therefore is stressed on the mutual development of technologies in order to create an environment in which it makes economic sense to use and improve AM technology. In its conclusions, emphasis is placed on how concentration should be placed on developing and improving products, and differentiating between small and medium to large manufacture of products. Actual field applications are also emphasised, as operational experience of the use of these products is still falling short. The report looks at the potential effect this novel technology will have on support and maintenance operations. One of these is how 3D printing could bring resources “closer to the end user, enabling manufacture at the point of use when the necessary technological means are provided.” For now, it seems this rapidly evolving technology, will continue to play a pivotal role, and may potentially result in a paradigm shift in the military industrial supply chain.
The Children’s Mental Health Learning Series provides caregivers, families and professionals with helpful information to increase knowledge and help support children and youth with mental health concerns. These resources are available to schools, daycares and community groups in Medicine Hat, Brooks & area at no charge. Kits and displays are designed for effortless implementation into classroom curriculum. To find a resource that will fit the needs of your classroom, click on one of the topics and begin your search. Counseling balls have proven to be an effective way to teach children emotional, social, and behavioural skills. A website with an interactive video and classroom resources that teach about dating violence, sexual assault, drinking and safe relationships. Level Up is a free online resource that supports educators and program leaders in promoting positive mental health and overall well-being with children and youth ages 6-18. This kit is full of resources that will support mindfulness in the classroom. By practicing mindfulness techniques in the classroom you can help your students improve their abilities to pay attention, to calm down when they are upset, and to make better decisions. It also helps with emotional regulation and cognitive focus. This kit also includes a lesson plan and resource guide to help support you with using the resources included. A great display for all students to learn how to recognize and cope with stress, the difference between negative and positive stress and the effects of long term stress. This Alberta Education 275-page resource provides an overview of character and citizenship education and offers a sample framework for building and sustaining a culture of character. Zen Me cards are a tool for wellness leaders that include self-coping strategies to manage stress, emotions, attention and energy levels.
This section includes resources on standards and outcomes on planning for care, quality of care, complaints and protection, care and control, staffing, and administration. Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 This document serves as a guide for implementing short-term residential care interventions; grounded in evidence-based practice, the Guide provides "7 essential elements of short-term residential intervention" with case examples from the field in the United States. This handbook, Moving Forward: Implementation of the ‘Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children,’ is aimed at legislators, policy-makers and decision-makers, as well as professionals and care providers, to support the implementation of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009. It explains the key thrusts of the Guidelines, outlines the kind of policy responses required, and describes ‘promising’ examples of efforts already made to apply them in diverse communities, countries, regions and cultures. Standards for shelters and care providers responding to children who have been trafficked. It gives guidance and practice examples of intake procedures, interim and longer term care, support services, integration and reunification A set of standards for residential settings, including the young person’s welcome into care, the quality of care they should receive, contact arrangements, and listening and responding to the views of young people. A set of standards for boarding and residential schools. It outlines what young people can expect when they receive school care accommodation services from a registered/regulated provider. Operational standards and guidance for residential care facilities for girls and women survivors of trafficking and abuse. It covers administration and staff, confidentiality, care planning, responding to immediate and longer term support needs, psychosocial care, life skills and reintegration activities. A comprehensive guide to the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. A set of standards for ensuring the welfare protection of children in residential special schools. It includes standards and outcomes relating to children’s rights, protection, and care, as well as staffing, organization and management. A set of standards for ensuring positive welfare, health and education in children’s homes. It includes standards and outcomes on planning for care, quality of care, complaints and protection, care and control, environment, staffing, management and administration, and specialist provision. A set of standards for ensuring welfare protection at boarding schools. It includes standards and outcomes that outline a school’s welfare policies and procedures, organization and management, welfare support to boarders, staffing, and premises.
The answer to this question varies as greatly as the climate across the country. The amount needed on the Gulf Coast of Texas would starve grass planted in New Mexico. Region, grass type and soil all play a part. I’ll attempt to give some general answers first. Then I’ll try and get more specific. An often used rule of thumb is that your lawn should receive at least 1 to 1 ½” inch of water per week. However, how often you water also depends on weather, area restrictions, grass types and more. Under watering is as common as overwatering. It may be more common, especially during high heat times. Under watering causes shallow roots, making the grass more vulnerable to stress. Eventually the grass turns brown and dies. Many are not aware of the problems caused by over watering. Your lawn needs moisture, nutrients, and air to grow. If you water too much, you can saturate your soil to the point where air cannot get to the roots. The lawn basically suffocates. So a water balance is very important. Generally you want to water in such a way that the water penetrates 6” to 8” into the soil. This helps establish deeper roots for your grass. On a recent test in a public park in Houston, Tx, a generally well watered area, grass roots were found going down more than 12”. This is an example of the difference between a little every day and a lot on one or two days a week in absorbent soil. Look at the root depth chart that follows. Another consideration is how short you cut your grass. Taller grass helps shield the soil from heat and retains moisture better. Try to avoid extremely short settings on your mower. After all this I still haven’t told you how often to water your yard. Ok. Here’s my answer, sort of. Figure that your grass needs about 1” to 1.5” per week. You also want to water in such a way that it soaks into the soil to enough depth to encourage root growth but does not run off due to non-porous soil or sloped yards. Look at this illustration: In clay you might want to water three or four times a week, about ¼ inch per time, twice a day. Since clay absorbs water so slowly you won’t risk water runoff. With sand you can have water absorb past the depth the grass can use it. In this case you might water ½” at a time, three times a week. This should keep it moist. In loam you can often get away with twice a week, ½” to ¾” at a time. The loam will absorb and hold the water for a long time. Remember to water in the early morning, before the wind and sun comes up to dry out the yard. There really is no set rule – every other day, once a week, or every third day. The best thing to do is be in tune with your lawn. By doing so, you will notice signs when your lawn needs a drink. I would like to offer one piece of advice that I know is good: get to know your local nursery or your area county agent. Also, most areas have a college that does research into local growing patterns. Their information is very valuable and usually free. The lawn in Maine varies greatly from that in Louisiana and that in Oregon. You local experts are your best resource. For More Information For more information about anything involving irrigation, please visit us at www.SprinklerWarehouse.com.
An endangered loggerhead sea turtle named Adelita makes an epic 7,000 mile, 368 day journey from Baja California, Mexico to Japan. Her route passed directly through the Pacific Plastiscape (aka "Great Pacific Garbage Patch"). She was the first animal ever be tracked swimming across an entire ocean. She was tracked between August 1996 and August 1997. Learn more about plastic pollution in the ocean in The Plastic Age, a film with Pharrell Williams.
Universal Basic Income (UBI) directly reduces income inequality. I've actually written an as yet unpublished chapter for a book about this very topic, and am working on an article about this as well. Here are two preliminary findings from what I'm still working on: (For a quick primer on the Gini index, how it's calculated, and why different sources conclude different numbers, read this. In short, a Gini of 0 represents maximum equality and a Gini of 1 represents maximum inequality.) 1) My own calculation of the current Gini of the US distribution of income before taxes, using data from 2010 from all filing categories: Gini = 0.60 2) This is the theoretical US Gini after applying a 40% flat tax to the same before tax distribution and providing a $12k/4k basic income ($12,000 for adults and $4,000 per child): Gini = 0.46 That's a reduction of the Gini by 0.14. According to the CBO, our current pre-tax Gini is 0.47 and post-tax Gini is 0.43. So a basic income flat tax would be an improvement of 0.10, potentially lowering our Gini to 0.33. That's enough to give us an after-tax Gini index on par with the Nordic states, and lower than even our record low in 1968. Bonus trivia: Economically optimal Gini is considered to be in the range between 0.28 and 0.38. Anything higher than 0.45 is considered a drag on the economy, and thus harmful to GDP, as well as society itself. Translation: Without taxes and transfers we'd have been screwing ourselves every year since 1995. (Note: Again, different sources claim different Gini coefficients. According to the OECD, the US had a pre and post tax Gini in 2010 of 0.50 and 0.38. So it's likely the OECD would calculate a different UBI-FIT Gini, but they don't share their method, so it's difficult to guess their guess. It would certainly however be lower than 0.38.) If you're not sure how this works, imagine yourself and four friends with the following amounts of money in your wallets: $6, $18, $30, $46, $100. Gini index of you and your friends = 0.43 Now imagine you realize the two with the least don't have enough for all of you to go out and enjoy some drinks together. Your friend with $100 could just buy their drinks, but he knows people feel better about themselves buying their own drinks, and feels they are starting to resent him for always having so much more than them, and always buying their drinks. So he tries something new. Your rich friend suggests that everyone put 40% of their money into a pot, which will then be divided equally amongst all five. The result after doing so is that now the wallets contain: $19, $27, $34, $45, $76. New Gini index of you and your friends = 0.26 Now your two poorest friends have enough for a few drinks, and you can all go out, but this time everyone feels independent, with no one being a charity case. Your richest friend just enabled everyone to go out and have a good time, instead of leaving two friends out or straight paying for their drinks for them. The amounts in each wallet reflect the actual income distribution by quintile in the US in 2010. The amounts in each wallet after each throws the same percentage into a pot and splits it is the actual distribution after a 40% basic income flat tax. A flat tax funded basic income directly reduces income inequality by taxing those at the top more and transferring this income as extra income for those at the bottom and middle. The pivot point of this modification rests at around the 60-80% point, meaning that about 60% of individuals and 80% of households would have more income after taxes than right now. (Note: I use a flat tax because it is much easier to understand and much easier to model. But other methods of funding a UBI would still reduce income inequality, and even wealth inequality if wealth is taxed, because all forms of UBI function as the means of getting money from the top, and transferring it back down to the bottom and middle where the money came from in the first place.) Science: capitalism is a system that is always transferring money to the top from the bottom Oh no, some might say. That's communism. We can't have everyone entirely equal. We can't take everything from the rich and give all their money to the poor. Look at this chart, then express those concerns again... Basically, a basic income would give us an income distribution more like the wealth distribution people already think we have, but are entirely mistaken in thinking... ... And would be a BIG step closer to what 92% of Americans consider our ideal wealth distribution should be. (Note: Wealth inequality is far more extreme than income inequality, so when we compare ideals, we want income inequality to be even LESS than the above ideal image.) It is imperative we understand just how extreme inequality has gotten here in America. Only then will we start enacting real changes to the system - like basic income - to do something about it. Like my blog? Please subscribe and also consider making a monthly pledge of support. Subscribe to my blog \| Follow me on Twitter \| Like me on Facebook \| Follow me on Tumblr
Words nearby versicle Examples from the Web for versicle It consists of three texts describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response alternately with the salutation "Hail, Mary!" "I only chanted a versicle from one of the Psalms," he explained.The Spanish Brothers\|Deborah Alcock He gives a Sunday-school feast every year, which begins with a versicle and a response.The Silent Isle\|Arthur Christopher Benson Every versicle—well do we remember it—concluded with the exordium, “Damn their eyes!”A Cursory History of Swearing\|Julian Sharman And at the end of what seemed to be a versicle of his chant he called Bluebeard.Stories of Comedy\|Various
Esophageal varices are a chronic life-threatening condition where the veins lining the lower esophagus, (i.e. the food pipe connecting the mouth to the stomach) become abnormally large and swollen, a disorder which is often witnessed in people with chronic liver disease. Also Read: Liver Cancer: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment Varices usually occur in people who are suffering from liver cirrhosis that can happen due to hepatitis, portal hypertension, large varices or chronic alcoholism. A blood clot or scarred tissue in the liver slows the flow of blood through the liver and forces the blood to back-up in the portal vein, which is the main hepatic vein that brings in blood from the gut to the liver. This "back up" causes high blood pressure in the portal vein and other nearby veins. This is called portal hypertension. To reach the interior of the liver, the blood often takes a different route i.e. through smaller blood vessels that are not meant to carry such large volumes of blood causing increased pressure on the blood vessels leading to leakage and rupture ultimately causing fatal complications. Esophageal varices can also occur due to schistosomiasis which is a parasitic infection that can cause liver blockage thus increasing the pressure to back up in the portal vein. Varices often form in other parts of the body as well such as in the stomach causing gastric varices, duodenum causing duodenal varices, and rectum causing rectal varices. Also Read: Schistosomiasis: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment The usual signs and symptoms of varices are only noticed once the blood vessels rupture: - Hematemesis (bloody vomit) - Stomach pain - Bloody stools - Black stools - Multiple Organ Failure The doctor may also suspect the risk of varices if one has liver damage, symptoms of which include: - Jaundice (i.e. yellow colouration of skin and eyes) - Ascites (i.e. fluid build-up in the abdomen) - Easy bleeding or bruising - Spider nevi (i.e. formation of tiny blood vessels under the surface resembling a spider web) - Swollen spleen - Palmar erythema (i.e. reddening of the skin of the palms) - Hand deformity Diagnosis And Treatment If you are diagnosed with cirrhosis, your doctor may suggest you come for regular check-ups to reduce the risk and prevent varices. The doctor usually does a thorough physical check-up followed by a number of tests which include: This endoscopic procedure analyses the size of the dilated veins and inspects any red spots to determine the risk of bleeding in the esophagus and the small intestine. People who don’t prefer a routine endoscopic procedure are given a pill containing a miniature camera to take images of the liver and blood vessels to understand the extent of cirrhosis. Ultrasounds, CT-scans and MRI-scans to examine the liver and blood circulation in the hepatic portal vein. Treatment options mostly include lowering the blood pressure in the hepatic portal vein to reduce the risk of bleeding varices which includes: Blood Pressure Lowering Medications: The doctor may suggest medicines to lower the blood pressure and prevent back-flow in the hepatic portal vein. Endoscopic Band Ligation: The doctor may perform a surgical procedure called Endoscopic band ligation the doctor ties the bleeding veins using elastic bands. Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS): The doctor may also recommend a procedure called transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, where an opening is made between the portal vein and the hepatic vein, which carries blood from the liver to the heart. The procedure effectively reduces pressure in the hepatic portal vein and stops bleeding from esophageal varices. Prescribing antibiotics to prevent the risk of infection and reoccurrence of bleeding. Balloon Tamponade Procedure: The doctor may apply pressure on the varices by inflating a balloon on it to temporarily stop the bleeding. In case of severe liver cirrhosis or recurrence of esophageal varices, the doctor often performs a liver transplant.
This article is part of a special climate change issue in advance of the federal election. This collection of stories offers a comprehensive look at where Canada currently stands, what could be done to address the issue and what the consequences might be if this country continues with half measures. Learn more about why we’re doing this. Given the growing awareness of the climate catastrophe speeding toward us, one might think humanity might be doing more to curb our carbon-emitting behaviours. But even for the most worried, a host of latent psychological factors can paralyze us, turning people into climate couch potatoes. There are, in fact, 37 specific mental barriers that limit our ability to react to climate change, according to University of Victoria psychology professor Robert Gifford. These barriers—Gifford calls them “dragons”—fall into seven broad categories: limited cognition, ideologies, comparison with others, sunk costs, discredence, perceived risks and limited behaviour. When he published a 2011 article in American Psychologist that identified the first 29 of these dragons, the article went viral and became the publication’s most-read piece in its history. Among the many specific barriers identified by Gifford are outright denial (for example, take Donald Trump, who tweeted climate change is a Chinese hoax); tokenism (i.e., I recycle, so I’m doing my bit) and technosalvation, or the belief we will build machines to save us so we can all just keep doing what we’re doing. Then there’s the limit of our own “ancient brains.” Our minds, explains Gifford, have evolved little since humans developed agriculture about 12,000 years ago. We are thus hard-wired to respond to immediate, visible dangers rather than future, less obvious ones. That inherent trait makes it difficult for us to grasp and deal with the more distant, complex and somewhat abstract nature of global warming. Gifford now uses his research to help governments and environmental organizations shape more effective programs to fight climate change. This past June, for example, Gifford met with a number of deputy and assistant deputy ministers with Environment and Climate Change Canada in Ottawa. “There have been some well-intentioned policies and interventions in the past that simply didn’t work very well,” opines Gifford, explaining that such campaigns often don’t factor in the mental barriers to action in the first place, and therefore don’t create effective messaging to overcome them. He recalls the $45-million flop that was the One-Tonne Challenge program, launched by the Canadian federal government under the Liberals in 2004. Using comedian Rick Mercer in print and television advertising, the campaign encouraged Canadians to reduce their emissions by one tonne each year by such actions as taking public transit more, idling vehicles less and sealing homes with weather stripping. While the government’s own evaluation of the program found it raised some awareness, says Gifford, the program generated little actual response. “Many people did not change their behaviour because they said they lacked information about how to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,” he says, a clear example of the “Lack of Knowledge” dragon genus. They also perceived the challenge as too inconvenient or time-consuming (a species of Gifford’s “Conflicting Goals and Aspirations” dragon); they believed that their own participation would not make a difference to climate change (another dragon); and, adds Gifford, “they believe that they are already doing enough—a species of my ‘Tokenism’ dragon genus.” If Canadians are to help fight the climate crisis by changing their own lifestyles, knowing how to spot their own dragons is the first step to slaying them. At the University of British Columbia, there’s a class for that. In early June, Kim Biel and his long-time partner Denise Panchysyn sat in a UBC lecture room in Vancouver to take in a one-week extended learning course titled “Climate Change: Understanding and Overcoming Barriers to Action.” Taught by Seth Wynes, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of geography at the University of British Columbia, the course—part of UBC’s Ageless Pursuits continuing education program, and based on his own research—probed those mental barriers preventing many of us from tackling the issue. Biel, 63, and Panchysyn, 66, have both contended with one of Gifford’s dragons—environmental numbness. The retired couple, well-read on global warming, are deeply concerned about its impact on the Earth. “Kim even went to see Anthropocene,” says Panchysyn, referring to the visually stunning, though disturbing, Canadian-made documentary depicting mankind’s re-engineering of Earth. “I wouldn’t go, though,” she adds. She veers away from television shows about climate change: “It’s just too depressing.” According to Gifford’s findings, constant bombardment of news and information about the threats posed by climate change can ironically overwhelm a person’s impetus to do their bit to combat it. “We have both experienced some overload that results in paralysis in terms of, how do we act on this?” confesses Biel. Importantly for Biel and Panchysyn, Wynes’s class also suggested the most effective ways people can reduce their carbon footprints. A former high school science teacher, Wynes began his research on climate change mitigation after experiencing difficulty answering students’ questions about the most effective ways to help combat it. These are tricky questions, says Wynes. “Some of [the solutions] involve sacrifices,” he explains. “They involve interactions with the rest of society . . . What are the cultural cues you get about being a vegetarian? How is eating meat related to perceptions about masculinity? There is so much intertwined in these questions that often make it difficult to adopt actions that could save the climate.” In his own research, Wynes—who cited Gifford’s findings in class—found evidence of a “climate mitigation gap,” where education and government recommendations often miss the most effective actions Canadians and others can take. For instance, he says, few governments say the most effective ways to reduce carbon footprints include having one less child, ceasing air travel, living car-free and eating a plant-based diet. Instead, much of the educational and government literature focuses on less effective measures, such as hanging clothes out to dry, or installing more efficient LED lighting in homes. The reason for that, Wynes suggests, is a “foot-in-the-door” strategy. “Communicators emphasize easy-to-perform actions that get people started on environmental lifestyles, and hope that people adopt more important actions later. Unfortunately, with the scale of the climate problem, we don’t have time to focus on small changes anymore.” Wynes’s research focuses on such questions as, “How do we motivate people to change?” We have, in fact, managed to motivate past improvements in areas strongly resistant to change; in Canada, we reduced the number of smokers, normalized the use of seat belts and made dumping garbage on roadsides and parklands abhorrent to all but a small percentage of reprobates. That’s why Canada’s deputy ministers handling environmental files wanted to consult Gifford to craft effective policies that a large segment of the population would actually be willing to implement. And, says Gifford, it’s why organizations like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund have been increasingly leveraging the related expertise of psychologists to mould their campaigns and programs. It’s also important, adds Gifford, “that we test those policies and interventions as they are going along to make sure they are effective and remain acceptable.” One troubling finding in Wynes’s research is how misinformed people are when they engage in what psychologists call “moral licensing.” “We do this with dieting,” says Wynes, explaining the term. “We say, ‘I went for a jog, now I can eat cake.’ Some people do this with green behaviours: ‘I have recycled for a year, so therefore I can go on a vacation to Cuba.’ ” Wynes has conducted as-yet unpublished research on how well people understand their own carbon footprints. For instance, how long would a person need to forgo eating foods packaged in plastics in order to offset the greenhouse-gas impact of eating meat? What he discovered is that “people are pretty terrible at making those trade-offs. Probably worse than they are about making similar decisions about their diets, for example.” One area Wynes focused on was air travel, noting that travel is a particularly hard habit to rewire in people. The morning Wynes’s course started, Panchysyn was planning to book a flight from Vancouver to Calgary. She pondered, though, whether a train trip might be more environmentally friendly. It is significantly better, she learned in Wynes’s class. According to the website EcoPassenger—which calculates the CO₂ output of various trips by train, plane or automobile—a trip by train from Paris to Berlin, for instance, emits 26.1 kg of CO₂. The same trip by plane produces about 142.1 kg, roughly five times more. Once skeptical of buying carbon offsets to counter the impact of their travel bug, the couple are now considering them. “We wish that the signposts on how to act on these things were more obvious,” says Biel. Laurie Gould, 71, a former teacher, also attended Wynes’s climate change course. “I have always been very concerned about minimizing my footprint on Earth. I went to the class because I felt what I was doing was minimal,” says Gould. Even with the advice of her daughter, a marine biologist, Gould still felt uncertain about how to best do her part for a healthier planet. “I had done the obvious things . . . I don’t use wax paper. I don’t use paper towels. I try to find environmentally friendly soaps. But I was stymied about my car.” That car is her much-loved 2002 Honda Accord. Was it better for the planet if she traded it in for an electric or hybrid vehicle? The answer, she discovered in class and verified with her own research afterwards, is yes. She’s now planning to visit dealerships in Vancouver to test-drive electric and hybrid vehicles. “The incentives that the federal and B.C. government are offering certainly make the purchase more affordable right now,” said Gould in an email a few days after the course ended. Since the course, she’s been busy busting a few more dragons. On the last day of class she had a GIC come due, and on the same day put that money into a sustainable fossil-fuel-free investment fund. And after learning from Wynes about the massive amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the beef industry, “last night I cooked up the last pound of ground beef in my freezer and plan to never cook beef again,” says Gould. “That will be hard,” she says, “because my two grandsons love my meatballs. So I’m hoping to find a good recipe for ground turkey or chicken meatballs that they will like. I recognize that I’m able to do these things because I live a privileged, middle-class Canadian life. But I also realize that it is my comfortable kind of lifestyle that is responsible for much of the CO₂ emissions that are destroying our atmosphere.” This article appears in print in the August 2019 issue of Maclean’s magazine with the headline, “The mental block.” Subscribe to the monthly print magazine here.
Glitter is frequently encountered as transfer evidence (trace or associative evidence) in those crimes where there is intimate contact between assailant and victim. The transfer of cosmetic glitter to airbags in vehicle accidents may also help to show the seating positions of drivers and passengers. Glitter particles from different sources exhibit great variety. The more ways a questioned glitter particle may be characterized and compared with glitter from a known source, the smaller the subclass it will fall into and thus the greater its value as trace evidence. Many manufacturers of glitter include a product line described as “holographic glitter.” Holographic glitter achieves its color effects by virtue of regularly-spaced striae (gratings). These are not on the outer surface but instead are covered by a thin clear protective polymer layer. This article will illustrate how these striae may be detected, documented, and the striae spacing measured using light microscopy. Glitter has been previously reported as trace evidence and various methods for its characterization described (1-8). One immediately thinks of color, shape, and size. Shape and size are no problem, but color determination turns out to be quite complex. A thorough discussion of the science behind the perception of color as it applies to glitter particles is beyond the scope of this paper, but color in glitter particles is achieved based more on the principles of the optics branch of physics than through chemistry (dyes and pigments). World-wide, there are well over a dozen different manufacturers of glitter. Many of these manufacturers offer a subclass described as holographic glitter. The determination that one or more questioned glitter particles fall into this subclass and the determination of their properties within the subclass can help discriminate between similar glitter particles and thereby greatly increase their potential value as associative evidence. The prismatic effect of holographic glitter is achieved through the interaction of light with gratings (parallel, evenly spaced fine striations just under a clear protective polymer layer on the surface of the glitter particle). These striations may be seen in the photomicrograph in Figure 1. The determination that a questioned glitter particle is of the holographic type, and the measurement of the distance between striae may help to place the particle into a smaller subclass. Because the grating is not actually on the particle surface, the greater depth of field at higher magnification afforded by scanning electron microscopy is of no avail. This article will show that these gratings can be seen and the striae spacing used for the questioned and known particles compared using light microscopy at about 1000x. All glitter particles examined in this study were purchased from Meadowbrook Inventions, Inc., 260 Minebrook Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924 0960, USA. All were either from their product line Alpha Jewels HTMP or Alpha Jewels. They describe Alpha Jewels HTMP as “Precision cut Holographic Glitter particles consisting of Micro-embossed Aluminum particles designed for applications requiring Prismatic Special Effect with excellent Heat Resistance.” Alpha Jewels are described as “Precision cut Holographic Glitter particles consisting of micro-embossed vacuumed metalized (0.5% aluminum) polyethylene terephthalate, designed for applications requiring Prismatic Special Effect with excellent fastness properties. Solvent Resistant.” Alpha Jewels HTMP are further described as having a thickness of 0.001″ (25 micrometers) and a specific gravity of 2.4, with the Alpha Jewels having a thickness of 0.002″ (50 micrometers) and a specific gravity of 1.4. Alpha Jewels are offered in the following six colors: Silver, Gold, Strato Blue, Pink, Ocean Green, and Lavender. They are offered as square particles 0.008″ along a side; rectangular particles 0.035″ x 0.004″, 0.062″ x .0125″, or 0.125″ x 0.0125″, as hexagonal particles 0.008″ (one apex to opposite apex), 0.015″, 0.025″, 0.040″, 0.062″, and 0.094″. Also, specialized shapes are available as 1/8″ stars, hearts, or diamonds. In this study the following 12 glitter products were examined: [Sample numbers are not Meadowbrook Inventions numbers but were used by the authors in previous studies. Correspondingly numbered small samples were issued to the attendees at a workshop on glitter presented on 13 August 2007 in Clearwater Beach, Florida as part of a Trace Evidence Symposium sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.] Sample #001 Alpha Jewels HTMP Silver 0.008″ x 0.008″ (Figures 2a-2d) Sample #002 Alpha Jewels HTMP Silver 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 3a-3c) Sample #003 Alpha Jewels Silver 0.008″ x 0.008″ (Figures 4a-4c) Sample #004 Alpha Jewels Silver 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 5a-5c) Sample #005 Alpha Jewels Gold 0.008″ x 0.008″ (Figures 6a-6c) Sample #006 Alpha Jewels Gold 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 7a-7c) Sample #007 Alpha Jewels Strato Blue 0.008″ x 0.008″ (Figures 8a-8c) Sample #008 Alpha Jewels Strato Blue 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 9a-9c) Sample #009 Alpha Jewels Pink 0.008″ x 0.008″ (Figures 10a-10c) Sample #010 Alpha Jewels Pink 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 11a-11d) Sample #011 Alpha Jewels Ocean Green 0.008″ x .008″ (Figures 12a-12c) Sample #012 Alpha Jewels Ocean Green 0.025″ hexagonal (Figures 13a-13d) Glitter photos settings: The samples were prepared by dry mounting a small sample of glitter on a standard glass slide with no coverglass. The images were viewed with a Nikon MM-40 measuring microscope equipped with LU Plan objectives [5x (0.15 NA), 50x (0.55 NA), and 100x (0.80 NA)]. Illumination used standard tungsten bulb, reflected brightfield condition, no neutral density or polarizing filters were inserted in the light path. Photographs were taken with a SPOT-RT color CCD camera (model 2.2.1.) and SPOT version 4.7 software set on auto gain and auto exposure. Micrometer markers in the photographs were calibrated against a MicroRuler MR-1 (s/n 5-14) size reference standard. Results and Discussion As seen in Figures 2 through 13 each of the twelve samples were viewed at three magnifications, 50x, 500x, and 1000x. This was done to illustrate that the gratings producing the prismatic effects can usually not be seen at low magnification. Although with some samples they can be seen at 500x, with many they are only clearly seen at 1000x. Parallel fine lines or scratches can be seen with many samples at 500x, but these are not evenly spaced nor are they parallel to the striae seen at 1000x. The parallel unevenly spaced scratches seen at 500x are surface scratches while the evenly spaced striations that produce the holographic effect are embossed on a vapor deposited aluminum layer that has over it a thin clear protective polymer layer. Glitter is cut from rolls of multilayered film. As with synthetic fibers, these thin sheets of multilayered film are produced by an extrusion process. In this process the extruded sheets pass over a series of rollers. Although just supposition at this point, the parallel but unevenly spaced lines or scratches seen at lower magnifications may be the result of the film passing over various rollers. If this were true, these lines seen at lower magnification could indicate the machine direction of the film before it is cut into glitter. As with synthetic fibers, this extrusion process imparts a partial crystalline nature so that refractive index with the machine direction may be different than across the machine direction. If questioned and known glitter particles are compared between crossed polarizers using a polarizing light microscope (PLM), it is important to bear in mind that glitter particles have two sides and that for meaningful comparison you must be comparing the same sides and the machine direction of the two when compared must be parallel. - Grieve, M.C. (1987) Glitter particles – an unusual source of trace evidence? Journal of the Forensic Science Society, 27:405-412. - Aardahl, K., Kirkowski, S., and Blackledge, R.D. (2005) A target glitter study. Science & Justice, 45:7-12. - Blackledge, R.D. and Jones, E.L. Jr. (2007) All that Glitters Is Gold!. Chapter 1, 1-32, in FORENSIC ANALYSIS ON THE CUTTING EDGE: New Methods for Trace Evidence Analysis, Robert D. Blackledge, Editor, Wiley Interscience, Hoboken, New Jersey. - Aardahl, K. (2003) Evidential value of glitter particle trace evidence, Masters Thesis, National University, San Diego, California. - Kirkowski, S. (2003) The forensic characterization of cosmetic glitter particles, Masters Thesis, National University, San Diego, California. - Weber, C. (2004) Glitter as trace evidence, Masters Thesis, National University, San Diego, California. - Siciliano, M.A. (2006) Glitter as associative evidence: determination of individual particle thickness and density, Masters Thesis, National University, San Diego, California. - Blackledge, R.D. (2007) GLITTER as Forensic Evidence, Trace Evidence Symposium sponsored by the NIJ and the FBI, Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Starting At Salisbury Primary School EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) applies to children from birth to five years of age. The final year of the EYFS is referred to as the Reception year. At our school, all children join us at the beginning of the school year in which they are five (compulsory schooling begins at the start of the term after a child’s fifth birthday.) Here at Salisbury Primary School we are committed to underpinning our provision with the four distinct but complimentary themes of the Early Years Foundation Stage in our reception classes: A Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments, Learning and Development. Aims of the Foundation Stage In the EYFS setting at Salisbury Primary School we believe that all children are entitled to the best possible start in their school life (both intellectually and emotionally) in order to enable them to develop their full potential. We aim to support each child’s welfare, learning and developmental needs by: - Recognising that all children are unique and special. - Understanding that children develop in individual ways and varying rates – physically, cognitively, linguistically, socially and emotionally. - Providing a safe, secure and caring environment where children feel happy and know that they are valued by the practitioners looking after them. - Fostering and nurturing children’s self-confidence and self-esteem through their developing awareness of their own identity and role within the community. - Teaching children to express and communicate their needs and feelings in appropriate ways. - Encouraging children’s independence and decision-making, supporting them to learn from their mistakes. - Developing children’s understanding of social skills and the values and codes of behaviour required for people to work together harmoniously. - Supporting children to develop care, respect and appreciation of others, including those beliefs, cultures and opinions different to their own. - Understanding the importance of play in children’s learning and development. Providing learning experiences in play that reflect children’s personal interests and areas of curiosity in order to encourage and develop their natural desire, interest, excitement and motivation to learn. - Providing experiences which build on children’s existing knowledge and understanding in order to challenge, stimulate and extend their learning and development. - Providing effective learning opportunities in a range of environments, inside and outside. Active Learning through Play At Salisbury Primary School we recognise that young children learn best through being active. We understand that active learning involves other people, objects, ideas and events that engage and involve the children for sustained periods. Therefore, we believe that Early Years education should be as practical as possible and our EYFS has an ethos of learning through play. We recognise the importance of children’s play. It is an essential and rich part of their learning process, supporting them in all areas of development. Play is a powerful motivator, encouraging children to be creative and to develop their ideas, understanding and language. Play is also flexible and able to suit the preferred learning style of the child. It can provide multiple ways for children to learn a variety of skills and concepts. In EYFS at Salisbury Primary School, practitioners provide both structured and unstructured play opportunities inside and outside. These activities are designed to engage children in practical, first-hand experiences which will support children to discover, explore, investigate, develop their personal interests and areas of curiosity, and help to make sense of the world around them as they begin to understand specific concepts. Play opportunities are also set up to provide children with opportunities to apply newly acquired knowledge, demonstrating their skills and levels of understanding. In providing these active learning opportunities through play, we understand the central position of play within the EYFS framework. This is essentially a play based curriculum and pedagogy as the provision of play opportunities underpins its delivery within settings. Assessment and Record Keeping Ongoing assessment is an essential aspect of the effective running of the EYFS setting at Salisbury Primary School. Regular, planned and focused assessments are made of the children’s learning and individual needs. A record of each child’s progress in all areas of their learning is maintained. The main EYFS assessment method is through practitioners’ observations of children in different teaching and learning contexts, including both adult focused activities and child initiated play. Learning Journeys record children’s progress over the academic year in all areas of learning and development of the EYFS framework.
What happens after a coma? One of the most severe effects of a traumatic brain injury is a coma or vegetative state. This is a difficult, confusing time for anyone watching over a friend or family member in Rhode Island, but it can be overwhelming to think about what life might be like even if your loved one does wake up. The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center details some of the most realistic expectations you can have if you are caring for someone in this position. It is important to understand that there is a difference between a coma and a vegetative state. People in the latter may smile, cry, moan or open eyes, but this is most often done without any apparent cause or purpose. Those in a coma are unable to open their eyes or follow any instructions and do not speak or communicate at all. If your loved one does wake up from a coma or improve from a vegetative state, it is usually a gradual, slow process, especially if the condition has lasted for more than four weeks. Waking up is not a sudden event, but generally happen in the form of a slow regaining of consciousness and stalling at certain stages along the way. Once a person reaches a minimally conscious state, he or she may be able to reach for objects, smile, cry, laugh, talk and gesture. You may be able to communicate through words or movements, but the progress is typically inconsistent and often takes a long time to become regular. If your loved one emerges from the minimally conscious state, they will likely be confused and require extensive therapy to combat the damage that has occurred. This information is intended to educate and should not be taken as legal advice.
From "The Big Anchor Project": "16th-17th century anchors The earliest drawings of an anchor with details of its weight and dimensions appears in “Fragments of Ancient Shipwrightry” attributed to Matthew Baker, dated to the late 16th or early 17th Century. Most anchors during this period had curved arms, but as larger anchors were required the straight arm anchor was introduced to English vessels. The flukes were generally the shape of equilateral triangles and half the length of the arms. The anchor ring was slightly smaller diameter than the fluke. The anchor stock was roughly the same length as the shank, made from timbers bound with iron hoops. Wooden pegs or treenails were used to secure the timbers in the stock, which was straight on the top and tapered on the other three sides. In 1627 Captain John Smith published “A Sea Grammer" which provided a list of the different types of anchors carried by ships at that time. It listed: •The kedger anchor - the smallest of the anchors used in calm weather •The stream anchor – only a little larger used in an easy tide/stream •The bow anchor – larger - 4 in total •The sheet anchor – the largest and heaviest of all used in emergencies. Anchor weight was in proportion to the size of the ship. A ship of 500 tons would have a sheet anchor weight 2000 pounds of 907 kg’s." Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.
Methodologies and Tools for Measuring the Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Children in Humanitarian Contexts This report, conducted for the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Reference Group, maps the current repertoire of tools and approaches available for measuring children's psychosocial wellbeing. There are three major challenges with regard to measuring mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of children in humanitarian emergencies: cultural validity, reliability, and feasibility. A review of the 48 tools that met inclusion criteria led to 4 conclusions. First, there is a varied array of measures available for use in humanitarian settings. Second, measures are often not framed with respect to the comprehensive approach to MHPSS needs put forth in the IASC Guidelines. Third, the majority of measures originate in high-income countries. And last, determining age-appropriateness and the appropriateness of self- versus parental-report presents additional complexities. This represents a key step in providing practical guidance to practitioners for the development of initial assessments and ongoing monitoring and evaluation tools in humanitarian settings. Click to Download:
It’s anything but difficult to be worried about the levels of radiation you and your friends and family are exposed to all the time. Is it accurate to say that you are safe levels of radiation in danger for genuine wellbeing conditions from this exposure? Actually, some radiation is totally typical and safe to be around. All things considered, there are radioactive materials normally found in the earth around us, in a portion of the sustenance’s we eat, for example, bananas, and even in our own bodies. The mineral potassium makes radiation! We are likewise exposed to radiation through X-beams and different tests. In any case, at one point, your radiation exposure transforms into a possibly hurtful level that puts your wellbeing in danger. So what are safe radiation levels and when do conditions end up plainly hazardous? What Are Ordinary Radiation Levels? Constantly, we are exposed to radiation, which is measured in millisievert, or move. The radiation we interact with normally every year is around 2.00 mSv. X-beams give you somewhere in the range of 0.01 to 1.50 mSv, contingent upon which part of your body you have checked. CT examines offer exposure to significantly more at 2.00 to 16.00 mSv. At the point when Do Radiation Levels Get Risky? Levels of radiation that hint at an unmistakable malignancy increments is 100.00 mSv every year. It’s imperative to consider how radiation levels can include from various sources, so the aggregate ought to be well underneath that in a year to be safe. The 100.00 mSv stamp is additionally the farthest point that radiation laborers should have for their exposure inside a five-year time span. Furthermore, obviously, a radioactive catastrophe can extraordinarily build individuals’ exposure. To make sure you have a thought in the contrast amongst lower and abnormal states, staff members who passed away inside a month of Chernobyl had a dose of 6,000.00 mSv. A solitary dose that could bring about radiation ailment is a level of 1,000.00 mSv, while a solitary dosage that could make you pass on inside fourteen days is a level of 10,000.00 mSv. Individuals safely assimilate little levels of radiation consistently. Plants, shakes and even human bodies emit radiation. In any case, what amount of radiation is ordinary? Randall Munroe, the brain behind the splendidly geeky stick figures in the web comic, has endeavored to answer that inquiry. He as of late drew a pediatric neuroradiology accommodating realistic contrasting the radiation levels of normal exercises like getting a restorative output or bringing a cross-country flight with huge scale atomic mishaps like those at Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. Checking Your Radiation Levels Regardless of whether you’re worried about your condition or outright inquisitive to realize what level of radiation you may be exposed to once a day, it’s conceivable to test radiation levels alone. To know how much radiation is available in your home, your office or some other setting, you can utilize a meter to check the levels. A radiation Geiger counter shows you levels of alpha, beta, gamma and X-beams in your setting.
Plants can make plenty of pollen but many plants have no pollen transportation system. They have no way to get the pollen to female flowers so seeds and, ultimately, new plants can be produced. That’s where pollinators come in. Insects, especially bees and butterflies, and birds, especially hummingbirds, are the major transporters of pollen between plants. I know that, in springtime, some people find their houses and cars covered in yellow pollen. These plants, which depend on the wind to spread their pollen, are few and far between. Most plants depend on the birds and the bees, and the plants reward these pollinators with nice, sweet nectar. The plummeting number of pollinators is a very real concern today, and property owners are being asked to give nature some help by increasing the pollinator population. This can best be done by providing them with a welcoming environment. Start by watching for pollinators visiting your flowering plants. As they land on flowers in search of nectar, pollen sticks to their feet. They then fly to another plant searching for more nectar and deposit the pollen. If there aren’t plenty of honey bees, butterflies or hummingbirds visiting your plants, it’s time to start shopping for pollinator-attracting plants, beginning with fall blooming plants. Select good varieties of native, flowering plants, and plant them in clumps. Many will have a notation on the nursery tag that they attract pollinators. Native plants are recommended because pollinators aren’t connoisseurs. They have their preferred flowers and don’t deviate or experiment with new food sources. They also don’t like pesticides, so eliminate them wherever possible. It’s also important to include plants preferred by butterfly larvae. These plants may not enhance your flower bed, however. For example, milkweed is the only food monarch butterfly larvae will eat. Not only are the plants unsightly but the larvae eat the leaves and the chewed up leaves will also add to the plants’ unsightliness. So, plant them somewhere inconspicuous. The butterflies will find them. Butterflies and hummingbirds have some additional needs. They need water to drink and bathe in. A birdbath is fine for hummingbirds but it’s too deep for butterflies. They prefer a saucer of water placed on the ground or near to the ground. The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service suggests lightly salting the water. There may not be enough nectar to completely satisfy the whole pollinator population. In that case, put out another saucer of rotting fruit for the butterflies and a hummingbird feeder for the hummingbirds. Garden centers and online garden supply sites have special butterfly plates so you don’t have to use your good china. They also have butterfly houses that you can hang in trees. Don’t worry about shelter for bees. They come from nearby hives. Establishing a pollinator garden will enhance your current landscape while helping to provide habitat for this important group of wildlife. If you prefer our professional expertise, our landscape pros can help you with any aspect or with the entire project.
Hypophosphataemic rickets is characterised by growth retardation, rickets or osteomalacia, hypophosphataemia, and renal defects in phosphate reabsorption and in vitamin D metabolism. The X-linked form (X-linked dominant) is the most common with a defect in phosphate transport in the proximal tubule leading to persistent hypophosphataemia and high levels of phosphate in the urine. Much rarer autosomal dominant, recessive, and sporadic forms also occur. - The degree of bone involvement is much less severe in heterozygous females. However, there is often a maternal as well as paternal family history of short stature. - Slow growth rate in the first year of life. - Reluctance to weight-bear when beginning to stand or walk. - Late dentition, multiple dental abscesses. - Intellectual development is unaffected. - Widened joint spaces and flaring at the knees may become apparent in children by their first birthday, particularly in boys. - When a child begins to stand and walk, bowing of the weight-bearing long bones develops quickly. - Renal tubular acidosis. - Hereditary hypophosphataemic rickets with hypocalciuria. - Fanconi's syndrome. - Vitamin D-deficient rickets. - Urinary loss of phosphate is increased because of decreased renal tubular reabsorption of phosphate. - Blood tests for serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone: - Serum calcium levels may be normal or slightly low. - Phosphate levels are low. - Alkaline phosphatase levels are increased. - Parathyroid hormone level is normal or slightly raised. - X-rays of the wrists, knees, ankles, and long bones: no pathognomonic signs distinguish hypophosphataemic rickets from any other aetiology. - Periodic renal ultrasound is important to monitor for development of nephrocalcinosis. - Monitoring the ratio of calcium to creatinine in the urine is also important (a urinary ratio of calcium to creatinine more than 0.25:1 requires reduction of the vitamin D dosage to avoid nephrocalcinosis). - Patients under treatment should be carefully monitored for evidence of hyperparathyroidism. - Calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) - standard vitamin D preparations are not effective. - In some poorly growing patients, long-term growth hormone therapy given with conventional treatment improves linear growth. - Calcitriol reduces but does not eliminate the risk of hypercalcaemic episodes, which may be frequent with vitamin D treatment. - Amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide are given to increase calcium reabsorption and reduce the risk of nephrocalcinosis. - Phosphate replacement is required because of the large urinary phosphate loss. - Osteotomy may be necessary for children whose diagnosis was delayed or whose initial treatment was inadequate. - Skull deformity may require treatment for synostosis. - Dental abscesses often require dental treatment. - Short stature, which is disproportionate, resulting from deformity and growth retardation of lower extremities. - Acute hypercalcaemia may occur during treatment. - Nephrocalcinosis, which does not usually progress to renal failure. - Hypertension may occur as a result of persistent hyperparathyroidism. - X-linked hypophosphataemic rickets is frequently associated with short stature, even when treatment is provided for a long time. - Apart from the short stature, the prognosis is usually good with a normal lifespan.
Syracuse “the largest and most beautiful of all Greek cities” Distance from the Hotel Borgo Pantano: 7 km (8 minutes) Syracuse is the fourth largest city in Sicily described by Cicero as “the largest and most beautiful of all Greek cities”, from 2005, along with the ancient center of Syracuse, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city of Syracuse is developed in part on the cape-Ortigia island and partly on land. The shape of the coastline determines the wide bay of Porto Grande, the Island city north and south from the promontory of Plemmirio. To the eighth century. B.C. They arrived in Syracuse the first Greeks from Corinth, who led by noble greek Archie, founded a colony Syrakousai that quickly grew much, developing a real city, so wide that many historians defined metropolis, and some called it even the First Empire of the West. Syracuse became the Hellenic culture, arose the temples dedicated to Apollo, Zeus, Athena (later transformed in today’s Cathedral of Syracuse); born myths and legends that spoke of the Greek gods, nymphs and mortal heroes. Does the myth of Arethusa, the history of the Greek era that has remained so linked to Syracuse, that even today the expression “aretusea” is used to talk and define the “city of Syracuse”. Definitely worth visiting is the archaeological area where you can admire the famous greek amphitheater and other historical artifacts from the ancient Greek polis. Other interesting places to see in the city of Syracuse are: the archaeological museum Paolo Orsi, the Catacombs of San Giovanni, the catacombs of Saint Lucia, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Tears and the caves of the Capuchins. Ortigia (The Ottiggia ou Scogghiu in Syracuse, Ortygia, Ὀρτυγία in ancient greek) is the name of the island which is the oldest part of the city of Syracuse. Its name derives from the ancient greek ortyx (ὄρτυξ) meaning “quail”. The island has always been the heart of the city, witness the fact that since the age of ancient bronze was inhabited, and also testify remains of circular huts of the XIV century BC referable to the culture of Thapsos. The subsequent arrival of the Greeks had not be violent, because as Thucydides speaks, seems to have been abandoned by residents who retreated inland. In the heart of Ortigia is the Duomo, with baroque facade, built incorporating the greek temple of Athena as described
Philadelphia added 2 new stripes to the Pride flag. Here's what they stand for. Before a Pride parade in 1978, artist Gilbert Baker designed the first rainbow flag. He dyed strips of fabric in eight colors and stitched them together. The positive response was almost immediate. "We stood there and watched and saw the flags, and their faces lit up," gay rights activist Cleve Jones told The New York Times. "It needed no explanation. People knew immediately that it was our flag." Today the rainbow flag is a highly recognized symbol for equality, pride, and strength — not just for gays and lesbians, but the entire LGBTQ spectrum. Gilbert Baker helps stretch the mile-and-quarter-long World's Longest Rainbow Flag from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic coast in June 2003. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. This month, the enduring symbol received a makeover to celebrate the intersecting identities within the LGBTQ community. The city of Philadelphia advertising firm Trinity created a new Pride flag, expanding the colors to include black and brown stripes. The new stripes are a simple but effective way to honor people of color within the the city's LGBTQ community. Image via City of Philadelphia/Tierney. The flag was unveiled at the inaugural Pride Month kick-off event June 8, 2017, at Philadelphia City Hall. The event featured speakers, performances, and the first raising of the new Pride flag. The flag is only a part of the work being done by the city and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations to promote inclusivity. In January, the PCHR issued a report detailing the long history of discrimination against people of color in the Gayborhood, the city's historically gay neighborhood. Since the report, new policies have been enacted requiring staff members at bars and nonprofits in the Gayborhood to participate in sensitivity training sessions. Additionally, these businesses and organizations may receive "cease-operations orders" if patterns of discrimination emerge. Photo by Craig Allen/AFP/Getty Images. Racism within the LGBTQ community is much bigger than Philly. Many assume there would be a certain level of empathy for people of color within the LGBTQ community because these marginalized populations would have a lot in common. But in many circles, it's not the case. LGBTQ people of color bear the burdens of homophobia and racism. Trans women of color are killed at alarming rates. LGBTQ people of color are often rejected or objectified while online dating, in bars, nightclubs, and even nonprofits created to serve the community. LGBTQ youth of color are less likely to come out to their parents and are at a greater risk of experiencing homelessness or harassment. Isabelle Adon (left) and Sarai Montes embrace at a vigil for slain transgender woman Islan Nettles at Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images. Couple this with LGBTQ representations in pop culture focusing on wealthy, white, cisgender, male narratives, and it further perpetuates the idea that the LGBTQ community is incredibly one-note. This erasure and lack of representation have consequences, but efforts like Philadelphia's policy changes and flag show we can do better. Not in Philadelphia? Don't worry, new flag swag is available now near you. Free high-resolution downloads of Philly's new Pride flag are available for printing or making your own wearables. Flags, stickers, decals, and banners should be available for purchase soon on the initiative's #MoreColorMorePride website. The diversity and intersection of identities within the LGBTQ community is what makes it so unique, beautiful, and strong. Building on and celebrating this dynamic community through our flag is a small step that goes beyond words to action. This is a step in the right direction. Know another flag that comes with its own hype video? Check out this short spot to see the passion behind the project.
Direct Instruction or Learning Cycle? Is direct instruction, popularized by Madeline Hunter's seven instructional elements, and the learning cycle, developed by Robert Karplus, as separable as oil and water? The author reviews Hunter's seven instructional elements and Karplus's learning cycle and attempts to answer the question: How do they compare? The article includes a review of Hunter's seven instructional elements, a review of Karplus's learning cycle, an example of the learning cycle for a beginning electricity activity, how Hunter's instructional elements compare to Karplus's learning cycle, and a discussion of problems associated with trying to teach a learning cycle type of lesson using Hunter's seven instructional elements. Madeline Hunter's Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) contains much more than the seven instructional elements (anticipatory set, stating the objective, instructional input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, and independent practice), but the discussion concentrates on them with respect to a traditional fifty-minute instructional lesson. Seven Instructional Elements: - Anticipatory set is used to prepare students for the lesson by setting the students' minds for instruction. This is achieved by asking a question or making statements to pique interest, create mental images, review information, and initiate the learning process. - Stating the objective to students alerts them to what they will need to do and the purpose of the lesson. - Instructional input is where the student gains the knowledge needed to achieve the objective. - Modeling is when the instructor, or student(s), demonstrates how to achieve the objective. - Check for understanding is when the teacher checks to see if the students understand the concept or steps and how to enact them to achieve the objective. - Guided Practice is when the students do the objective under the guidance of a support system that can assure success. - Independent practice is when the students practice what they learn, after they are capable of performing the objective without support. While these elements are sequential, Hunter has stated that they are to act as a guide for instruction and teachers can combine and eliminate steps as required. Further teachers must constantly evaluate students and adjust what they do sometimes returning to previous steps and reteaching. Robert Karplus's learning cycle includes three steps, exploration; invention; and discovery, through which instruction and learning continually cycles. The first stage, exploration, is when the students actively experience equipment, materials, objects, ideas, and experiments to accumulate data, knowledge, experience, and explore processes. The second stage, invention, is when students categorize, summarize, and conceptualize the information collected during the exploration. The third stage, discovery is when students discover the usefulness of the invention in their everyday lives. Roger Osborne and Peter Freyberg call this stage application. Application of the concept invented in the second stage. Both refer to the fact that students need to be actively involved exploring the application of the new concept to reinforce their learning, transfer it to other similar situations, and generalize it to useful situations in everyday life. As students expand on the concept they will create new ideas for exploration with the same or different equipment, materials, objects, and ideas. These new explorations will lead to new inventions and discoveries as the cycle continues infinitely. Hunter developed her theory by collecting large amounts of data on what successful teachers do. Karplus's theory is a cognitive development based model with roots to Jean Piaget's theory and the scientific method of inquiry. To merge these ideas should be helpful for classroom teachers and ultimately students. I will use a beginning activity for current electricity to illustrate the inquiry teaching cycle and then the seven instructional elements. Electricity Activity and the Learning Cycle: Imagine a classroom where the teacher has distributed one bulb, one battery, and one wire, to each student. Students are asked to explore with the objects. They begin to collect data and learn information such as: the battery has a top and bottom, what the top looks like, what the bottom looks like, the wire has insulation, it is copper, or has a copper color, the bulb has threads on the side, a terminal on the bottom, glass top, filament inside...or... They are also learning operational information like: if they run a wire from the bottom of a battery to a bulb it will not light, that the same is true for the top, that a bulb will light if its bottom touches the top of the battery and a wire runs from the side of the bulb to the bottom of the bulb, and so forth. As students explore and eventually light the bulb they can be encouraged to draw diagrams to show how they arranged the objects to light the bulb and to discover other arrangements for lighting the bulb. After a reasonable amount of time, relative to the students, students who are unable to light the bulb are given hints to assure that all students are successful. When all students have lit the bulb in several different arrangements and exploration is waning it is time for the next step. Invention is initiated by having students discuss the information collected from the exploration. This sharing of information gives students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the system and assimilate or accommodate the information from their exploration. This is done by listing information, making drawings or diagrams of data to focus students' attention and begin a discussion. The discussion helps students record, organize, classify, consolidate, analyze, verify, and communicate the concept and related information in meaningful ways plus allow the teacher to evaluate the level of students' understanding. During this discussion the students' conceptualizations of a closed circuit are compared with each others and through minimal teacher intervention are compared to a scientifically acceptable concept of a closed circuit. Even if students have conceptualized a scientifically acceptable concept of a closed circuit before or during the exploration stage the invention stage is still necessary to complete their learning experience. The invention stage allows students to operationalize a procedure for lighting the bulb and communicating it in a scientific manner appropriate to the students' developmental level. Which makes the learning experience more meaningful. A finished communication for middle school students might be similar to this: To have a transfer of energy from a battery to a flashlight bulb there must be a continuous path (closed circuit) with the following parts of the objects in the path (only once): 1) top of the battery, 2) bottom of the battery, 3) threaded side of the bulb, and 4) bottom of the bulb such that electricity can flow through the receiver. A diagram to illustrate these connections could be drawn. The students have invented a concept of a closed circuit, written an operational definition, and practiced communicating information specific to closed circuits, and been involved in the process of scientific investigation. The lesson might very well end here, but the cycle should continue to the discovery of how the idea can be used. This is done through any number of activities that could be preselected by the teacher or selected from ideas the students generate during the invention stage or at the beginning of the discovery phase. The main consideration is students discover a use for their new concept of a closed circuit. Some sample activities might be: Use a circuit tester to explore objects by putting them into the circuit and recording if the circuit is open or closed for each object. The students would apply the concept of a closed circuit during an exploration stage and collect information to invent a concept of conductor and nonconductor in an invention stage. Another activity is to have students explore by giving them an additional bulb or battery, have them draw ten different circuits, and label them as opened or closed. This affords students opportunities to generalize the concept of a closed circuit to more complex circuits and lead to other inventions (parallel or series circuits for sources, receivers, or combinations). Both examples show a usefulness for expanding the concept of a closed circuit and open another cycle with an exploration stage. Students' progression through these cycles is similar to the progression through Piaget's learning theory and the progression of increasing knowledge through scientific investigation. Comparison of Hunter's Instructional Elements and Karplus's Learning Cycle If an instructional plan can be made to organize and instruct lessons for the learning cycle, then what good is Hunter's instructional elements? The obvious answer is to improve instruction. So let's see how this lesson might compare to a Hunter's lesson and decide if it would increase the effectiveness of instruction. Lets use the bulb and battery lesson as a sample. Anticipatory set: Teacher holds up a bulb and asks, "What is this?" Teacher holds up a battery and asks, "What is this?" Teacher holds up a wire and asks, "What is this?" Objective: Today you are going to explore using these three objects. Or if you want a more direct approach. Today you're going to use these three objects and light the light bulb. Instructional Input: You can take the three objects and combine them any way you like. Modeling: You can put the bulb on the side of the battery like this (model) and put the wire like this (model how to place the objects differently but do not model a method for lighting the light bulb). Check for understanding: Chris what are we going to do today? Guided practice and Independent practice: Let's try it. Teacher moves from group to group or from person to person and evaluates students' progress. Depending of the student's experiences, which the teacher can evaluate as they observe different individuals manipulating the material, the teacher can decide if intervention (guided practice) is necessary or if students can complete the exploration alone (independent practice). After the students have explored the various combinations of objects the exploration stage is over. Have the students move to a location in which they can discuss their data. Anticipatory set: Ask the students to share what they discovered. They can draw diagrams of their circuits and discuss how they worked. The teacher evaluates the students' eagerness to share information and their assimilation or accommodation of a closed circuit during the exploration and determines when to direct the invention with an objective statement. Objective: Let's find what basic conditions must be met for a transfer of energy to light the bulb. Instructional Input and Modeling: During this stage the teacher facilitates discussion to invent a concept similar to: A transfer of energy from a battery through the bulb must include a continuous path (closed circuit) with the following parts of the objects in the path (only once): 1) top of the battery, 2) bottom of the battery, 3) threaded side of the bulb, and 4) bottom of the bulb. To do this one of two strategies can be employed (depending on the students' previous response). If there were many drawings the strategy would be to eliminate drawings that are considered the same and ones that do not close the circuit. If there were few drawings then the strategy would be to add more drawings. This can be done by asking how the objects could be moved and still cause the bulb to light. If a student challenges a drawing then have a student create the circuit for justification (modeling). When there appears to have been enough data presented then restate the objective and have students mark all the places where the objects touch each other. At this point the students or the teacher can write an operational definition similar to the one already stated. Check for understanding: Have the students write the operational definition into their lab book in their words along with a picture. Then give them some examples of circuits and ask if they are closed circuits. Ask them to support their answer using the definition that is in their lab book. Some examples might be putting the bulb on the bottom of the battery and placing the bulb with the spirals touching the top or bottom of the battery. When all the students appear to understand it is time for the next step. Guided practice: Give the student a worksheet with some different circuits on and have them predict if the first example would be closed or open. Call on a students and have them demonstrate to the rest of the class how they would check to see if their prediction was correct. Independent practice: Have the students finish the rest of the worksheet at school or you might try one of the following. Challenge students to give examples of how their definition can be used at home Have the students create a different circuit and explain why it did or did not work. Have students explain how a flashlight works, any electronic object, or electrical wiring in homes. If the teacher is not going to have any additional activities on electricity then the previous discussion is the discovery stage. If the teacher plans on continuing to study electricity he or she might ask students to find an example of a closed circuit, according to their definition, to discuss in the next class. The next class could start by discussing their ideas in the anticipatory set and move into another activity by stating the objective. This next activity would be considered discovery, because it would be selected for the specific purpose of providing students a chance to use the concept invented during the lesson. Obviously at some point the teacher will want the class to move to another topic and the discovery stage will be included in the guided practice or independent practice of the last invention stage. The author recognizes that there are an infinite number of ways for a lesson to progress. The learning cycle is helpful in planning and implementing developmentally appropriate instruction. Madeline Hunter's elements of instruction can increase teacher effectiveness by focusing the teacher's attention on the need to provide students with certain elements. Particularly stating the object, modeling, checking for understanding, and providing a time for students to work on a task. It has been criticized as promoting instruction that over relies on teacher talk to provide instructional input. Karplus's learning cycle has been promoted to provide students with instructional input through personal student centered exploration. Each has elements that are important for teachers to consider when making instructional decisions. The question of selecting one or the other, or integrating ideas from one to the other, or selecting an entirely different instructional method is one individual teachers must make daily. There are three problems that can be associated with integration: - Stating the objective so that it gives too much to the student and removes the "thrill of the discovery", - Tying to integrate all three stages of the learning cycle into one linear set of the seven elements, and - Not allowing exploration or too much teacher talk before students are ready. The first, can be dealt with by simply not telling the student the outcome or the concept to be invented during the objective element and the introduction of the exploration stage. Instead tell them how they should explore. Today you are going to observe the frogs after you place them into the terrarium. Today list all the ways these ten objects can be classified. The second, was addressed by the author by considering all seven elements for each stage. Some teachers want to economize and put the three stages into one set of the seven elements. The problem with this is the invention stage is too often short changed. What happens is the teacher uses the instructional input and modeling for explaining how to explore, then checks for understanding of the exploration, and uses guided practice for guiding the students through the discovery. The tendency is to have independent practice for the exploration. This is not acceptable. The invention stage must include instructional input, checking for understanding, and guided practice that starts with what students have learned from their hands on experience. Two solutions are possible: modify the order of the seven elements, or consider all seven for each stage. The author recommended using the seven elements in each stage because it can lead to more flexibility. Hunter suggests the elements are for planning. When planning the teacher uses the elements as a guide to consider what might be done. Elements can be used, eliminated, or combined as the teacher sees fit. If teachers will consider the seven elements in this manner for each of the three stages that provides flexibility. The third problem, not allowing for exploration is not inherent to any one instructional strategy. To avoid this problem we must understand that children learn best when they are physically exploring, performing mental operations during the explorations, and communicating about the experiences. We must continually remind ourselves of this and plan experiences that provide it. The author has instructed students using this integrated approach and found it to be workable. He has also taught undergraduate and graduate students to use the integrated approach and they too have found it workable. So, are Madeline Hunter's seven instructional elements and Robert Karplus's learning cycle as separable as oil and water? Well maybe not. However, the questions as to why one would want to use a seven step plan instead of a three step Learning Cycle plan is a question that may be more relevant. Eakin, J. R., & Karplus R. (1976, January) SCIS final report. Lawrence Hall of Science. University of California. Berkeley, CA. Hunter, M. (198 ). Mastery teaching. El Segundo, CA: TIP Publications. Karplus, Robert. (1964). The science curriculum improvement study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 2. pp. 293-303. Kotar, M. (1989, April). The learning cycle. Science and Children, 26(7), pp. 30-32. Osborne, R. & Freyberg, P. (1988). Learning in science: The implications of children's science. Auchland, NZ.: Heinemann Publishers. Renner, J. W. and Marek, E. A. (1988). The learning cycle and elementary school science teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Science Curriculum Improvement Study. (1973, May) SCIS Omnibus. Lawrence Hall of Science. University of California. Berkeley, CA.
Is there a way to include an informed and representative public voice in the nomination process? A solution can be found in the practices of ancient Athens, where hundreds of citizens chosen by lot would regularly deliberate together and make important public decisions. In ancient Athens, there were citizens' juries and legislative commissions of several hundreds, as well as the Council of 500 that set the agenda for the Agora, the public forum - all chosen by lot. Lottery provided for an equal chance to participate, while deliberation ensured an informed outcome. Recently, Pasok, the socialist party of Greece, revived this ancient practice after 2,400 years and applied it to the selection of candidates in the municipal elections. In the Athenian district of Marousi, site of the Athens Olympics, a randomly selected group of 160 citizens gathered to choose from among six candidates. All members of the group were sent briefing materials on 19 issues ranging from traffic and waste disposal to private universities and social services. After 10 hours of deliberation and direct questioning of the candidates, the participants voted by secret ballot; in the second round, Panos Alexandris won a clear majority and was therefore nominated as the Pasok candidate for mayor of Marousi.
Aral Sea, salt lake, c.12,000 sq mi (31,080 sq km), in south-western Kazakhstan and north-western Uzbekistan. Generally very shallow, it attains a maximum depth of c.180 ft (58 m). Geologically separate from the Caspian Sea since the last Ice Age, the Aral Sea was once only slightly saline. Its western and northern shores are the edges of the arid Ustyurt Plateau; the Kyzyl Kum desert stretches to the south-east. Mentioned in Arab writings of the 10th century, the Aral Sea was called the Khwarazm (or Khorezm) Sea by later Arab geographers. In the 18th century it was reached by Russians, who called it the Blue Sea. Fed by the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, the sea supported local fishing and was navigable from Muinak to Aralsk. In the 1950s the Soviet Union decided to cultivate cotton in the region, and since the early 1960s the Syr Darya and Amu Darya have been used for large-scale irrigation, reducing the flow of freshwater into the sea. Evaporation and water diversion have resulted in a major environmental problem, shrinking the Aral by half. The quality of its remaining water has deteriorated, increased salinity has killed fish, and the health of those living along the shore has suffered. Regional weather has been affected as well, becoming harsher as the sea's moderating climatic influence has diminished.
The above picture is a detail from the great glass apinting in the Gallery of the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster. It depicts the victorious field marshals, Duke of Wellington and Prussian General von Blucher shaking hands after the fighting was over. The Prussians pursued the fleeing French army and the British and Allies stayed behind to rest, bury the dead, treat the wounded , and take up the chase again later. This painting by Joseph William Mallord Turner was painted after he toured the battlefield and sketched the scene. It emphasizes the tragedy of so many deaths, so many lost forever. Below, the Duke of Wellington rides through the carnage back to his headquarters in the village of Waterloo where he would write his despatch to Lord Bathurst in London declaring victory. Later the Duke of Wellington said, “I hope to God I have fought my last battle…I am wretched even at the moment of victory, and I always say that next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.” It was the first battle in which Napoleon faced Wellington, and for both men, indeed their last military battle. The Battle of Waterloo left 9,500 dead; 32,000 wounded. This caricature expresses the views that Napoleon was principally to blame for the millions of dead in Europe during his years of power. He may have had sokme positive effects on French laws, but it is hard not to blame him for the dreadful number of casualties. The Duke of Wellington showing the Prince Regent (later George IV) the battlefield of Waterloo by Benjamin Robert Haydon, c. 1844. Copyright: Stratfield Saye Preservation Trust. The Prince Regent had convinced himself he was present at the battle, and the Duke was often required to respond when George recalled his glorious participation. "So you say, Your Royal Highness," the Duke would have to reply. Victoria Hinshaw, Author
Scalable, modular documentation is key to OSE’s work. Humans have a unique capacity to learn from past experience. The invention of writing 10k years ago sharpened this skill to extraordinary capacity - enabling humans to dominate their natural environment. Seminal general semanticist Alfred Korzybski calls this ability "time-binding" - the unique capacity of humans to bind time by beginning development where another human left off. This ability depends on the availability of documentation. While this documentation may be oral, highly complex technical tasks beyond heirloom technology require written documentation. OSE develops its machines via module-based design. This means that we break machines down into modules, and each module can be developed in parallel with other modules. For this to happen, one must document how these modules fit together - which is the Interface Design. In principle, if a project can be broken down into a large number of modules, then a correspondingly large project team can be involved in parallel - allowing for rapid development velocity. Further, if a project is open source, well-organized documentation allows new developers to orient themselves rapidly, resulting in short onboarding times. OSE’s Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) is an experiment to test the power of scalable, modular, open source documentation. What are the resulting development efficiencies? Can we develop a scalable process where a single developer can coordinate 1000 development hours of free collaboration per week? Can this collaboration be structured sufficiently within a chaotic process to allow for the execution of complex tasks - that are time-bound to achieve long-term goals? Can prototyping of new modules - and therefore new complex machines - occur on the time scale of a week? Can this process be scaled to multiple developers? These are some of the critical questions that OSE is trying to answer. This website shows the 50 GVCS machines and a Dashboard. The Dashboard is a unique identifier taxonomy that has been developed in the 2013 Open Source Hardware Documentation Jam, and is added to OSE documentation and embedded within the underlying internet structure (XML tags), beginning with OSHW (Open Source HardWare) - Project Entity - Product - Brief Description - Status - License - and Keywords. This taxonomy such that a search engine can find any OSHW project in the world. For the OSHW project to meet the Open Source Hardware Association Definition 1.0, the project must have a license (such as Creative Commons CC-BY-SA) that does not prevent commercial use (ie, CC-BY-NC licenses are not allowed). You can find out more about why OSE does not endorse NC licenses Here. OSE DOCUMENTATIN AND DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM For OSE, this is our general platform: (Graphic) The list of machines is at the OSE Dozuki site, which uses an open, XML-based document standard for instruction manuals, oManual. Related machines other than the 50 GVCS tools are found under Other. We use Trovebox to store all our pictures, and we upload video to YouTube in realtime. OSE’s parallel development process is intended to be carried out by 12-24 person teams for each module. If there are multiple modules developed at the same time - say 6 - then a hardware project lends itself to a development team on the order of 100 people. OSE is experimenting what resources are required for a single project leader to guide such a team to rapid project completion. For electro-mechanical devices such as those in the GVCS, a team is requires these specific functions: ECONOMICS - ENTERPRISE CONSTRUCTION SET Economic feasibility is a validation of the effectiveness of products. Just like we are creating construction sets for machines, we are creating a construction set for enterprise. Open documentation and development provides a good foundation for developing enterprise. The promise of open is that innovation can be accelerated to an unprecedented rate. Open makes lean operation possible, including the ready ability to invite external contributors. Open development attracts contributors because of its ethical advantage - because openness is compatible with the common good. Both an ethical and practical advantage comes to the fore when open development results in the solution of wicked problems. With open processes, the energy spent on protectionism is eliminated. Protectionism manifests itself in competitive waste - such as poor internal communication, power struggles in organizations, use of expensive hardware and software, high intellectual property costs, and in general a higher overhead because of added complexity. These points indicate that the open source business model can be more effective for the bottom line, while meeting social objectives. Based on the technique for documenting and developing products via module-based design, see the status of each of the machines at http://opensourceecology.org/gvcs/gvcs-machine-index/ Based on the status of the machines, we are requesting proposals for specific development points. See the RFP (Request for Proposal) section.
This township was erected by a decree of the court dated the 19th day of May, 1854, and was named in honor of Judge Knox, one of the first judges, who presided over the courts of Clearfield county. The township is bounded on the north by Pike and Lawrence townships, on the east by Woodward and Bigler townships, south by Beccaria township and west by Jordan and Ferguson townships. The principal business of the people of the township is agriculture, although there are some coal deposits that are now being operated. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 1,064. The first settlement in Knox township, and one of the first in the county, was made by James Rea, in 1806, who came here from Huntingdon county. The nearest grist-mill at that time was between Tyrone and Birmingham. Some time after a mill was erected at Moose Creek, and thither Mr. Rea transported his grist on the back of an ox. In a short time James Hegarty, who was murdered soon after, settled what is now the William Witherow farm. Thomas McKee improved the land later owned by Robert Witherow’s heirs, and Thomas Jordan located where Thomas Witherow subsequently lived. John Carson, also one of the first settlers, procured the premises made vacant by the death of James Hegarty. In 1824, Peter Erhard, who lived by the Susquehanna River, near Curwensville, was drowned while crossing the river on horseback. About six or eight years previous to this time he had located some land in what is now Knox township. By the aid of his four sons this land was improved, and shortly after the death of the father the sons moved to this land, and in connection with it bought the tract upon which grew up the village of New Millport. The three eldest sons, Christian, David, and Philip, were interested in the latter purchase, and soon erected a saw-mill, probably the first improvement on Little Clearfield Creek. This first mill was built sometime between 1820 and 1825, and after it had served its purpose and time, another was built near the grist-mill. Saw-mills did not pay the operators in that early day, for although surrounded by thousands of acres of immense pine forests, the facilities for transportation were so poor and the demand so limited, that lumber was scarce worth the cutting, and millions of feet that would now be worth forty to sixty dollars per thousand feet, were rolled into heaps and burned. George, a younger son of Peter Erhard, improved a farm; was county commissioner from 1857 to 1860. The first dwelling-house in New Miliport village was built by David Erhard, Sr., about 1834, near the mill-race. The town was of slow growth, but the building of the Beech Creek Railroad through it in 1885, gave it a new impetus. The first industries being mills, suggested the name—Miliport, and the word New, was added when the postoffice was established here, to distinguish it from Millport, in Potter county, Pa. The first postmaster was D. E. Mokel, appointed in 1855 or 1856. The first schoolhouse in Knox township was located across the run from the residence of David Erhard. It was built in 1842. The first teacher was Benjamin Roberts, who afterwards became a citizen of the township, and improved the farm later owned by Robert Patterson. The township is now well supplied with good schools and teachers; also
Information Possibly Outdated The information presented on this page was originally released on November 29, 2007. It may not be outdated, but please search our site for more current information. If you plan to quote or reference this information in a publication, please check with the Extension specialist or author before proceeding. Producers may put fish on insect diet MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Bugs are just pests for most people, but a group of Mississippi State University scientists is working to make insects an important crop. Frank Davis, emeritus adjunct professor of entomology, received a phone call in early 2007 from a Florida-based company's president with an interest in mass-producing insects. “His interest was in mass-producing insects as a sustainable protein source to replace fish meal in fish and livestock feeds,” Davis said The call brought together a company with diversified interests in seafood and aquaculture technologies with perhaps the only university in the world with the ability to research all aspects of rearing insects as a source of food for fish and other livestock. Growing insects for use in research began at MSU when the Department of Entomology established a facility called “The Worm Shed” and U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist R.T. Gast and Davis started growing several insect species on artificial diets in the 1960s at the Boll Weevil Research Laboratory. As a USDA entomologist for 35 years, Davis led a team that developed a major insect-rearing facility at the federal laboratory for producing pest moth species for corn and cotton research. After retiring, he joined MSU's faculty and organized the university's first Insect Rearing Workshop in the fall of 2000. The workshop has brought hundreds of scientists from throughout the United States and overseas to campus to learn about raising insects for use in research, for educational purposes and for commercial uses, including natural control of insect pests. The success of the workshop also led to the construction of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's state-of-the-art Insect Rearing Center on campus. It was the workshop's reputation as one of the few places in the world to learn about rearing insects that caught the attention of Neptune Industries of Boca Raton, Fla. Ernest Papadoyianis, president of Neptune Industries, said his company was searching for ways to eliminate one of the major bottlenecks in the aquaculture industry -- reliance on fishmeal for protein in fish diets -- when someone mentioned “insects.” “We had just talked about how many freshwater fish species derive most of their nutrition from various stages of small insects, some just the size of the head of a pin,” he said. A chance sighting of an industry news article on Davis and the insect-rearing workshop drew the company to MSU. Aquaculture, the commercial production of seafood in managed ponds or tanks, currently supplies about 46 percent of all seafood consumed in the world today. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that commercially grown supplies will rise to 75 percent of consumption in the next 20 years. “The supply of wild-caught fish has really been flat since the late 1980s, and those stocks have little chance of regaining their past levels because of pollution, overfishing and other factors affecting commercial fishing,” Papadoyianis said. “Aquaculture is left to bridge the widening gap, and we have to be sustainable in all aspects of our industry.” More than 25 percent of all fish harvested today are used for fish meal, and the majority of fish meal is used to produce other fish, he said. These baitfish stocks, such as anchovies, menhaden and herring, are exploited, and growing scarcer as time goes on. The result is an ever-tightening supply situation, which has caused sharp price increases over the last year. This trend is expected to worsen. “For our industry to grow and become independent of protein from wild-caught fish, we have to come up with sources that are sustainable,” Papadoyianis said. “Having a source of high-quality protein that can be mass-produced essentially from processing products such as fruits, grains, vegetables, and even fish and animal waste, would be an ideal situation for the aquaculture industry.” Just days after the initial telephone call, Papadoyianis and Sal Cherch, Neptune's chief operating officer, visited the MSU campus. The result of the visit with Davis, entomologist John Schneider, and entomology and plant pathology department head Clarence Collison was an agreement with the university to research the use of feed made from commercially grown insects for fish production. “The first phase of the research was the selection of insect species with high amounts of protein that can be economically produced by the millions,” Davis said. By early fall the species were selected and feeding trials began with hybrid striped bass supplied by Neptune. The feeding trials are being conducted by Forest and Wildlife Research Center professor Lou D'Abramo, who is comparing feed pellets made with fish meal to pellets produced from insects. Both were commercially produced and look identical. “The early trial results indicate the fish have no real preference for one over the other,” D'Abramo said. “In the wild, fish do come to the surface to feed on dragonflies and other insects, so it makes sense that they will eat pellets made from insects.” D'Abramo is also studying weight gain and other factors that will determine whether the insect-based diet is acceptable for commercial fish production. The next phase of the research was conducted at MSU's Garrison Sensory Evaluation Laboratory to determine whether an insect diet affects the taste, texture or other qualities of the fish. “Our evaluation of the samples of hybrid striped bass from the feeding trail indicated no difference in appearance, flavor or texture of the fish grown on the insect-based diet and those grown on the fish meal diet,” said Patti Coggins, director of the sensory evaluation lab. “The only difference we found was that the fillets from the fish raised on the insect diet did not have a strong ‘fishy' smell.” With research pointing to the potential success of insect-based diets in fish production, Papadoyianis is looking ahead to the next step in the process -- construction of a pilot insect-rearing facility to test growing, harvesting and processing methods. “We've already had inquiries from all over the world about this,” Papadoyianis said. “Our vision is to have insect production facilities in all of the geographical regions with major commercial aquaculture industries in order to reduce freight costs. That will require researching the use of local insect species, nutrition and production methods, so we envision a long-term relationship with Mississippi State University.” Contact: Dr. Frank Davis, (662) 325-2983
The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program is designed to identify and manage potential risks to resources on National Forest System lands and reduce these threats through appropriate emergency measures to protect human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources. BAER is an emergency program for stabilization work that involves time-critical activities to be completed before the first damaging storm event to meet program objectives. Determine whether imminent post-wildfire threats to human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources on National Forest System lands exist, and take immediate actions, as appropriate, to manage the unacceptable risks. If emergency conditions are identified, mitigate potential threats to health, safety, human life, property and values-at-risk. Prescribe emergency response actions to stabilize and prevent unacceptable degradation to natural and cultural resources, to minimize threats to life or property resulting from the effects of a fire, or to repair/replace/construct physical improvements necessary to prevent degradation of land or resources. Implement emergency response actions to help control water flow, sediment and debris movement and potentially reduce threats to the BAER values identified. Treatments may be applied when an analysis shows that planned actions are likely to reduce risks substantially within the first year following containment of the fire. Monitor the implementation and effectiveness of emergency treatments that were applied on National Forest lands. While many wildfires cause minimal damage to the land and pose few threats to the land or people downstream, some fires result in damage that requires special efforts to reduce impacts afterwards. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; water run-off may increase and cause flooding, soil and rock may move downstream and damage property or fill reservoirs putting community water supplies and endangered species at-risk. The BAER team presents these findings in an assessment report that identifies immediate and emergency actions needed to address post-fire risks to human life and safety, property, cultural and critical natural resources. This may include early detection and rapid response (EDRR) treatments to prevent the spread of noxious weeds into native plant communities. The BAER report describes watershed pre- and post-fire response information, areas of concern for life and property, and recommended short-term emergency stabilization measures for Forest Service lands that burned. In most cases, only a portion of the burned area may actually be treated. Severely burned areas, steep slopes, and places where water run-off will be excessive and may impact important resources, are focus areas and described in assessment report if they affect values-at-risk. Time is critical if emergency stabilization measures are to be effective. A BAER assessment team conducts field surveys and uses science-based models to rapidly evaluate and assess the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilization measures. The team generates a “Soil Burn Severity” map by using satellite imagery which is validated and adjusted by BAER team field surveys to assess watershed conditions and model potential watershed erosion and runoff from wildfire effects on the landscape. The map identifies areas of soil burn severity by categories of low/unburned, moderate, and high which may correspond to a projected increase in watershed response. The higher the burn severity, the less the soil will be able to absorb water when it rains. Without absorption, there will be increased run-off with potential of flooding. Special Emergency Wildfire Suppression funds are authorized for BAER activities and the amount of these expenses varies with the severity of the fire season. Some years see little BAER activity while other years are extremely busy. Because of the emergency nature of BAER, initial requests for funding of proposed BAER treatments are supposed to be submitted by the Forest Supervisor to the Regional Office within 7 days of total containment of the fire.
Monitoring Windborne Activities of Disease Vectors, Pathogens, and Pests Tovi Lehmann of the National Institute of Health in the U.S. will establish cross-country networks of aerial sampling stations in Africa to monitor windborne movement of insects and pests, and evaluate risks to public health, food safety, and ecosystem stability. Vector-borne disease is among Africa's top health priorities, and control of the insect vectors is the primary target for prevention. They will use a unique aerial sampling program to collect airborne insects across Mali and Ghana, and identify insects and pathogens within them by molecular analysis. Sticky nets mounted on helium balloons have shown, in a pilot project, to collect diverse samples, more representative of area fauna than ground sampling protocols. The same project showed that mosquitoes frequently travel (and may spread disease) over hundreds of kilometers. Overnight aerial sampling will be conducted ten nights per month for six months, followed by insect taxonomic identification and RNA/DNA sequencing to identify insects and pathogens. Weather data will be collected from the sampling stations at both ground level and sampling altitude and combined with population data for statistical analysis and simulation of flight patterns. They will produce dynamic, species-specific maps of select insects and pathogens with putative sites of origin, routes and destinations, which will be used to evaluate risks to public health and food security.
The southwest corner of People's Square seen from the Urban Planning Museum This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) People's Square is the site of Shanghai's municipal government headquarters building and the standard reference point for measurement of distance of almost all highways in the Shanghai municipality is set in the north of the square, near the fountain. Prior to 1949 and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, what is now People's Square was a course for horse racing owned by the Shanghai Race Club. Gambling and horse racing ceased during World War II and was not permitted to re-commence by the Republic of China government after the war. After the Chinese Civil War, the new Communist government continued the ban and, when the club ran into financial difficulties, took over the grounds and a part of the race course became People's Square, which included a large avenue and spectator stands for use during parades. In the 1990s, major changes were made to the square. The Shanghai Municipal Government was moved here from the former HSBC Building on the Bund, also the Shanghai Museum was moved here from its previous site in a former office building. More recent additions include the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. Other parts of the race course still remain. The clubhouse buildings became the Shanghai Art Museum, while part of the race track became People's Park, a public park. Well-known landmarks and tourist attractions surrounding the square include: - Grand Cinema - K11, formerly known as the Hong Kong New World Tower - Municipal government headquarters - Nanjing Road - Park Hotel Shanghai (tallest building in Asia, 1934–1952) - People's Park - Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World - Raffles City Shanghai - Shanghai Grand Theatre - Shanghai Museum - Shanghai Art Museum - Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center - Shimao International Plaza - Tomorrow Square - Madame Tussauds Shanghai The Shanghai Museum is in a prominent central position in the square, with large fountains immediately to the north. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to People's Square.\|
In the prior posts in the How They Work (In Plain English!) series, we went through a high-level overview of machine learning and explored two key categories of supervised learning algorithms (linear and tree-based models), two key unsupervised learning techniques (clustering and dimensionality reduction), and recommendation engines which can use either supervised or unsupervised learning. Today, we’ll dive into Natural Language Processing (NLP), which overlaps with each of these topics in different ways. NLP is a subfield of AI that enables machines to understand and derive meaning from human language. Research over the past decade has greatly improved the function and utility of NLP in our everyday lives; some key use cases include speech recognition (as seen through Siri & Alexa), automatic language translation, sentiment analysis, fake news identification, and chatbots. Before we dive into the details of how it all works, we should take a minute to think about the challenge of NLP, which always reminds me of the movie “Arrival.” If you haven’t seen it, it’s about linguistic researchers tasked with developing a method of communicating with aliens who communicate with one another by blowing smoke into specific formations into the air and have recently landed on Earth. The premise of the movie hinges on the idea that language is incredibly complex and has a grave impact on our perception of reality — in the absence of a wide vocabulary of adjectives, we may not be able to articulate or even understand all the nuances of our emotions. On top of this, it touches upon the concept that literal language only goes so far, and to really understand one another we must understand metaphorical language, sarcasm, facial expressions, and much more. So, in order to communicate with the aliens, the linguists must convert English into something the aliens can understand. Not only is this a translation into another language, rather it’s a translation into another dimension of language, as the aliens don’t understand facial expressions or hand gestures, and certainly don’t inherently understand spoken language. The challenge of NLP is similar in many ways, as it involves converting spoken or written language into something a computer can understand — a numerical format, which I’d venture to consider another dimension of language. This is quite a challenging task due to the complexities of human language, but, in this post, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of how it all works, including: - Text cleaning - Text vectorization (conversion into a numerical format) - Key NLP techniques While it may seem unexciting, text cleaning is one of the most crucial tasks in any NLP project. Almost any machine learning task begins with some level of data cleanup, but text data is typically much more complex and challenging to clean than numerical or categorical data, as it is much less structured. Text cleaning falls into four main categories: normalization, stop word removal, stemming and lemmatization, and tokenization. Normalization refers to the removal of general noise in text, which might include things like converting all text to lowercase, removing punctuation, correcting typos, or removing miscellaneous noise (e.g. unneeded dates and numbers or HTML tags). This sort of miscellaneous noise removal is particularly helpful if text has been generated via web scraping or PDF parsing, which can result in messy output datasets. Regular expressions, patterns used to match character combinations within strings, can be helpful in detailed pattern searching if we’re working with text that conforms to certain predefined structures, such as user IDs or dates. Normalization (Lowercasing & Removing Punctuation): I love running outside in the Summer! → i love running outside in the summer Tokenization refers to the process of breaking long text strings into tokens, which are typically words but can also be bi-grams or tri-grams — groups of two or three words, respectively. If we were to perform unigram tokenization on the phrase “Thank you so much,” we’d end up with a list containing four tokens: [“Thank,” “you,” “so,” “much”]. With bi-gram tokenization, however, we would end up with a list of three tokens: [“Thank you,” “you so,” “so much”]. When two or three words combined hold a different meaning than they do alone, bi-grams or tri-grams ensure that we capture the meaning of the group of words, rather than each word individually, as “you” alone holds a very different meaning than it does when it follows the word “thank,” for example. Tokenization is the first key step in transforming text into something a machine can understand, and all tokens are then used to prepare a vocabulary. Each word in the vocabulary is then treated as a unique feature, which is essential if we want to ultimately convert text into numerical values to feed into a machine learning model. i love running outside in the summer → [“i,” “love,” “running,” “outside,” “in,” “the,” “summer”] Stop words are common words in a language that hold very little information, and removing them doesn’t compromise the meaning of a sentence. For example, some key English stop words include “in,” “the,” and “so.” For many NLP techniques, stop words don’t provide much helpful information, and removing helps to reduce noise in your model. Stop words can also be customized to your dataset; for example, in a corpus of food recipes, “tablespoon” and “cup” might not actually be helpful words and might be considered custom stop words. It’s important to keep in mind that removing helpful words can be quite dangerous, so it’s typically best to err on the side of caution when removing custom stop words, and ensure the subject matter experts are involved. Stop Word Removal: i love running outside in the summer → love running outside summer Stemming and Lemmatization Stemming and lemmatization refer to two methods of reducing words into their base or root form, in order to convert all terms into present tense. This ensures that the words like “run” and “running,” for example, are considered to be the same word since they have the same core meaning. Stemming simply refers to stripping all suffixes of a word; for example, the word “assigned” would be stripped down to “assign.” Stemming is quite rudimentary and is computed quickly. For words which follow standard rules of their language’s grammar, this tends to work well. However, not all words do. Lemmatization deals with more grammatically complex words by considering a morphological analysis, and reducing a word into its dictionary form, or lemma. For example, “being” would be reduced to “be,” but so would the words “was” and “am,” as they have the same core meaning even though they begin with different letters. Stemming would only convert “being” and “been” to “be,” and “was” and “am” would remain untouched. Lemmatization is more complex and sophisticated, but it is much more computationally expensive than stemming, which can be a challenge with very large datasets. love running outside summer → love run outside summer This sentence is the same with stemming and lemmatization, as “run” is the lemma as well as the stem of “running.” Before we can feed cleaned and tokenized text into a machine learning model, we must convert it into something a machine can understand — numbers. This process of converting text into numerical values is referred to as vectorization. There are a handful of ways to do this; some of the most commonly used methods are count vectorization, TF-IDF, as well as newer word embedding methods such as Word2Vec. As with many decisions throughout the lifecycle of a data science project, the best method is dependent upon the use case and dataset at hand. Count Vectorization, also known as Bag of Words, is far and away the simplest method of vectorization. It simply counts the number of occurrences of each word within a document. If a word appears once in a document, its feature column will have a value of one, if it appears twice, it will have a value of two, and so on. The cleaned and tokenized texts [“run,” “yesterday”] and [“love,” “outside,” “run,” “summer,” “yesterday”] would be converted into five columns with word counts like above. If you’re familiar with one-hot-encoding, count vectorization is quite similar, but rather than dummifying a categorical column, we’ll transform a text column into word counts. Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency, or TF-IDF, takes count vectorization one step further. It measures the originality of a term by multiplying term frequency (TF), or, how many times the term exists in a document, by inverse document frequency (IDF), or, the frequency of that term across all documents in the corpus. This ensures that terms which appear frequently in a corpus, or entire collection of documents, are weighted less heavily as they will probably be unhelpful in categorizing documents. For example, if we have an entire corpus of articles about running, the word “run” is probably not going to help us in any way, so we’d want to weigh it less heavily. In both lines, the word “run” is weighted the least heavily, since it appears in both documents. TF-IDF is helpful in understanding originality, but it still does not capture context, or meaning. If the words “happy” and “run” appeared with the same level of frequency in a document and corpus, they’d have the same TF-IDF score, although the meanings are of course quite different. Fortunately, research within the last decade has allowed us to capture context more explicitly through word embeddings, which use neural networks to generate vectors for individual words. Rather than just using one number to represent a word, we’ll now have a vector, or a list of numbers. Word2Vec was the first word embedding algorithm, developed by Google in 2013. Word2Vec looks at past appearances and surrounding words to generate a vector for an individual word, in order to ultimately generate a vocabulary of words and associated vectors. These vectors are numerical representations of context, and can be queried to compute similarities mathematically. If you missed the last post on recommendation engines, check out the discussion of cosine similarity; the idea is the same with text, as we can compare similarities of words by computing the cosine of the angle between the vectors. Word2Vec allows us to compute similarities mathematically; for example, we can say “King” - “Man” + “Woman” = “Queen.” There have been many other recent developments in the world of word embeddings, such as: - Glove, which emphasizes the frequency of co-appearances - FastText, which is an extension of Word2Vec but also considers parts of words - ElMO which enables words to have different word vectors depending on the use within a sentence - Transformer Models, such as BERT & GPT, which look bi-directionally, so rather than reading only from left to right, they read in both directions which allows for increased accuracy and speed, thanks to parallelizable training. Advancements in NLP in recent years have been largely tied to improvements in word embedding methodologies, and these advancements have opened doors for much more efficient and accurate processing of speech and text data. Once our text has been cleaned and vectorized or embedded, we can perform a wide array of machine learning techniques to generate some type of meaning from our text. The technique we’ll use really depends on the business problem we want to solve or the type of text we want to process. We’ll explore text classification, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling. Note that there are many other NLP techniques out there, but these are three of the most common and straightforward to understand. Text classification simply refers to using vectorized or embedded text as an input to a classification model, in order to predict the category which a document belongs to. For example, let’s imagine we want to predict whether or not an email is spam. We can train a model to look at numerical features like the number of emails received from this sender in the past, categorical features like the sender or day of week, as well as text features like subject line and email text. These text features would make use of the text we vectorized or embedded in the prior step. We’ll then train a regular classification model, and the numerical representation for each term is now a feature in the model. We can use any classification algorithm, including some of the ones we’ve discussed earlier in this series, such as logistic regression or tree-based models. There are also some other algorithms such as naive bayes which are even better suited for certain text classification tasks, due to the algorithm’s assumptions. Sentiment analysis is a method of algorithmically determining sentiment associated with an input text. This can be helpful for tracking brand health over time or identifying key promoters or detractors of your product. Sentiment analysis is particularly useful in the analysis of social media data and can be used to track reactions to a big event, such as a buzz-worthy new ad campaign. The most common method of performing sentiment analysis is actually via a fairly simple rules-based approach, using a python package called TextBlob. TextBlob leverages a custom English dictionary, WordNet, which contains polarity and subjectivity scores for each word. Polarity ranges from -1 to 1, and provides a measure of how negative or positive a sentiment is, while subjectivity ranges from 0 to 1 and provides a measure of how factual or opinionated text is. Polarity scores for variations of the word “good.” TextBlob accounts for preceding words or punctuation to adjust the polarity and subjectivity scores, so a negation word like “not” reverses polarity, whereas adverbs like “very” increase the magnitude of the polarity as well as the subjectivity. Since WordNet provides us with a numerical representation of each word, we don’t need to worry about vectorizing our text. On top of this, we can also actually cut down on the amount of text preprocessing we do, as some punctuation, like exclamation marks, as well as stop words, like “not” or “very,” can impact polarity and subjectivity scores. We’ll typically want to either entirely remove certain text processing steps, or at least pare them back so we don’t end up altering the meaning of the sentence. Rules-based approaches like TextBlob are fairly rudimentary but tend to work quite well for sentiment analysis, especially when speed and efficiency are important. If you have labeled data, or are able to easily label your data, you can also treat sentiment analysis as another text classification problem, as mentioned above. In this case, you’d use the vectorized text to predict the sentiment category. Topic modeling refers to using unsupervised learning to identify latent topics within a corpus of text. Topic modeling is conceptually similar to clustering, as we don’t need labeled data or explicit category tags to assign categories, rather, we’ll find keywords from documents which are close to one another in vector space. LDA, or Latent Dirichlet Allocation, is one of the most commonly used methods of topic modeling. The goal of LDA is to learn the mix (or, probability distribution) of topics within each document as well as the mix of words in each topic, in order to ultimately assign documents to topics. This happens via four key steps: - Choose a number of topics to learn (this is a hyperparameter that we set). - Randomly assign each word in each document to one of the topics. - Re-assign words to topics, if necessary, based on: - How frequently the topic appears in the document. - How frequently the word appears in the topic overall. 4. Iterate through Step 3 until topics start to emerge. We can see the distribution of words within each topic and the distribution of topics within each document. Document 1, “Director James Lee discussed the impact of cinema on film…” is mostly associated with topic 2, film, and lightly associated with topic 1, education, which makes sense. Topics won’t actually be labeled for us, but we’d look through the keywords to come up with appropriate labels. For example, it makes sense that a topic which has many appearances of the words “director” and “cinema” would be labeled “film.” LDA is one of the most popular algorithms for topic modeling, but there are a handful of other algorithms that can be used as well, including Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). NLP is a very broad field, and has grown exponentially over the past decade, paving the way for major advancements in our day to day lives. This said, the fundamental principles of NLP projects haven’t really changed. In any NLP project, we must first clean and preprocess our data to ensure that our model is free of unnecessary noise. Text cleaning often involves normalization, tokenization, stop word removal, and stemming or lemmatization. However, some NLP techniques such as sentiment analysis require as much information as possible and less text cleaning, to ensure that polarity and subjectivity are not lost. Once text has been cleaned, it must somehow be converted into a numerical format. Typically, this happens via vectorization or generating embeddings, and there are a ton of new and advanced techniques which leverage neural networks to generate embeddings. Cleaned and vectorized text can be used to perform a wide array of NLP techniques. Some of the most common include text classification, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling. There are a handful of ways to perform each technique, and as always, the best approach depends on the problem at hand.
What is nslookup quizlet The nslookup command queries DNS and returns the host names IP address. How do you nslookup an IP address How To Find IP Address Of a Domain Using NSLookup Command In Windows - Type cmd into the search box after clicking the Start button. - The Windows command window will appear. - You will see the IP address for Yahoo FTP. - If you want to look up a websites IP address, enter nslookup in the command prompt. What protocol does nslookup use Nslookup.exe is a command-line administrative tool that is installed with the TCP/IP protocol through Control Panel and is used to test and troubleshoot DNS servers. How do I use a DNS lookup Enter the command nslookup (name server lookup), followed by the domain name or IP address you want to trace, at your command prompt to ask the Name Service for details about the specified IP address or domain name. How can I get hostname from nslookup Find the line labeled Name underneath the line with the IP address you entered and note the value next to Name as the hostname of the computer. Type nslookup%ipaddress% in the black box that appears on the screen, substituting%ipaddress% with the IP address for which you want to find the hostname. Why does nslookup show server unknown The reverse lookup zone is frequently the problem if nslookup returns “Server: Unknown” in the query. In this situation, a “non-authoritative answer” notification is given because the local DNS server was unable to answer the query itself and had to contact one or more other name servers. What is the DNS lookup command in cmd Alternatively, click Start > Run > type cmd or command to launch the command prompt. Type nslookup and press Enter to display information about your local DNS server, including its IP address. What is ipconfig used for When used without any additional parameters, ipconfig shows all adapters IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, subnet masks, and default gateway. What does nslookup stand for nslookup is an acronym for name server lookup and allows you to query your DNS service. The tool is typically used to get a domain name via your command line interface (CLI), get information about IP address mapping, and lookup DNS records. What does the nslookup command do The program known as nslookup enables any computer user or Internet server administrator to enter a host name (such as “whatis.com”) and discover the corresponding IP address or domain name system (DNS) record. What is the function of the DNS protocol quizlet You just studied 3 terms: IP addresses, domain names, and DNS. IP addresses uniquely identify each computer on a network and enable communication between them using the Internet Protocol (IP). What does ipconfig release do Ipconfig /renew is used to request a new IP address after ipconfig /release is used to force the client to immediately terminate its lease by sending the server a DHCP release notification that updates the servers status information and marks the old clients IP address as “available.” What is the function of Internet Control Message Protocol ICMP quizlet The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) was designed as a safe way to report errors and respond to straightforward requests. How do you release an IP address To get a new IP address on your Android device, you must physically make it “forget” the Wi-Fi network it is currently connected to. Once it does, it will release its connection (and IP address), and the next time you connect, it will get a new one. Which term refers to the process of positively identifying a party as a user computer or service What term best describes the process of firmly establishing a partys identity as a user, computer, or service? authentication Which of the following are considered passive online attacks Passive attacks, such as network analysis, eavesdropping, and traffic analysis, are examples of internet security threats/vulnerabilities that fall under this category. Which steps in the information gathering process does footprinting cover - collection of data. - figuring out the networks range. - recognizing running machines - locating accessible ports and points. - OS identification. - obtaining fingerprints. - creating a network map. Which standard combines the best of both 802.11 a and 802.11 b WLAN products that supported the 802.11g standard, which aims to combine the best features of 802.11a and 802.11b, first appeared on the market in 2002 and 2003. 802.11g supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps and uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for longer range.
Many tropical houseplants need high humidity to thrive, and an easy DIY pebble tray can help. Here’s how to make a pebble tray for plants. The humidity level inside the average home is very low compared to a tropical outdoor environment. With air conditioning and central heating, we tend to strip much of the moisture out of our indoor air. But what feels comfortable to humans isn’t always the best for our humidity-loving houseplants! Although many tropical houseplants crave moisture, they don’t usually enjoy sitting in wet soil for too long. Consistently wet soil can prohibit oxygen from reaching the roots, causing root rot. To increase the humidity in the air around your tropical plants, you have a few options: - Use a humidifier (I’ve used this model for years for both plants and kids!) - Spray your plants’ foliage daily with water using a mister - Group your humidity-loving plants together. As the plants release water from their leaves (transpiration), they will all share that added humidity. - Move your plants to a higher-humidity area, such as a bathroom or the kitchen - Place your plants on a DIY pebble tray Disclaimer: we may receive a small commission when you make a purchase from a link on this site, at no added charge to you. See our disclosure policy for more info. What is a pebble tray for houseplants? A pebble tray for plants is simply a shallow dish, filled with pebbles and water, that provides humidity around a plant or a group of plants. If the pebble tray is as wide or a little wider than your plant’s entire span of foliage, it can create a slightly higher humidity zone around the plant as the water evaporates. You can make a pebble tray for just a single houseplant, or create a larger pebble tray for a grouping of plants. A DIY pebble tray is a quick project that can boost the humidity around your plants and help them thrive. Of course, if the air in your home is very dry, you may need to supplement with another source of moisture like a humidifier or daily misting. Some signs that your plants need higher humidity If you have a humidity-loving plant that isn’t suffering from over- or under-watering, any of these signs might indicate that your plant needs more humidity: - Dry, brown patches on leaf edges or tips - Leaves feel crispy and dry - Leaves are splitting - Plant starts to wilt - Leaves turn yellow - Flower buds don’t develop, or they drop off - Flowers shrivel soon after blooming Types of houseplants that can benefit from a pebble tray All the plants below enjoy high humidity, and would benefit from a pebble tray if your home’s conditions are on the drier side. - Carnivorous plants (Venus flytraps, sundews, pitcher plants) - Citrus plants - Chenille plants - English ivy - Ficus (fiddle leaf fig, weeping fig, rubber plant) - Fittonias (nerve plants) - Mimosa pudica (sensitive plants) - Palms (majesty palm, Kentia palm) - Peperomias (certain varieties including peperomia watermelon, incana, and serpens) - Zebra plant How to make a pebble tray to increase humidity for your houseplants - Shallow dish or tray that’s at least as wide as your plant’s leaf span - Decorative pebbles (polished river rocks, bonsai gravel, or glass gems all work well) - A humidity-loving potted houseplant You might even be able to make a pebble tray with materials you have around the house! I found an old white ironstone baking dish that was the perfect size for my new little watermelon peperomia. Other ideas for pebble tray containers you might have on hand are: - Drip tray from a flowerpot - Pie tin - Ceramic tart dish - Pasta bowl For the pebbles, I had some leftover large aquarium pebbles that were just the right size. Landscaping gravel or beach pebbles would work as well. You just don’t want to use larger stones, because your planter needs a somewhat flat, stable base to sit on. Your houseplant can remain in whatever pot it’s already living in, whether that’s a nursery pot, a planter and drip tray, or a cachepot. Once you’ve assembled your pebble tray you’ll have a dry, flat surface for your pot to sit on. Assembling your DIY pebble tray Fill your tray with 2-3 inches of pebbles. Spread the pebbles out to make the surface flat and level. Pour water into the tray, leaving about a half-inch of dry pebbles at the surface. Your plant is going to sit on this dry layer of pebbles—you don’t want the water to reach the drainage hole of the pot. Place your potted plant in the center of the pebble tray. Return your plant and its new pebble tray to its usual spot in your home. Add water to your pebble tray as needed. You’ll need to add water more frequently in super-hot weather, or if your heating or A/C are blasting. Be sure to rinse your pebbles and replace the water in your new pebble tray every couple of weeks to avoid attracting insects. This will also flush out any fertilizer residue in the tray. How to Make a Pebble Tray for Plants - Shallow dish or tray that's at least as wide as your plant's leaf span - Decorative pebbles (polished river rocks, bonsai gravel, or glass gems all work well) - A humidity-loving houseplant - Fill your tray with 2-3 inches of pebbles. Spread the pebbles out to make the surface flat and level. - Pour water into the tray, leaving about a half-inch of dry pebbles at the surface. Your plant is going to sit on this dry layer of pebbles—you don't want the water to reach the drainage hole of the pot. - Place your potted plant in the center of the pebble tray. - Return your plant and its new pebble tray to its usual spot in your home. You may also like: - 11 Easy Houseplants for Beginners - 12 DIY Indoor Hanging Planters to Beautify Your Home - How to Get Houseplants for Free (Or Really Cheap) - How to Make Water Soluble Calcium Eggshell Fertilizer Pin this for later! Have you made a DIY pebble tray for plants? Has it helped your humidity-loving houseplants? Let me know in the comments below! Get YOUR FREE PLANT CARE TRACKER! Always forgetting to water or fertilize your plants? Our free plant care tracker printable can help with that! Help your plants thrive (with less stress for you!) Just let us know where to send your free printable, and it’s on its way. By signing up you agree to receive the Leafy Little Home newsletter. Unsubscribe at any time. I always loved the look of pebble trays but I mistakenly assumed it was only decorative. Thanks for the insight as to its benefit! Hi Ronnie, that’s the great thing about pebble trays – they can be really decorative and practical at the same time! I never knew that! I could’ve probably used that with the 3 plants I haven’t managed to keep alive. Hi Cinny, if your plants are tropicals that love humidity, you should absolutely try a pebble tray! I usually take the easiest route possible and stick with artificial plants! But yes, for real plants, this method looks like a good solution. I don’t want to constantly run a humidifier in my house. Hi Bryan, I’ve never had any luck with artificial plants – I can’t get them to grow 😉 Kidding aside, if you do try some live plants, a pebble tray is much more low-maintenance than filling a humidifier every day! I have a terrace garden and I love decorating it with lovely plants – all sorts. Liked the pebble tray, will definitely have them adorned this way. Hi Kuntala, I bet your terrace garden is lovely! I’ve never tried a pebble tray outside – where I live we have decent humidity during the warmer months. But I bet in a drier climate it could work outdoors. The flower looks beautiful inside that pebble tray. I should try at home. Hi Caroline, give it a try! Pebble trays are both useful and decorative 🙂 That is such a nice pebble tray. So easy to do! Thanks for sharing it. I’ll do it on weekends. Hi Emman, glad you liked my pebble tray tutorial! I bet your plants will thank you 🙂 I love indoor plants so much! Thanks for sharing. Hi Angela, aren’t houseplants the best? Thanks for reading! Such a great post Carrie Ann! I am moving soon and plan to re-pot and reorganize all my plants and will definitely come back to this! Lindsay, I’m glad you liked this tutorial! Good luck with the move and the plant reorganization 🙂 Sounds like the perfect time to add some pebble trays for your plants! I am not into gardening but this pebble tray is really good. Great DIY! Hi Mondipa, thanks for stopping by! What a great idea! So smart and pretty! Hi Jessica, I’m glad you like it! Thanks for reading 🙂 I’ll have to give this a try with my new plants! Hi Brianna, I bet any of your new tropical plants will love the extra humidity! I recently got a Citrus plant, and this was indeed helpful! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 Citrus trees LOVE humidity, so a pebble tray underneath its pot would be a great idea! The pebble trays look so good. Nice and polished and pretty. 🙂 Thanks, Rosey! I love how pebble trays look, too. It’s fun to customize them to fit your personal style! I also decorate my plant like this. I put a plant in a pot that is large enough to hold the roots in potting soil. Any low dish or tray can be used along with water and pebbles or gravel to create a humid local area for plants that need a little moisture. Hi Yudith, exactly! Glad to know your pebble trays are working well for your plants! 😀 Now I know why I’ve managed to kill off so many houseplants. This is a great idea, and so pretty, too! Hi Michelle, a dry environment could have contributed to their demise if they were tropical houseplants! Give a pebble tray a try – they’re so easy to make 🙂 I’m a huge houseplant mama and I love this tutorial! Saving for later, thank you! Hi Genevieve, glad you enjoyed my DIY hanging planter picks! Have fun making your favorites 🙂 I never thought pebbles would help with humidity. I’ll try it on my orchids:) Hi Mihaela, orchids love pebble trays! Glad you came across my post 🙂
Last updated: November 2022 Suggested citation: Lucas, A., Slattery, C., Zhou, S., George, A. & Liberman, J. 19.10 WHO FCTC in a domestic context: Case study example of Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging. In Greenhalgh, EM, Scollo, MM and Winstanley, MH editors. Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues. Melbourne: Cancer Council Victoria; 2022. Available from: https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-19-ftct/19-10-who-fctc-in-a-domestic-context-case-study-example-of-australias-tobacco-plain-packaging A practical application of the role of the WHO FCTC in Australia can be viewed in the context of Australia’s tobacco plain packaging measure. This section examines the role of the WHO FCTC both during the legislative process of developing the measures and in legal challenges defending the measures. Plain packaging is recommended by Guidelines for the Implementation of Article 11 (packaging and labelling)1 and Article 13 (tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship)2 of the WHO FCTC adopted by the Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC. Guidelines for the Implementation of Article 11 of the WHO FCTC provide: 46. Parties should consider adopting measures to restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font style (plain packaging). This may increase the noticeability and effectiveness of health warnings and messages, prevent the package from detracting attention from them, and address industry package design techniques that may suggest that some products are less harmful than others. Guidelines for the Implementation of Article 13 of the WHO FCTC state: 15. Packaging is an important element of advertising and promotion. Tobacco pack or product features are used in various ways to attract consumers, to promote products and to cultivate and promote brand identity, for example by using logos, colours, fonts, pictures, shapes and materials on or in packs or on individual cigarettes or other tobacco products. 16. The effect of advertising or promotion on packaging can be eliminated by requiring plain packaging: black and white or two other contrasting colours, as prescribed by national authorities; nothing other than a brand name, a product name and/or manufacturer’s name, contact details and the quantity of product in the packaging, without any logos or other features apart from health warnings, tax stamps and other government-mandated information or markings; prescribed font style and size; and standardized shape, size and materials. There should be no advertising or promotion inside or attached to the package or on individual cigarettes or other tobacco products. Packaging and product design are important elements of advertising and promotion. Parties should consider adopting plain packaging requirements to eliminate the effects of advertising or promotion on packaging. Packaging, individual cigarettes or other tobacco products should carry no advertising or promotion, including design features that make products attractive. 19.10.1 Role of the WHO FCTC in development of the tobacco plain packaging measures On 29 April 2010, the Australian Government announced that it would introduce mandatory plain packaging of tobacco products as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce smoking rates in Australia. As part of the legislative development process, consultations occurred with the public and relevant stakeholders in a manner consistent with the Implementation Guidelines for Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. 3 As outlined in section 19.3 above, Article 5.3 and its Guidelines requires Parties, in setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, to act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law including interacting with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable effective regulation of the tobacco industry and tobacco products, and that any necessary interactions should be conducted transparently. The consultation process for the development of Australia’s tobacco plain packaging measures was conducted by the Australian Government Department of Health through formal public consultation processes and, in addition, through targeted consultation with stakeholders. The details of the formal consultation processes, including consultation papers and submissions to the consultations, were made publicly available4 and a public record maintained to provide notification of meetings between the Australian Government Department of Health and the Tobacco Industry.5 The explanatory memorandum accompanying the Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill stated that the introduction of plain packaging for tobacco products was ‘one of the means by which the Australian Government will give effect to Australia's obligations under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’,6 citing Articles 5, 11 and 13 of the WHO FCTC in support. The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 was passed by the Australian Parliament in November 2011 and received Royal Assent in December 2011. The objects of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act specifically include giving effect to certain obligations that Australia has as a party to the WHO FCTC.7 From December 2012, Australia became the first country in the world to introduce tobacco plain packaging; with all tobacco products sold in Australia required to comply with the legislation. The legislation bans the use of logos, brand imagery, symbols, other images, colours and promotional text on tobacco products and tobacco product packaging. Packaging must be a standard drab dark brown colour in matt finish. Packs are distinguished by brand and product name printed in a standard colour, position, font size and style. Cigarette packs must be rectangular and made of rigid cardboard, with no embellishments. The pack opening must be a flip-top lid, hinged at the back of the pack. The legislation also specifies maximum and minimum size restrictions for packs. Graphic health warnings, updated and expanded under the Competition and Consumer (Tobacco) Information Standard 2011,8 are required on 75% of the front and 90% of the back of tobacco packaging. 19.10.2 Role of the WHO FCTC in defending the tobacco plain packaging measure Australia’s tobacco plain packaging scheme has faced three legal challenges — a domestic constitutional challenge before the High Court of Australia; a challenge by Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Indonesia before the World Trade Organization; and by Philip Morris Asia (PMA) under a 1993 Hong-Kong Australia Bilateral Investment Treaty (‘BIT’). The High Court of Australia dismissed a domestic constitutional challenge to Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 by British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Philip Morris. 9 The Court held that the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act did not constitute an ‘acquisition of property'. The Court held that although the Act regulated the tobacco manufacturers' intellectual property rights and imposed controls on the packaging and presentation of tobacco products, it did not confer a proprietary benefit or interest on the Australian Government or any other person and therefore the provision of just terms compensation was not required.9 Whilst the WHO FCTC did not feature prominently in the High Court decision, the WHO FCTC was an important part of Australia’s defence in the investment arbitration case brought by Philip Morris Asia (PMA) against Australia’s tobacco plain packaging measure under the BIT between Australia and Hong Kong. PMA claimed that the Australian Government had breached its obligations under the treaty, arguing that the plain packaging legislation expropriated its intellectual property, and that PMA was not afforded fair and equitable treatment. In its response to PMA’s Notice of Arbitration, for example, Australia noted that: Australia’s history of progressively more comprehensive and stringent tobacco regulation is consistent with trends in countries around the world, and also international steps to combat the global health epidemic posed by tobacco smoking through the FCTC. ( 10 at para 16.) At other points in its response to the Notice of Arbitration, Australia emphasised that plain packaging was intended to implement the WHO FCTC, noting that the WHO FCTC imposes a ‘comprehensive set of obligations’ in relation to tobacco control measures. (10 at para 17) Such obligations included the obligation to implement effective measures on packaging and labelling in Articles 11 and the obligation to implement a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship in Article 13 of the WHO FCTC. Australia also emphasised that the Article 11 and Article 13 Guidelines for Implementation recommended the adoption of plain packaging, among other measures, in order to give effect to WHO FCTC obligations.(10 at para 17) Finally, in emphasising the importance of plain packaging as a public health measure, Australia stated that it was ‘implementing plain packaging to protect the public health of Australia's population from an addictive and dangerous substance that causes widespread death and disease in Australia (and around the world)’ and noted that the WHO and WHO FCTC Secretariat had provided ‘strong support for plain packaging as an effective public health measure’. (10 at para 38) PMA’s claim was dismissed at the jurisdictional stage and did not proceed to the merits. The tribunal issued a unanimous decision agreeing with Australia’s position that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear Philip Morris Asia’s claim as the initiation of the arbitration constituted an abuse of rights.11 The Tribunal did not discuss the WHO FCTC in its final Award. In relation to the WTO dispute, Australia repeatedly cited the WHO FCTC and its Guidelines in the integrated executive summary of Australia’s submissions to the WTO. These include references to the fact that the WHO FCTC requires comprehensive tobacco control strategies to reduce the incidence and prevalence of smoking; (12 at para 9) that Australia’s decision to implement plain packaging was based on the explicit recommendation of the WHO FCTC Guidelines as a means to implement WHO FCTC obligations;(12 at paras 12 and 128) and that the WHO FCTC Guidelines reflect international scientific consensus.( 12 at para 129). The submission states: Tobacco plain packaging is a legitimate public health measure, based upon an extensive body of scientific evidence and the explicit recommendations of the Parties to the FCTC. (12 at para 161) The WTO panel’s decision in favour of Australia cites the WHO FCTC, and the references to them in the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act and its explanatory memorandum, extensively to support its findings, including:13 - “to confirm that the objective of the plain packaging legislation is to improve public health by reducing the use of, and exposure to, tobacco products (7.243) - to demonstrate the seriousness of the global tobacco epidemic (7.250) and the importance of taking action to address it (7.2596) - to support the panel’s finding that the risks of not implementing tobacco control measures are particularly grave in light of the health risks of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke (7.1310, 7.2592) - to support its findings on the regulatory context of tobacco plain packaging, in particular that plain packaging is implemented as part of a comprehensive, multisectoral, and multifaceted approach, and that therefore different tobacco control measures were complementary elements of this comprehensive approach rather than alternatives to each other (7.1728-7.1730) - to support its finding that packaging is a form of promotion, as stated in the Article 13 Guidelines (7.664) - to support its finding that plain packaging, as a measure recommended under the Article 11 and 13 guidelines, is an important part of reducing the appeal of tobacco packaging and design and its use in tobacco product promotion, and therefore not an ‘unjustifiable’ encumbrance on the use of trademarks (7.2595) - to demonstrate that Australia ‘pursued its relevant domestic public health objective in line with the emerging multilateral public health policies in the area of tobacco control’ as reflected by the WHO FCTC and its guidelines (7.2604)”14 Two of the complainants, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, subsequently appealed the WTO panel’s decision to the WTO Appellate Body (‘Appellate Body’) on the basis that Australia’s plain packaging laws were more trade restrictive than necessary, affected the rights of trademark holders, and unjustifiably encumbered the use of trademarks. 15 The appellants also challenged the WTO panel’s consideration of the evidence related to the contribution of plain packaging to public health. In addition, Honduras, claimed that the WTO panel gave “undue legal weight” to the WHO FCTC Guidelines (6.620).15 On 9 June 2020, the Appellate Body dismissed the appeal and upheld the WTO panel’s finding that plain packaging is not more trade restrictive than necessary to achieve its public health objectives (7.6),15 and that it does not violate any relevant international obligations regarding intellectual property (7.10, 7.13).15 The Appellate Body also found that the WTO panel had not failed to objectively assess the evidence and upheld the panel’s finding regarding the contribution of plain packaging to public health. Importantly, the Appellate Body rejected Honduras’ claim that the WTO panel attributed undue legal weight to Articles 11 and 13 of the WHO FCTC Guidelines in its analysis on whether Australia's plain packaging measures were justified (6.707).15 The Appellate Body found that the WTO panel referred to Articles 11 and 13 of the WHO FCTC Guidelines as additional factual support to its previous conclusion that the complainants failed to establish that Australia acted inconsistently with its WTO international intellectual property obligations (6.707).15 Ultimately, the Appellate Body upheld the panel’s citation of the WHO FCTC Guidelines to support its finding that the public health reasons for plain packaging sufficiently supported its encumbrances on the use of trademarks (6.702-6.707).15 The Appellate Body decision concludes the decade-long litigation against Australia’s plain packaging laws, with no further appeal possible or any pending litigation, and confirms that plain packaging laws implementing the WHO FCTC may be adopted consistently with WTO obligations. This clears the path for more countries to implement tobacco plain packaging laws. 1. Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Guidelines for Implementation of Article 11: Packaging and Labelling of Tobacco Products. November 2008. Available from: https://fctc.who.int/publications/m/item/packaging-and-labelling-of-tobacco-products. 2. Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Guidelines for Implementation of Article 13: Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship. November 2008. Available from: https://fctc.who.int/publications/m/item/tobacco-advertising-promotion-and-sponsorship. 3. Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Guidelines for Implementation of Article 5.3: Protection of Public Health Policies with Respect to Tobacco Control from Commercial and Other Vested Interests. November 2008. Available from: https://fctc.who.int/publications/m/item/guidelines-for-implementation-of-article-5.3. 4. Australian Department of Health. Introduction to Plain Packaging in Australia. 2018. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/introduction-of-tobacco-plain-packaging-in-australia.pdf. 5. Australian Department of Health. Report on Interactions Between Health and the Tobacco Industry. Last update: 1 November 2019; Viewed 30 January 2020. Available from: http://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/report-on-interactions-between-health-and-the-tobacco-industry. 6. Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 - Exposure draft: Explanatory memorandum. 2011; Available from: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2011B00128/Explanatory%20Memorandum/Text. 7. Tobacco Plain Packaging Act. No. 148 2011; Available from: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011A00148. 8. Competition and Consumer (Tobacco) Information Standard 2011. Available from: http://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2013C00598. 9. JT International SA v Commonwealth of Australia, 2012, High Court of Australia. Available from: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2012/43.html. 10. Philip Morris Asia Limited v Commonwealth of Australia, Response to Notice of Arbitration - Australia (PCA Case No 2012-12, 21 December 2011). 11. Philip Morris Asia Limited v Commonwealth of Australia, Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility (PCA Case No 2012-12, 17 December 2015). 12. Australia – Certain Measures Concerning Trademarks, Geographical Indications and other Plain Packaging Requirements Applicable to Tobacco Products and Packaging (WT/DS435/441/458/467), Integrated Executive Summary of Australia's Submissions. 23 March 2016., World Trade Organization. Available from: http://dfat.gov.au/international-relations/international-organisations/wto/wto-dispute-settlement/Documents/integrated-executive-summary-aus-submissions-tobacco-plain-packaging-ds435-441-458-467.pdf. 13. Australia – Certain measures concerning trademarks, geographical indications and other plain packaging requirements applicable to tobacco products and packaging, Report of the Panel (WT/DS 435/441/458/467), 28 June 2018, World Trade Organization. 14. McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer. An initial overview of the WTO panel decision in Australia – Plain Packaging, 3 July 2018. Available from: http://untobaccocontrol.org/kh/legal-challenges/initial-overview-wto-panel-decision-australia-plain-packaging/. 15. Australia – Certain measures concerning trademarks, geographical indications and other plain packaging requirements applicable to tobacco products and packaging, Report of the Appellate Body (WT/DS 435/441), 9 June 2020, World Trade Organization.
Health is not just about the well-being of the body. Physical health is important but the physical will suffer if the emotional and mental health is inadequate. A human being’s physical health is always affected by factors such as stress and depression. This is why alternative medicine seeks to strike a balance between all the aspects of a human being. When body, mind and soul are in harmony, then this person is considered healthy. Should it be that one of these is not well, then the rest are affected. This is reason why holistic healing is important. Importance of holistic healing People are more productive when they are completely well. One may be physically well and able to perform all the tasks comfortably. Unfortunately, if the individual is undergoing emotional strain his productivity will definitely be affected. With holistic healing, all the different aspects of a person are covered and this means the person is well as a whole and able to execute all his duties without failure. People are generally healthier when all the aspects of their lives are well taken care of. Depression and stress is one of the reasons why people who seem physically healthy are not able to face challenges in their lives. It can be a burden on their families and society at large. Helping such people emotionally means they will have normal healthy lives and the people around them will also be leading fulfilled lives without having to deal with the burden imposed on them by emotionally unstable people. Well balanced lifestyles When people seek holistic healing, their habits, especially those that have been harmful to them are discarded. This means the quality of their lives improved including their lifestyle. With holistic healing, things such as diet and exercise are included. This means people will not only be healthier, they will be happier because a healthy mind means a healthy body. Drug rehabilitation is a very important aspect of holistic healing. Drugs are destroying societies and many families are bearing the burden of having addicts in their homes. The use of holistic healing helps drug addicts to understand the effects of their habits not just on themselves but on their families and society as a whole. Using this form of treatment, many societies are seeing hope because of the reduced number of addicts in the community. The use of holistic healing has indeed saved many lives. It is not just the individuals going through the healing process that benefit but the society as a unit. Life with the burden that comes with certain habits and illnesses can be a strain for almost everyone associating with the patient.
Annabelle Hydrangeas: Care & Planting How to Care for Your Annabelle Hydrangea How Big Do Annabelle Hydrangeas Get? Growing up to five feet in height and presenting a dazzling display of large snowy-white blooms, the Annabelle Hydrangea is considered a mounding shrub because of its expansive spreading at peak growth. The Annabelle Hydrangea is also one of the most popular flowering shrub species cultivated around the world for its beautiful, sensational flowers and ability to accommodate full sun or partial sun conditions. How Fast Do Annabelle Hydrangeas Grow? Planting Annabelle Hydrangeas in spring will provide flowers by mid to late summer. Depending on growing conditions, Annabelle Hydrangeas may flower in early fall as well. After flowering a final time, this plant lies dormant until next spring. It tolerates harsh winters quite well and will bloom for many years with proper care. Can Annabelle Hydrangeas Take Full Sun? You can plant Annabelle Hydrangeas in full sun or partial sun but, as with most plants, excessive direct sunlight may stress them and cause wilting. When planting Annabelle Hydrangeas in the warmer, southern regions of the US, be aware of how much stronger the sun is during the summer months and consider planting them in partial sun or covering plants for a few hours in the afternoon. Annabelle Hydrangeas thrive best when planted in areas that receive full morning sun and partial afternoon sun. How Do You Prune an Annabelle Hydrangea? The best way to prune Annabelle Hydrangeas is by removing faded flowers and an inch or two of growth to promote a second round of gorgeous blooms. Don't prune until around the end of September or beginning of October. Always wait until flowers have visibly faded before pruning them. A complete renewal pruning of an Annabelle Hydrangea plant involves removing the oldest stalks down to ground level. Just before spring, prune any stems sticking above the surface of the ground to encourage growth as sunlight strengthens. Why are my Annabelle Hydrangeas not Blooming? Primary causes of non-blooming Annabelle Hydrangeas include: 1. Overly dry soil Plant Annabelles in rich, humus dirt or cover soil with about two or three inches of wood-chip mulch to keep them moist. All Hydrangeas have root systems that are shallow and prone to drying out. 2. Excessive nitrogen in soil Enrich soil with manure or compost before planting Annabelle hydrangea and test soil for excess nitrogen if plants fail to bloom 3. Diseases such as rust, powdery mildew, and leaf spots Prevent these diseases from harming your Annabelles by planting them in areas where air freely circulates. Watering plants via drip irrigation works better to keep plants disease-free than using overhead sprinklers. Fungicides are available to treat hydrangeas suffering plant diseases such as mildew and leaf spot. 4. Pests such as mites or aphids Mites and aphids feed off of plant juices in Annabelle Hydrangea stems and leaves, sucking away nourishment needed by the plant to bloom. A telltale sign of an aphid or mite infestation is the presence of sticky honeydew coating the leaves. Get rid of mites or aphids by treating plants with horticultural oils or insecticidal soap. When Do Annabelle Hydrangeas Bloom? Annabelle Hydrangeas start blooming sometime in June and continue blooming until mid to late September. Pruning Annabelles in early spring may cause later blooming than plants that are lightly pruned. Are Annabelle Hydrangeas Deer Resistant? Although deer won't actively hunt out Annabelle Hydrangeas to eat, they will happily munch on flowers, leaves and branches if they happen to find them. Deer repellent spray is available that is safe to use on Annabelles when deer won't leave them alone. However, deer repellent spray should be applied once a month to Annabelle Hydrangeas to optimize its effectiveness. Fortunately, rabbits tend to avoid Annabelle Hydrangeas How Do You Plant Annabelle Hydrangeas? - Ensure the soil is appropriately moist and well-draining for the Annabelle Hydrangea’s needs. - Set your Annabelle in a hole that is deep enough to hold the root ball. The hole should also be about three times as wide as the root ball. - Add soil until the hole is half full. - Pour water into the hole and wait until water has drained entirely before filling up the hole with dirt. - Pour more water on the filled hole. - Enjoy your beautiful Annabelle Hydrangeas blooms over the summer. What Can I Plant with Annabelle Hydrangeas? As long as you plant Annabelles at least 3 to 10 feet apart to give them space to grow, you can plant other flowering shrubs with them. Just remember to make sure what you plant with Annabelle Hydrangeas requires the same amount of water, sunlight and fertilizer. Recommended companion plants include small trees such as Dogwoods that offer afternoon shade to Annabelle Hydrangeas. Low annual or perennial plants that prefer partial shade can also be planted with these easy-to-grow Hydrangeas. Start planning your Annabelle Hydrangea garden today. Spring is here and it's time to plant Annabelles so you can enjoy these big, pretty, vibrant blooms during summer!
What is Trigger Finger? Being able to bend your fingers is a movement so natural to everyday use, we can take it for granted. If or when your fingers or thumb catch or lock when bent, it can be a painful condition known as trigger finger. Ordinarily, the tendons and muscles in your hand and arms bend and straighten your fingers and thumbs. The tendon itself usually glides through the tissue (or sheath) that covers it thanks to the synovium, a lubricating membrane surrounding the joint. But if the tendon becomes inflamed and swollen, prolonged irritation of the tendon sheath will produce scarring and thickening that inevitably impedes the tendon’s motion. As a result, bending your finger or thumb can tug the inflamed tendon through a narrower sheath, which make it snap or pop. Repeated movement or the forceful use of the finger or thumb is usually what causes trigger finger. Although it can also be caused by rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and diabetes, or by grasping something firmly for a long period of time. That’s why industrial workers, musicians, and farm hands often suffer from trigger finger – because they repeat finger and thumb movements often. The condition is more common among women than men, and occurs most often in people who are between 40 and 60 years old. How Do You Know You Have Trigger Finger? One of the most obvious symptoms of trigger finger is when you experience soreness at the base of the finger or thumb. There’s also a painful clicking or snapping sound when you bend or straighten the affected finger. The catching sensation associated with trigger finger tends to get worse after you rest the finger or thumb. The finger or thumb may lock in a bent or straight position as the condition worsens and may need to be gently straightened out with your other hand. In some cases, the finger may be swollen and there could be a bump over the joint in the palm of the hand. Also, the finger may be stiff and painful or locked in a bent position. Of course, your doctor can examine your hand and fingers and diagnose trigger finger without a lab test or X-ray. In terms of treating trigger finger, the first step requires resting your finger or thumb. To keep the joint from moving, your doctor may put a splint on your hand. If your symptoms persist, your doctor may address the inflammation by prescribing drugs like ibuprofen or naproxen. Another option is injecting a steroid into the tendon sheath. Or, if your trigger finger doesn’t improve, your doctor may recommend surgery. The recovery time from trigger finger will depend on the severity of the condition and the choice of treatment. Splinting, for example, could last up to six weeks. However, most patients recover within a few weeks provided they rest the finger or thumb and they take anti-inflammatory medication. The Colorado Center for Orthopaedic Excellence in Colorado Springs regularly treats injuries to bones and joints, providing the best of care. If you’ve feeling pain in your hands and suspect it may be trigger finger or another condition, our board-certified orthopedic surgeons will diagnose the condition and explain your treatment options. Call us at (719) 623-1050 today for an appointment.
A shift in consciousness is needed to prevent and control the spread of infection. The current pandemic has turned the world as we know it upside down. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), from 31 December 2019 up until 27 July 2020, there have been 16,249,165 reported cases of COVID-19 globally, including 649,208 deaths. These figures could have been even worse had it not been for the actions taken by governments to reduce infection rates. At the same time, the strategies adopted to fight the virus have varied from country to country, depending on how individual governments have chosen to interpret the science available to them and balance their response to COVID-19 with other socioeconomic factors. The infection rates could have been much lower in many countries where poor decision making led to thousands of unnecessary deaths. While virologists and vaccinologists race against time to develop some kind of silver bullet in the form of an effective treatment for those already infected or a safe vaccine to neutralise the bite of the virus, another crucial variable in the COVID equation is human behaviour. A quick scan of any social media platform quickly reveals mixed feelings and a wide range of opinion on the seriousness of the threat of the virus. Everyday perspectives range from believing COVID-19 has been grossly exaggerated as a weapon of control to the idea that the coronavirus is a fake ‘plandemic’ to allow the elites to inject everyone with microchips through the back door…with the help of a well-known billionaire philanthropist, apparently. Other issues affecting societal attitudes to COVID-19 include questionable figures in relation to mortality rates, which undermine efforts to convince the public through sound scientific data. The sheer volume of misinformation circulated online in the form of YouTube videos, fake news articles, memes and the deeply flawed but easily believed arguments shared in social media posts simply add to the problem. Those who take the virus seriously have differing opinions on how it should be handled. Whether to wear a mask, what kind of lockdown would be more effective, and the pros and cons of social distancing are just some of the bones of contention. Seemingly contradictory messages from governments in deciding what kinds of activities people can participate in have further weakened efforts to unify public opinion and bring about a useful change in the cultural psyche. Consequently, we see some people doing everything they can to reduce their risk of contracting the virus or spreading it to someone else, while others are ignoring all guidelines. It doesn’t help when issues such as mask-wearing have become politicised in some parts of the world, and we have world leaders making it up as they go along and directly contradicting the available science. Using bleach internally to clean out coronavirus is not going to be recommended by scientists any time soon! Putting aside efforts to fight COVID-19 biologically, it is easy to see that perhaps the biggest obstacle we face as a global society is a lack of clear understanding on how to minimise the spread of infection. For however long we have to live side by side with this latest coronavirus, the most effective weapon we have is education. When it comes to the issue of education, there are a number of challenges that need to be tackled. As touched upon already, attitudes towards the virus need to be changed. As lockdown measures were being introduced, many businesses were extremely reluctant to close. Now, as restrictions are being eased here in the UK and elsewhere, some of these businesses are poised to open as soon as they get the green light from government, almost like sprinters listening out for the starting pistol. Their main concern is not whether their premises are safe but whether they comply with the rules and regulations laid down by government to allow them to trade normally. For those organisations to be truly safe, a shift in consciousness is needed. They need to understand what they are up against and change their internal culture accordingly. When this happens, we are more likely to see organisations implementing measures that go further than government regulations. Lack of education and training, coupled with a compliance-based attitude, leads to many unintended consequences. Take personal protective equipment for example. How often do we see people wearing face masks incorrectly? At a glance, many people are wearing face masks, however on closer inspection, we find they are wearing them incorrectly or they move them out of the way when speaking to people. This is more likely perhaps where they have been forced to wear them. An easy giveaway is the round-the-neck look, which allows them to say they are wearing a mask (albeit ineffectively) or even to quickly adjust the mask to comply with regulations when the need arises. Sometimes the heart is in the right place, the attitude is constructive, but the training is lacking. A perfect example of this is the wearing of gloves. Nobody is under any pressure to wear gloves for their weekly shop, so if someone is wearing them, it is a strong indication that they are taking the threat seriously. However, wearing gloves is more likely to increase their risk rather than reducing it. A false sense of security will inevitably lead to cross-contamination to other items on their person, from their bank cards to their mobile phones. This same issue of cross-contamination also crops up with face masks as people fail to recognise that the outside surface of the mask must be assumed to be contaminated with the virus. Thorough, frequent, and regular handwashing is much more effective than the use of gloves for everyday people going about their daily lives. Again, even for those who are extra vigilant, it is easy to get things wrong. In fact, even some medical professionals fail to wash their hands effectively, so what chance does the average person on the street have when they are simply told to wash with soap and water for 20 seconds? Previous research into the handwashing habits of health workers in various countries, including the UK, suggest that while the majority of health workers believe they are washing their hands properly, only a small percentage of them actually are. And yet, handwashing is one of the single most effective strategies we can all adopt to minimise the threat of infection from COVID-19, along with a host of other nasty bugs such as the ‘winter sickness bug’, norovirus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 50% of all hospital acquired infections (HAIs) could be eliminated with correct handwashing measures in place. It recommends the ‘six-pose’ handwashing method, which ensures all hand surfaces are given thorough attention. Surprisingly, it takes quite a lot of training and practice for people to develop the muscle memory to adopt this technique as a habit. Knowing something academically is one thing. Being able to do it in practice is another. And adopting it as a habit is a different kettle of fish entirely. Typically, according to one training organisation, it takes between 20 and 30 practice sessions for the six-pose method to become a habit. Once mastered, it should take less than one minute to wash the hands properly! Without a shadow of a doubt, preventative hygiene has to be one of the essential strategies in learning how to live with COVID-19. Hand hygiene depends on more than handwashing technique. The WHO has highlighted five key moments when health care workers should be washing their hands: - Before touching a patient; - Before any clean or aseptic procedures; - After exposure or risk of exposure to body fluid; - After touching a patient; and - After touching patient surroundings. The WHO’s ‘Clean Care is Safer Care’ campaign focuses on the prevention of infection through best-practice cleaning procedures. By taking a granular look at all processes and applying laser focus to how the risk of transmission can be minimised at every tiny junction, diseases can be prevented and controlled. It’s a multi-faceted approach that includes every aspect of prevention and control, from personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing to personal hygiene and how environments are cleaned. Just as a lack of training in hand hygiene can expose health workers to the risk of infection, having the right cleaning products does not ensure by itself that an environment is safe. What if the equipment being used in an operation is not sterile or other surfaces are contaminated? This would leave patients and medical staff open to infection? There are no shortcuts when it comes to safety, hygiene, and infection control. But without detailed and thorough training and education, real risks can be overlooked. For example, when most people think of norovirus outbreaks, they will tend to think of cruise liners. They are unlikely to be aware that one of the most common sources of norovirus infection is the restaurant. If someone is sick in a restaurant, it is wiser to assume the cause to be norovirus rather than the food. Most people would be shocked to discover that when someone is a sick because of norovirus, while the mess created by their vomiting fit may only extend to a square metre in front of them, viral particles will reach up to 7.62 metres or 25 feet away from them. Furthermore, norovirus is so contagious that it takes fewer than 100 particles to cause illness, but its incredible resilience means that it can remain active and alive on a surface for days and even weeks. Without the appropriate training and education, should we expect people to realise they are at risk from surfaces 25 feet away from a sick person? The norovirus scenario graphically illustrates why the right training and education is even more important than having the appropriate equipment for cleaning. Simply marketing a product’s features, benefits and capabilities is not enough. That would be like handing over a Formula 1 car to a learner driver. The infection control industry must pay as much attention to showing how its products should be used as it does to show why its products are so good. Ideally, products should always be supplied with an aftercare package that provides effective training, and this aftercare should be ongoing to ensure best practice is always being observed by users. The WHO believes that infection rates can be reduced by up to 30% through the implementation of effective infection control strategies. Training is a crucial element in any effective infection control strategy. Nowhere is this more important than in medical settings. Surgical procedures create the perfect conditions for viruses and bacteria to become aerosolised, a process which allows bugs to remain airborne for longer and reach surfaces that are further away from the source. So, following any invasive surgical procedure, it is safe to assume that every millimetre of surface area in the operating theatre is contaminated. Cleaning that environment is no mean feat. If a ball is dropped at any point in the process, the risk of infection rises, not only for patients being operated on and medical team working with them, but for anyone else who enters the theatre and potential spreads infection elsewhere. From a training perspective, there are many areas to consider, but two of the main ones centre on deciding which product to use and how to use the product effectively. There are literally millions of bacteria and viruses out there. The vast majority of them are harmless, but there are plenty around that can cause serious harm or even death, and they can’t all be killed in the same way. For example, clostridium difficile (C. difficile) can only be killed with a sporicidal agent, such as peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide or chlorine. Sporicidal agents are alkylating agents and oxidising agents. A quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) won’t cut it because QACs are sporostatic, not sporicidal. Just to be clear, sporostatic agents will inhibit spore germination and outgrowth, but they do not kill spores. Sporicidal agents need to be used correctly to work effectively. When mixing a chlorine-based solution, if the concentration of chlorine is too low, not only will the solution be too weak to kill C. difficile, it will encourage the growth of resistant bugs. However, a solution that is too highly concentrated will give off toxic, carcinogenic fumes and byproducts that will harm people and equipment. Chlorine-based solutions start breaking down from the moment they are mixed, so they will only be effective for a finite amount of time. ‘Double dipping’ whatever is being used as a cleaning applicator into the solution will accelerate the breaking-down process as dirt and other contaminants are added to the solution. Even the cloths that are used as applicators can cause a health and safety issue because some materials will absorb the sporicidal agent, and this will mean the solution being wiped on surfaces is too low in concentration. Cloth compatibility is a potential issue whether using a chlorine-based or QAC-based solution. Some cleaners prefer to use sprays, however using a spray can lead to an inconsistent amount of the active agent reaching the surface. When a dry cloth is added to this scenario, to rub the surface, the viruses and bacteria that have not been killed are spread around. There are several reasons why a spray might not deliver an even concentration of the active agent to surfaces. Dual action sprays are specifically designed to keep the different elements of the solution separate until the device is used. This prevents the mixture from breaking down and losing its potency. The mixing takes place at the head when the trigger is squeezed. A problem arises because when the spray is held at an angle, this affects the mixing process resulting a suboptimal solution being sprayed onto surfaces. Not only will this lead to viruses and bacteria not being killed and potentially becoming more resistant to the agent, it also means the product is being wasted. Suboptimal mixing at the head of a dual action spray will cause precipitation to occur and this precipitate blocks the nozzle, which makes suboptimal mixing even more likely. It’s a vicious circle. Using wet wipes to apply cleaning agents appears to get around many of the problems connected to sprays and other applicators. Wet wipes deliver a consistent mix of product to surfaces, are less likely to produce the fumes, toxins and other byproducts that can be produced by incorrect mixing, and they are less likely to irritate users because the solution is not being sprayed. Every situation is different, and a thorough risk assessment must be undertaken for any environment before a cleaning strategy is developed. One of the risks that could potentially be overlooked is lack of training. Cleaners are human beings just like everyone else. They are not machines, and they are just as susceptible to assumptions and exposure to mixed messages and misinformation as anyone else. They depend on their employers to supply them with the right products and training to do their jobs properly. Their own safety, and the safety of the people entering those environments being cleaned, depend on this training being effective. They need appropriate PPE and high quality hygiene products, but without the ongoing training to match, people are being put in harm’s way. That is why at Reaction 9, we believe the training process should start before a client has even purchased a product. The infection control industry has a responsibility to educate, inform and update the people using their products. Hygiene professionals must be empowered to make better informed purchasing decisions when buying specialist products that are designed to save lives. Knowledge is not enough. The training must be in place at the point of purchase, and it must be ongoing. Remember, it takes between 20 and 30 practice sessions just to learn the six-pose handwashing method. Reaction 9 is currently leading the way in this approach to serving its customer base, but there is still a long way to go. There needs to be a real and lasting culture change within the infection control industry, as leaders embrace the philosophy of pre-sale, induction, and post-sale training, and we aim to stay at the front of that. Learning technology is constantly evolving to engage people more effectively, so they gain deeper understanding and practical ability, and get into the right habits more quickly. From gamification, quizzes, and practice, to the use of AI for helping people learn by themselves, there is something for everyone. Let’s embrace it. The fight against COVID-19 is far from over, and there are bound to be more disruptive viruses to follow. Our best defence for living with such threats, and our best weapon for fighting them, is training! Reaction Nine Ltd This article is from issue 14 of Health Europa. Click here to get your free subscription today.
James E. Hawdon \| (The Conversation) \| – – Extremism has always been with us, but the internet has allowed ideas that advocate hate and violence to reach more and more people. Whether it’s the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville or the 2015 Charleston church massacre, it’s important to understand the internet and social media’s role in spreading extremism – and what can possibly be done to prevent these views from leading to actual violence. For six years, I’ve been director of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention at Virginia Tech, which researches the causes and consequences of violence in society. While I’ve been studying extremist ideologies for over a decade, I’ve focused on its online forms since 2013. From our research, we’ve been able to track the growth of these views on the internet – how they’re spread, who’s being exposed to them and how they’re reinforced. The internet’s fertile landscape The First Amendment allows us to express any ideas, no matter how extreme. So how should we define extremism? On the one hand, it’s similar to Supreme Court Justice Stewart’s famous quote about pornography – “I know it when I see it.” Extremism is generally used to describe ideologies that support terrorism, racism, xenophobia, left- or right-wing political radicalism and religious intolerance. In a way, it’s a political term describing beliefs that don’t reflect dominant social norms and that reject – either formally or informally – tolerance and the existing social order. Extremist groups went online almost immediately after the internet was developed and their numbers increased dramatically after 2000, reaching over 1,000 by 2010. But the data on organized groups don’t include the sheer number of individuals who maintain websites or make extremist comments on social media platforms. As the number of sites spewing hate has grown, so have recipients of the messages, with younger people particularly vulnerable. The percentage of people between the ages of 15 and 21 who saw online extremist messages increased from 58.3 percent in 2013 to 70.2 percent in 2016. While extremism comes in many forms, the growth of racist propaganda has been especially pronounced since 2008: Nearly two-thirds of those who saw extremist messages online said they involved attacking or demeaning a racial minority. Bubbles of hate In recent years, the proliferation of social media – which gives users the ability to reach millions instantaneously – has made it easier to spread extreme views. But it is in more subtle ways that our online experiences may amplify extremism. It’s now common practice for social networking sites to collect the personal information of users, with search engines and news sites using algorithms to learn about our interests, wants, desires and needs – all of which influences what we see on our screens. This process can create filter bubbles that reinforce our preexisting beliefs, while information that challenges our assumptions or points to alternative perspectives rarely appears. Every time someone opens a hate group’s website, reads its blogs, adds its members as Facebook friends or views its videos, the individual becomes enmeshed in a network of like-minded people espousing an extreme ideology. In the end, this process can harden worldviews that people become comfortable spreading. Unfortunately, this seems to be happening. When we began our research in 2013, only 7 percent of respondents admitted to producing online material that others would likely interpret as hateful or extreme. Now, nearly 16 percent of respondents report producing such materials. While most people who express extremist ideas do not call for violence, many do. In 2015, about 20 percent of the messages people saw online openly called for violence against the targeted group; this number nearly doubled by 2016. Granted, not everyone who sees these messages will be affected by them. But given that the radicalization process often begins with simply being exposed to extremism, government authorities in the U.S. and around the world have been understandably concerned. The role of social control While all of this seems bleak, there is hope. First, companies such as GoDaddy, Facebook and Reddit are banning accounts associated with hate groups. Perhaps more importantly – as we saw during and after Charlottesville – people are defending diversity and tolerance. Over two-thirds of our respondents report that when they see someone advocating hate online, they tell the person to stop or defend the attacked group. Similarly, people are using social media to expose the identities of extremists, which is what happened to some of those involved in the Charlottesville rally. Perhaps these acts of online and offline social control can convince extremists that, somewhat ironically, a tolerant society doesn’t tolerate extremist ideologies. This may create a more tolerant virtual world, and, with luck, disrupt the radicalization of the next perpetrator of hate-based violence. James E. Hawdon, Director, Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, Virginia Tech This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Related video added by Juan Cole: Al Jazeera English: “The Stream – Hate speech v free speech: Where is the line? Part 1”
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The 10-year partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and IBM on quantum computing is the type of project economic development officials have craved for years, with the potential for Cleveland to be the site of major scientific advancements. Quantum computing is still a rapidly developing technology, though researchers have discussed the concept for decades. The promises are astounding — the ability to simulate complicated physical and chemical processes and crunch numbers quicker than any supercomputer. The draw for the IBM-Cleveland Clinic “Discovery Accelerator,” is the technology’s potential, not so much what it can deliver now. The partnership will eventually make Cleveland a site for a 1,000+ qubit computer, a milestone in quantum computing science. Researchers will explore how quantum computing interacts with other technologies, like artificial intelligence, to solve problems in healthcare. The Clinic’s Global Center for Pathogen Research and Human Health, where the accelerator is housed, will hire around 7,500 people. “The partnership is not just on technology,” Dr. Lara Jehi, chief research information officer at the Cleveland Clinic, said. “The technology is a tool towards a goal, and the goal is advancing discovery. That’s why we have the big education component and workforce development component that is included in the partnership.” John Donohue, a senior manager of scientific research at the University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing, said the field of quantum computing has “exploded” in the past 30 years into an international effort and is moving from “a pie in the sky idea” to something more tangible. “One of the bigger problems that people are having in quantum computing is reaching out to people in industry and kind of getting people involved on the ground floor to build awareness on the technology, build expertise on the technology among people who, you know, have that knowledge about what problems their industry has, and get people ready for when the hardware does catch up,” he said. “People always say it’s 20 years away, but it is accelerating very quickly.” What is quantum computing? Quantum computers will not replace the personal computer, laptop or phone that people use every day. The two types of technology, though sharing the term “computer” are meant for entirely different purposes. Quantum computers, which are large and part of which are shaped like chandeliers, are not going to be a staple of the average home. Typical, everyday computers use “bits,” or ones and zeroes, to make up information. That represents being on or off. Every process on a computer is made up of those bits. Even the most advanced supercomputer still relies on ones and zeros, which limits the speed of computation. “The simplest way of thinking about this is that nature and the universe is one great big computer,” Bob Sutor, Chief Quantum Exponent at IBM, said. “It’s a computer that manages everything around us, I mean, from every electron to atom to molecule, and how it all fits together, the chemistry, the biochemistry, plays in the physics. But that’s not how we built computers.” Quantum computing relies on atomic devices called “qubits,” which represent both one and zero at the same time. That’s pronounced “cue-bit.” Using qubits can help replicate complicated processes happening on a molecular level. “What we’re trying to do is to understand how nature works as a computer, and then replicate and use its computing capabilities for our own reasons,” Sutor said. He uses the example of chemistry, with a caffeine molecule. A quantum computer could simulate all the molecular reactions from that caffeine molecule, like the reactions that go on in the human brain. Quantum computing is not eliminating the need for regular computers. This kind of technology is not meant to fulfill the same functions as a laptop or phone. But what quantum computing can potentially do is key for research, and holds promise in other fields like cryptography and finance, because of its power. The quantum computer is enclosed in a glass box, and the chandelier shape holds the qubits at the core. The outside tubes and devices linking to the core have numerous functions, as the machine needs to be extremely stable as researchers send pulses to manipulate the qubits. Quantum environments must be cold — the IBM Quantum System One computer to be housed at the Clinic will use cryogenic engineering to keep it cold and isolated. Any variables, like heat or noise, could throw off the system. How do you create qubits? Scientists use different methods to create qubits, which essentially means gaining close control of these very tiny, unstable atomic pieces. Creating an access point to control how these pieces interact or spin can involve using magnets, light or other approaches. The more qubits, the more power and capability for quantum machines to make these kinds of calculations. As part of a quantum computing “roadmap,” IBM is looking to create a 1,000+ qubit quantum computer by 2023. The Cleveland Clinic, as part of this partnership, is the first private business where IBM will put a quantum computer on-site. The projected 1,000+ qubit computer would go to a Cleveland site as well, though a press release on the project does not specify where besides a “client facility.” What is quantum computing used for now? Research and development is the main application for quantum computing. The near-term applications are in experimental calculations or technical fields like physics or chemistry, where people are looking at these interactions very closely. For example, researchers from IBM and the parent company of Mercedes-Benz published a paper where quantum computing replicated processes in lithium molecules in batteries, which could have implications for the future of electric cars. The federal Department of Energy is interested in the future of quantum computing; there are five federally supported National Quantum Information Science Research Centers. There was also a National Quantum Initiative Act passed in 2018, which created an umbrella where government agencies could establish research centers related to quantum computing. The act also created the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, a partnership between government, private and public entities on quantum computing. IBM signed on to the partnership and is part of its steering committee. What could quantum computing be used for? Potential applications include nuclear science, logistics, cryptography and sensors. The Discovery Accelerator in Cleveland will allow the Clinic’s Center for Global and Emerging Pathogens Research to use the technology to address its research areas in health care. The ability of quantum computers to simulate interactions could help model pathogens to assist in research. Part of having a quantum computer on-site is having access to its potential. The quantum computer on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic won’t be immediately able to solve all the problems researchers have in mind. Building out its capabilities and trying out these new applications is part of the process that will advance the field. There are two areas where quantum computing needs to build: capacity and stability. Capacity is building out the number of qubits. Researchers need to keep control of qubits — a difficult task. When computers were first built, they used vacuum tubes instead of transistors, a staple in computers now. Pieces were breaking every 36 hours, Sutor said, but that wasn’t a comment on the future of the technology. “When we talk about the stability of quantum computers, it’s exactly the same notion, which is that the hardware as we currently configure it, yeah, you know, it works for a while, and then it starts to get a little crazy,” he said. “So the first thing is, well, how much can we do in that ‘while’ and these are going to be the early applications.” To talk about long-term applications, engineers will need to implement “fault tolerance” or “error correction,” which is built into today’s computers. That means if there’s a problem in the circuits, the computation will still be able to run. Are quantum computers better than regular computers? They’re used for different problems. A major task over recent years was to prove “quantum supremacy,” or that a quantum computer can do a calculation better than a regular computer. A paper published in Nature in 2019 shows evidence that a team of researchers achieved quantum supremacy for a calculation. There still has yet to be consistency on quantum supremacy. The team, led by a scientist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Google, conducted the calculation on a 53-qubit chip. For context, researchers said in the Nature article describing the milestone that the quantum computer solved a calculation that would take a traditional supercomputer 10,000 years. What does the new partnership mean for Cleveland and Ohio? The lab does not just include quantum computing, it also includes artificial intelligence and other IBM software. It’s part of the Center for Global and Emerging Pathogens Research established as part of the “Cleveland Innovation District,” a partnership between leading health and education institutions in the Cleveland area. “The quantum computing partnership between Cleveland Clinic and IBM is a great example of the types of innovation partnerships needed to accelerate research and technology development for pressing human health needs,” GCP’s incoming President and CEO Baiju R. Shah said. The number of people who will be educated on quantum computing or other technology as part of the accelerator is not immediately clear, and a IBM spokeswoman did not have further information on the education programs. The idea is to set up a long-term chain, where IBM’s education programs will train people for quantum computing and then fill positions with those people. How the Clinic and IBM end up using the computer could shape opportunities moving forward. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee, researchers invite vendors to show them how they would use the technology, Quantum Science Center Deputy Director Travis Humble said. “We learn from their experience, you know, what works and what doesn’t,” Humble said. “I’ll tell you right now that one of the key insights is that it takes many different disciplines to get the best solutions. Imagine building a house — you can’t have just a carpenter or just a plumber or just a mason — it takes all those skills in order to really build something sturdy. It’s same thing with quantum computing.” Cleveland.com reporter Julie Washington contributed to this story. This story has been edited for clarity. Watch 3D Images Leap Out of this Asus Laptop Screen Motorola’s ThinkPhone Looks Like a Mini Lenovo ThinkPad The Coolest TVs and Monitors Revealed at CES 2023
How the Tilt of the Earth Affects Reproduction You will need to do the Module 3 reading and complete Lab 3 before you participate in this discussion board. - Imagine that you are a researcher studying a population of birds that spends the Spring and Summer at the white “X” shown on the globe in the Seasons Interactive. - You have studied these birds for some time and know that they fly to the white “X” in early Spring to start mating and nesting. - The chicks hatch in mid to late Spring and their parents feed them until well after they fledge (grow flight feathers) and learn to fly in late Spring to Early Summer. Because of the nice weather at this time of year, there are tons of insects around to feed the growing chicks. By late Summer, all the chicks are experienced fliers and feeding themselves. - In early Autumn, all the birds migrate to spend the Winter in a warmer climate. - For reasons unknown, the tilt of the earth starts to shift to the inclination that you picked in step 3 of Lab 3. DunDunDun! (Queue dramatic music) - It will take 10 years for the tilt of the earth to shift all the way to the inclination that you picked. - For your initial discussion board post, - State what your chosen inclination is, - Briefly describe what you think will happen to the population of birds (and their migration and breeding habits) during the first five years of the tilt shift - Give us a status update on what has happened to them after 10 years. - For your second discussion board post, reply to someone’s post who has a chosen inclination that is different from yours and briefly describe what you think the earth would be like at that new inclination. Use your imagination!
EJB Architecture Java Java beans incorporate a set of objects into one accessible object that can be accessed easily from any application. This single accessible object is maintainable, customizable, and reusable. The setter/getter method and the single public constructor are used to govern that single accessible object. We can update and read the value of any variable of any object by using the setter and getter, respectively. The EJB stands for Enterprise Java beans that is a server-based architecture that follows the specifications and requirements of the enterprise environment. EJB is conceptually based on the Java RMI(Remote Method Invocation) specification. In EJB, the beans are run in a container having four-tier architecture. This architecture consists of four layers, i.e., Client layer, Web layer, Application layer, and Data layer. The EJB architecture has two main layers, i.e., Application Server and EJB Container, based on which the EJB architecture exist. The graphical representation of the EJB architecture is given below. In the above diagram, the logical representation of how EJBs are invoked and deployed by using RMI(Remote Method Invocation) is defined. The containers of the EJB cannot be self-deployed. In order to deploy the containers, it requires the Application server. In the EJB architecture, the Application server is the outermost layer that holds or contains the Container to be deployed. The application layer plays an important role in executing the application developed using the beans. It provides the necessary environment to execute those applications. Some most popular application servers are Web-logic, Tomcat, JBoss, Web-sphere, Wildfly, and Glass-finish. The main tasks of the application server are: In EJB architecture, the Container is the second outermost layer. It is a very important layer for enterprise beans that are contained in it. For the enterprise bean, the Container provides various supporting services, which are as follows: Java beans of the enterprise are installed in the Container in the same way as a Plain old java object (POJO) is installed and registered to the Container. For developing secured, large scale and robust business applications, beans provide business logic. Types of EJB There are three types of Enterprise Java Beans or EJB available, which are as follows: In order to implement the stateless business logic, the stateless EJBs are primarily used. Storing a user's physical address into an inventory system's database is an example of the stateless EJB. In addition, a stateless bean would be perfect for this type of business logic because it is not necessary to have more than two forms on the user interface at all stages of the transaction. The Stateful EJB is just opposite to the Stateless EJB. The Stateful EJBs are used when we have to maintain the state of the application on the backend during the user session. The shopping cart of an online shopping application is an example of the Stateful EJB. In order to achieve such application, we will use the following steps: Another special type of EJB that is used for sending and receiving messages from message brokers implements the JMS specification. The systems based on the broker are loosely coupled. The components that communicate through the broker have the advantage of not waiting for one request to finish before submitting another request because the broker by nature is asynchronous. Difference b/w EJB and JB These are the following differences between EJB and JB: Next TopicTypes of EJB
Yesterday we looked at the Magnificat, Mary’s song as recorded in Luke. I forgot to mention this, but there are four songs in Luke, each one of them a work of beauty. Hers is the first, then there’s Zechariah’s, then Simeon’s, then the angels’ on the night of Jesus’ birth. Today we’re going to briefly examine Zechariah’s song, otherwise known as the Benedictus. The reason it’s called this is the first word in the Latin translation: “Blessed be” (“Praise be” in the NIV). There’s a little bit of irony here. Zechariah was a priest, and he finally got his “number” called in order to offer incense in the temple. When he finished, he was supposed to step outside and offer a blessing on the people. Instead, because of his lack of faith in the Lord’s promises, he was struck mute. Now, once his tongue is loosened again, he offers an inspired benediction. Like Mary’s song, Zechariah’s is chock full of Old Testament allusions, and sounds like it could fit right into the Psalter. Here are a few notes I’ve made: The term “horn of salvation” is a common Old Testament phrase (like here). The horn was a symbol of strength and power, and the authors used it as shorthand for the Lord intervening on their behalf. They were in desperate need of salvation, and God stepped in to provide it. It wasn’t John the Baptist, but the One for whom he was preparing Israel, who was the ultimate fulfillment of that phrase. We were just about as bad off as you could get, and our Savior God was finally going to step in do something about it. His first emphasis in the song is national salvation, the fact that the Messiah’s coming will signal his rescue of Israel from all her enemies. That won’t be completely fulfilled until his Second Coming, but just like the O.T. prophets, he combined the two comings into one (we’re going to get more into that next year, God willing). Notice how both Mary’s and Zechariah’s songs have a common theme in them: God is now acting to fulfill his promises made to Abraham. For example, the Lord had promised their fathers that through Abraham all the nations would be blessed, and this is the beginning of that. Notice the ultimate purpose of this Redemption. The Messiah was coming, and he was just over the horizon. He was coming to save us. Why? Was it just for our sakes? No! The reason why he was doing all this was so that “to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” You were saved, not primarily for your benefit, but so that you could serve your Redeemer. Then we get to John the Baptist’s role, the son of this song's composer. It’s the natural thing for a father to exalt his son above everybody else, but Zechariah--under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit--knew that his son, as great as he would become, would always be under the shadow of One greater. As we saw last year in our study of John the Baptist, that man’s whole purpose in life was to point people towards Messiah Jesus. Any glory or accolades or concern about his own honor was immediately directed towards his Savior. He would be a “prophet of the Most High,” in fact the last in a long line of O.T. prophets. John was there to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. One of the ways he did this was to present the message of salvation and the forgiveness of sins. That’s our main problem summed up in one word: sin. That’s what separates us from God in this life, and that’s what sends us into an eternity of darkness. But John was also there to present the Savior. That’s the “rising sun” who came down “from heaven.” He’s going to “shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” I know we saw this last year when we looked at the Baptist, but it bears repeating. John’s mission is ours: To prepare people to meet Jesus, warn them about our main problem, and present the Savior to them. Am I doing that? Are you? Lord Jesus, in everything I do and say, I want to do that. Please give me singleness of purpose. Post a Comment
Titus Kaphar: Can art amend history? Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums. Full bio Double-click the English transcript below to play the video. to the Natural History Museum? is I take my kids to the museum. to the Natural History Museum. Sabian and Dabith. entrance of the museum, of Teddy Roosevelt out there. with one hand on the horse, but it kind of feels like it. is a Native American walking. is an African-American walking. to try to explain that, I try to do with them anyways. would have never really asked. of such an amazing institution." to amend our public sculptures, when I was born. with his own things is because of a woman. fantastic, beautiful, smart woman, about your future." "I'm thinking about my future now." to the junior college to what I was registering to. about art history. when I went into that class. and say, "Who's that?" Clearly that is Van Gogh. I wasn't a great student. OK? that I was able to learn things visually this became my tactic Things were going well. these art history classes. I will not forget, I will never forget. art history classes. survey art history classes, the entire history of art and Jackson Pollock but they try anyway. was about a 14-page section of black people in painting let's just put it that way. the other classes that I had, to go over that particular chapter, to go through it." hold on, professor, professor. important chapter to me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that this is significant. because we need to talk." out of her office. "I can't force her to teach anything." if I wanted to understand this history, of those folks who had to walk, to have to figure that out myself. and looking at images like this. some slight differences in the painting. that I had been absorbing that painting is a language. in the composition here. this gold necklace here. about the economic status of the compositional structure, that they have quite a bit of money. this other character here. in research on these kinds of paintings, in this painting -- than I can about this character here, just put inside of this paint of sculptures at museums? of these kinds of paintings of themselves all the time? you actually had to focus. Right? a little to the right, in the background would come out. the struggles of our past and the advances of our present. and getting rid of stuff. do it in the same way a law in the American Constitution, but this is where we are right now." understand a little bit ABOUT THE SPEAKERTitus Kaphar - Artist Titus Kaphar's artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums. Why you should listen As Titus Kaphar says of his work: "I’ve always been fascinated by history: art history, American history, world history, individual history -- how history is written, recorded, distorted, exploited, reimagined and understood. In my work I explore the materiality of reconstructive history. I paint and I sculpt, often borrowing from the historical canon, and then alter the work in some way. I cut, crumple, shroud, shred, stitch, tar, twist, bind, erase, break, tear and turn the paintings and sculptures I create, reconfiguring them into works that nod to hidden narratives and begin to reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history." Kaphar is founder/CEO of the NXTHVN, a multidisciplinary arts incubator that's being built to train professional artists and to further establish New Haven's growing creative community. His latest works are an investigation into the highest and lowest forms of recording history. From monuments to mug shots, this body of work exhibited at Jack Shainman gallery December-January 2017 seeks to collapse the line of American history to inhabit a fixed point in the present. Historical portraiture, mug shots, and YouTube stills challenge viewers to consider how we document the past, and what we have erased. Rather than explore guilt or innocence, Kaphar engages the narratives of individuals and how we as a society manage and define them over time. As a whole, this exhibition explores the power of rewritten histories to question the presumption of innocence and the mythology of the heroic. Titus Kaphar \| Speaker \| TED.com
Essay on Financial Literacy Financial literacy is an important skill to have in today’s world, where money is essential for survival. With the cost of living rising and the need for financial stability increasing, it is essential for people to understand the basics of financial literacy to ensure their financial wellbeing. Financial literacy is the ability to understand and manage your finances. It involves understanding the basics of financial concepts such as budgeting, saving, investing, borrowing, and debt management. Financial literacy also involves understanding the different types of financial products and services available, such as banking, insurance, and retirement planning. Financial literacy is essential in order to be able to make informed decisions regarding money. It is important to understand how to budget and manage your finances, as this will help to ensure that you don’t take on more debt than you can handle. Additionally, having a good understanding of the different types of investments available, as well as the best ways to save for the future, is essential for financial security. It is also important to understand the different types of borrowing, including credit cards, loans, and mortgages, and the associated risks and benefits. Knowing how to compare and contrast different products and services can also help to ensure that you make the best decisions regarding your finances. Financial literacy can be acquired through formal education, such as a college course, or through informal learning, such as reading articles and books or attending seminars and workshops. Additionally, financial literacy can be taught through real-world experiences, such as managing your own finances or working with a financial professional. Financial literacy is a key skill to have in today’s world. Having a good understanding of financial concepts can help to ensure financial stability, as well as helping people to make informed decisions regarding their money. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everyone is aware of the importance of financial literacy, and that they have the opportunity to gain the necessary knowledge and skills. FAQs Related to Essay on Financial Literacy 1. What is financial literacy? Financial literacy is the ability to understand and use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing. It’s important to have a good understanding of financial literacy to make sound financial decisions. 2. What are the benefits of financial literacy? Financial literacy can help you make informed decisions about your finances and help you manage your money more effectively. It can also help you save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. 3. What are the key components of financial literacy? The key components of financial literacy are budgeting, understanding taxes, knowing how to save and invest, understanding credit and debt, and understanding insurance. 4. How can I improve my financial literacy? You can improve your financial literacy by reading books, attending courses or seminars, talking to professionals, and using online resources. 5. How can I teach my children financial literacy? You can teach your children financial literacy by setting a good example, teaching them the basics of budgeting, talking to them about money, and encouraging them to get involved in financial decision-making. 6. What are the main financial principles? The main financial principles are saving, spending, investing, borrowing, and managing debt. 7. What is the importance of financial literacy? Financial literacy is important because it helps people make informed decisions about their finances. It can also help them save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. 8. What is the best way to learn financial literacy? The best way to learn financial literacy is to read books, attend courses or seminars, talk to professionals, and use online resources. 9. What are the most important financial concepts to understand? The most important financial concepts to understand are budgeting, understanding taxes, knowing how to save and invest, understanding credit and debt, and understanding insurance. 10. How can I become financially literate? You can become financially literate by reading books, attending courses or seminars, talking to professionals, and using online resources.
Taking a Stand: Letting Youth Lead in Ending Violence against Women in Tanzania “My husband used to be a heavy drinker. When he would get drunk, we would get into fights and he would beat me. He would accuse me of being an unfaithful wife.”—Betty Mtweve In the United Republic of Tanzania, such incidences of gender-based violence (GBV) are not uncommon. Almost three in 10 women and girls aged 13–24 in Tanzania reported having experienced at least one incident of sexual violence before their 18th birthday, and 39% of women ages 15–49 have ever experienced physical violence since age 15 (according to the 2009 National Survey of Violence against Children). Victims and families are often stigmatized. Perpetrators are often near and known to the victims. The cycle of violence in communities does not end. Youth in Iringa, Tanzania’s southern highland region, are hoping to change that. One morning in 2015, youth aged 18–25 in the Iringa Region marked the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence against Women campaign, which seeks to end violence against women and children. The youth watched a film called AISHA and participated in dance workshops, reflecting on dance performances that depicted the GBV that occurs in many communities. The youth went on to share and write down the actions that they would take against such violence, which were later displayed in various venues in the Iringa Municipality. AISHA is UZIKWASA’s third in a series of feature films about common forms of violence against women and girls. It tells a story about stigma, shame, victim blaming, and authorities’ and leaders’ reluctance to take action against violations of women’s rights. The youth reflected on the repercussions of the violence that they had seen in the film and wrote bold action statements on what they would do if they encountered GBV in their communities. Youth often face challenges such as unemployment, lack of education, and peer pressure. Adversity is greater still for young girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy or who encounter early or forced marriage. How then do they break that cycle of violence? “Transformation can only happen across the gender barrier, and it is important to mirror issues of gender injustice and its consequences to both boys and girls through ongoing dialogue about these issues,” explained Novatus Urassa, UZIKWASA’s Gender and Transformative Leadership Program Manager. Novatus Urassa, UZIKWASA Gender and Transformative Leadership Program Manager, facilitating an AISHA reflective workshop © Sekela Kyomo/EngenderHealth. Amy Miller, Associate Artistic Director from Gibney Dance, based in New York, agreed: “[Youth] are where the choice makers are, they are pushing the world forward. And they are noticing what is not working in the world and they are raising their voices. And to be there to support that is powerful.” Over the duration of the campaign, dancers from Gibney Dance and MUDA Africa delivered youth-focused dance workshops called Hands Are for Holding, a Gibney Dance advocacy event that used dance to raise awareness about GBV, highlighting ways in which young people can take action in their communities. Several short dance pieces depicting various scenarios of GBV were performed, after which the youth were given the opportunity to reflect on what they had witnessed and to voice their intentions by writing down what action they would take the next time they encountered GBV in their daily lives. “With dance, you empower the youth not only with education, but also with the opportunity of being employed,” said Ian Mwaisunga, Artistic Director and teacher at MUDA Africa. One of Ian’s students, Samuel Japhet, had found that dance had worked for him in this way. Before joining MUDA Dance, Samuel had lived on the streets for four years and had grown up with a passion for dancing. He auditioned, was accepted as a dancer at MUDA Dance, and now works as a trainer. “The youth are the future generation. How you mold and prepare them now is how they will be in the future,” he said. A young person taking part in a reflective dance workshop exercise with dancer Brandon Welch of Gibney Dance © Sekela Kyomo/EngenderHealth. But not all are as fortunate as Samuel. Where can they go to get help? “One of the efforts for improving our services was the creation of a police gender desk unit. For those who understand what we do and report to us, we act immediately and ensure the privacy of the victims,” said Upendo Gama, Iringa Police Gender Desk Officer. “With more people becoming aware of what gender-based violence is, more are reporting acts of violence.” EngenderHealth’s Interventions on GBV in Tanzania In an effort to reduce GBV, EngenderHealth set up and has continued to support community action teams (CATs), volunteer-based groups established to help address GBV. The CATs seek to reduce the social acceptance of GBV in the community by providing learning sessions about GBV and violence against children (VAC), increasing awareness of GBV-related services available at health facilities, and spotlighting the links between facilities and social, legal, and psychosocial services. Since the commencement of EngenderHealth’s GBV interventions in the region, 55 health facilities have been supported to provide GBV and VAC services in the region, serving 5,538 GBV-related clients. Forty-one CATs received GBV training, and through awareness raising, they reached 1,162 community members in 20 wards of Iringa Municipal and Mufindi District Council. So what will the youth do differently? “Nitatoa taarifa kituo cha polisi.” (I will report such incidents to police station.) “Nitawahi kituo cha huduma za afya kupata matibabu.” (I will soon go to a health facility for medical care.) “Nitamshitaki kwenye vyombo vya sharia.” (I will report him/her to legal bodies.) “Kuwakutanisha pamoja hao wawili na kuona kama itakuwa rahisi kutatua tatizo.” (I will reconcile the two and find out if it will be easy to solve the problem.) A group photo of youth participants, dancers and facilitators after a dance workshop session in Kihesa, Iringa © Sekela Kyomo/EngenderHealth. The 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women campaign was supported by the regional authorities of the Iringa Region, the U.S. Embassy of Tanzania, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under the USAID-supported RESPOND Tanzania Project (RTP). RTP is an EngenderHealth-led project that works in close collaboration with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children (MOHCDGEC) to support efforts to curb GBV and VAC and to increase the availability, quality, and utilization of GBV- and VAC-related health services as part of its broader scope of work. UNICEF Tanzania, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. 2011. Violence against children in Tanzania: Findings from a national survey, 2009. Summary report on the prevalence of sexual, physical and emotional violence, context of sexual violence, and health and behavioral consequences of violence experienced in childhood. Dar es Salaam. In an effort to reduce GBV in the country, former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Said Mwema, created the Tanzania Police Female Network (TPFNet) in 2007, which led to the creation of Gender Desks in police stations in the country.
Understanding the Basics of Audio Production Audio production is an important part of content creation and is often overlooked by those who are just starting out. Whether you are creating a podcast, recording music, or creating a film, having a basic understanding of audio production will be essential for creating high-quality content. In this article, we will cover the basics of audio production, from essential equipment and techniques to digital audio workstations and sound design. What is Audio Production? Audio production is the process of capturing, recording, mixing, and mastering sound to create a desired effect or tone. It involves a variety of techniques and tools, including microphones, audio mixers, recording devices, monitors, and headphones. Knowing how to use these tools is essential for creating high-quality audio content. The Role of Audio in Content Creation Audio plays an important role in content creation. It can add emotion, depth, and texture to a piece of content, and it can also be used to create a particular mood or atmosphere. Having a basic understanding of audio production will enable you to create more engaging content that resonates with your audience. The first step to understanding audio production is knowing the essential equipment. Below is a list of essential audio equipment and their uses. A microphone is an essential piece of equipment for recording audio. There are three main types of microphones: dynamic, condenser, and shotgun. Dynamic microphones are great for capturing loud sounds like drums or vocals, while condenser microphones are better suited for recording acoustic instruments or vocals. Shotgun microphones are good for capturing sound at a distance. Audio mixers are used to mix multiple audio sources together. They allow you to adjust levels, add effects, and route signals to different outputs. This is essential for creating a balanced mix of audio. Recording devices are used to capture audio. They can range from simple digital recorders to more complex multi-track recorders. Knowing how to use a recording device is essential for capturing high-quality audio. Monitors are used to listen to audio in a studio environment. They provide a clear and accurate representation of the sound and allow you to make precise adjustments to the mix. They are essential for making sure your final mix sounds as good as possible. Headphones are used for listening to audio in a private environment. They provide a more intimate listening experience and allow you to make subtle adjustments to the mix. They are essential for recording and monitoring audio. Knowing the basics of audio production is essential for creating high-quality content. Below are some of the essential techniques you should know. Recording is the process of capturing audio. It involves several steps, including pre-production, setting up the equipment, and recording. Knowing how to properly set up the equipment and record will ensure that you capture high-quality audio. Editing is the process of manipulating audio. It involves several techniques, such as noise reduction, pitch correction, mixing, and mastering. Knowing how to properly edit audio will ensure that your content sounds professional. Digital audio workstations (DAWs) are software programs used for recording, editing, and mixing audio. The most popular DAWs include Pro Tools, Audacity, Garage Band, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live. Knowing how to use a DAW will enable you to create high-quality audio content. Music theory is the study of the structure, notation, and composition of music. It involves understanding the basics of music, such as notes, chords, rhythm, and scales. Knowing the basics of music theory will enable you to create more complex and interesting audio content. Sound design is the process of creating sound effects and ambient sounds for use in a project. It involves techniques such as foley, sound effects, and ambience. Knowing how to properly use sound design will enable you to create more immersive audio content. Audio production is an essential part of content creation, and having a basic understanding of audio production will enable you to create high-quality audio content. In this article, we covered the basics of audio production, from essential equipment and techniques to digital audio workstations and sound design. Now that you know the basics, you can start creating your own audio content. Audio production is an essential part of content creation, and having a basic understanding of audio production will enable you to create high-quality audio content. Knowing the basics of audio equipment, techniques, digital audio workstations, music theory, and sound design will enable you to create more engaging and immersive audio content. Now that you know the basics of audio production, you can start experimenting with different techniques and tools. There are many online tutorials and resources available to help you learn more about audio production. You can also join online communities and forums to share your work and get feedback from other audio professionals. 1. What Is Audio Production? https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-audio-production/ 2. The Basics of Audio Production Equipment https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/audio/tips-and-solutions/basics-audio-production-equipment 3. Basic Audio Production Techniques https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/basic-audio-production-techniques 4. Digital Audio Workstations: What You Need To Know https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/digital-audio-workstations-what-you-need-know 5. Basic Music Theory https://www.dummies.com/art-center/music/basics-of-music-theory/ 6. Basic Sound Design Techniques https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/basic-sound-design-techniques
Climate change presents an unprecedented international and urgent health threat to sustainable development, human health and survival, thus placing human lives at risk. All health professionals have a duty to advocate for action at all levels to mitigate and adapt to climate change and can or should play a critical role in mitigating and reducing risk. However, the global health sector has been slow to recognise the impact of climate change upon health. Interview findings indicate that South Africa, as a country and people, will be particularly vulnerable to climate change and its consequential health effects, food security and overall impact on livelihoods, particularly affecting the poor. Overall, participants held the view that the predicament in access to healthcare is set to overwhelm present and prospective generations within the South African context. Responses to climate change, whether by mitigation of its effects or adaptation to them, will require strong and effective intersectoral organisation efforts within government at all levels, along with interdisciplinary research. A proposal to centralise climate change action within the national departments or to form a South African National Department of Climate Change, which reports directly to the president and parliament, has been made. As the aspect of climate change and public health intersects with virtually all other facets of government, such an initiative may go a long way to increase collaboration across borders. Read the full paper here: Dos Santos, M., John, J., Garland, R., Palakatsela, R., Banos, A., Martens, P., Nemukula, B., Ramathuba, M., Nkohla, F. & Lenyibi, K. (2022). Climate change and health within the South African context: A thematic content analysis study of climate change and health expert interviews. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 14 (1).
by Dr. Andrew Snelling \| Nov 25, 2022 \| Geology If the Genesis Flood really occurred, what evidence would we look for? We read in Genesis 7 and 8 that “the fountains of the great deep” were broken up and poured out water from inside the earth for 150 days (5 months). Plus, it rained torrentially and globally for 40 days and nights. (“The floodgates [or windows] of heaven were opened.”) No wonder all the high hills and the mountains were covered, meaning the earth was covered by a global ocean. (“The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,” 2 Peter 3:6.) All air-breathing life on the land was swept away and perished. by Dr. Lisle \| Jan 29, 2021 \| Apologetics, Geology, Refuting the Critics We have been reviewing a recent podcast by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, and his co-hosts. Recall, Phil had made a number of false claims about Ken Ham and the history of biblical creation. We will continue our analysis of his claims here. The comments of Phil and other co-hosts are in purple text, with my response in black. by Dr. Lisle \| Aug 10, 2018 \| Apologetics, Astronomy, Genetics, Geology, Origins, Physics, Theology Last week, I had the privilege of attending the eighth International Conference on Creationism (ICC). This conference is a “meeting of the minds” in which several hundred creation scientists, Bible scholars, and other creation advocates can present and critique their research in various fields, including biology, geology, astronomy, physics, archeology, and biblical studies. by Dr. Lisle \| Jan 19, 2018 \| Geology, Refuting the Critics The critics for this week have posted on the Biblical Science Institute Facebook page in response to the geology articles here and here. I will use only their first name in the response. The critic’s comments are in violet text, with my response in black. by Dr. Lisle \| Dec 8, 2017 \| Geology In part one, we examined the basics of geology, and found that scientists generally agree on the observational aspects of geology regardless of their respective positions on origins. But when it comes to interpreting geological events of the past, we form different conclusions on the basis of different starting presuppositions and views of Earth history. by Dr. Lisle \| Dec 1, 2017 \| GeologyGeology is the study of the physical processes of Earth from plate tectonics and volcanos to minerals and rock layers. The field involves a combination of operational science and origins science. The operational aspects involve measuring the types of rocks and...
News & Tall Tales. 1800s. Cora and Casey Among the immigrants to San Francisco were the most ruthless criminals in the world. A substantial number came from Van Dieman's Land and New South Wales where the British had sent their criminals in the mid-1800s. Once those criminals served their time, they sailed for California. The numbers grew and the "Sydney Coves" (Sydney Ducks) were almost impossible to control as witnesses and prosecutors were few. The offenders operated unchecked from late 1849 through early 1851 with robberies, midnight assaults ending in murder, gambling, and starting fires, during which they would plunder shops and homes. At one point, more than 100 murders had been committed within the space of a few months and not one criminal had been executed. To regain order, two vigilance groups were formed between 1851 and 1856. Unfortunately, rather than stemming crime, they were among the most notorious. The 1856 Vigilance Committee was one of the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of America's Old West. One of the Vigilance Committee's (it's unclear as to which), was comprised of some of the richest, most influential, orderly and respectable citizens of San Francisco during the City's early days, and developed it's own writ of conduct. The catalyst for the Committee was a political duel in which James P. Casey shot James King of William. The 1856 Committee was also much larger, claiming 6,000 in its ranks. The 1856 lynchings of Charles Cora and James Casey, occurred towards the end of one Committee. Cora and Casey were lynched by the Committee of Vigilance as murderers, after killing men in duels. Cora had shot a U.S. Marshall, who had insulted Cora's mistress while drunk; Casey had murdered a rival newspaper editor, shortly after the man published an editorial exposing Casey's criminal record in New York. May 23, 1856, Marysville Daily Herald San Francisco, May 22d 2 PM The rush to see Cora and Casey suspended was great. Numbers flocked and filled up every place where a sight can be obtained. 4 o'clock PM: Cora and Casey were brought out on a platform suspended from the windows of the Vigilance Committee room, 39 Sacramento street. Cora at once threw a white cap over his head, and awaited his fate with stern nerve. Casey spoke between 7 and 10 minutes, at the end of which time he was perfectly exhausted and had to be supported by those near him. He then drew a white cap over his eyes, and at the work "strike" both were launched into eternity. But few were present at that time, as it was the general expectation they would be hang tomorrow at 12, and the people had assembled along the line of the funeral procession. When the news of the hanging reached Montgomery street the rush for that locality was terrific. I have found it impossible to obtain the purport of Casey's speech, as it was spoken is as tremulous voice and heard but by a few. The last part of the funeral procession has just passed along Montgomery street. The largest procession ever seen in this city. It was composed of all classes and was 35 minutes in passing corner of Merchant and Washington streets. Casey's Last Words - Dying Speech The following is a copy of Casey's dying speech as reported for the Morning Globe:FELLOW CITIZENS: I am about to die; I have been persecuted; I am accused of assassination; I have an aged mother, and let no man say, when l am dead, that I was an assassin; I was brought up to fight when insulted, and think it is the best way of settling difficulties, and though I did take the life of Mr. King, yet I call God to witness that I did not intend by thought or deed to murder him; the Globe, Alta, Chronicle and the other papers have persecuted me, but I am innocent of murder; I am now going to meet my God, and beg all to forgive me as I, from my heart, forgive them; when I am dead, let no one say I was a murderer; let not the steamer papers carry the news to my aged mother that I was a murderer; you will doubtless see my funeral pass tomorrow; let no man point to it and say there goes a murderer; let the many sins that have accumulated upon me for twenty-eight or nine years be forgotten; let my name sink into oblivion. Here his self-possession failed him and he had to be lifted on the trap door, when the signal was given and the soul of James P Casey was landed into eternity. 10 o'clock p.m.: Early this morning it was rumored that Casey and Cora would be hung to-day. There was an immense crowd collected, but seeing no signs, partially dispersed. The streets along which the funeral was to pass, being lined with spectators from Bush on Montgomery, all along Montgomery to Washington up to Stockton, and on to the Unitarian Church, from whence the possession started. Rev Messrs. Cutler Lacy and Taylor officiated at the burial ceremony The corpse was conveyed from his late residence to the Unitarian Church by California Masonic Lodge, No 1, of which he was a member. Mrs. King and children accompanied the hearse, followed by the different Lodges of the Masonic body and other societies. The draymen having their horses all arraigned so as to color; 312 dray horses, four abreast. The paper reported that "here the wires broke," thus the story was not fully published. The Naval Order of the United States has a history dating from 1890. Membership includes a wide range of individuals, many with highly distinguished career paths. The San Francisco Commandery meets the first Monday of each month at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club in San Francisco, California and holds two formal dinners each year.
The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 1. Originally published by W Bristow, Canterbury, 1797. This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved. BRITAIN was in the state above-mentioned when Cæsar turned his thoughts to the invasion of it, at which time the Romans were become masters of almost all Europe, the best part of Africa, and the richest countries of Asia. Whilst they were continually adding so many kingdoms to their empire, Britain still preserved its independency, for which it was indebted to its remote situation, more than to its strength. It was considered by the inhabitants of the continent as a separate world, of which (excepting in the maritime parts opposite to it,) they had very little knowledge, and what they had did not excite their desires to extend their dominion over it. Julius Cæsar, during his wars with the Gauls, had taken great umbrage at the supplies which the neighbouring parts of Britain had continually sent to them: at least this was the specious pretence for his leading his forces hither; a pretence frequently made use of by the Romans, to carry their conquests into the most remote countries; though his unbounded ambition was, most probably, the sole motive that urged him to it. It was in the 698th year after the building of Rome, and fifty-five years before the birth of Christ, Cn. Pompey and Marcus Lic. Crassus being then consuls of Rome, that Julius Cæsar resolved to undertake a voyage into Britain, and though the summer was then almost spent, he would by no means delay it; not that he expected the advanced season of the year would permit him to carry on the war, yet he thought it would be of no small use to him, if he only landed and discovered something of the nature of the inhabitants, the country, and its havens. To gain some intelligence, therefore, Cæsar summoned together all the merchants round about, but he could not learn from any of them, either what the size of Britain was, what or how many nations inhabited it, what progress they had made in the art of war, what customs they used, or what number of ships their ports were capable of receiving. (fn. 1) This uncertainty made him determine to send out C. Volu- senus with a galley, to make what discoveries he could without danger. In the mean time he himself marched with all his forces into the country of the Morini, now the province of Picardy, from whence the passage into Britain was said to be the shortest, and thither he ordered the shipping from all the neighbouring parts. Whilst these preparations were going forward, the merchants gave notice to the Britons of Cæsar's design, who sent messengers to him, in hopes of diverting him from his purpose, promising to deliver hostages, and to submit themselves to the Roman empire. Cæsar gave them a civil reception, made them liberal promises, and, encouraging them to persist in their resolution, sent them home again. Along with them he sent Comius, whom he had made king of the Attrebates, in Gaul, a person, whose interest in those parts was accounted very great, and whose fidelity Cæsar had a great opinion of. He commanded Comius to visit as many states as he could, and persuade them to accept of an alliance with the Romans, and farther, to tell them, that he would very quickly be over with them in person. Volusenus, in the mean time, having made what discoveries he could of the country, for he durst not venture himself ashore, after five days cruizing, returned, and acquainted Cæsar with all he had seen; who having, in the mean time, got together eighty transports, which he thought sufficient to carry over the foot of his two legions, besides his gallies, and eighteen more transports for the horse, which lay wind-bound at another port, eight miles distant, set sail with the foot about one o'clock in the morning, and left orders for the horse to march to the other port, and to embark there, and follow him as soon as they could. (fn. 2) Cæsar himself, with the foremost of his ships, arrived on the coast of Britain about ten o'clock the same morning, where he saw all the cliffs covered by the enemy in arms, and he observed (what would render the execution of his design most difficult at this place) that, the sea being narrow, and pent in by the hills, the Britons could easily throw their darts from thence upon the shore beneath. Not thinking this place proper therefore for landing, he came to an anchor, and waited for the rest of his fleet till three in the afternoon; after which, having got both wind and tide for him, he weighed anchor, and sailed about eight miles farther, and then came to a plain and open shore, where he ordered the ships to bring to. The Britons being apprised of his design, sent their horse and chariots before, and following after with the rest of the army, endeavoured to prevent their landing. Here the Romans laboured under very great difficulties, for their ships, on account of their size, could not lie near the shore, and their soldiers with their hands encumbered and loaded with heavy armour, were obliged to contend, at the same time both with the waves and the enemy, in a place they were unacquainted with; whereas the Britons, either standing upon dry ground, or but a little way in the water, in places with which they were well acquainted, and being free and unincumbered, could boldly cast their darts, and spur their horses forward, which were used to this kind of combat, which disadvantage so discouraged the Romans, who were unused to this way of fighting, that they did not behave themselves with the same spirit that they used to do, in their engagements on dry land. Cæsar perceiving this, gave orders for the gallies to advance gently before the rest of the fleet, and to row along with their broadsides towards the shore, and then by every kind of missive weapon to drive the enemy away. This piece of conduct was of considerable service to them, for the Britons being terri- fied, quickly after began to give ground; upon which the soldiers, though at first unwilling, encouraging one another, leaped down into the sea, from the several ships, and pressed forward towards the enemy. The conflict was sharply maintained on both sides; in which the Romans, not being able either to keep their ranks, obtain firm footing, or follow their particular standards, fell into great disorder; whilst the Britons, who were well acquainted with the shallows, spurring their horses forward, assaulted the enemy, incumbered and unprepared to receive them. Cæsar observing this, caused the boats and pinnaces to be filled with soldiers, and dispatched them to the relief of those who stood in need of it; these charged the Britons, and quickly put them to flight, but could not pursue, as their horse were not then arrived. The Britons, upon this, as soon as they had escaped beyond the reach of danger, sent messengers to desire peace, promising to deliver hostages for the performance of whatever Cæsar had commanded. He at first upbraided, and then pardoned, their imprudence, and demanded hostages of them; some of which they delivered immediately, and promised to return in a few days, with the rest: in the mean time they dispersed their men, and the chiefs assembled from all parts, and recommended themselves and their states to Cæsar's protection. Upon the fourth day after Cæsar's arrival in Britain, the transports with the horse, of which mention has been already made, set fail with a gentle gale; but when they were arrived so near as to be within view of the Roman camp, the whole fleet was dispersed by a sudden storm, and afterwards, though with much difficulty, made the best of its way back to the continent. The same night the moon was at full, and, consequently, it made a spring tide, an observation the Romans were strangers to; so that at the same time both the gallies, which had been drawn on shore, were filled with water, and the ships of burthen, which rode at anchor, were greatly distressed and damaged. Several of them were lost, and the rest were rendered wholly unfit for service, which caused a great consternation throughout their whole army; for they had no other ships to carry them back again, nor any materials to refit their own with; and they knew very well they must of necessity take up their winter quarters in Gaul, as there was no provision of corn against winter made for them here. As soon as the British chiefs, who had been assembled to perform their agreement with Cæsar, knew of this, and that the Romans were without horses, ships, and provisions, concluding from the smallness of their camp, (which was then narrower than usual, because the legions had left their heavy baggage in Gaul) that their soldiers were but few, they resolved upon a revolt, and to hinder the Romans from foraging, and delay them till winter; imagining that if they could but gain a victory over them, or prevent their return, none would ever dare to make such another attempt; and having entered into a new consederacy, they began by degrees to quit the Roman camp, and privately to enlist their disbanded troops again. (fn. 3) Though Cæsar knew nothing of their design, yet suspecting, from the loss of his shipping, and their delay in the delivery of their hostages, what afterwards really happened, prepared for all events, causing provisions to be brought into his camp every day, and repairing the ships that were least damaged. By which means, with the loss of twelve, he made the rest fit for sea again. Whilst matters were in this situation, the seventh legion, whose turn it was, went out to forage, whilst some of the men were employed in the fields, and others in carrying the corn between them and the camp, the out-guards gave Cæsar notice, that they observed a greater dust than usual, in that part of the country to which the legion went. Upon which, suspecting that the Britons had revolted, he took with him the cohorts that were placed for an advanced guard, and commanded the rest to repair to their arms, and follow him as fast as possible. He had not marched far before he saw his foragers overcharged by the Britons, and drove into a small compass; for the Britons, knowing there was but one place where the harvest had not been carried in, suspected the Romans would come there, and having hid themselves the night before in the woods, suddenly set upon the soldiers, who had laid down their arms, and were dispersed and busy in reaping the corn, and having killed some of them, they put the rest in disorder, and then surrounded them with their horse and chariots. Their way of fighting with their chariots was this; first they drove up and down every where, and flung their darts about, the very terror and noise of their horses and chariots frequently putting the ranks of the enemy in disorder; and whenever they got in among the ranks of the horse, they alighted, and fought on foot. Their charioteers, in the mean time, drove a little way out of the battle, and placed themselves in such a manner, that if their masters should be overpowered by the numbers of the enemy, they might readily retreat to them. Thus they performed in their battles all the activity of the horse, and the steadiness of the foot, at the same time, and were so expert, by daily use and exercise, that even, when they were going full speed on the side of a steep hill, they could stop their horses and turn, run upon the pole, rest on the harness, and thence throw themselves, with great dexterity, into their chariots again. The Romans being disordered by this new kind of fight, Cæsar came very opportunely to their assistance; for on his arrival the Britons made a stand, and the Romans began to forget their fears. However, not thinking it advisable to venture an engagement at that time, after remaining on the same spot for a little while, he retreated with his legions to the camp. The badness of the weather, which followed after this for several days successively, kept the Romans in their camp, and the Britons from attempting any thing against them. In the mean time the latter sent messengers to all parts, to give information of the smallness of the Roman army, and to shew how considerable a booty they might obtain, and what a glorious opportunity then offered of making themselves free for ever, if they could but force the enemy's camp; by which means they quickly raised great numbers of horse and foot, and came down to it for that purpose. Although Cæsar foresaw, that the Britons, in case they were routed, would, as they had done before, escape the danger by flight, yet having got thirty horse, which Comius of Arras brought over with him, he drew his legions up in order of battle before the camp, and having engaged the Britons, who were not long able to sustain the attack, put them to flight, and the soldiers pursuing them as far as they could, killed many of them, and burnt all their houses for some distance round. The very same day, the Britons sent messengers to desire a peace, when Cæsar demanded double the number of hostages he had before to be sent into Gaul, for the autumnal equinox being near, he did not think it safe to sail with such weak ships in the winter season; seizing, therefore, the first favorable opportunity of the wind's being fair, he set sail soon after midnight, and arrived safe at the continent. (fn. 4) Probably he left this island about the 20th of September, about twenty-five days after his landing, and, as he says, a little before the equinox, which at that time must have been on the the 25th of that month. This is Cæsar's account of this short expedition, which, however plausible he may have dressed it up in his Commentaries, yet his sudden departure in the night, immediately following the battle, carries with it a strong suspicion of his having been beaten by the Britons. Horace, Tibullus, and Lucan, seem to confirm it, as do Tacitus and Dion Cassius in their histories. A more modern writer of our own nation, H. Huntingdon, who lived about an hundred years after the Norman conquest, says, that Cæsar was disappointed in his hopes; for on his landing he had a sharper conflict with the Britons than he could have believed, and perceiving that his forces were too few for such an enterprise, and that the enemy was much more powerful than he imagined, he was of necessity compelled to re-embark, and that then, being caught in a storm, he lost the greatest part of his fleet, a great number of his soldiers, and almost all his cavalry; at which, being dismayed, he returned to Gaul, sorely wounded at his disappointment. (fn. 5) M. Westminster says much the same, as does Bede. (fn. 6) Polidore Virgil, an Italian, who is always severe on the English, in his history, tells us, the report was, that Cæsar, being routed by the Britons at the first encounter, fled into Gaul. (fn. 7) Dr. Halley published a discourse (in Philos. Trans. No. 193) to prove at what time Cæsar landed in Britain, in which he makes it plain, that the cliffs mentioned by Cæsar were those of Dover, and that from the tide, and other circumstances, the Downs was the place where he landed. (fn. 8) In this expedition Cæsar made no advances into the country; the unexpected opposition he met with prevented whatever designs he might have had towards it. Upon the whole, the result of this attempt seems to have been no more than a discovery of the most convenient place of landing, and that, if he again attempted the conquest of this country, he stood in need of a much superior force, than what he had then with him. The Britons, it seems, were not much awed by the Romans; for of all the states into which this island was then divided, two only sent hostages. Provoked at this contempt, Cæsar determined to make a second invasion next year, with a far more powerful fleet and army. For which purpose, when he left his winter quarters in Gaul, as he usually did every year to go into Italy, he gave orders to his lieutenants, who were to command the legions in his absence, that they should build, during the winter, as many ships as they could, and repair the old ones. And at the same time he shewed them the manner and form in which he would have them made, directing them to be built something lower than they used to be in the Mediterranean, that the soldiers might both embark and get ashore again with greater ease; and likewise broader than ordinary, as more convenient for the number of horses he intended carrying in them, and to contrive them all for oars, for which the lowness of them would be very proper. On Cæsar's return to his army, he found that the soldiers, by their unparalleled diligence, had already built six hundred such ships as he had ordered, and twenty-nine gallies, which would be ready to be launched within a few days. Upon which he commanded them all to meet him at the Portus Itius, from whence he knew there was the most convenient passage into Britain, which here was about thirty miles from the continent. Where this port was has been variously conjectured; Mr. Camden, and Ortelius, suppose it to have been Witson. Cluverius, and after him Somner, Battely, and others, suppose Boulogne to have been the Portus Itius here mentioned by Cæsar.— Lambarde, Horsley, and others, join with Dr. Halley in placing it at or somewhere near Calais. The latter of these in his discourse mentioned above, (Phil. Trans. No. 193) founds his opinion on arguments drawn from the navigation of those times, and Cæsar's description of his voyage. He further observes, that Cæsar's distance of the passage from Portus Itius to Britain comes very near the truth, for by an accurate survey, the distance at Calais, from land to land, is twenty-six English miles, or twenty-eight and a half Roman. From hence he set sail for Britain with five legions, and the same number of horse he had left with Labienus, about sun-set, with a gentle south-west wind. About midnight it fell calm, and the fleet being driven by the tide, Cæsar, at day-break, found he had left Britain on the left hand. But the tide turning, they fell to their oars, in order to reach that part of it where they had the year before found the best landing. Cæsar arrived on the coast of Britain about noon, with his whole fleet, but there was no enemy to be seen; though as he afterwards learned from the prisoners, the inhabitants had been there in vast multitudes, but being terrified at the number of the ships, (which, together with the transports, and other vessels which particular officers had prepared for their own accommodation, amounted to above eight hundred,) they had fled from the shore, and had hid themselves among the hills. Having landed his army without opposition, and chosen a proper place to encamp in, when he had learned from the prisoners, where the British forces were posted, about midnight Cæsar marched in quest of them, having left ten cohorts, and three hundred horse, under the command of Q. Atrius, to guard the ships, which he was the less uneasy for, as he left them at anchor, on a soft and open shore. (fn. 9) When he had marched about twelve miles, he discovered the Britons, who, having advanced with their horse and chariots to the banks of a river, began, from a rising ground to oppose the passage of the Romans, and to give them battle; but being repulsed by the Roman cavalry, they retired to a place in the woods, which was fortified both by art and nature, in an extraordinary manner, and which seemed to have been so prepared some time before, on account of their own civil wars. All the passages to it were blocked up by heaps of trees, cut down for that purpose, and the Britons seldom venturing to skirmish out of the woods, prevented the Romans from entering their works; but the soldiers of the seventh legion, having cast themselves into a testudo, and raised a mount against their works, after having received a few wounds, took the place, and drove them out of the woods; Cæsar however would not permit them to follow the pursuit, because he was unacquainted with the country, and the day being already far spent, he was desirous of employing the rest of it in fortifying his camp. Various have been the conjectures of our antiquaries concerning this place of the Britons fortified both by art and nature. Horsley thinks it likely, that this engagement was on the banks of the river Stour, a little to the north of Durovernum, or Canterbury, in the way towards Sturry, which is about fourteen English miles from the Downs; others well acquainted with this part of Kent, have conjectured it to have been on the banks of the rivulet below Barhamdowns, and that the fortification of the Britons was in the woods behind Kingston, towards Bursted; and the distance as well as the situation of this place, and the continued remains of Roman works about it, almost in a continued line to Deal, add some strength to this conjecture. Some have placed this encounter below Swerdling downs, three miles north-west from Bursted, and the intrenchment in the woods above the downs behind Heppington, where many remains of intrenchments, &c. are still visible. Perhaps the engagement was below Barham-down; the fortification near Bursted, as before-mentioned; and the remains above Swerdling, the place to which the Britons retreated, after they were put to slight by the Romans, and where Cæsar again found them, after he had fortified his camp, with their allies, under the command of Cassivelaun. The next morning, having divided his army into three bodies, Cæsar sent both his horse and foot in pursuit of the Britons; soon after which, before the rear of them had got out of sight, some horsemen arrived from Q. Atrius, to acquaint him, that the night before there had happened a dreadful storm, which had shattered almost all his ships, and cast them on the shore, for neither anchors nor cables could hold them, nor could all the skill of the mariners and pilots resist the force of the tempest, so that the fleet, from the great number of shipping lying together, received considerable damage. Upon this intelligence the Roman general, countermanding his forces, returned himself in person to the fleet, and there found that about forty of his ships were entirely lost, and that the rest of them were so much damaged, as not to be refitted without great trouble and labour. Wherefore, having chosen some workmen for this purpose from among his soldiers, and sent for others from the continent, he wrote to Labienus, to build him as many ships as he could with those legions that were left with him; and he himself determined, though it would be an affair that would be attended with great toil and labour, to have his fleet hauled on shore, and to inclose it with his camp, within the same fortification. In the execution of which, the soldiers laboured ten days and nights without intermission, and at this day, upon the shore about Deal, Sandown, and Walmer, there is a long range of heaps of earth, where Camden supposes this ship camp to have been, and which in his time, he says, was called by the people, as he was told, Rome's work. (fn. 10) Though some have conjectured, and perhaps with some probability, that the place of Cæsar's naval camp was where the town of Deal now stands. When the shipping being drawn on shore, and the camp exceedingly well fortified, Cæsar left the same guard over the fleet as he had before, and returned to the place where he had desisted from pursuing the Britons. On his arrival, he found they had assembled their forces there in greater numbers from all parts than when he left the place before. By general consent the chief command and management of the war was intrusted to Cassivelaun, whose territories were divided from the maritime states by the river Thames, about eighty miles distant from the sea. There had been before that time continual wars between Cassivelaun and the rest of the states in the island; but the Britons, being terrified on the arrival of the Romans, had conferred the chief direction of affairs on him at so important a conjuncture. Whilst the Romans were on their march they were briskly attacked by the British horse and chariots, whom they repulsed, with great slaughter, and drove them into the woods; but being too eager in the pursuit, lost some of their own men. Not long after this the Britons made a sudden sally out of the woods, and sharply attacked the advanced guard of the Romans, who little expected them, and were employed in fortifying their camp; upon which Cæsar immediately dispatched the two first cohorts of his legions to their assistance; but the Britons, whilst the soldiers stood amazed at their new way of fighting, boldly broke through the midst of them, and returned again without the loss of a man. (fn. 11) Quintus Laberius Durus was slain in this ac- tion, but some fresh cohorts coming up, the Britons were at last repulsed. This is Cæsar's account; but our historian, Henry of Huntingdon, says, (fn. 12) that in this engagement, Labienus, the tribune, and his battalion, being incompassed by the Britons, were all slain, and Cæsar perceiving the day was lost, and that the Britons were to be encountered more by art than strength, determined, before his loss was too great, to save himself by slight; upon which the Britons, pursuing the Romans, killed many of them, and were at last restrained, only by the contiguity of the woods; and Bede goes farther, and tells us, the Britons gained the victory. (fn. 13) This engagement happening in the view of the whole Roman army, they all perceived that the legionary soldiers were not equal to cope with such an enemy, as the weight of their armour would not permit them to pursue, nor durst they go too far from their colours. Neither could their cavalry encounter them without great danger, as the Britons often counterseited a retreat, and having drawn them from the legions, would leap from their chariots and fight on foot, to a great advantage. For the engagements of the cavalry, whether they retreated or pursued, were attended with one and the same danger. To which may be added, that the Britons never fought in close battalions, but in small parties, at a great distance from one another, each of them having their particular post allotted, whence they received supplies, and the weary were relieved by those who were fresh and untired. The next day the Britons posted themselves on the hills, at some distance from the Roman camp, appearing but seldom, and with less eagerness to harrass the enemy's horse than the day before. But about noon, when Cæsar had sent out three legions and all the cavalry, under the command of C. Trebonius, to forage, they suddenly rushed on the foragers from all parts, insomuch as to fall in with the legions and their standards. But the Romans returning the attack briskly, drove them back, nor did the cavalry, (who depended on the legions, which followed close after, to sustain them in case of necessity) desist from pursuing the Britons, till they had entirely routed them. Great numbers of whom were slain; for the Romans pursued them so close, that they had no opportunity either of rallying, making a stand, or forsaking their chariots. Upon this rout the British auxiliaries, which had come from all parts, left them; nor did the Britons ever after this engage the Romans with their united forces.— From hence Cæsar marched his army to the river Thames, towards the territories of Cassivelaun, which river was fordable only in one place, and that with great difficulty, and on his arrival there, he saw the British forces drawn up in a considerable body on the opposite bank, which was fortified with sharp stakes; they had likewise driven many stakes of the same sort so deep into the bottom of the river, that the tops of them were covered with the water. Notwithstanding Cæsar had intelligence of this from the prisoners and deserters, yet he ordered his army to pass the river, which they did with such resolution and entrepidity, (though the water took them up to the neck) that the Britons, not being able to sustain their assault, abandoned the bank, and sled. Cassivelaun, now despairing of success by a battle, disbanded the greatest part of his forces, and contented himself with watching the motions of the Romans, from time to time, and betaking himself to the woods, and other places, inaccessible to the Romans. In the mean time several states had submitted themselves to Cæsar; and Cassivelaun, to divert him from pursuing his conquests, sent his messengers into Kent, which was then governed by four petty princes; Cingetorix, Carnilius, Taximagulus, and Segonax, whom Cæsar stiles Kings, and commanded them to raise what forces they could, and suddenly attack the camp where his ships were laid up; which they did, but were repulsed, with great slaughter, in a sally made by the Romans, who took Cingetorix prisoner, and returned, without any loss, to their trenches. Upon the news of this defeat Cassivelaun, reflecting on the many losses he had sustained, that his country was laid waste, and that several of the neighbouring states had submitted, sent messengers to Cæsar to treat of a surrender. As the summer was already far spent, Cæsar, who was determined to winter in Gaul, to prevent sudden incursions there, readily hearkened to their proposals, demanded hostages, and imposed an annual tribute on the country. Having received the hostages he marched his army back to the sea shore; where, finding his ships refitted, he caused them to be launched, and as he had a great number of captives, and some of his ships had been lost in the storm, he resolved to transport his army at two voyages. But as most of the ships which were sent back from Gaul, after they had landed the soldiers that were first carried over, and of those which Labienus had built for him, were driven back by contrary winds, Cæsar, after having long expected them in vain, lest the winter should prevent his voyage, the equinox being near at hand, crouded his soldiers closer than he designed, and taking the opportunity of an extraordinary calm, set sail about ten o'clock at night, and arrived safe with his whole fleet at the continent by break of day. It is conjectured, that this second expedition of Cæsar's was in May, and that he returned to Gaul about the middle of September; for, in a letter to Cicero, from Britain, dated September the 1st, he says, he was come to the sea side in order to embark. Such is the account given by Cæsar of his two expeditions into Britain, who, in penning his Commentaries, seems to have framed the whole much to his own advantage. Indeed, no one can read the particulars of these expeditions in them without being sensible, that some circumstances must have been omitted, (for, in some parts, he is scarce consistent with himself,) and that whatever was not to his honour, he has passed over in silence. As a proof of which, let us consider Cæsar's design in passing over hither, and attacking the Britons, and the events of it. He tells us, that he made a descent, with two legions only, in an enemy's country, in the sight of an army, formidable for number, bravery, and peculiar method of fighting, and afterwards in a battle put their united forces to flight. That on his landing, with a much larger force, the second time, he drove the Britons from their advantageous post on the banks of a river, and afterwards from their strong fortification in the woods; that he then routed the British army and their auxiliaries, which had been assembled from all parts of the island; and, what is more wonderful, he passed the Thames at a ford, which was guarded by a numerous army, stuck full of sharp stakes, and so deep as to take the soldiers up to their chins. Such continued scenes of good fortune, it would be imagined, would have secured him success in the design and resolution with which he set sail from Gaul, of conquering Britain, and reducing it to a Roman province, as Dion Cassius positively asserts. Yet, notwithstanding his gaining such victories over the Britons every where; his passing the Thames in spight of every obstacle, his vanquishing and routing Cassivelaun, and obliging him to disband most of his forces, in despair of being able to cope with him; his becoming master of the capital of that prince; and the Britons submitting and suing for peace: notwithstanding all these advantages, he was content with ordering Mandubratius to be restored, in the room of Cassivelaun, to the kingdom of the Trinobantes; which command was never executed; for on Cassivelaun's making his submission to Cæsar, he restored him again to his favour, only imposing an easy tribute on him, and then quickly, without fortifying any one place, or leaving any troops in the island, he set sail again for the continent. So trivial a satisfaction, instead of the conquest of Britain, evidently shews, that the success acquired by Cæsar, in these expeditions, came far short of the idea he endeavours to give us of it. It serves to confirm the testimony of Lucan, who taxes him with turning his back to the Britons; of Dion Cassius, who says, the Roman infantry were entirely routed in a battle by them, and that Cæsar retired from hence without effecting any thing; and of Tacitus, who writes, that Cæsar rather shewed the Romans the way to Britain, than put them in possession of it; and who in another place makes one of the Britons say, that their ancestors had driven out Julius Cæsar from this island. (fn. 14) WHATEVER promises the Britons had made to Cæsar, in order to get rid of him, they troubled themselves little about the performance of them; and the civil wars which ensued among the Romans were, in great measure, the cause of their neglect of Britain, which continued a long while after peace was restored, as Tacitus elegantly expresses in these words:— "Next follow the civil wars, and the arms of the princes turned against the common-wealth; and hence Britain was long forgot, even in peace." (fn. 15) This neglect of Britain continued till the reign of Claudius, near the space of a whole century, as all the Roman historians acknowledge; (fn. 16) during which time the inhabitants of it lived at their own disposal; and, as Dion says, were governed by their own kings. Augustus, indeed, twice made a shew of compelling the Britons to fulfil their promises made to his predecessor; and Horace has paid Augustus a compliment on this occasion in more than one of his odes; (fn. 17) but the British princes, by courting his friendship by presents and artful addresses, found means to persuade him to give over his design; and Cunobeline, who is said to have succeeded Tenuantius, the successor of Cassivelaun, even caused coins to be stamped after the manner of the Romans; some of which are still to be seen in the cabinets of the curious, having the word Tascia on their reverse, signifying, according to our antiquaries, tribute; for the payment of which it is concluded this money was designed; for though brass and iron rings of a certain weight served, as Cæsar informs us, for their current coin, yet the Romans exacted their tribute in gold and silver, of which latter metal are these coins. Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, formed a design against Britain, but never put it in execution, which Tacitus ascribes to his instability, and the ill success of his vast enterprises in Germany; and Suetonius tells us, that he did no more than receive Adminius, (called also by our writers Guiderius) the son of Cunobeline, who surrendered himself to that emperor with the few men he had with him, having been expelled his own country by his father. Indeed he made a kind of mock expedition with his army as far as the sea shore opposite to Britain; but being informed the Britons were prepared to receive him, instead of pursuing his design, he ordered his soldiers to fill their helmets with shells, which he called the spoils of the conquered ocean; and then sending his vainglorious letters to the senate, implying the conquest of Britain, he soon followed them to Rome himself. (fn. 18) The Britons may be said to have continued hitherto free from the Roman yoke; but in the reign of Claudius, the successor of Caligula, great part of the island was brought under subjection to Rome, and the rest by degrees under the succeeding emperors. In the time of the emperor Claudius, Cunobeline being dead, his two sons, Togodumnus and Caractacus, reigned in Britain in his stead. In their reign, one Bericus, (who he was is not known) being driven out of the island for attempting to raise a sedition, fled, with those of his party, to Rome, and being highly provoked against his countrymen, persuaded the emperor to invade Britain. On the other hand, the Britons, resenting the emperor's receiving the fugitives, and his refusing to deliver them up, denied the tribute he then demanded of them, and prohibited all commerce with the Romans. As Claudius wanted only a pretence for the war, he was not sorry they afforded him one so plausible; he was then in his third consulate, and was ambitious of atchieving something that might entitle him to a triumph; therefore he made choice of Britain for his province, and gave orders to Plautius, then Prætor in Gaul, to transport those legions he had with him into Britain, and begin the expedition, whilst he was preparing to follow him, if there should be occasion. (fn. 19) But the Roman soldiers, perhaps, remembering the rough reception the Britons had formerly given to Julius Cæsar, and being, as they said, unwilling to make war beyond the end of the world, at first refused to follow him or obey his commands. However, they were at last prevailed on to embark; and putting to sea in three different parties, lest their landing should be hindered, they made towards Britain, and landed without opposition; for the Britons having been informed of a mutiny in the Roman army, did not expect so sudden an alteration, and had, therefore, made no preparations to oppose them. It is generally supposed that the emperor sent Plautius into Britain in his third consulate, which fixes it in the year 43; as soon as he had landed he seems to have been very desirous of coming to a battle as soon as possible; but the Britons did all they could to avoid it, and kept themselves in small parties behind their morasses and among their hills, in hopes of tiring out the enemy with skirmishes and delays till winter, when they imagined Plautius would go and winter in Gaul, as Julius Cæsar had before. This resolution much disconcerted the Roman general, who, notwithstanding these difficulties, found means first to attack Caractacus, and afterwards Togodumnus, and defeated them both. He then reduced part of the Dobuni, whence he marched on in quest of the Britons, whom he found carelessly encamped on the farther bank of a river, (thought by some to have been the Severn, (fn. 20) ) imagining the Romans could not pass it without a bridge; but Plautius sending over the Germans, who were used to pass the most rapid streams, in their armour, they fell upon the astonished Britons, who were forced, after a most obstinate resistance, to betake themselves to slight. From hence the Britons betook themselves to the Thames, towards the mouth of it, and being acquainted with the nature of the places which were firm and fordable, passed easily; whereas the enemy, in pursuing them, ran great hazards. But the Germans, having swam over the river, and others getting over by a bridge higher up, the Britons were surrounded on all sides, and great numbers of them slain. And the Romans, pursuing too eagerly, fell among the bogs and morasses, and lost great numbers of their own men. Upon this indifferent success, and because the Britons were so far from being daunted at the death of Togodumnus, (who had been slain in one of these battles) that they made preparations with greater fury to revenge it, Plautius fearing the worst, drew back his forces, and taking care to secure the conquests he had already made, sent to Rome to the emperor Claudius to come to his assistance, as he was ordered to do, if his affairs should be in a dangerous situation. It is plain, from Dion Cassius's account of this expedition, that Plautius waited for the emperor on the south, or Kentish side of the Thames. From his fear of the preparations and fury of the Britons, it is most likely he chose himself an advantageous situation for this purpose, capable of containing his forces, and which he, no doubt strongly entrenched and fortified. It has been thought by many, that the place of his encampment was where those large remains of a Roman camp and entrenchment are still to be seen on Kestondown, near Bromley. Indeed, its nearness to the Thames, as well as its size, strength, and many other circumstances, induce one to think it could hardly be made for any other purpose. The emperor Claudius no sooner received this news than he set out from Rome with a mighty equipage; and, to strike the more terror, he brought with him several elephants; having pursued his journey, partly by land and partly by sea, till he came to the ocean, he sailed over, and landed in Britain, and immediately marched to join Plautius, who still waited for him near the Thames. Having taken upon himself the chief command, the whole army passed that river, and in a set battle gave the Britons a signal overthrow. After this he took Camulodunum; supposed by some to have been Maldon; by others Colchester; and by Dr. Gale, Walden, the royal seat of Cunobeline, and a great number of prisoners in it; many by force, and others by surrender. (fn. 21) From the mention Suetonius makes of Claudius's expedition hither, it is insinuated, his conquest in Britain cost no blood. Bede, we may suppose, was of the same opinion, as in his account of it he even copies Suetonius's words: but Dion Cassius, from whom we have the most particular description of this war, gives the above very different account of it. (fn. 22) Whichever the fact was, part of Britain being thus subdued, Claudius disarmed the inhabitants, and appointed Plautius to govern them, and ordered him to subdue those who remained as yet unconquered. To such as had submitted, he generously forgave the confiscation of their estates, which obliged them to such a degree, that they erected a temple to him, and paid him divine honors. The emperor, having staid in Britain about sixteen days, set out from hence on his return to Rome, having sent before him the news of his victories. And though he had conquered but a very small part of this island, yet, on his arrival at Rome, he was rewarded with a triumph, and many other honors, the same as had been decreed to other conquerors, after they had reduced whole kingdoms. (fn. 23) After this, the several governors of Britain, sent over by the Romans, had various success against the Britons; one while the Romans through fear of them taking care not to provoke them by any act of hostility, giving to their cowardly inaction the specious name of peace, and at another time maintaining their conquests, and reducing several warlike states to their empire. In this situation Britain remained till the celebrated Cneius Julius Agricola was sent to command in it, in the reign of the emperor Vespasian, in the year 78; (fn. 24) who not only, by his bravery, extended the Roman empire through Wales and the farthest part of Scotland; but by his prudent management, reconciled the inhabitants to the Roman government; by which means the Britons began to live more contented, and in a state of peace under the Romans; a state which, through the neglect and connivance of former governors, had been, till then, no less dreadful than that of war. For the purpose, he employed his winters here in measures extremely advantageous to the empire; so that the people, wild and dispersed over the country, might, by a taste of pleasures, be reconciled to inactivity and repose, he encouraged them privately, and publicly assisted them to build temples, houses, and places of public resort. He took care to have the sons of their chiefs educated in the liberal sciences, preferring their genius to that of their neighbours, the Gauls; and such was his success, that those who had lately scorned to learn the Roman language, seemed now fond of its elegancies. From that time many of the Britons began to assume the Roman apparel, and the use of the gown grew frequent among them. Thus, by degrees, they proceeded to the charms and allurements of vice and effeminacy, in their galleries, baths, entertainments, and other kinds of luxury; all which were, as Tacitus judiciously observes, by the inexperienced, stiled politeness, though in reality they were only baits of slavery. Agricola having spent eight years in Britain, ordered the admiral of his fleet to sail round it; which he happily accomplished, and returned, with great reputatation, to the port whence he had departed, and thence proved Britain to be, as it was long thought before, an island. (fn. 25) Though Britain was thus, after so many struggles and contests, entirely reduced, yet the Romans did not long continue masters of it, at least, in Caledonia; for what Agricola won, was, on his being recalled soon after, lost by Domitian, in whose reign the farther, or northern, parts of Britain were left to the natives of them, the Romans contenting themselves with the hither, or southern, part which was reduced to a complete province, not governed by consular or proconsular deputies, but accounted præsidal, and appropriated to the emperors, as being annexed to the empire, after the division of provinces by Augustus, and having proprætors of its own. The Romans had continued conflicts after this with the northern inhabitants of Britain, the Scots and the Picts. The first mention made of the former infesting this island, is in the year 360. (fn. 26) They landed first from Ireland, as the Picts had done before from Scandinavia. These conflicts were attended with various success. At length, in order to restrain these people, and to prevent their making incursions into their provinces, they caused several walls at different times to be built across from sea to sea, which separated at the same time that it defended the provincial part of Britain, in the possession of the Romans, from the northern part, in the hands of the barbarians. During the whole of this period, the county of Kent, notwithstanding the bloody wars and insurrections which continually overspread the rest of Britain, seems to have continued in peace, and in a quiet subjection to the Roman government; for though at first the inhabitants of it contended with much bravery in defence of their liberty against the Romans, and did not submit to the yoke without much bloodshed, yet, in the end, they became pleased with their situation, and, as it were, one nation, with their conquerors, and were, at last, no less unwilling to part with them than they had been at first to receive them. At length, soon after the year 395, the famous Stilico, who governed the western empire during the minority of the emperor Honorius, sent over a legion into Britain, (fn. 27) by which means the Saxons, who are said to have first infested Britain in the time of the emperor Valentinian, anno 364, (fn. 28) being overcome, the sea was become quiet; and the Picts having lost their strength, Britain was delivered from her fears. About this time a proper officer was appointed, to guard the coasts against the attempts of the Saxons, with the title of Comes Littoris Saxonica. Not long after, the Roman empire being overrun by several barbarous nations, most of the Roman troops quartered in Britain were recalled, and the island was again lest open to its former enemies; whereupon the natives, expecting no assistance from Honorius, set up an emperor of their own, two of whom, Mark and Gratian, being after a very short reign successively murdered, (fn. 29) were succeeded by Constantine, a common soldier, who was inspired with such an opinion of his own merit and fortune, that he formed a design of making himself master of the whole empire. With this view he passed over into Gaul, taking with him the few Roman forces that had been left here, and such of the Britons as were able to bear arms. The unhappy Britons, thus left to themselves, were more harrassed than ever by the Scots, Picts, and other northern nations, who, putting all to fire and sword, soon reduced them to a miserable condition. In this situation, after having often implored in vain the emperor's assistance, they withdrew their obedience to Rome, and no longer obeyed the laws of the empire. The emperor Honorius seemed to approve their conduct; for, by his letters, he permitted, and even advised them to provide for their own safety, which was an implicit resignation of the sovereignty of Britain. This happened, according to Bede, a little after the taking of Rome by Alaric, king of the Goths, in the year of Christ 410. (fn. 30) The Britons, now again a free people, seemed at first to have fought with some success against their irreconcileable enemies; but being in the end overpowered, they had recourse again to the emperor, imploring his protection, and promising an entire obedience to Rome, provided they were delivered from the tyranny and oppression of their merciless enemies. Honorious, touched with compassion, sent a legion to their relief, which landing unexpectedly in Britain, cut in pieces great numbers of the Scots and Picts, and obliged them to retire beyond the friths of Edinburgh and Dumbarton; and then, after advising the Britons to build a wall on the isthmus, from sea to sea, they returned to the continent, where their assistance was wanted, to repulse the barbarians, breaking from all quarters into the empire. But though this advice was immediately followed by the Britons, yet it was of no service to them; for the wall being built only with turf, their enemies soon broke it down in several places, and pouring in upon their territories, like a torrent, committed more dreadful ravages than ever, destroying every thing with fire and sword. (fn. 31) After so many miseries and calamities, the unhappy Britons sent deputies once more to the emperor, who appearing before him with their garments rent, and dust on their heads, prevailed on him to send new forces to their relief. These hastening into Britain, fell upon the enemy, not in the least apprised of their arrival, and made a dreadful havoc among them, whilst they were roving up and down in quest of booty. The Scots and Picts being thus driven beyond the friths, the Romans, who had no ambitious views in assisting the distressed Britons, but were come over merely out of compassion, told them plainly, they were to expect no farther assistance from the emperor; that the troops he had now sent were ordered back to the continent, and that they were therefore obliged to take their last farewel of Britain, and entirely abandon the island. After this declaration, Gallio of Ravenna, commander of the Roman troops, exhorted the Britons to defend themselves for the future by fighting manfully for their country, their wives their children, and, what ought to be dearer than life itself, their liberty, against an enemy no stronger than themselves, provided they would exert their ancient courage and resolution. And that they might the better withstand the attacks of the enemy, he advised them to repair the wall built by Severus, not with turf, but with stone, offering them the assistance of his soldiers, and his own direction in the work. Upon this the Britons, jointly with the Romans, carried on their work with such diligence, that though the wall was eight feet in breadth, and twelve in heighth, it was soon finished. They likewise built towers at convenient distances on the east coast, against the Saxons and others; who, coming from Germany, made frequent descents on that side. The Roman commander then leaving them patterns of the weapons he had taught them to make, after many encouraging exhortations, took his last farewel of Britain, telling the inhabitants not to expect their return again; and from this departure may be dated the total desertion of Britain by them, and the final period of the Roman empire in this island. (fn. 32) But there is a great difference among writers about the year in which the Romans may be said to have abandoned Britain; some dating it from Gallio's departure, others from their application to Ætius, the conful, for his assistance, and accordingly they place this event in the years 426, 435, and 437. Usher says, Gallio arrived in Britain, with his forces, in 425, and that he left it in 427, which seems the most probable account of any. That part of Britain which lies south of the two Friths (for the northern parts still maintained their independency) having been reduced into a complete province by Agricola, in the reign of the emperor Domitian, had been put under the government of an officer, who bore the title of Proprætor, being the emperor's lieutenant, and the inhabitants, who were become subjects of the empire, endured all the hardships that usually fall to the lot of the vanquished; exhorbitant taxes were laid on them on various pretences; their estates were frequently taken from them, and given to the veterans that were continually coming to settle in the island, and their youth were made soldiers and dispersed into the other provices of the empire. Under this form of government the province of Britain continued to the time of the emperor Constantine, who, when he new modelled the empire, and made a general regulation for the better government of his dominions, divided them into four large Prœfectures, viz. Italy, Gaul, the East, and Illyria, in which were contained fourteen great provinces. Britain, one of these, was made subject to the Prœfectus Prœtorio, or Præfect of Gaul, (fn. 33) and was governed by a vicar, or deputy, who was stiled Spectabilis. Before this time, Britain was divided into two provinces only, but Constantine divided it into three; the first was called Britannia Prima, containing those parts south of the Thames; the second Britannia Secunda, containing all the country west of the Severn, to the Irish sea, now called Wales; the third province was distinguished by the name of Maxima Cæfarienfis, and contained all the rest of the country lying northward of the Thames, and eastward of the Severn.— Pancirollus, who wrote his Notitia somewhat later than the time of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, viz. before the middle of the fifth century, in his description of the government of Britain, tells us, that the lieutenant, or vicegerent, of the Præfect of Gaul, had then under him certain confular deputies, and præsides, or presidents, who, with several inferior officers, managed all civil and criminal matters. Besides which, there were subordinate to him at that time in Britain three different courts, or departments, under the direction of three principal officers, namely, the Commes Britanniarum, or Count of Britain; the Dux Britanniarum, or Duke of Britain; and the Comes Littoris Saxonici, or Count of the Saxon Shore. The first of these feems to have been merely a civil officer, whose jurisdiction was over the inland parts of the island, and the western coasts; the second seems to have been military, whose station was in the North, where he had a large body of troops garrifoned under his command, to defend those parts from the inroads of the Scots and Picts, and the third had the guard of the eastern and southern coasts, from the depredations of the Saxon pirates; for which purpose he had likewife a sufficient number of troops under his command, stationed in this part of Britain. The government of the honourable the Count of the Saxon Shore in Britain, extended over the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Suffex, Hampshire, and Kent, on the coasts of which, or at least near them, the forces under his command were stationed. Those in the county of Kent were: The commander of the Tungrian soldiers stationed at Dover. The commander of the detachment of soldiers of Tournay, at Limne. The commander of the first cohort of Vetascians, at Reculver. The commander of the second legion, called Augufta, at Richborough. The commander of the detachment of the Abulci, at Anderida. (fn. 34) The military force kept by the Romans in Britain was very considerable; from the time of Claudius to that of the emperor Vespasian, there were four legions constantly in this island, and afterwards three, till the Romans were forced to recal them, by degrees, to make head against their intestine enemies, and the Goths, and other barbarous nations, who extended their ravages to all parts of the empire. There remains little more to be said of the Romans whilst in Britain, that concerns their transactions in this county, further than to take notice, that in order to facilitate their marches, and prepare an easy quick communication throughout the island, they made several highways from one end of it to the other; particularly in this county they made three public or consular ways, besides others of an inferior sort, and fixed their usual stations and mansions upon them. That in process of time, they built several watch-towers, forts, and castles, on the coast, as well to awe the Britons, and preserve a safe intercourse with the continent, as to guard against the insults of the Saxon pirates, all which will, in other parts of this work, be more particularly mentioned.
Set in a medieval European village where three itinerant Jewish actors put God on trial to answer for His silence during a pogrom, a powerful drama considers historical and especially post-Holocaust issues surrounding faith. While interred in Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel witnessed a trial. While such things are not unusual, this trial was. It was unusual because of the defendant: God. God was tried for violating the covenant by turning his back in silence on the Jewish people in their greatest hour of need. God was tried in absentia, without anyone present being willing to take on the role of God’s defense attorney. God was declared guilty, after which the “court” prayed. Contradiction? Perhaps. But this incident, which served as the inspiration for The Trial of God, is part of the long Jewish tradition of arguing with God.
WHAT IS A Dental filling ? IA dental restoration or dental filling is a dental restorative material used to restore the function, integrity and morphology of missing tooth structure. The structural loss typically results from caries or external trauma. Food stuck in teeth activate bacteria in the mouth to turn them into acids. The acids, food, and bacteria all combine to make what is called plaque. Plaque stubbornly clings to teeth and eats away at tooth enamel causing decay and cavities. Tooth decay is what will cause cavities; this decay can effect the enamel, the outer layer of the tooth, and dentin, the inner layer. It is also lost intentionally during tooth preparation to improve the aesthetics or the physical integrity of the intended restorative material. WHY Dental filling AT Dentessa ? Dental filling with the best material and equipments.Dental implants are anchors placed in bone, usually made from titanium or titanium alloy. They can support dental restorations which replace missing teeth.Once it is determined that a filling is needed, your dentist will advise you of your options for filling and sealing the cavity to prevent further decay and damage to the tooth. Choose color style
Myoclonus refers to a sudden and involuntary jerk of a particular muscle or a specific group of muscles.1 The problem causes jerks or twitches usually because of sudden muscular contractions referred to as positive myoclonus or because of muscular relaxations known as negative myoclonus. Best Coping Strategies To Deal With Myoclonus One can easily cope up with the problem of myoclonus by following a few of the essential coping strategies related to common home remedies or making some changes in lifestyle. Reduce The Intake Of Stimulants. You should avoid or reduce the intake of alcohol, caffeinated beverages, nicotine items and other related energy stimulants at least for one week. In most of the cases, you will see improvement in your health. Reduce Intense Workout At Evening. You should avoid or reduce involving in any tedious work or intensive workout during the evening time. Instead, you should do physical exercise either in the morning or in the afternoon. Reason for this is that when you involve in intensive exercise in the evening, your body emits lactic acid in excessive amounts, which leads to hypnic jerks. Hence, it is essential for you to find ways related to reducing the amount of lactic acid production in your body. Go with A Balanced Diet. Next, you should assess your diet properly and hence, make a habit of having only healthy foods. Accordingly, your balanced diet should consist of fresh vegetables and fruits instead of salty and sugary foods. Other than this, you should make sure to stay hydrated for the whole day, especially before going to bed. Give Enough Time To Sleep. Indeed, you may have a busy and hectic lifestyle because of your job profile. However, it is essential for you to give enough time to sleep. Mattress, Bedding And Sleeping Position. You should make sure to sleep comfortably and always use comfortable bedding and mattresses. Even you should make sure of a quiet sleeping environment, as sudden noise in the background may force you to stay awake. Take Steps To Deal With Stress And Anxiety. You should essentially try dealing with major stress going on in your life. In the case you suffer due to anxiety, you have to tackle them in the right way. One of the best ways to deal with both stress and anxiety is to perform relaxation exercises in your bed. For instance, you should intake 4 times and exhale 4 times, which is a simple but effective breathing exercise. Have Light Snacks Before Going To Bed. Another effective way to cope up with the problem of myoclonus is to have light snacks before you should go to bed. This is especially helpful if you get jerks or myoclonus attacks repeatedly. Have Calcium And Magnesium Supplements. Magnesium supplements in some cases have proved to be beneficial in dealing with the problem of myoclonus attacks or certain jerks. For this, you have to rub magnesium oil or magnesium in the trans-dermal form in the area, where you experience twitch commonly. If possible, you should undergo a blood test to check whether you have a magnesium deficiency. On the other side, you should make sure of getting calcium in an adequate amount in your daily diet or should intake a few calcium supplements. Check The Medicines With Doctor. You should essentially discuss with your doctor before taking any medicine, as there are certain medicines, which result in the side effect in the form of myoclonus. Particularly, you should avoid the intake of any sleeping pill or allergic medicine, which comes with anti-histamines, as it results in twitches. - Myoclonus: Causes, Symptoms, Investigations, Treatment - Is There A Surgery For Myoclonus? - What Happens To Untreated Myoclonus? - Home Remedies For Myoclonus - What Are The Ways To Prevent Myoclonus? - How Do I Know If I Have Myoclonus? - What Is The Best Treatment For Sleep Myoclonus?
This is the third of three posts about college students asking for help. In our first post we considered why students sometimes have difficulty asking for help. Our second post looked at who students might turn to for help. In this post we’ll consider how students can most effectively seek the help they need. Many high school students planning to go to college spend a lot of their time reviewing vocabulary words for their SAT College Board exam. They learn big words, important words, roots of words, and definitions. But if your college student is going to succeed in college, there may be one important word that he needs that never shows up on his entrance exam. It may be the most important word that he can use in college. What is that word? ”Help.” Your student is very likely to need help at some point in his college career. Hopefully, you’ve helped him understand that it is important to seek the help that he needs and encouraged him get past possible barriers to seeking that help. Your student has worked to learn what is available to him on campus and thought about the most appropriate source of help for his problem. Now your student needs to think about how to most effectively ask for that help. Asking for help is often very difficult for students. For many of the reasons that we discussed in our first post, students are reluctant to seek help. However, even if your student understands that he needs to ask, actually approaching professors or college staff members may be intimidating. This can be especially true if your student has missed some classes, or has any other reason to be concerned about what the professor or staff member may think of him. Having a plan for the appointment may help your student to anticipate what might happen and to feel he has more control over the encounter. How can my student best ask for the help that he needs? - The first thing that your student should remember is to ask for help early and often. He shouldn’t wait until the problem has become so overwhelming that there is no alternative. Sometimes, seeking help early can prevent a problem from growing beyond the point where your student can deal with it. - A second important principle for your student to remember is that asking for help does not replace doing the work. If your student is having academic difficulty, working with a study group or tutor may actually mean more work. Asking for help should never come before attempting to solve the problem. - Requests for help are often most productive when they are specific. ”I need help in this class” will be less useful than ”I am having trouble doing the calculations in chapter 3.” ”I don’t understand the assignment” is less helpful than ”I’m not clear about the types of sources I need to find for the paper.” - An appointment, tutoring session, or conversation will be most productive when your student has prepared ahead of time. She might want to gather earlier assignments, collect pertinent e-mails, make some notes, jot down her questions. - Giving the other person (professor, advisor, RA, counselor, tutor) an opportunity to prepare ahead of time will also help. Stopping by an office unannounced may not be as useful as scheduling an appointment ahead of time. - Showing up prepared to work and make some notes is important. Your student will want to remember what was said. Your student should bring any books and/or papers necessary, something to write with and on, and turn his phone off before the appointment. - At the end of the session, a thank-you and plan for follow-up if necessary is appropriate. Your student might need to ask for another appointment or might ask to have an assignment reviewed when it is done. Thinking about the ”what next” will be important. Most of the principles that we’ve suggested here may be simple common sense, but if your student is feeling overwhelmed and stressed, he may not be thinking as clearly as he might. You may need to do some coaching to help him sharpen his help-seeking skills. You’ll be relieved and proud as you see your student gain the willingness, confidence and skills to advocate for his needs. The Smartest Word Your College Student Can Use – Part 1 The Smartest Word Your College Student Can Use – Part 2 Tutoring Can Help Your College Student Succeed: Twelve Reasons to Start Early Helping Your College Student With Goal Setting – and Action Plans
How is Venezuelan equine encephalitis transmitted? Venezuelan equine encephalitis is an arthropod-borne virus, with the mosquito serving as the most common vector. The virus incubates in the mosquito for 1 week after the mosquito bites an infected equine or rodent host. The virus is then transmitted when the mosquito feeds on an uninfected host. How is equine encephalitis transmitted? Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Only a few cases are reported in the United States each year. Most cases occur in eastern or Gulf Coast states. Where is Venezuelan equine encephalitis found? Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) is a mosquito-borne disease endemic in regions of Central and South America that causes sporadic outbreaks of equine and human encephalitis. Is Western equine encephalitis contagious? Survivors can have permanent neurological impairment. The virus circulates naturally in birds and is transmitted to horses and people primarily by the mosquito vector Culex tarsalis. Horses and humans infected with WEE are not contagious to other animals or people. What causes equine encephalitis? Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is an extremely rare but serious and often fatal infection that causes encephalitis or inflammation of the brain. It is spread by the bite of a mosquito infected with EEE virus (EEEV). EEEV can also infect a wide range of animals including mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. How do you get triple E? Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is an arbovirus in the genus Alphavirus. It causes eastern equine encephalitis and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes, which often acquire the virus from an infected bird or reptile. Can humans get Western equine encephalitis? A small percentage of people, especially infants and elderly persons, may develop encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). Most severe human cases begin with a sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, vomiting, or weakness. The illness may progress to disorientation, irritability, seizures and coma. What virus causes equine encephalitis? Is Western equine encephalitis zoonotic? Birds and rodents are the primary reservoirs, but unvaccinated horses are particularly susceptible and often serve as sentinels. These diseases are zoonotic, infecting humans, and are a public health concern.
Flowers mingling with food may seem like a recent trend, but human beings have been enjoying edible flowers since as early as the first recorded mention in 140 B.C. Flowers in cuisine spanned the ages and coincided with many different cultures. Ancient Greeks and Romans feasted on flowers. Queen Victoria was a big fan of flowers as a part of her meals. Chinese, Indians and South American cultures all use flowers in teas and cuisine. Some flowers add flavor and others have purported medicinal properties. It’s important not to be fickle about flowers. Some flowers are deadly. When in doubt, leave it out. For safety’s sake, we made a list of popular petals for your palate. It is important to note that flowers you plan to eat must not have had chemicals or pesticides on any part of the plant. Many flowers growing on the side of the road have been sprayed with pesticides and are not safe to eat. When using flowers, keep the recipe simple, so other flavors do not overwhelm the flavor of the flowers. Clean flowers by gently washing them in a bowl of cold water. Set them on a paper towel to dry. They can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container with a damp paper towel. They will last a week stored this way. Since many people enjoy sharing a snack with a beloved pet, we are adding in some info about pet-friendly petals. Edible Flowers for People The borage plant has vibrant blue flowers that some say taste like cucumber. Used in salads since the Elizabethan Age, borage flowers are beautiful and delicious in cocktails. The greens of this plant are also edible and can be eaten in salads or even cooked and used in place of spinach. In floral arrangements, carnations are beautiful but not appropriate for a snack due to the chemicals. However, if grown organically and free of pesticides and chemicals, carnations’ delicate petals have a sweet taste. The base of the flower is bitter, so cut the petals away from it. The petals can be used in desserts, candy, salads and wine. The petals have been used to make Chartreuse, a French liqueur, since the 17th century. The versatility of roses is boundless, even in the kitchen. The flavors vary, depending on the type of rose and growing conditions. Flavors are often subtle, fruity and compared to strawberries or green apples yet distinctly floral. As tasty as the sweet fragrance would have one imagine. All roses are edible and can be used in soups, salads, desserts, teas, ice creams, syrups, jellies, butters and sweet spreads. There is a portion of the petals that has a bitter taste and white color. Remove this part before using it in recipes. Hibiscus flowers are popular for their tropical appearance, and good looks aside, they are also edible. Hibiscus petals taste a bit like cranberry with citrus notes. The petals can be used in salads as a garnish. When used in cooking, the petals tend to stain foods bright red. Hibiscus is well-known used as a tea. Unlike some flowers that seem destined only for dessert, hibiscus flowers are versatile enough to be in all kinds of dishes, especially in Latin American cuisine. These flowers are also great for cocktails. If you drop fresh hibiscus buds in a glass of alcohol, they will bloom. Chrysanthemums vary in color and taste. Their taste is comparable to cauliflower. Petals can be used in salads. The leaves can be used in vinegar, salad seasoning. The young stems and leaves can be used in stir-fries and are popular in Asian cooking. Remove the bitter flower base before using in dishes. Dandelions are not always appreciated, but every part of the plant is edible. The greens can be cooked into savory dishes or eaten raw in salads. The flowers are often made into wine and can even be made used in ice cream. Known for being plump, popular wedding florals, peonies are edible. The petals can be lightly steamed and sweetened. In China, peonies are medicinal, and the dried peony root is sold as Bai Shao. They are reported to have many medicinal uses for treating a variety of health concerns ranging from gout, cough, PMS, hepatitis and epilepsy to name a few. The same way the sun sustains life by giving warmth, sunflowers give life because all parts of the plant are edible. Young sunflowers can be steamed and cooked like artichokes before they open fully. Once open, the petals have a bit more of a bittersweet taste but can add color to recipes. Sunflower seeds are a favorite of many people and even animals, and sunflower sprouts are very nutritious microgreens. Like many other flowers, violets have a sweet, floral taste. They complement salads, desserts and drinks. They come in many beautiful colors. The flowers add a unique appearance to whatever dish they decorate, and they can be crystallized. The leaves are edible and very savory when cooked like spinach. Before snacking with a pet, make sure the flower is safe and free from chemicals and pesticides. Some pets may be able to have some of a few flower petals or pieces of petals, but it is always best to consult a veterinarian before feeding them something new. Always feed any treat beyond the normal diet in moderation. Hibiscus, roses and sunflowers are flowers that can be eaten and enjoyed by rabbits, birds and bearded dragons. Birds also eat dandelions, carnations and violets. Some flowers that are safe for dogs and cats to eat are roses and sunflowers. Chickens also love to eat sunflowers. The best plant on our list for pets may be dandelion greens. Good for all the pets we mentioned, dandelion greens are high in potassium, and they are an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K. They also contain folate, vitamin E and small amounts of other B vitamins. Animals are like small children. They explore the world and the many things in it by putting it in their mouths and sometimes eating it. Dogs and cats may also eat your plants out of boredom. Even non-toxic plants can sometimes cause stomach upset or even make your pet throw up. With dogs and cats, you can try to prevent them from chewing your plants by making a safe spray that will repel them. Both animals are extremely sensitive to smells. Vinegar sprayed on or cinnamon mixed with pepper sprinkled around your plants may make your dog “paws”. For cats, they despise the smell of citrus, so a lemon peel or two may do the trick. However, concentrated citrus oils and many other essential oils may be toxic, so do not use without veterinarian approval. Cats also loathe cayenne pepper, so sprinkling it around your plants is a safe alternative. For the exotic pets like bearded dragons, tortoises, birds and rabbits, simply keep these animals away from any flowers or plants you don’t want them to eat, especially those that are not already known to be safe. These smaller animals have more severe reactions to anything toxic compared to dogs and cats. It is always best to err on the side of caution, especially when it comes to the health of your pet. Know what flowers and plants are in your pet’s environment. Remove any that are not known to be non-toxic. A pet consuming the wrong plant is a quick accident that can have a lasting and devastating conclusion. Our florists at Rose Cart of San Jose serving areas around Santa Clara, CA, care about pets. Let us know if you or the intended recipient have pets and what kind of pets, so we can substitute certain flowers or plants with safer alternatives.
Honey badgers have lengthy our bodies and brief legs; physique size is within the vary of 55–77 cm, tail size is within the vary of 12-30 cm. Females are smaller than males; males weigh between 9 and 16 kg, and females between 5 and 10 kg. Their pores and skin may be very free and thick; The slack provides them the power to spin freely and battle when caught. Their fur is white or grey on the again and black down the shoulders. Honey badgers are animals of dry habitats and reside in these areas. They often reside alone. Their highly effective entrance claws are very helpful for digging burrows. They’re omnivores and eat something edible; resembling rodents, birds, bugs, reptiles, frogs, vegetables and fruit. Honey badgers have a reasonably thick pores and skin. This makes them proof against assault by different predators. Though their pores and skin is thick, they’re fairly free, which permits them to show in a short time in a really comfy approach. Additionally, a brief hair-covered tail permits them to simply survive assaults by different animals.
There are two ways to solve this problem Approach 1 : This approach would require you to assume variables,write equations and solve them. Yes! this approach take some time Those of you who are new to math, would, most likely, attempt a question using this approach Convert the ratio into number by introducing a constant x The speed of the 3 runners will be 3x,4x and 5x. Assume the distance traveled by each runner is 60 units ( 60 is the LCM of 3,4,5. You can take any number.. I took the LCM to avoid decimals.) Speed = distance/time. Hence Time = distance/speed Time will be 60/3x,60/4x,60/5x. respectively = 20/x,15/x,12/x Remove (1/x) and then you can write the numbers in a ratio: 20:15:12 If you solve a mathematical question using this approach, it means you are comfortable - determining the nature of numbers, - identifying relationships between variables - substituting values to arrive at an answer quickly This approach would take less time than approach 1. Now lets solve this question using this approach You would have observed the following in the question ratio of the speeds are given distance is constant The relationship between speed and time is : Speed is inversely proportional to time. Hence if speed increases time decreases and vice versa. The speeds are in the ratio 3:4:5. Hence the times should be in the ratio: 1/3 :1/4: 1/5 as speed is inversely proportional to time. Multiplying with LCM (4,3,5) i.e. 60 …………..to normalize the ratio We get 20: 15:12 The answer is 20:15:12 Always observe the hidden relationship between numbers Hope you understood both the methods. Need math help: Get in touch with me: My linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeanand My facebook learning group: GMAT learning group: GRE learning group:
< Back to the Local Fossils album Pronounced – E-ki-noid Meaning of name – Greek is “Echinos” – meaning “Hedgehog” Group – Echinoids, Echinoderms Age – Cretaceous, around 100 million years old Sea urchins are still alive today and are related to starfish and sea lillies. These creatures would have lived on the Cretaceous seafloor. These fossils have been preserved in flint and chert which can make them hard to spot on the beach. Sea urchins are from a different layer of rock than most of the other fossils of Charmouth. They originate from the Gault and Upper Greensand which is around 100 million years old. Go to our local seashore life page to find out more about the sea urchins that are alive on our shores today. Also check out our Facebook page for recent finds and news from the Centre.
Size of the craters …Koeberl states that the earth would have undergone impact events an order of magnitude larger than the moon and experienced many more such events.3 There would be hundreds of objects with sizes similar to those that created the Imbrium and Orientale craters that must have struck Earth during the basin-forming era. Ryder also says that the earth would have undergone events an order of magnitude larger than the moon with many more impacts.29 Melosh suggests that there should be 100 impact structures with diameters greater than 1,000 km on Earth, based on the moon.21 Samec calculates that the moon was hit by an asteroid swarm equivalent to a 70 km diameter solid asteroid.36,37 He divides this asteroid up into 23 equal chunks with sizes averaging 24.5 km in diameter, equal to the number of large impact basins, and calculates a crater average diameter of 850 km, which is close to the average of those large impact basins on the moon. Samec uses an average distribution, but in reality the sizes of the impactors would vary significantly around the mean diameter of 24.5 km resulting in a variety of crater diameters as observed on the moon. Using the moon as an analog and the average crater size, he obtains 310 collisions for the earth, each causing 740 km diameter craters. However, he used the physical cross sectional area and not the gravitational cross section area. So, these 310 collisions would have to be multiplied by 1.4 to obtain 434 huge impacts greater than 740 km. The upshot of Samec’s and other’s research is that the earth should have been bombarded with several hundred impacts producing craters larger than 740 km in diameter. Kring and Cohen believe that the LHB was by asteroids from a single dynamic reservoir.4 They estimate the earth was hit by 13 to 500 times more mass than the moon, depending upon size distribution among impactors. Just using the lower number of mass, they conclude that the earth had 22,000 impact craters during the LHB greater than or equal to 20 km, including about 40 impact basins about 1,000 km in diameter, and several with diameters of about 5,000 km! But scaling to Mars would predict 6,400 craters greater than or equal to 20 km, but there are 9,278 craters of those dimensions. So, Kring and Cohen’s numbers are probably low for the earth. There is the question of how Kring and Cohen came up with the result that the earth should have a few impact basins 5,000 km in diameter. They obviously extrapolated the SFD for the moon to the earth. The largest impact on the moon is South Pole-Aitken with a diameter of about 2,500 km (figure 6). Using more sophisticated analysis, Mars may have 20 craters larger than 1,000 km with five 2,639 to 3380 km in diameter.10 Since Mars has a smaller gravitational cross section than the earth, the earth should have significantly larger diameter craters than Mars. So there is justification for an extrapolation to the earth from Mars and the moon for a few large craters around 4,000 km in diameter or more, so a 5,000-km diameter crater is not too outlandish. So, it is safe to conclude that the earth should have 36,000 impact craters with about 100 over 1,000 km, and a few with diameters of 4,000 to 5,000 km. Such a great bombardment would pulverize a larger portion of the earth surface. When did Earth impacts occur? When could such a bombardment occur in biblical Earth history? It is likely that very few impacts occurred after the Flood (assuming the Flood/post-Flood boundary is in the very late Cenozoic), since there are only a few pristine impact craters, such as Meteor Crater (figure 3) that are clearly post-Flood.38 If even a small fraction of the 36,000 impacts occurred after the Flood (as well as before the Flood), all biology would have been wiped out. In regard to possible impacts before the Flood, I accept Spencer’s analysis35 that the solar system was created stable with no impact structures. This seems logical to me, since everything was created very good, and meteorite bombardments do not seem to be very good phenomena, especially if there were organisms living on the earth at the time. So, it does not seem likely that there were two bombardments, one at the Creation or the Fall and a second during the Flood as advocated by Danny Faulkner.39 The moon was created on Day 4, so that any moon bombardment afterwards could hardly have missed the earth, in which case all or practically all newly-created organisms would have been wiped out. A bombardment at the Fall would also be devastating. So, all these 36,000 impacts very likely occurred during the Flood, which I have maintained for a long time: “Impact craters are common on the inner planets and our moon, which implies that the earth probably was bombarded at some time in the past. We find very few impact craters on the surface of the earth, indicating that catastrophic meteorite bombardment would have occurred either before the Flood or during the Flood. If the pre-Flood earth was a time of climatic and geographic stability, it is doubtful that the meteorite bombardment was before the Flood. The only possibility left is that the event occurred during the Genesis Flood.”40 All the solar system bodies were likely struck by the same event, as indicated by similar crater SFD statistics on the inner solar system, except for Venus. However, Venus likely has many more visible impacts than astronomers believe.12 Based on the relative dating of the moon, it looks like most of the very large impacts struck right away on the near side of the moon (figure 7) with a rapid tailing off of impacts. The far side has only a few medium sized basins. Because of the 27.3-day rotation of the moon and the maria being spread horizontally over 45% of the lunar surface, mainly on the near side, Samec concludes that the large impacts on the moon occurred over a period within 12 days.37 He prefers a much shorter time frame, probably over a span of a few days. These large impacts could be associated with the late LHB. (The LHB is controversial among astronomers, but this dispute does not concern creationists since the LHB depends upon whether there was an Early Heavy Bombardment that formed the moon and caused the magma ocean, both of which there is no evidence for and depend upon evolutionary speculation.) Since the mare basalts likely flowed soon after the impacts and have much fewer impacts than the lunar highlands, the number of impacts must have decreased rapidly after the initial large barrage. Also, the radiometric dates between the LHB and the mare basalt show that the radiometric dates are highly exaggerated. Remember that relative dating, which seems reasonable, only gives the sequence of events and not the absolute time or the real time between events. So, it looks like the larger impacts struck at the very beginning of the Flood in a matter of a few days, or even less, and decreased rapidly afterwards with only a few small impacts after the Flood.35,41,42 We can also conclude from the near side moon impacts that the largest impactors came from one direction. Impacts likely caused the Flood So many impacts, some huge, would have provided a prodigious amount of energy to the earth. Such an amount of energy, especially delivered quickly and not over millions and billions of years, would have many effects on the earth. It is beyond the scope of this paper to estimate the effects of this energy, but regardless the amount would have been devastating. Since the Flood requires energy, meteorite impacts could easily provide the necessary energy to start and maintain the Flood. A number of creationists have suggested impacts as the source of this energy, regardless of whether catastrophic plate tectonics occurred later or not.35,36,37,39,41,42,43,44,45,46,47 Where are the impact craters on Earth? If the earth had 36,000 impact craters greater than 30 km with more than 100 greater than 1,000 km in diameter and a few up to 4,000 to 5,000 km, then where is the evidence for all these craters? Only about 170 impact craters and structures, some buried, are claimed for the earth,3 mostly in the Paleozoic.41 The answer is that the tremendous tectonics, erosion, and deposition during the Flood would have altered or destroyed the vast majority of these craters. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments are mostly large sheets of strata that cover large areas, while the Cenozoic and Precambrian is more restricted, assuming the uniformitarian geological column. Since geologists have studied much of the sedimentary rocks either by direct observation or by seismic methods, very little evidence for impact structures has emerged. So, it is not likely that a significant proportion of the 36,000 impacts will be found within sedimentary rocks. Therefore, it seems apparent that such a large amount of impacts will mainly have affected the Precambrian igneous rocks, which likely was the pre-Flood upper crust. There are only 3 or 4 examples of Precambrian impact craters or structures.41 Because of all the Flood devastation, the evidence for a huge amount of impacts in the Precambrian likely would be found if we look for more subtle indicators. Regardless, it seems evident that most of the impacts will be associated with the Precambrian. So, it looks like the beginning of the Flood would correspond to the Precambrian of the uniformitarian geological column.48 Much of the Precambrian and Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks likely are the deposits churned up by all the impacts and laid down after the initial chaos of the Flood mechanism. Such a scenario goes along with two general diastrophic cycles recognized by Thom over the western United States.49 He recognized an Early Precambrian diastrophic time of basin subsidence and sedimentation, orogenic compression and folding with volcanism, regional vertical uplift, and planation of mountain system. Such energetic effects could be the result of the initial Flood impacts, since impacts would cause basins with mountains formed along the rims of the basins. The basin would then fill with sediments, and of course much volcanism would be expected with the impacts. The impact uplifted rims and isostatically uplifted basins would supply vertical tectonics. Very strong currents in water caused by the impacts could easily plane rocks. The second diastrophic cycle is continuing today, according to Thom, but started with the deposition of thick Precambrian sediments and continued with the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentation. Then uplift has ensued with orogenic compression and folding with volcanism and planation, mainly in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Such a general sequence would correspond to the stages and phases of the Flood.50,51 in which the first diastrophism was caused by impacts, the mechanism of the Flood, followed by the deposition of all the debris churned up by that devastation in the later part of the Flooding Stage. The second diastrophism would correspond to the Retreating Stage with uplift and volcanism as the Floodwater retreated off the continents. Knowing that the Flood would greatly modify the craters, we need to look for more indirect, subtle evidence for these impacts in Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks. One example of such subtle evidence could be ophiolite belts where mantle rocks were overthrust onto other rocks, especially if the ophiolite belt has a semicircular shape. The Oman ophiolite would fit an impact scenario.52 Another subtle piece of evidence probably is the ultrahigh-pressure minerals and microdiamonds now found in mountains areas all over the world.53 Ultrahigh-pressure minerals and microdiamonds can be formed by impacts. Otherwise the alternative is to rapidly push continental rocks well below 100 km and then rapidly exhume them, presenting a tectonic conundrum, especially for uniformitarians. Summary and discussion Mercury, Mars, and the moon have similar cratering histories.33 The moon is used as the standard by which to estimate the number of craters that bombarded the earth. The number of craters greater than 30 km calculated for the moon is about 1,900, which is a minimum because of the problem of saturation. In scaling from the moon to the earth, the difference in crater sizes must be taken into account. The earth’s stronger gravity will result in a transient crater only 2/3rds the size of one on the moon with the same velocity and size of impactor. However, the greater gravity of the earth will result in the crater becoming larger because of gravitational mass movement and slumping. So, the final crater size on the earth will be close to that on the moon. Scaling the number of impacts from the moon to the earth is based mainly on the greater gravitational cross section of the earth. As a result, there should have been 36,000 craters greater than 30 km on the earth. Of these, by an extrapolation of the size-frequency distribution, about 100 craters greater than 1,000 km in diameter and a few up to 4,000 to 5,000 km in diameter should have occurred on Earth. Since such a bombardment did not occur after the Flood because there are very few pristine craters, the bombardment must have been pre-Flood or during the Flood. But if pre-Flood, the devastation would have wiped out all biology on Earth. So, the only logical conclusion is that all these impacts occurred during the Flood. Based on the moon, it seems that the largest impacts must have occurred very early in the Flood, tailing off during the rest of the Flood with only a few post-Flood impacts. Such a bombardment would have enough energy to initiate the Flood, although many details need to be worked out. The evidence for such an impact bombardment very likely first affected the pre- Flood crystalline rocks and suggests that the Precambrian is early Flood. The number of impacts that occurred during the Flood seems sound. However, there are many questions and additional areas of research beyond the scope of this article. Although impacts into the pre-Flood oceans would blast up plenty of water into the atmosphere and beyond for subsequent heavy rain,54 one issue is how such a bombardment caused the Flood. Another issue is whether the amount of energy is too devastating. Of course, much subtle geological evidence should point to impacts, but this evidence, almost always interpreted within a non-impact uniformitarian framework, needs to be worked out within an impact model. It is to be expected that God protected the ark from asteroid impacts, but why does the Bible not directly mention impacts? Regardless, the number of impacts to bombard the earth, the objective of this paper, is the first step in developing a new model of the Flood, based on impacts. References and notes - Chapman, C.R., Ryan, E.V., Merline, W.J., Neukam, G., Wagner, R., Thomas, P.C., Veverka, J. and Sullivan, R.J., Cratering on Ida, Icarus 120:77–86, 1996. Return to text. - Greenberg, R., Nolan, M.C., Bottke, Jr., W.F., Kolvoord, R.A. and Veverka, J., collisional history of Gaspra, Icarus 107:84–97, 1994. Return to text. - Koeberl, C., Impact processes on the early Earth, Elements 2:211–216, 2006. Return to text. - Kring, D.A. and Cohen, B.A., Cataclysmic bombardment throughout the inner solar system 3.9–4.0 Ga, Journal of Geophysical Research 107(E2), 2002. Return to text. - Neukum G., Ivanov, B.A. and Hartmann, W.K., Cratering records in the inner solar system in relation to the lunar reference system, Space Science Reviews 96:55–86, 2001. Return to text. - Hartmann, W.K., Relative crater production rates on planets, Icarus 31:264, 1977. Return to text. - Le Feuvre, M. and Wieczorek, M. A., Nonuniform cratering of the terrestrial planets, Icarus 197:300, 2008. Return to text. - Stöffler, D., Ryder, G., Ivanov, B.A., Artemieva, N.A., Cintala, M.J. and Grieve, R.A.F., Crating history and lunar chronology, Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry 60:519–596, 2006. Return to text. - Stöffler, D. and Ryder, G., Stratigraphy and isotope ages of lunar geologic units: chronological stand for the Inner Solar System, Space Science Reviews 96:9–54, 2001. Return to text. - Frey, H., Ages of very large impact basins on Mars: implications for the late heavy bombardment in the inner solar system, Geophysical Research Letters 35: L13203, 2008 \| doi:10.1029/2008GL033515. Return to text. - Schultz, P.H., Schultz, R.A. and Rogers, J., The structure and evolution of ancient impact basins on Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research 87:9,803–9,820, 1982. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., Venus impacts are not evidence against an astronomical trigger for the Flood, J. Creation 23(3):98–102 Return to text. - Valley, J.W., Pack, W.H. and King, E.M., A cool early Earth, Geology 30(4):351–354, 2002. Return to text. - DeYoung, D. and Whitcomb, J., Our Created Moon: Earth’s Fascinating Neighbor, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2003. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., Problems for ‘giant impact’ origin for the moon, J. Creation 14(1):6–7, 2000. Return to text. - Baldwin, R.B., Was there ever a terminal lunar cataclysm? With lunar viscosity arguments, Icarus 184:308–318, 2006. Return to text. - Hamilton, W.B., An alternative Venus; in: Foulger, G.R. and Jurdy, D.M. (Eds.), Plates, Plumes, and Planetary Processes, GSA Special paper 430, Boulder, CO, p. 904, 2007. Return to text. - Bottke, W.F., Levison, H.F., Nesvorný, D. and Dones, L., Can planetesimals left over from terrestrial planet formation produce the lunar Late Heavy Bombardment?, Icarus 190:203–223, 2007. Return to text. - Byrne, C.J., The Far Side of the Moon: A Photographic Guide, Springer Science, New York, NY, pp. 3–4, 194–200, 2008. Return to text. - Ivanov, B.A., Mars/Moon cratering rate ration estimates. Space Science Reviews 96:91, 2001. Return to text. - Melosh, H.J., Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process, Oxford University Press, New York, 1989. Return to text. - Pierazzo, E. and Melosh, H.J., Understanding oblique impacts from experiments, observations, and modeling. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science 28:141–167, 2000. Return to text. - Cintala, M.J. and Grieve, R.A.F., Scaling impact melting and crater dimensions: implications for the lunar cratering record, Meteoritics &Planetary Science 33:910, 1998. Return to text. - Chyba, C.F. and Sagan, C., Comets as a source of prebiotic organic molecules for the earth Earth; in: Thomas, P.J., Chyba, C.F. and McKay, C.P., Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life, Springer, New York, p. 159, 1997. Return to text. - Hansen, V.L. and Young, D.A., Venus’s evolution: a synthesis; in: Cloos, M., Carlson, W.D., Gilbert, M.C., Liou, J.G. and Sorensen S.S. (Eds.), Convergent Margin Terranes and Associated Regions: A Tribute to W. G. Ernst, GSA Special Paper 419, Boulder, CO, pp. 255–273, 2007. Return to text. - Strom, R.G., Chapman, C.R., Merline, W.J., Solomon, S.C. and Head III, J.W., Mercury cratering record viewed from MESSENGER’s first flyby, Science 321(5885):79, 2008. Return to text. - Hartmann, W.K. and Neukum, G., Cratering chronology and the evolution of Mars, Space Science Reviews 96:165–194, 2001. Return to text. - Norman, M.D., Duncan, R.A. and Huard, J.J., Identifying impact events within the lunar cataclysm from 40Ar-39Ar ages and compositions of Apollo 16 impact melt rocks, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70:6032–6049, 2006. Return to text. - Ryder, G., Mass flux in the ancient Earth-Moon system and benign implications for the origin of life on Earth, Journal of GeophysicalResearch 107(E4):1, 2002. Return to text. - Elkins-Tanton, L.T., Hager, B.H. and Grove, T.L., Magmatic effects of the lunar late heavy bombardment, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222:17–27, 2004. Return to text. - Wilhelms, D.E., McCaulay, J.F. and Trask, N.J., The Geology of the Moon, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1348, WashingtonD.C., 1987. Return to text. - Cohen, B.A., Swindle, T.D. and Kring, D.A., Support for the lunar cataclysm hypothesis from lunar meteorite impact melt ages, Science290(5497): 1754–1756, 2000. Return to text. - Frey, H., Crustal evolution of the early Earth: the role of major impacts, Precambrian Research 10:195–216, 1980. Return to text. - Frey, H., Origin of the Earth’s ocean basins, Icarus 32:235–250, 1977. Return to text. - Spencer, W.R., Our solar system: balancing biblical and scientific considerations; in: Snelling, A. A. (Ed.), Proceedings of the SixthInternational Conference on Creationism, Creation Science Fellowship and Institute for Creation Research, Pittsburgh, PA and Dallas, TX, pp. 293–306, 2008. Return to text. - Samec, R.G., Is the Moon’s orbit “ringing” from an asteroid collision event which triggered the Flood?; in: Snelling, A.A. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Creationism, Creation Science Fellowship and Institute for Creation Research, Pittsburgh, PA and Dallas, TX, pp. 255–261, 2008. Return to text. - Samec, R.G., On the origin of lunar maria, J. Creation 22(3):101–108, 2008. Return to text. - DeYoung, D.B., Age of the Arizona meteor crater, Creation Research Society Quarterly 31(3):153–158, 1994. Return to text. - Faulkner, D., A biblically based cratering theory, J. Creation 13(1):100–104, 1999. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., Response to comments on the “Asteroid hypothesis for dinosaur extinction”, Creation Research Society Quarterly 31(1):12,1994. Return to text. - Spencer, W.R., Catastrophic impact bombardment surrounding the Genesis Flood: in; Walsh, R. E. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Creationism, technical symposium sessions, Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 553–566, 1998. Return to text. - Spencer, W.R. and Oard, M.J., The Chesapeake Bay impact and Noah’s Flood, Creation Research Society Quarterly 41(3):206–215, 2004. Return to text. - Froede, Jr., C.R. and D.B. DeYoung, Impact events within the Young-Earth Flood Model, Creation Research Society Quarterly 33:23–34, 1996. Return to text. - Hartnett, J., The ‘waters above’, J. Creation 20(1):93–98, 2006. Return to text. - McIntosh, A., Taylor, S. and Edmondson, T., Reply to ‘Integrating Flood models?’, J. Creation 14(2):57, 2000. Return to text. - Unfred, D.W., Asteroidal impacts and the Flood judgment, Creation Research Society Quarterly 21(2):82–87, 1984. Return to text. - Parks, W.S., The role of meteorites in a creationist cosmology, Creation Research Society Quarterly 26(4):144–146, 1990. Return to text. - Oard, M. and Froede, Jr., C., Where is the pre-Flood/Flood boundary?, Creation Research Society Quarterly 45(1):24–39, 2008. Return to text. - Thom, Jr., W.T., Tectonic relationships, evolutionary history and mechanics of origin of the Crazy Mountain Basin, Montana; in: Graves, Sr., R.W. (Ed.), Billings Geological Society, Eight Annual Field Conference, Billings, MT, pp. 9–21, 1957. Return to text. - Walker, T., A Biblical geological model; in: Walsh, R. E. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Creationism, technical symposium sessions, Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 581–592, 1994. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., Flood by Design: Receding Water Shapes the Earth’s Surface, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., What is the meaning of ophiolites?, J. Creation 22(3):13–15, 2008. Return to text. - Oard, M.J., The uniformitarian challenge of ultrahigh-pressure minerals, J. Creation 20(1):5–6, 2006. Return to text. - Spencer, W.R., Geophysical effects of impacts during the Genesis Flood; In: Walsh, R.E. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fourth InternationalConference on Creationism, technical symposium sessions, Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 567–579, 1998. Return to text.

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