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The Japanese government, on Wednesday, is expected to announce its first annual trade deficit, since 1980. Official trade figures set to be released on Wednesday are expected to show that Japan recorded a deficit for the first time in three decades, mainly on account of large fossil fuel purchases by utilities for power stations, to make up for the loss of nuclear power, following the Fukushima disaster. Japanese trade is expected to be in deficit for the next few years, as it tries to overcome the Fukushimadisaster that released radiation into the atmosphere and forced the government, in the face of vehement public outcry, to shut down most of its nuclear power stations. Import figures for liquefied natural gas jumped to a record last year, as utilities switched to gas-fired power generation to overcome the shortfall left by the shutdown of most nuclear reactors after the March 11 earthquake caused the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years. High crude prices have also seen import values rise, with Japan being the world’s third biggest consumer of oil.
For decades, Japan’s economy has been propelled by iconic export-led manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Sony, and the March earthquake has hit these companies hard, with production at Toyota only returning to full capacity in the autumn. A rise in the yen to a record last year of fewer than 77 per dollar from more than 250 in 1980 is making Japanese exports increasingly uncompetitive and encouraging manufacturers to move overseas. This shift is most evident in the automotive industry. JPMorgan, in its research, says that by 2014, over 75% of Japanese cars will be produced abroad, up from 67% in 2011. Honda, Toyota and Nissan have all expressed their desire to move production away fromJapan, on the back of the ever-stronger yen. Each one yen rise against the dollar, for example, is estimated to cut Honda’s operating profit by 15bn yen ($195m). Nissan has already shifted a sizeable portion of its production to Thailand and Mexico and, last year, was the second-biggest importer of vehicles into Japan behind Volkswagen. Honda has also decided to produce its top of the range sports car in the US.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan cut its forecasts for 2011 and indicated thatJapan’s financial recovery could take far longer than previously anticipated. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43321000 |
Maintaining your Cat's Health
When cats are sick or in pain, they’re notorious for masking their illness and hiding their symptoms, and it’s not because they’re just too proud or independent to show it. One theory is that this behavior has deep biological roots - in the wild cats would be ‘prey’ animals, and showing any sign of weakness would make them more vulnerable. That’s why even an injured cat will likely keep moving as if nothing was wrong.
Knowing this, it’s up to us to keep a watchful eye on our beloved feline friends. Particularly because animals mature faster than we do - biologically they evolved that way, making them better able to survive disease and predators in the wild. Cats are considered senior after about 12 years, so we always have to remind ourselves that with “accelerated” health, they may develop disease earlier so we need to check for red flags.
A wellness examination is a routine medical examination of a cat that is apparently healthy as opposed
to an examination performed when a cat is ill. A wellness examination is often called a “check-up” or a
“physical examination” and the focus of this exam is the maintenance of your cat’s health. These exams
allow your veterinarian to detect and treat health issues earlier which
usually means less expense to
you and often a better
outcome for your cat.
More on Health & Wellness
- How to Care for Your Senior Cat
- Check Your Cat's Vital Signs at Home
- Why Does My Cat … Mask That He's in Pain?
- Pet Care Should Focus More on Wellness, Less on Shots
- How to Give Your Cat a Pill
- How To Tell If Your Cat is Ill
- Cat Exercise: Keeping Your Kitty in Good Shape
- Summer Hazards and Your Cat
- Feline Arthritis — A Condition That's More Common Than You Think | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43324000 |
Interesting article by Carolyn Handler Miller, about the origins of digital storytelling. Excerpt:
On the vast timetable of human achievements, computer-based interactive storytelling is a mere infant, only coming into being in the mid-twentieth century with the development of modern electronic computer technology. These narratives are also characterized by attributes rarely found in other forms of storytelling: they are interactive; they are immersive; they are nonlinear; and they are participatory, meaning that the audience not only takes part in them but can make choices that directly impact the story. Furthermore, the fictional characters in these stories commonly breach the fourth wall – the invisible barrier that separates the story world on one side and the real world on the other. In interactive narratives, it is extremely common for the fictional characters and the audience to communicate with each other and even for audience members to step into the story and play a direct role in it.
Given the fact that these narratives are so new and that they differ in so many important regards from other forms of storytelling, one might wonder if they are an entirely modern invention. Did they enter the world like the Greek goddess Athena, who sprung into the world from the head of her father, Zeus, fully formed, dressed and armed? In other words, are these unique types of works that came into existence only because the development of the electronic computer made them possible? Or do the characteristics that make them so different from other forms of narrative possibly have roots in earlier types of storytelling and other human activities? | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43329000 |
U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, D Minn., speaks at an election night event in St. Paul, Minn. / Hannah Foslien, AP
Last week, the American people voted for fairness. And with the "fiscal cliff" staring us all straight in the face, fairness must guide our decision-making as a nation. Fairness demands that the nation prioritize good jobs, particularly after a decade of the most generous tax cuts for the well-to-do. Investing in jobs is not only the right thing to do, but it will place America on a path to sustainable economic growth. The best way to be fair to working people, grow the economy, and reduce our deficit is to create jobs.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has a Deal for All -- one that puts Americans back to work. We can address our crumbling roads and bridges and promote education or we can choose to pass more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of our seniors. We cannot afford the latter. Progressives can only accept a deal from Republicans in Congress that invests in jobs, calls on the wealthy to do more, calls on the military to do more, and protects the most vulnerable.
Our country has a jobs crisis. The biggest risk of Congressional inaction is not that the deficit will increase, but that immediate budget cuts will hurt an already fragile economy, costing more American jobs. After the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression, our unemployment rate has finally fallen below 8%. But we still have a long way to go. Middle income jobs, in particular, have been slow to return and more than 12 million Americans are still unemployed. America's public workers - teachers, police officers, and firefighters - have had a particularly difficult time finding work. Local governments laid off 7,000 workers between August and September, and further cuts would mean more job losses. As Nobel Prize-winning Economist Peter Diamond said, "We have an unemployment crisis, in my view. The impacts, both on long-term unemployed and young people, are going to affect them for years and yearsâ?¦We have a debt problem. We don't have a debt crisis."
Austerity would plunge the economy back into a recession. Cutting the U.S. Postal Service or local fire departments costs public workers their jobs and reduces private sector demand, causing even more layoffs. In Europe, rapid cuts in government spending have plunged the entire continent back into recession. Great Britain, a poster child for austerity, has seen real G.D.P. since the recession plummet to levels lower than after the Great Depression. Workers in Spain and Greece have had to pick through garbage because of forced government cuts. Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Ohio) prediction that we risk becoming Greece could be accurate if we enact his own proposals to cut services Americans need during economic recovery.
But we don't have to choose between addressing the jobs crisis and reducing the deficit. In fact, putting people back to work will go a long way toward reducing the deficit.
The Deal for All with four basic principles to protect the middle-class and working families.
First, any deal must protect benefits for the millions of American seniors, children, and disabled Americans who depend on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. One in every four families depends on our social security system, including 36 million retired Americans. Making workers wait until they're older to receive these benefits could cost seniors nearly $5,000 a year. And nearly every American senior depends on Medicare to cover health costs. Turning Medicare into a voucher system, as Republicans have proposed, would not only make seniors pay thousands more for Medicare, but leave many seniors without any coverage at all.
Second, an agreement must reform our tax code in a way that asks the most privileged among us to contribute their fair share, and closes corporate loopholes for companies that ship American jobs overseas. If working and middle class people are going to take a hit in tough times, it shouldn't be to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and oil companies.
Third, we must make smart cuts to defense spending, to focus our armed forces on combating 21st century risks. Defense spending has more than doubled in the past 10 years alone. We can afford smart, strategic cuts to outdated defense spending without compromising our national security. Also, we shouldn't fall for the argument from defense contractors and others that defense cuts will hurt the economy. Investing in areas like health care for our seniors and education for our youth creates many more jobs than equivalent investment in defense.
Lastly, any deal must invest in job creation in the near-term. Federal investments were already cut by $1.5 trillion in the first round of deficit reduction â?? 60 percent from vital programs such as education, environmental protection, and law enforcement. Working families have already pitched in to reduce the deficit â??- now it's time for the richest 2% of Americans to pay their fair share.
The solutions are clear. Americans want a Deal for All, not a raw deal. This means good jobs now. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is prepared to stand up for these values.
Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including ourBoard of Contributors.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Column: Fiscal cliff means the rich need to step up | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43337000 |
Leontine T. C. Kelly
Born March 5, 1920 in Washington, D.C.
First African American female Bishop in the
United Methodist Church
A highly respected religious leader and pioneer, Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly was the first African American woman to be elected bishop by any major denomination in the world. Elected in 1984 by the Western Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church, she served as bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference and as president of the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops. Bishop Kelly’s preaching missions included the European Theater for the United States Chaplaincy in 1975; Germany, Italy and Sicily in 1992, and Japan in 1993. She was also speaker for the World Methodist Council, Nairobi, Kenya, in 1997.
Leontine Kelly was born in the parsonage of Mount Zion United Methodist Church in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. on March 5, 1920. Her family settled in Cincinnati, Ohio when Kelly was 10 years old. The daughter, sister, and widow of Methodist ministers, she received her own “call” to ordained ministry following the death of her husband, Dr. James David Kelly, in 1969. She began studies at Wesley Theological Seminary, and received a Master of Divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
Kelly left a successful career as a high school social studies teacher in Virginia to follow her religious calling. Throughout her careers, she served on numerous church and civic committees and boards both local and national in scope. As an ordained United Methodist elder, she served local churches in Virginia and assumed the position of Associate Program Council Director of the Virginia Annual Conference. A natural leader, in 1983, she became Assistant General Secretary for evangelism for the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, Nashville, Tennessee. The following year, at the age of 64, she made history when elected bishop.
Kelly has been widely recognized for her work and commitment to social justice issues. Her numerous honors and awards include ten honorary degrees, the Martin Luther King, Jr. “Drum Major for Justice” and “Grass Roots Leadership” awards from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Ebony magazine’s Black Achievement Award in the area of Religion, and Ladies Home Journal magazine’s “One Hundred Most Important Women in America.” In October 2000, Bishop Kelly was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.
Following her retirement in 1988, Kelly served as Visiting Professor of Evangelism and Witness at Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California. She later served as Adjunct Professor both there and at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.
Bishop Kelly currently resides in San Mateo, California, where she enjoys spending time with her four children and five grandchildren. She continues to maintain a full schedule of speaking and teaching engagements throughout the United States and other countries.
URL (Click to bookmark): http://www.visionaryproject.org/kellyleontine | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43338000 |
Authorities in Japan have evacuated the area around a nuclear power plant after its reactor's cooling system failed following Friday's massive earthquake. Pressure began building overnight at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo, prompting officials to consider venting radioactive vapor on Saturday. The situation has prompted analysts to debate whether nuclear power is safe to use in earthquake-prone regions.
Japan has 55 nuclear power plants that produce nearly one-third of the country’s electrical output. Its also lies in one of the most seismically active zones in the world, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Nuclear waste specialist Kevin Kamps at nuclear watchdog Beyond Nuclear says these two factors put Japan at a big risk. "An earthquake that damages multiple levels of the safety systems can lead to a troubled situation very quickly."
Kamps said the worst case scenario for the Fukushima Daiichi plant would be what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986, when the radioactivity escaped to the outside environment, causing environmental and health hazards across portions of Europe. He said Japan should consider other energy options.
"There are much safer sources of electricity; renewables, like wind and solar, could not suffer catastrophic disasters like this that endanger entire regions with hazardous radioactive releases."
Analyst Jeremy Gordon with the World Nuclear Association, however, said overall the situation is not one in which Japan would need to abandon this major source of electricity. He said Japan's nuclear plants are built with multiple safety layers and earthquakes in mind.
"The engineering standard goes so far beyond what you would ever expect, and the regulations go far beyond what you would ever expect. The end result is that the power plants are extremely robust."
Gordon said a powerful earthquake that struck the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in 2007 is an example of the effectiveness of nuclear power plant safety measures.
"They were hit really hard and there was damage within the plant and it took a long time to repair everything. But the safety system stayed in place and there was no nuclear risk from that earthquake."
Kamps said the Fukushima Daiichi situation, though, should be a wake-up call to the Japanese government and the world about the dangers of nuclear power plants. This can include radiological contamination of the environment and genetic damage, cancer and a wide spectrum of disease within people.
"A nuclear disaster anywhere is a nuclear disaster everywhere. We saw that at Chernobyl with significant nuclear fallout blanketing Europe in all directions for many hundreds of miles. We even saw fallout here in the United States," said Kamps.
But Gordon believes Japan has no other sustainable energy options. "It's been using nuclear power since 1966 and its main reason for doing that is because it doesn’t have any energy resources of its own at home. It doesn't have coal. It doesn't have gas. So it needs a sustainable and controllable domestic source of energy."
Greenpeace nuclear policy analyst Jim Riccio says the consequences of nuclear power need to be considered. "I think it's a good reminder, we've been focusing a lot lately on the downsides of nuclear in terms of its finances, there are other downsides beside the financial downside, potential for a meltdown and I think it should give people pause before they pursue new reactors here in the United States and around the world."
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that 20 percent of the world's nuclear reactors are in areas of significant seismic activity. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43341000 |
The Array object is used to store multiple values in a single variable.
Create an array, and assign values to it:
You will find more examples at the bottom of this page.
An array is a special variable, which can hold more than one value at a time.
If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could look like this:
However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3 cars, but 300?
The solution is an array!
An array can hold many values under a single name, and you can access the values by referring to an index number.
An array can be created in three ways.
The following code creates an Array object called myCars:
You refer to an element in an array by referring to the index number.
This statement access the value of the first element in myCars:
This statement modifies the first element in myCars:
| is the first element in an array. is the second . . . . . (indexes start with 0)|
Because of this, you can have variables of different types in the same Array.
You can have objects in an Array. You can have functions in an Array. You can have arrays in an Array:
The Array object has predefined properties and methods:
For a complete reference of all properties and methods, go to our complete Array object reference.
The reference contains a description (and more examples) of all Array properties and methods.
The example above makes a new array method that transforms array values into upper case.
Your message has been sent to W3Schools. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43346000 |
Dr. Michele Warmund, MU fruit tree researcher, reminds us that we should treat our fruit trees for scale before the growing season. Control must be made before bud swell with an application of superior soil. In early springs, this spray is often missed as trees will start growing earlier than expected.
According to her, apricot, cherry, peach and plum are generally the first fruit trees to begin growth. Then these are followed by apple and pear. Dormant oils should be applied when temperatures are above 40 degrees F. and its primary purpose is to smother overwintering mite eggs and young scale crawler.
A great resource for those who care for fruit trees is Extension guide 6010, Fruit Spray Schedules for the Homeowner. A copy can be obtained at your Livingston County Extension office in Chillicothe and for more information, contact the Extension office at 660-646-0811. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43354000 |
Pain - heel
Most frequently heel pain is not the result of any single injury, such as a fall or twist, but rather the result of repetitive or excessive heel pounding.
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the thick connective tissue on the sole of your foot that attaches to your heel. The pain is usually felt at the bottom of your heel and is often worse in the morning because of stiffness that occurs overnight. The following increase your risk of developing this painful problem:
- Shoes with poor arch support or soft soles
- Quick turns that put stress on your foot
- Tight calf muscles
- Repetitive pounding on your feet from long-distance running, especially running downhill or on uneven surfaces
- Pronation -- landing on the outside of your foot and rolling inward when walking or running; to know if you pronate, check the soles of your shoes to see if they are worn along the outer edge
Bone spurs in the heel can accompany plantar fasciitis, but are generally not the source of the pain. If you treat the plantar fasciitis appropriately, the bone spur is likely to no longer bother you.
Heel bursitis (inflammation of the back of the heel) can be caused by landing hard or awkwardly on the heel, or by pressure from shoes.
Achilles tendinitis is inflammation of the large tendon that connects your calf muscle to your heel. This can be caused by:
- Running, especially on hard surfaces like concrete
- Tightness and lack of flexibility in your calf muscles
- Shoes with inadequate stability or shock absorption
- Sudden inward or outward turning of your heel when hitting the ground
- Rest as much as possible for at least a week.
- Apply ice to the painful area. Do this at least twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes, more often in the first couple of days.
- Take acetaminophen for pain or ibuprofen for pain and inflammation.
- Wear proper-fitting shoes.
- A heel cup, felt pads in the heel area, or an orthotic device may help.
- Night splints can stretch the injured fascia and allow it to heal.
- Apply moleskin to avoid pressure if you have bursitis.
- See a physical therapist to learn stretching and strengthening exercises. These help prevent plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinitis from returning.
Call your health care provider if:
- Your pain is getting worse despite home treatment
- There is little progress after 2 to 3 weeks of home treatment
- Your pain is sudden and severe
- You have redness or swelling of your heel or you cannot bear weight
What to expect at your health care provider's office:
Your doctor will take your medical history and perform a physical examination, including a full exam of your feet and legs.
To help diagnose the cause of the problem, your doctor will ask medical history questions, such as:
- Have you had this type of heel pain before? If so, what was the diagnosis and what caused the problem?
- When did this episode of pain begin?
- Do you have pain upon your first steps in the morning or after your first steps after rest?
- Where exactly is your pain?
- Is the pain dull and aching or sharp and stabbing?
- Is it worse after you exercise?
- Is it worse when you are standing?
- Do you have any swelling or redness of your heel?
- Have you had a fall or have you twisted your foot recently?
- Are you a runner? How far do you run? How often do you run? On what type of surface do you run?
- Do you walk or stand on your feet for long periods of time?
- What kind of shoes do you wear?
- Do you have any other symptoms?
Diagnostic tests that may be performed include a foot x-ray , focusing on the heel.
If either plantar fasciitis or bursitis is diagnosed and if shoe changes and the use of orthotics have not been successful, cortisone injections may be tried. Surgery is a last resort and is seldom necessary.
If Achilles tendinitis is diagnosed, anti-inflammatory medicine may be prescribed. Heel lifts may be used. Stretching can be helpful. In particularly unresponsive cases, a walking cast or boot may be helpful. Surgery is usually not necessary.
To prevent plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis, maintain flexible and strong muscles in your calves, ankles, and feet. Always stretch and warm-up prior to athletic activities.
Wear comfortable, properly fitting shoes with good arch support and cushioning. If you pronate, look for athletic shoes with an antipronation device. If orthotics are prescribed by your provider, wear them in all of your shoes, not just while exercising.
Schroeder BM. American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons: Diagnosis and treatment of heel pain. Am Fam Physician. 2002; 65(8): 1686, 1688.
American College of Radiology (ACR), Expert Panel on Musculoskeletal Imaging. Chronic foot pain. Reston, VA: American College of Radiology; 2002.
Donley BG, Moore T, Sferra J, Gozdanovic J, Smith R. The efficacy of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID) in the treatment of plantar fasciitis: a randomized, prospective, placebo-controlled study. Foot Ankle Int. 2007;28:20-23.
Aldridge T. Diagnosing heel pain in adults. Am Fam Physician. 2004;70:332-338.
Ho K, Abu-Laban RB. Ankle and foot. In: Marx J, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier;2006:chap 55.
|Review Date: 3/4/2009|
Reviewed By: Linda Vorvick, MD, Family Physician, Seattle Site Coordinator, Lecturer, Pathophysiology, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington School of Medicine; and C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43360000 |
HTML Unleashed PRE. Strategies for Indexing and Search Engines: The META tag
HTML Unleashed PRE: Strategies for Indexing and Search Engines
The META tag
Getting back to HTML, you might wonder what the syntax is for adding keywords to a document. Of course, the text of a page is the primary source of searchable material, but you may also need to add certain keywords without altering the page content. (Changing text color to make keywords invisible in the body of a document is a really ugly trick; please never resort to it!)
The META tag serves this purpose (as well as several other purposes). "Meta" is a Greek word for "over," and META tag was intended to carry all sorts of meta- information, that is, information about (or "over") information. You should understand that using META for specifying keywords is not an HTML convention, but only one of the widely accepted uses of the tag.
A META tag usually takes the following form:
<META name="..." content="...">
As you can see, the names of the META tag attributes are rather generic, which allows you to use the tag to express virtually any information that may be represented as a name-value pair. For example, you could use META tags to supply information about yourself (name="author"), the program you used to create the HTML file (name="generator"), and so on.
Here's how the META tag is used for introducing your document to search engines:
<META name="keywords" content="searching, search engines, keywords, HTML"> <META name="description" content="A description of major web search engines, spiders, and search-friendly HTML authoring">
These tags should be placed within the HEAD element. Keywords and phrases in the content of the tag with name="keywords" attribute can be separated by commas for better readability, although spiders usually ignore the separators. The maximum number of keywords depends on the search engine in question; for some of them, 25 words or 200 characters have been quoted as the upper limit.
Hopefully, the keywords thus specified will be added to the searchable representation of the document in the engine's database, and the description will be stored as the summary to be displayed for the document in a list of results (in the absence of a description, most search engines will take the first lines of text on the page).
Another use of the META tag is for excluding a page from spiders' attention. By adding the following tag,
<META name="robots" content="noindex">
you instruct any spiders that run into your page to bypass it without indexing.
However, not all spiders support this convention. A more reliable solution is to add a robots.txt file to the root directory of your web server, with a list of files that must be excluded from indexing. For example, your robots.txt might contain these lines:
User-agent: * Disallow: /dont_index_me.html Disallow: /hidden_dir/
With these lines, no robot will scan the dont_index_me.html document, nor any document from the /hidden_dir/. For more information on robots exclusion, refer to http://info.webcrawler.com/mak/projects/robots/exclusion.html.
Revised: Sept. 19, 1997 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43365000 |
Today’s technology is transforming life and the way we communicate. New communication networks are replacing traditional telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings.
According to the Radicati Group, each channel - email, instant messaging and social networking – is expected to reach nearly 4 billion accounts worldwide by 2015. Platforms like Google+ Hangouts, Gchat, Yammer and Skype empower people to communicate anywhere, anytime. Most of these conversations occur in written form where the message can be spread around the globe within seconds. Therefore, exercising proper etiquette online is just as important as practicing good behavior offline.
Words Impact Image
“When communicating online, be authentic, relevant and don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read,” said Kent Lewis, president and founder of Anvil Media and Formic Media. "Always keep the conversation clean and civil. When crafting a message, choose your words wisely and be aware of the tone. Keep in mind that reading a message electronically lacks the non-verbal cues and lends itself to misinterpretation. Depending on the nature of the business and relationship, emoticons may or may not be appropriate. Know your audience. Follow suit and use them sparingly."
Text messaging may be efficient and convenient, but it offers a significant margin of error for misunderstanding. When texting, identify yourself in the message as your information may not be stored in the recipient’s phone. Be careful to select the intended party from your address book and make sure to respond to the correct sender.
“Avoid using ALL CAPS and abbreviated text such as LMAO$!” adds Lewis. Responding in-kind with clients or supervisors may be acceptable in some instances. However, the language may be confusing or deemed inappropriate by others."
“Furthermore, using abbreviations frequently may become habitual and spill into other forms of written communications,” said Sally Ramsay, senior vice president at Pierpont Communications. "Best practice: be professional. Reserve texting for brief messages, using complete words and sentences such as “File sent.” Remember, texting can be uncomfortable for some or costly for others depending on the user’s plan."
Email messages employ the same rules as other forms of business communication. The message needs to be organized and grammatically correct, which includes running spellcheck. Start with a relevant subject line that aligns with the email message. In the message, address the reader with an appropriate greeting. Then, write the most important points concisely in the first paragraph. Bullet point action items and specify the owners as well as the deadlines. Finally, add a closure followed by a signature.
Mailboxes have storage limitations. Minimize the amount of attachments and the use of wallpaper. When sending messages to multiple contacts, place recipients in groups to maintain privacy. Send only relevant messages and use the “Reply All” option accordingly. Only use the priority status (!) for messages requiring urgent attention.
Spreading the Message
Social Media is powerful tool that can help a company achieve its business goals and objectives by educating people, disseminating quality, relevant information, and responding immediately to a crisis. According to Ramsay, “Companies today are responding faster to complaints made on social media platforms than to telephone calls. When using social media, assign the responsibility to someone who can monitor the conversation, access information and mitigate.”
Negative comments will happen, so be prepared. Be polite, listen, restate the problem, diffuse the situation and offer a solution. If necessary, use private messaging to move the conversation offline.
Facebook is personal and is intended for use with friends and family only.
“Be cognizant of your posts, knowing the content will be shared and last forever. With photos, tag people judiciously and get permission to tag others,” said Ramsay. "Monitor the content on your page, and delete inappropriate comments or tags immediately. Decline invitations or unfriend someone who exhibits lewd behavior. Remember, you’re guilty by association. Therefore, be smart about accepting friend requests."
Lewis suggests that users create different circles of friends to separate personal from professional and ensure posts are flagged appropriately to mitigate risk.
LinkedIn is a platform for building a professional network.
“When meeting people in person, secure an email address to send an invitation to connect; ensure invitations reference how you know that person and how a connection will be mutually beneficial; create value early and share relevant news often,” said Lewis.
Additionally, when accepting an invitation, respond politely with a personal message.
For protection, a company should explain acceptable online conduct in an Employee Handbook or Social Media Policy, provide ongoing training, review best practices and discuss common sense rules.
“Discuss the First Amendment with associates and explain the gravity of leaking confidential information or announcing internal news. Regardless of whether the behavior was accidental or malicious, it can have damaging effects on a company,” asserts Ramsay. "Today, employees have ample opportunity to interact with clients online and make mistakes. If a mistake occurs, acknowledge it and apologize as soon as possible."
Social media disasters have happened and will happen again so be sure to have a plan of action in place. Be aware of who you friend and the consequences of your online behavior.
“People have lost jobs, companies have lost accounts and reputations have been tarnished,” states Loren Brown, J.D., business law professor at the University of Houston-Downtown.
He cites the case, Zeran v. America Online, in which the defamed party was injured by defamatory speech of a third party. Unfortunately, the injured party lost in court and there was no recourse.
On personal and professional levels, communicating online offers convenience, maintains relationships and is useful for sharing information. When conversing online, follow these basic rules to establish a reputation of geniality: be nice, be respectful of others, avoid arguing online, and understand that your actions impact your employer’s image as well as your personal brand. To protect your identity, set your account privacy settings and monitor these as privacy policies change without notice.
“Finally, remember the adage: fools names and fools faces always seen in public places. Be sure to create an awareness and always think before you post or click ‘send’,” concludes Ramsay.
About the Author: Michelle Wicmandy is a Marketing Lecturer for the University of Houston-Downtown, an ethnically diverse liberal arts institutions in the southwest that offers baccalaureate and master’s degree programs. She also works as a freelance online marketing consultant and helps clients with their email, social media, and web analytic projects. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43366000 |
Mass-Produced Meat and Chicken Contaminated with MRSA Superbug
Monday, April 18, 2011
Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist Byron J. Richards,
Listen to Byron's RecapWeekly Health Podcast >
Big Agribusiness animal farms, which steadily poison the meat and poultry they produce with antibiotics under the pretense of food safety, have massively infected the animals with Staphylococcus aureus1 (47 percent of meat and poultry recently tested). 52% of that is the nasty form of Staphylococcus that is resistant to antibiotics (MRSA superbugs). In other words, the garbage-quality food industry has unleashed highly infected meat on the U.S. consumer. This not only poses problems for serious food-born illness, it is a likely factor involved with the obesity epidemic.
Researchers collected and analyzed 136 samples – covering 80 brands – of beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 26 retail grocery stores in five U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff and Washington, D.C. “The fact that drug-resistant S. aureus was so prevalent, and likely came from the food animals themselves, is troubling, and demands attention to how antibiotics are used in food-animal production today,” Lance B. Price, Ph.D., senior author of the study and Director of TGen’s Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health.
In most cases cooking will kill this bacteria. However, cross contamination during food preparation is a major concern. For example, if you buy food at a fast food restaurant, the cook touches the contaminated meat and throws it on the grill and cooks it. Meanwhile he touches buns and other items that are not cooked and spreads the germs to them. One would have to be very careful even at home to not get cross contamination.
Your options are to become a vegetarian or to only buy high quality meat and poultry that is raised without antibiotics. There is a cottage industry devoted to raising healthy animals for food consumption.
If you do get MRSA infection from food it will not likely show up as the more commonly understood skin infection. Rather, it will be an internal infection most likely related to pneumonia. Therefore, respiratory presentation may be your symptoms rather than the typical diarrhea of food poisoning. This type of infection generates large amounts of toxins which will make you feel really sick with horrible headaches or body aches. Such severe infections could significantly harm or even kill infants, children or the elderly.
Another important aspect of this is low-grade infection of your digestive tract with Staphylococcus aureus which disrupts the balance of friendly flora in your digestive tract. This is not the same as an acute illness and may not involve the MRSA form at all. Tests on pregnant women3 have found excessive levels of Staphylococcus in their digestive tracts in direct proportion to how overweight they were at the start of pregnancy. This problem is also a factor in excess weight gain4 during pregnancy. Unfortunately, the Staphylococcus overgrowth is passed on to their child5, setting the stage for future obesity. Thankfully, taking friendly flora can help this problem and prevent weight gain.
In my previous article, How Digestive Problems Prevent Weight Loss, I explain how toxic LPS coming from imbalanced digestive bacteria is a major stumbling block for weight loss for most people who are overweight and can’t lose weight with a reasonable weight-loss effort. Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium, so it does not produce toxic LPS. Rather it produces a wide variety of other highly toxic compounds such as superantigens, enterotoxins, alpha toxins, beta toxins, and delta toxins. Thus, the levels of Staphylococcus found in overweight people are capable of a low-grade poisoning of metabolism consistent with the toxic LPS of gram negative bacteria. An animal study shows that Staphylococcus can impair beta cell function of the pancreas, inducing insulin resistance6. This could help cause either type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
This new study exposes a major public health issue and focuses the blame on the fast-food animal production business with its long history of animal abuse and production of sickly animals with compromised immune systems. Please note the FDA and USDA were too incompetent to discover this problem – which simply required looking. Their “solution” will be to force dangerous irradiation of the food supply on everyone – including those who produce high quality meat and poultry that is not prone to such infection. As Americans are coming to realize, government and its regulators are seldom willing to address the source of any problem when those committing the offense pay lawmakers through their lobbies and offer jobs to regulators for “doing a good job” of protecting their perverse vested interests. The stench runs far deeper than the infected animals.
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Cholesterol is an essential body chemical. It is one of the fat-like nutrients transported in the blood and is used by the body to build cell walls and produce vitamin D and certain hormones. The body produces about one thousand milligrams of cholesterol each day to meet its needs. Most of us consume more cholesterol than we need when we eat foods that are high in saturated fat, such as meat and dairy products. If we consume cholesterol, the body slows down production of it, but not enough to prevent blood levels from rising. When there is too much cholesterol in the bloodstream, it can become trapped in the walls of the coronary arteries and build up over time. When the artery that supplies blood to the heart becomes clogged with cholesterol deposits, part of the heart muscle goes without the nutrients and oxygen it needs and dies. The result can be chest pains, a heart attack, and even death. To lower cholesterol blood levels, avoid foods high in saturated fats. Eat more foods with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats which can help lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. For more information on cholesterol, contact a health care professional. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43373000 |
Volvo is working on an animal detection system to help make its cars safer in rural areas.
The new system uses the same radar and camera technology as Volvo's Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake application, which is available on its:
•XC70 • S80
A warning sounds if an animal is detected on the road ahead, and if the driver fails to act, the car’ brakes are applied to either bring the vehicle to a halt or slow it down significantly.
Volvo says that, in Sweden alone, more than 40,000 accidents involving wild animals are reported every year.
Most collisions with animals happen at dawn, dusk, or during dark winter months, so the new system is being developed with full functionality in these conditions.
Volvo’ engineers also plan to 'teach' the system to recognise different animals. As part of the process, a team spent time at a safari park recording film sequences and the behavioural patterns of moose and deer. This is to help ensure the system responds to large animals – such as horses and deer – that pose the greatest risk to drivers and passengers.
A launch date has yet to be confirmed.
Our reviews are based on hard data and thorough testing in the real world.
Up to the minute news from around the globe | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43378000 |
Vinoba Bhave, born Vinayak Narahari Bhave and often called Acharya (In Sanskrit and Hindi means teacher), is considered as a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in Gagode, Maharashtra on September 11, 1895 into a pious family of the Chitpavan Brahmin clan. He was highly inspired after reading the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holiest Hindu scriptures at a very young age. He was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. In 1932 he was sent to jail by the British colonial government because of his fight against British rule. There he gave a series of talks on the Gita, in his native language Marathi, to his fellow prisoners. These highly inspiring talks were later published as the book "Talks on the Gita", and it has been translated to many languages both in India and elsewhere. Vinoba felt that the source of these talks was something above and he believed that its influence will endure even if his other works were forgotten. In 1940 he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first Individual Satyagrahi (an Individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action) against the British rule. Bhave also participated in the Quit India Movement. Vinoba's religious outlook was very broad and it synthesized the truths of many religions. This can be seen in one of his hymns "Om Tat" which contains symbols of many religions. He was also a scholar of many languages. Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This formed the core of his Sarvodaya (Awakening of all potentials) movement. Another example of this is the Bhoodhan (land gift) movement. He walked all across India asking people with land to consider him as one of their sons and so give him a portion of their land which he then distributed to landless poor. Nonviolence and compassion being a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows. Vinoba spent the later part of his life at his ashram in Paunar, Maharashtra. He controversially backed the Indian Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, calling it Anushasana Parva (Time for Discipline).
He died on November 15, 1982 after refusing food and medicine few days earlier. Some Indians have identified this as sallekhana. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43379000 |
New Hybrid Deep-sea Vehicle Is Christened Nereus
Unique underwater vehicle is named in nationwide student contest
Nereus—a mythical god with a fish tail and a man’s torso—was chosen Sunday (June 25) in a nationwide contest as the name of a first-of-its-kind, deep-sea vehicle under construction at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The vehicle, known until now as the Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle, or HROV, will be able to work in the deepest parts of the ocean, from 6,500 meters to 11,000 meters (21,500 feet to 36,000 feet), a depth currently unreachable for routine ocean research. Scientists also plan to use it to explore remote, difficult-to-reach areas, including under the Arctic ice cap.
[Editor's note: On May 31, 2009, Nereus dove to the deepest part of the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. Read the article and interviews with engineers who built Nereus.]
Engineers and ship's crew will be able to transform Nereus from a free-swimming vehicle for wide-area ocean surveys to a vehicle tethered by a cable to a surface ship that can be used for or close-up investigation and sampling of seafloor rocks and organisms. The transformation will take 6 to 8 hours and happen on the ship's deck.
“Nereus best fits the image of our vehicle, which engineers can change shape at sea for various science needs,” said Andy Bowen, the WHOI engineer overseeing the vehicle’s design and development.
Bowen was among a panel of judges from WHOI and engineering consulting groups that selected Nereus from 22 entries in a naming contest open to junior high, high school, and college students who participate in the California-based Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center.
The program provides students in the U.S. and Canada opportunity to explore marine-related careers through internship programs, and it sponsors an annual remotely operated vehicle design competition.
“The students thought it would be appropriate to name it after a Greek god who combined two forms,” said Kelly Miller, an oceanography and chemistry teacher at Monterey High School in California who coordinated the winning name submission for a team of six sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
A vehicle that switches modes
Nereus (rhymes with “serious”) keeps with a tradition in the WHOI Deep Submergence Laboratory of naming vehicles for mythical Greek figures. Among others in the WHOI-operated fleet of vehicles are Jason (a fabled adventurer and ocean explorer), Argo (a ship used by Jason), and Medea (the mythical wife of Jason).
Several teams proposed names for the new vehicle taken from mythology, including the Japanese dragon god Ryujin, the Greek god of wind Aiolos, and the Greek god of the sea Poseidon. Ultimately, Bowen said Nereus was selected because “the name most appropriately represented the vehicle’s ability to switch modes as needed by scientists.”
The $5-million, battery-operated vehicle will be the first ever designed to transform from a guided, tethered robot to a free-swimming vehicle. Each capability offers advantages to deep-sea researchers. In its autonomous mode, the vehicle will be able to fly on pre-programmed missions over swaths of ocean bottom to map the seafloor, to gather remote data, or to search for scientific targets such as hydrothermal vents.
In its tethered mode, it will remain connected via a hair-thin, 25-mile long cable that will enable scientists on the surface ship to send instant commands to the mechanical arm, used for gathering samples of interesting undersea rocks and organisms.
Scheduled for launch in 2007
Sea trials will take place offshore Woods Hole in early 2007, and scientists will plan to use it for research later that year at Challenger Deep, a trench in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Guam. It is the deepest area of any ocean, deeper than Mount Everest is high, extending almost 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) beneath the sea surface.
The panel of judges involved in the name selection included engineers from WHOI as well as engineering consultants working on the vehicle at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego.
Several teams suggested names inspired by wildlife, including the color-switching lizard Chameleon, the aquatic salamander Siren, the Hawaiian owl Pueo, and the scientific name for lobster, Homarus.
Others proposed people names. A Newfoundland team suggested Jacques, after famed underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau. Harvey, proposed by a Florida team, acknowledged marine artist Guy Harvey. Audrey, the only female name, came from a California team honoring the late Audrey Mestre, who died in 2002 attempting to set a deep-sea diving record.
Nereus was announced the winner during a June 25 awards banquet at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The prize for the winning team is a trip this September to see the HROV in Woods Hole, where Bowen said engineers expect to be concluding tests on the vehicle’s manipulator arm, thruster, pressure housings, and electronic components.
Funding for the development of Nereus comes from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Originally published: June 26, 2006 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43382000 |
Freely rooting, long, prostrate stems growing across mud or in water and topped with erect, dense, narrowly egg-shaped, pink flower clusters.
This aquatic or wetland plant is rather showy when growing in colonies. The genus name is from the Greek poly (many) and gona (knee or joint), as is the family name, and refers to the thickened joints of the stem where a sheath often surrounds the stem at the leaf axil. The genus includes the smartweeds, with tiny flowers in terminal spikes, and the knotweeds, with flower clusters in the leaf axils. This species also occurs in Eurasia. Its seeds provide food for waterfowl. Some authorities recognize two intergrading, environmentally variable varieties in the West. The variety stipulaceum has short oval flower clusters and is not especially aggressive; the pink flower masses of this variety are very attractive, but since the plants grow quickly, they can become an unwelcome weed in decorative ponds. The variety emersum has lanceolate leaves with narrowly tapering tips and slender flower clusters at least 1 1/2 (4 cm) long; once called P. coccineum, a separate species, this variety is aggressive to the point of being classified as a noxious weed.
Find native plant species by state. Each list contains commercially available species suitable for gardens and planned landscapes. Once you have selected a collection, you can browse the collection or search within it using the combination search.View Recommended Species page | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43386000 |
Karner Blue Butterfly and Concord (NH) Pine Barrens Project
Photo: Lindsay Webb/NHFG
Project Goal: To reintroduce the Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) in Concord, NH and to maintain the Concord Pine Barrens through habitat management.
Timeline: NH Fish and Game's Nongame Program began restoring the Concord Pine Barrens in 2000 and began releasing captive reared Karner blue butterflies in 2001. Periodic habitat management will always be necessary to maintain the Pine Barrens as a suitable habitat for Karner blue butterflies to survive. Captive rearing of the butterflies will end when the federal recovery goals have been met.
Location: Approximately 300 acres of Pine Barrens habitat in Concord, NH.
Description: In 1999, the Karner blue butterfly was thought to be extirpated from New Hampshire. The last place it was observed was in a power line corridor in Concord. Working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Hampshire Fish and Game biologists began collecting Karner blue butterfly eggs at the next closest and stable population in New York. Almost every year New York provides adult butterflies to help maintain genetic diversity in the New Hampshire Karner blue population.
Over many years, captive rearing techniques were established and flying adults were released into the wild. In order to tell which butterflies were released into the wild from the captive rearing lab, and which butterflies make it through the life cycle in the wild, biologists write a number on the butterfly's wing before releasing it into the wild. A mark-recapture survey during the two flying periods allows biologists to estimate the population. In 2005, a new partnership with Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, was established allowing the Zoo to help raise larvae through the pupae stage. The pupae are transported back to New Hampshire where they are either released into the wild or held in captivity for breeding. In 2008, concerns over the New York Karner blue population arose so biologists in NH began captive rearing more larvae in order to give New York pupae to be released back into the wild to augment the wild population in New York at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.
Habitat management is performed on the Concord Pine Barrens to mimic the historic natural disturbance regimes that maintain Pine Barrens vegetation. Some of the techniques used are controlled burning, brush cutting and planting of native vegetation. NHFG biologists adhere to adaptive management which allows the management techniques to change over time as specific outcomes due to timing and intensity change the result. Controlled burning is performed to reduce leaf litter and duff, reduce non-native vegetative species, and promote sunny and sandy openings for native Pine Barrens vegetation to grow.
"Kids For Karners" started in 2000 as a way to engage area school children in the Karner blue butterfly and Concord Pine Barrens project. Every winter, biologists go into classrooms where they talk to kids from pre-K up through high school age about the project. The students then plant wild lupine seeds and take care of the plants until May when they come to the Concord Pine Barrens to plant their wild lupine plants. In some years, students also try growing other essential nectar plants such as New Jersey tea and blunt-leaved milkweed. High school students have also helped by cutting and piling brush and planting wild lupine and other plants at a nearby business. The New England Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Collaborative, a conservation group initiated by Roger Williams Park Zoo, began volunteering in 2000. This group has helped to grow wild lupine and plant it in the Concord Pine Barrens, volunteered in the captive rearing lab and in the field to cut brush, pick wild lupine seed, and help with trail work.
Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission
City of Concord
National Wildlife Federation
New England Wildflower Society
New England Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Collaborative
New Hampshire Army National Guard
NH Department of Resources and Economic Development: Division of Forests and Lands
New York Department of Conservation
Roger Williams Park Zoo
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region
Funding: Private donations have provided the foundation for the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program since its inception in 1988. Contributions support the on-the-ground work and also enable the Nongame Program to qualify for additional funding through grants from both the State of New Hampshire and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Donations made to the Nongame Program are matched dollar-for-dollar by the State of New Hampshire up to $50,000 annually. Please help keep this project going by donating to the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program. (Click here to donate)
The Nongame Program also receives a portion of proceeds from the sale of the NH Conservation License plate (moose plate) each year. To learn more please visit the NH Moose Plate Program online at www.mooseplate.com.The habitat management of the Concord Pine Barrens is funded through a mitigation agreement with the New Hampshire Army National Guard until 2010.
Volunteering: Volunteer opportunities to help on this project, including planting wild lupine, brush piling, and helping in the captive rearing lab are usually made available every spring and summer on specified dates. Check your Spring Wildlines newsletter or contact the Wildlife Division at [email protected] or (603) 271-2461.
|Number of butterflies released (both broods) in the Concord Pine Barrens||Number of plants Kids For Karners planted in the Concord Pine Barrens||Number of Acres Burned in the Concord Pine Barrens|
- Karner blue butterfly and Concord Pine Barrens and other Nongame Program news
- Karner blue butterfly fact sheet
- Wildlife Action Plan Karner blue butterfly profile
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Karner Blue Butterfly
- New! "Propagation Handbook for the Karner blue butterfly" | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43387000 |
Contemporary Industrial Organization: A Quantitative Approach
December 2010, ©2011
PART I MICROECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS.
1 Industrial Organization and Imperfect Competition: What, How, and Why?
1.1 What Is Industrial Organization?
1.2 How We Analyze Imperfect Competition.
1.3 Why: Antitrust Policy and Industrial Organization Theory.
Appendix–Excerpts from Key Antitrust Statutes.
2 Basic Microeconomics.
2.1 Competition versus Monopoly: The Poles of Market Performance.
2.2 Intertemporal Considerations and Constraints on Monopoly Power.
3 Technology and Cost Relationships.
3.1 Production Technology and Cost Function for Single-Product Firms.
3.2 Cost Relations for Multiproduct Firms.
3.3 Non-Cost Determinants of Market Structure.
3.4 Empirical Application: Cost Function Estimation, Scale and Scope Economies.
4 Market Structure and Market Power.
4.1 Measuring Market Structure.
4.2 Measuring Market power—the Lerner Index Again.
4.3 Empirical Application: Monopoly Power: How Bad Is It?
PART II PRICE AND NONPRICE TACTICS FOR FIRMS WITH MARKET POWER.
5 Price Discrimination and Monopoly.
5.1 The Feasibility of Price Discrimination.
5.2 First-Degree Price Discrimination.
5.3 Price Discrimination with Less Information.
5.4 Second-Degree Price Discrimination: Menu Pricing.
6 Price Discrimination, Product Variety, Bundling & Tying.
6.1 Price Discrimination and Product Quality.
6.2 Price Discrimination and Product Variety.
6.3 Bundling and Tying.
6.4 Empirical Application: Price Discrimination, Product Variety, and Monopoly versus Competition.
PART III OLIGOPOLY AND STRATEGIC INTERACTION.
7 Static Games and Quantity versus Price Competition.
7.1 A Brief Introduction to Game Theory.
7.2 Dominant and Dominated Strategies.
7.3 The Static Cournot Model.
7.4 The Bertrand Model.
7.5 Strategic Substitutes and Complements.
7.6 Empirical Application: Brand Competition and Consumer Preferences—Evidence from the California Retail Gasoline Market.
8 Dynamic Games and First and Second Movers.
8.1 The Stackelberg Model of Quantity Competition.
8.2 Sequential Price Competition
8.3 Sequential Quality Choice.
8.4 Commitment and Credibility in Dynamic Games.
8.5 The Chain-Store Paradox.
9 Entry Deterrence and Predation.
9.1 Market Structure over Time; Random Process & Stylized Facts.
9.2 Deterring Entry.
9.3 Predation and Asymmetric Information.
9.4 Long-Term Contracts as a Barrier to Entry.
9.5 Predatory Conduct and Public Policy.
9.6 Empirical Application: Entry Deterrence in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
10 Price Fixing and Repeated Games.
10.1 The Cartel's Dilemma.
10.2 Repeated Games.
10.3 Empirical Application 1: Estimating the Effects of Price-Fixing.
10.4 Cartels in Practice: Facilitating Factors and Practices.
10.5 Antitrust Policy toward Cartels; Deterrence and Detection.
10.6 Empirical Application: An Experimental Investigation of Leniency Programs.
PART IV CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FIRMS.
11 Horizontal Mergers.
11.1 Horizontal Mergers and the Merger Paradox.
11.2 Mergers and Cost Synergies.
11.3 Merged Firms as Stackelberg Leaders.
11.4 Sequential Mergers.
11.5 Horizontal Mergers and Product Differentiation.
11.6 Public Policy and Horizontal Mergers.
11.7 Application: Evaluating the Impact of Mergers with Computer Simulation.
12 Vertical and Conglomerate Mergers.
12.1 Procompetitive Vertical Mergers.
12.2 Vertical Mergers, Price Discrimination, and Competition.
12.3 Vertical Mergers, Oligopoly, and Foreclosure.
12.4 A Reappraisal: The GE-Honeywell Merger Once More.
12.5 A Note on Conglomerate Mergers.
12.6 Empirical Application: Vertical Integration in the Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry.
13 Vertical Restraints.
13.1 Vertical Price Restraints and Antitrust Policy: A Brief History.
13.2 Vertical Price Restraints and Suppressed Competition.
13.3 Arguments in Support of Vertical Price Restraints.
13.4 Retail Price Maintenance and Uncertain Demand.
13.5 Nonprice Vertical Restraints.
13.7 Empirical Application: Exclusive Dealing in the U.S. Beer Industry.
PART V TOPICS IN NONPRICE COMPETITION: ADVERTISING AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
14 Advertising, Market Power, and Information.
14.1 Advertising and Monopoly Power: The Dorfman-Steiner Condition.
14.2 Advertising as Consumer Information.
14.3 Advertising, Information, and Competition.
14.4 Complements, Advertising, and Brand Names.
14.5 Empirical Application: Advertising, Information, and Prestige.
15 Research and Development.
15.1 A Taxonomy of Innovations.
15.2 Market Structure and the Incentive to Innovate.
15.3 A More Complete Model of Competition and Innovation.
15.4 Evidence on the Schumpeterian Hypothesis.
15.5 Product and Process Innovation: Cournot versus Bertrand.
15.6 R&D Cooperation between Firms.
15.7 Empirical Application: R&D Spillovers in Practice.
16 Patents and Patent Policy.
16.1 Optimal Patent Length.
16.2 Optimal Patent Breadth.
16.3 Patent Races.
16.4 Monopoly Power and “Sleeping Patents.”
16.5 Patent Licensing.
16.6 Recent Patent Policy Developments.
16.7 Empirical Application: Patent Law and Patent Practice in the Semiconductor Industry.
PART VI SPECIAL TOPICS: NETWORKS AND STRATEGIC TRADE POLICY.
17 Network Markets.
17.1 Market Provision of a Network Service.
17.2 Networks, Competition, and Complementary Services.
17.3 Systems Competition and the Battle over Industry Standards.
17.4 Application: Network Externalities in Computer Software—Spreadsheets.
18 Strategic Commitments: Confronting Potential Entrants and International Rivalry.
18.1 The Strategic Value of Commitment.
18.2 Strategic Complements and Substitutes: Cats, Dogs, and the Lean and Hungry Look.
18.3 Strategic Commitments in International Markets.
18.4 Trade Agreements and Commitment Devices.
Answers to Selected Problems.
- Concise, calculus-based introduction to industrial organization in the imperfect market conditions of the real world.
- 14 Optional Empirical Real-World Applications plus significant coverage on econometric studies.
- Robust integration of calculus, game theory, information economics, econometric studies, contracting issues, useful derivations and reality checkpoints.
- Clear writing by a successful and established author team conveys the vitality and relevance of industrial organization theory and practice.
- Current research on real business behavior and public policy.
- Regulation and antitrust issues, including coverage of European enforcement of American firms.
--James Dana, Northeastern University
“The authors have implemented their vision quite successfully, in my opinion. Calculus-based arguments and formal models are employed throughout the text. I think that the authors do a good job of describing the issue/problem of interest and then proceed to how one might think of this problem in the context of a formal model.”
--Jennifer F. Reinganum, Vanderbilt University
“It is very concise, yet the explanations and applications are very good. Students will have the tools necessary to think logically through problems and have the application needed to see how the theories play out in reality.”
--Dean Showalter, Southwest Texas State University | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43389000 |
Scientists have identified a never-before-seen type of meteorite from Mars that has 10 times more water and far more oxygen in it than any previous Martian sample.
The meteorite was found in the Sahara Desert in 2011 and has the official name of Northwest Africa 7034. It is a small basaltic rock — nicknamed “Black Beauty” – which means it formed from rapidly cooling lava. The meteorite is about 2.1 billion years old, from a period known as the Martian Amazonian epoch, and provides scientists with their first hands-on glimpse of this era.
Around 110 Martian meteorites have been found on Earth. Most were probably blown off the Red Planet during a large asteroid impact and subsequently crashed on our own world. The majority are relatively young, though the famous Allan Hills 84001, which some scientists believe contains traces of ancient Martian bacteria, is more than 4 billion years old. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43394000 |
"Sunshine vitamin 'may treat asthma'", BBC News informs us, as a new lab-based study suggests vitamin D could help control symptoms of severe asthma.
Asthma is caused by inflammation of the airways, related to malfunctioning of the body's immune system. In theory, the immune system mistakes harmless substances, such as dust mites, as a threat and triggers inflammation of the lungs and airways (which causes the symptoms of asthma).
The study in question looked at IL-17A, which is one of the molecules thought to be associated with the malfunctioning immune response seen in asthma. Researchers examined whether vitamin D had an effect on the levels of the molecule produced by white blood cells in a laboratory experiment.
Researchers found that vitamin D reduced the levels of IL-17A produced by cells from people with asthma. This included cells from people who had previously failed to respond to the treatment of choice for severe asthma - oral corticosteroids - often referred to as steroids.
While this study suggests that vitamin D can have an effect on IL-17A levels in the laboratory, it is certainly too early to hail vitamin D as a potential "cure" for asthma. A positive effect on cells in the lab does not guarantee vitamin D supplements will improve symptoms for people with asthma. Clinical trials in people with asthma are ongoing to test whether this will be the case.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from King's College London; Queen Mary, University of London, and the Homerton University NHS Foundation Trust. It was funded by Asthma UK and the National Institute for Health Research, and some researchers received Medical Research Council Funding. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
This study was reported by the BBC, Daily Mail, and the Daily Express. The BBC correctly points out that treating asthma patients with vitamin D "has not yet been tested". The main text of the Mail's coverage is generally accurate, although their headline suggests that "Vitamin D 'helps beat the symptoms of asthma'", when this was not assessed by the study. The Express's coverage over-interprets the results by suggesting that "Soaking up sun could be a cure for asthma" or could be "the best way of treating asthma".
What kind of research was this?
This was a laboratory study looking at the effect of vitamin D on one type of white blood cell (T helper cells called TH17 cells) from people with asthma.
One type of T helper cell called TH2 is known to be involved in inflammation of the airways in asthma. However, some evidence suggests that other T cells may also play a role.
TH17 cells are involved in defending the body against bacterial and fungal infections. There is some evidence that these cells may be involved in severe asthma. Also, one of the inflammatory substances produced by these cells, called IL-17A, may exacerbate asthma and reduce patients' ability to respond to standard treatment for severe asthma - oral corticosteroids (steroids).
Previously, studies had shown that vitamin D could influence the T cells from patients with severe asthma, and also affect TH17 cells. The researchers in the current study wanted to see if vitamin D affected IL-17A production by TH17 cells collected from asthma patients. They also wanted to see whether this effect was different in people who were resistant to steroid treatments.
What did the research involve?
The researchers took blood from 10 healthy adults and 28 patients with moderate to severe asthma and extracted white blood cells, including T cells. The patients had to have had diagnosed asthma for at least six months. Of the patients, 18 had asthma that did not respond as well to oral steroid treatment (steroid resistant asthma), and 10 had asthma that responded to steroids.
The researchers grew the white blood cells in the laboratory, either with or without vitamin D and the steroid dexamethasone, and looked at how much IL-17A was being produced. They assessed whether this varied between people with and without asthma, or in people with steroid resistant asthma.
What were the basic results?
White blood cells from people with asthma produced higher levels of IL-17A than those from non-asthmatic patients. Furthermore, white blood cells from people with steroid resistant asthma produced the highest levels of IL-17A.
Treating the white blood cells with vitamin D reduced the production of IL-17A. This reduction occurred in cells from people with steroid-resistant asthma and steroid-sensitive asthma, and was not affected by adding the steroid dexamethasone.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their results support the hypothesis that vitamin D could improve disease control in people with asthma by reducing IL-17A levels, regardless of whether the person's asthma is steroid-resistant.
The current laboratory study suggests that vitamin D can reduce white blood cell production of an inflammatory molecule implicated in asthma.
These results were obtained from cells in the laboratory, and further research will be needed to determine whether this effect will also be seen if people with asthma are given vitamin D.
While the results perhaps give a reason to investigate vitamin D further, not all treatments showing initially positive results in laboratory studies go on to have a positive effect on real-world clinical outcomes.
The good news is, as the Daily Mail reports, the results of this study are being followed up with a randomised controlled trial in participants with steroid resistant asthma.
Randomised controlled trials are the best way of testing if treatments are effective. This trial, and others, will tell us if vitamin D works as a treatment for asthma and if so, who it might be effective at treating.
Links to Headlines
Sunshine vitamin 'may treat asthma'. BBC News, May 20 2013
Vitamin D 'helps beat symptoms of asthma'. Daily Mail, May 20 2013
Soaking up sun could be a cure for asthma. Daily Express, May 20 2013
Links to Science
Nanzer AM, Chambers ES, Ryanna K, et al. Enhanced production of IL-17A in patients with severe asthma is inhibited by 1?,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in a glucocorticoid-independent fashion. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
- NHS Choices links
- 8 ways to look after yourself with asthma
- Paula Radcliffe on asthma
- Treatments for asthma | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43395000 |
Dictionary of Wisconsin History
Search Results for: the letter 'N'
Term: North Freedom [origin of place name]
Definition: Village located in the northern part of the town of Freedom, hence North Freedom. Where the roads meet in the center of the section was originally called Hackett's Corners from the families residing there. When the railroad was built two plats were made, one called Bloom for George W. Bloom and one called North Freedom. Afterwards, Bloom station was changed to North Freedom. Iron ore used for paint was later discovered and the name became Bessemer in honor of Sir Henry Bessemer, who invented the process of reducing iron ore. The name of North Freedom was later decided upon.
[Source: Cole. Baraboo and Other Place Names of Sauk County.]
340 records found
Nabob [origin of place name]
Nabob, Washington Co.
Nagawicka Lake, Waukesha Co.
Nagawicka [origin of place name]
Nager, Edward 1927
Naleid, Roy E. 1901
Namakagon [origin of place name]
Namakagon, Town of, Bayfield Co.
Namekagon (town and river) [origin of place name]
Namekagon River (Historic Marker Erected 1967)
Namekagon, Bayfield Co.
Namekagon, Town of, Bayfield Co.
Namekagon-Court Oreilles Portage (Historic Marker
Namur, Door Co.
Nancy, Town of, Washburn Co.
Naples, Town of, Buffalo Co.
narrow gauge (railroads)
Narrows Creek, Sauk Co.
Nasbro, Dodge Co.
Nasewaupee [origin of place name]
Nasewaupee, Town of, Door Co.
Nash, Charles Dennis 1819 - 1897
Nash, Charles W. 1864 - 1948
Nash, Philleo 1909
Nash, William Francis 1847 - 1916
Nashotah (Town) [origin of place name]
Nashotah Lakes, Waukesha Co.
Nashotah Mission (Historic Marker Erected 1968)
Nashotah, Village of, Waukesha Co.
Nashotah, Waukesha Co.
Nashville, Forest Co.
Nashville, Town of, Forest Co.
Nasonville [origin of place name]
Nasonville, Wood Co.
Nass, Stephen L. 1952
Nation's First Cooperative Generating Station (His
Nation's First Watershed Project (Historic Marker
National Soldiers' Home (Historic Marker Erected 1
National Soldiers' Home (Milwaukee)
National Women's Party
Nattestad, Ole Knudsen 1807 - 1886
Natural Bridge, Richland Co.
Naugart, Marathon Co.
Navarino, Brown Co.
Navarino, Town of, Brown Co.
Nebagamon, Town of, Douglas Co.
Necedah [origin of place name]
Necedah, Juneau Co.
Necedah, Town of, Juneau Co.
Necedah, Village of, Juneau Co.
Neda, Dodge Co.
Neenah Guards (Civil War)
Neenah Rifles (Civil War)
Neenah [brief history]
Neenah [origin of place name]
Neenah, Town of, Winnebago Co.
Neenah, Winnebago Co.
Neillsville [origin of place name]
Neillsville, Clark Co.
Nekimi [origin of place name]
Nekimi, Town of, Winnebago Co.
Nekoosa Junction, Wood Co.
Nekoosa [origin of place name]
Nekoosa, Wood Co.
Nelma, Forest Co.
Nelsen, Betty Jo 1935
Nelson Dewey-First Governor of Wisconsin (Historic
Nelson [origin of place name]
Nelson, Adolphys Peter 1872 - 1927
Nelson, Buffalo Co.
Nelson, Gaylord A. 1916-2005
Nelson, George Bliss 1876 - 1943
Nelson, John Mandt 1870 - 1955
Nelson, Town of, Buffalo Co.
Nelson, Village of, Buffalo Co.
Nelsonville (historical), Eau Claire Co.
Nelsonville, Portage Co.
Nelsonville, Village of, Portage Co.
Nemadji River [origin of place name]
Nemahbin, Town of, Milwaukee Co.
Nemodji, Town of, Douglas Co.
Nenno, Washington Co.
Neoclassical Revival (architecture)
Neopit, Menominee Co.
Neopit, Menominee leader, ?-1913
Neopope, Sauk warrior, dates unverified
Neosho [origin of place name]
Neosho, Dodge Co.
Neosho, Village of, Dodge Co.
Nepeuskun, Town of, Winnebago Co.
Neptune, Richland Co.
Nerike, Pierce Co.
Neshkoro [origin of place name]
Neshkoro, Marquette Co.
Neshkoro, Town of, Marquette Co.
Neshkoro, Village of, Marquette Co.
Neshonoc [origin of place name]
Neshonoc, Town of, La Crosse Co.
Neshoto, Manitowoc Co. [origin of place name]
net tonnage (maritime)
Neubauer, Jeffrey A. 1955
Neuern, Kewaunee Co.
Neumann, Mark W. 1954
Neva Corners, Langlade Co.
Neva township [origin of place name]
Neva, Langlade Co.
Neva, Town of, Langlade Co.
Nevada, Green Co.
Neville, Arthur Courtenay 1850 - 1929
Nevin, James 1854 - 1921
Nevins, Clark Co.
New Amsterdam, La Crosse Co.
New Auburn [origin of place name]
New Auburn, Chippewa Co.
New Auburn, Village of, Chippewa Co.
New Berlin, Town of, Waukesha Co.
New Berlin, Waukesha Co.
New Boston, Town of, Brown Co.
New Buffalo [origin of place name]
New Buffalo, Town of, Sauk Co.
New Cassel [origin of place name]
New Chester (historical), Adams Co.
New Chester, Town of, Adams Co.
New City (historical), Trempealeau Co.
New Denmark, Town of, Brown Co.
New Dexter, Town of, Wood Co.
New Diggings, Lafayette Co.
New Diggings, Town of, Lafayette Co.
New Fane, Fond du Lac Co.
New Franken, Brown Co.
New Glarus (Historic Marker Erected 1962)
New Glarus [origin of place name]
New Glarus, Green Co.
New Glarus, Town of, Green Co.
New Glarus, Village of, Green Co.
New Haven [origin of place name]
New Haven, Town of, Adams Co.
New Haven, Town of, Dunn Co.
New Holstein [brief history]
New Holstein, Calumet Co.
New Holstein, Town of, Calumet Co.
New Hope, Portage Co.
New Hope, Town of, Portage Co.
New Lisbon, Election precinct of, Grant Co.
New Lisbon, Juneau Co.
New London [origin of place name]
New London, Waupaca Co.
New Lyme, Town of, Monroe Co.
New Mason, Town of, Bayfield Co.
New Milladore, Town of, Wood Co.
New Miner, Juneau Co.
New Munster, Kenosha Co.
New Paris, Sheboygan Co.
New Post, Sawyer Co.
New Prospect, Fond du Lac Co.
new red sandstone (mining)
New Remington, Town of, Wood Co.
New Richmond Cyclone (Historic Marker Erected 1997
New Richmond tornado (1899)
New Richmond, St. Croix Co.
New Rome (historical), Adams Co.
New Rome, Adams Co.
New Rudolph, Town of, Wood Co.
New Seneca, Town of, Wood Co.
New Sigel, Town of, Wood Co.
New Vesper, Town of, Wood Co.
New Wood, Town of, Wood Co.
New York Indians
New York Recording Laboratories
Newald, Forest Co.
Newald, Town of, Forest Co.
Newark Valley, Town of, Adams Co.
Newark, Rock Co.
Newark, Town of, Rock Co.
Newark, Town of, Washington Co.
Newbold, Oneida Co.
Newbold, Town of, Oneida Co.
Newburg, Village of, Washington Co.
Newburg, Washington Co.
Newhall House fire (1883)
Newhall, Daniel 1821 - 1895
Newman, Alfred William 1834 - 1898
Newport [origin of place name]
Newport, Town of, Columbia Co.
Newry, Vernon Co.
Newton Corners, Jefferson Co.
Newton [origin of place name]
Newton, Manitowoc Co.
Newton, Town of, Manitowoc Co.
Newton, Town of, Marquette Co.
Newton, Vernon Co.
Newtonburg, Manitowoc Co.
Newville, Rock Co.
Niagara (shipwreck, 1856)
Niagara, Marinette Co.
Niagara, Town of, Marinette Co.
Niagara, Village of, Marinette Co.
Nichols Shore Acres, Winnebago Co.
Nichols, Outagamie Co.
Nichols, Village of, Outagamie Co.
Nicholson, Isaac Lea 1884 - 1906
Nicholson, Kenneth 1901
Nicholson, Waupaca Co.
Nickels, Justin Michael, 1987-
Nicolet National Forest (Historic Marker Erected 1
Nicolet, Jean 1598 - 1642
Niebler, John H. 1941
Niedecker, Lorine (1903-1970)(Historic Marker Erec
Niedecker, Lorine, 1903-1970
Nieman, Lucius William 1857 - 1935
Nikolay, Frank L. 1922
Nischke, Ann 1951
Nitschke, Elmer C. 1911
Nix Corner, Eau Claire Co.
Noah's Bluff [origin of place name]
Nobleton, Washburn Co.
Nohl, Mary Louise 1914 - 2001
Nohr, Harry 1897 - 1976
Nojoshing [origin of place name]
Nokomis, Town of, Oneida Co.
Nolen, John 1869 - 1937
non-commissioned officers (Civil War)
Noonan, Josiah A. 1813 - 1882
Noque, Bay of
Nora, Dane Co.
Nordberg, Bruno Victor 1858 - 1924
Norma, Chippewa Co.
Norman, Kewaunee Co.
Norquist, John O. 1949
Norrie, Marathon Co.
Norrie, Town of, Marathon Co.
Norse Pottery (1903-1913)
Norske, Waupaca Co.
North Andover, Grant Co.
North Bay, Door Co.
North Bay, Racine Co.
North Bay, Village of, Racine Co.
North Bend, Jackson Co.
North Bend, Town of, Jackson Co.
North Bend, Town of, Washington Co.
North Bloomfield, Walworth Co.
North Branch, Jackson Co.
North Bristol, Dane Co.
North Cape, Racine Co.
North Clayton, Crawford Co.
North Crandon, Town of, Forest Co.
North Creek, Trempealeau Co.
North Eau Claire, Town of, Eau Claire Co.
North Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac Co.
North Fond du Lac, Village of, Fond du Lac Co.
North Freedom [origin of place name]
North Freedom, Sauk Co.
North Freedom, Village of, Sauk Co.
North Grimms, Manitowoc Co.
North Hall (Historic Marker Erected 1974)
North Hudson, St. Croix Co.
North Hudson, Village of, St. Croix Co.
North La Crosse, La Crosse Co.
North Lake, Waukesha Co.
North Lancaster, Town of, Grant Co.
North Leeds, Columbia Co.
North Lowell, Dodge Co.
North Menomonie, Dunn Co.
North Pepin, Town of, Dunn Co.
North Prairie, Village of, Waukesha Co.
North Prairie, Waukesha Co.
North Readfield, Waupaca Co.
North Red Wing, Pierce Co.
North Shore, Jefferson Co.
North Star Rifles (Civil War)
North Star, Portage Co.
North Tomah, Monroe Co.
North West Company
North York, Ashland Co.
North, Sterling, 1906-1974
Northeim, Manitowoc Co.
Northern Highland (Historic Marker Erected 1956)
Northern Wisconsin Center For The Developmentally
Northfield, Jackson Co.
Northfield, Town of, Jackson Co.
Northfield, Town of, Monroe Co.
Northland College (Historic Marker Erected 1976)
Northland, Waupaca Co.
Northline, St. Croix Co.
Northport, Door Co.
Northport, Waupaca Co.
Northwest Ordinance (Ordinance of 1787)
Northwest Portal of Wisconsin (Historic Marker Ere
Northwestern Regiment; Wisconsin Regulars (Civil W
Northwoods Beach, Sawyer Co.
Norton, Dunn Co.
Norwalk [origin of place name]
Norwalk, Monroe Co.
Norwalk, Village of, Monroe Co.
Norway Grove, Dane Co.
Norway Ridge, Monroe Co.
Norway Settlement, Census district of, Dane Co.
Norway [origin of place name]
Norway, Town of, Jackson Co.
Norway, Town of, Racine Co.
Norwegians in Wisconsin
Norwich, Town of, Waushara Co.
Norwood, Town of, Langlade Co.
Notestein, Barbara 1949
Nowakowski, Richard C. 1933
Nowell (historical), Waupaca Co.
Noyes, George Henry 1849 - 1916
Nugent, William P. 1917
Nuttelman, Norbert 1911
Nutter, Edmondson John Masters 1879 - 1953
Nutterville, Marathon Co.
Nye, Edgar Wilson ("Bill Nye") 1850 - 1896
Nye, Edgar Wilson (1850-1896) (Historic Marker Ere
Nye, Polk Co. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43396000 |
On the Horizon: Diseases Targeted for Vaccine Development
While vaccines may be the greatest public health success story of all time, there remain many serious illnesses for which no vaccines exist and others for which current vaccines offer limited protection. The Wistar Institute Vaccine Center is responding to the urgent need for new and improved vaccines, in the United States and around the globe, by targeting the following life-threatening diseases.
A Response to an Epidemic
According to the World Health Organization, some 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide. The epidemic is growing, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than two-thirds of all new infections occurred in 2006. An HIV vaccine approach developed by Wistar scientists has shown promise in animal studies, and researchers are now pursuing funding for human clinical trials. The experimental vaccines take advantage of sophisticated biotechnologies and the special characteristics of a class of viruses called adenoviruses to create a series of vaccines that, when given in sequence, generate a stronger immune response than might otherwise be possible.
Seeking a Universal Flu Solution
Influenza viruses are estimated to be associated with 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually in the United States, as well as hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Wistar researchers hope to create a universal vaccine that would work against all strains of influenza. Current “flu” vaccines have to be redesigned annually to account for evolving variations of the virus and are not always effective. A universal vaccine would eliminate this problem and protect against a flu pandemic, which occurs when a new strain of flu emerges that is both deadly and highly contagious. The 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. Notably, a universal influenza vaccine would protect people from the avian influenza virus, as well as other emerging strains of flu.
Help for the Developing World
Wistar already has developed a human vaccine effective for protecting against rabies and for preventing infection when administered as part of post-exposure treatment. The Institute also has developed a wildlife vaccine. Wistar researchers now aim to develop a human vaccine better suited for the developing world, where some 55,000 people, mostly children, still die from this lethal but preventable virus each year. The scientists will strive to create a vaccine that is affordable, can be given in a single dose, and will work better under the conditions found in these regions.
Meeting a Mosquito-Borne Menace
According to the World Health Organization, a million people die each year of malaria — most of them children living in Africa. In the United States, more than 1,000 new cases are reported each year by travelers returning from malaria-endemic areas. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease, which is borne by mosquitoes, and drugs used to treat malaria are becoming less effective as the parasite that causes the illness adapts to them. Wistar researchers are collaborating with colleagues at Oxford University to develop a vaccine against this deadly disease.
Combating a Public Health Threat
The hepatitis C virus infects 3 to 4 million people each year and causes chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. A blood-borne infection, hepatitis C is thought to be responsible for two-thirds of liver transplants worldwide. With no vaccine to prevent the disease, hepatitis C constitutes an increasing public health concern. Without more effective therapies, deaths due to the virus are predicted to double or triple in the next 15 to 20 years. Collaborating with colleagues at Emory University, Wistar scientists are working to combat the virus. The researchers are exploring the possibility of creating a therapeutic vaccine that would be given to people infected with hepatitis C to help their immune systems fight the virus.
Cancer and Autoimmune Diseases
The Leading Edge of Vaccine Research
Wistar researchers are making remarkable strides toward creating effective vaccine therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Combining a deep understanding of the immune system and leading-edge skills with recombinant genetic technologies, Wistar leads a wide-ranging vaccine development program that encompasses treatment vaccines against colorectal cancer, melanoma, and human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. In addition, Institute scientists’ depth of autoimmune expertise informs their development of novel new therapies for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43397000 |
It is a disease that feels even worse than it looks.
Shingles is most common in people older than 50, but anyone who has ever had chickenpox is at risk.
Twenty percent of the population will get shingles in their lifetime.
Carl Bozeman has shingles, a virus that causes blisters on the skin.
It is extremely painful and there is no cure, but new research is providing hope. "Most people who have had chicken pox are walking around, and they have virus in their body, and at some point in their lives it can actually reactivate," says Dr. Diannna Guan of the University of Colorado.
Researchers are first giving patients the mouth sore medication, Zovirax, by IV for two months.
Then, patients are given the herpes medication, Valtrex.
Carl is now drug free and wears whatever he wants, with no pain. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43408000 |
|Life depends on an essentially continuous exchange of
mass and energy between living organisms and their environment.
Human impact on this vital exchange has occurred on a global or
macroclimate scale. Understanding the physical principles
involved in heat transfer and absorption in the atmosphere is critical
to understanding how these physical factors affect living
organisms. The specific objectives of this section are to explain
the properties of heat transfer, and to describe laboratory activities
that can be used at a variety of academic levels with only slight
Described below are three series of experiments performed in
the laboratory to address questions that emphasize the underlying
principles of heat transfer. These hands-on experiments focused
on principles that relate to conduction and convection. The object was to identify the method of heat transfer
through solids, liquids, gases, and between boundaries.
Understanding these concepts gave us a better understanding of how heat
is transferred between our environment and living
organisms. These experiments were used as an integral part
of the workshop, which consisted of reflections on redesigning or
modifying lab exercises to fit personal needs of workshop
teachers. These exercises could be adapted for middle
school, high school, and college level courses.
The methods utilized for the three experiments involved increasing
or decreasing the temperature of a solid or liquid, and where
applicable, observing the motion of a dye caused by the changes in
temperature and density of the medium.
|Modes of Heat Transfer:
- Conduction: heat transfer resulting from direct contact
between substances of different temperatures; heat is transferred
from the high-temperature substance to the low by direct molecular
- Convection: heat transport by a moving fluid (gas of
liquid). The heat is first transferred to the fluid by
conduction, but the fluid motion carries the heat away.
- Radiative exchange: heat transfer via electromagnetic
waves, the amount of radiant energy emitted, transmitted, or
(Figure from Microsoft Encarta)
Return to Top
Laboratory Apparatus for Labs 1-3
|Lab 1: Heating
from Below: Convection
In this experiment, water was heated from below to produce
convection. Although the atmosphere is composed of air, this
experiment was relevant to atmospheric motion as well. The lower
atmosphere (troposphere) is mostly heated from below because the
oceans and continents absorb radiation from the sun and then transfer
some of the resulting heat energy to the lower atmosphere.
In Lab 1, a beaker was heated (see figure below). Thermometers were placed in 1/2 cm
below water surface and 1/2 cm above the bottom of the beaker.
The temperature was recorded at 30 second intervals. Drops of
dye were added to the bottom of the beaker between intervals.
After three minutes the beaker was removed from the hot plate and
temperature reading recorded for another five minutes.
Convection was visualized by observing the motion of the
The motion of the dye was circular from bottom to top and returning to
the bottom of the beaker. The energy from heating created a less
dense liquid at the bottom, thus causing the upward motion of the
dye. Upon reaching the surface, the dye was now in the denser
medium and therefore returned to the bottom. This motion is an
example of convection. This phenomenon is evident in the motion
of wind. The difference in densities and kinetic movement of the
water molecules driven by temperature change resulted in the movement of
air molecules. This lab can be used at lower levels to
demonstrate simple properties of heat transfer and convection.
At higher levels, this lab illustrates these basic principles, and
could be extended to address more complex applications related to
convection such as the Coriolis
1. Explain the process by which the water is heated.
2. Describe the motion of the water as made visible by the
3. Why does convection occur?
4. Did convection cease? When? Why?
Environmental Applications of Principles
of Radiative Exchange, Conduction and Convection (Figure from E. Zerba, Princeton University; [email protected])
Return to Top
|Lab 2: Conduction
Comparison of this experiment with the first illustrated the
difference between the rate of heat transfer by conduction and that of
convection. It also illustrated the difference in heat
capacities between water and the solid materials of the
Lab 2 was configured similarly to Lab 1, but looked at the effect of
heating and cooling temperature difference using sand of equal weight
as water used in experiment 1. No dye was used in this experiment, as convection was not a
The temperature difference between the top and bottom layers of sand
indicated that sand heats and cools at a faster rate compared to
water. When the beaker was removed from the heat, the
temperature continued to increase via conduction from the bottom of the
beaker. This lab exercise is useful for demonstrating the concept of conduction to lower level students. Upper level
students can use this lab to make the connections between conduction and
heat capacity of various substances related to heat transfer that occurs between the
earth's surfaces and the surface of living organisms.
1. Is there any convection in the sand? Explain.
2. Why did the temperature recorded by the lower thermometer
continue to rise dramatically after the heating ceased?
3. On the basis of heat capacity, explain why the temperature
changes for the sand and water were different.
4. Using what you have observed in the two experiments, predict
whether a cold front will lower temperatures more at inland locations
or on the coast. Explain your answer.
Return to Top
|Lab 3: Cooling From Above
In lakes and oceans, convection is generally the result of cooling
from above rather than heating from below. This was demonstrated
by adding ice to the water.
Using an experimental setup that allowed
measurement of temperature at the top and the bottom of a beaker of
water, ice was added to the top of the beaker. This experiment
illustrated the concept that at 4 °C, water
has higher density and sinks. Convection was
visualized by the movement of dye added to the bottom of the beaker
which was displaced by the cooler more dense water.
This lab demonstrates several physical principles associated with heat
transfer, including density, kinetic molecular theory, and
convection. On a larger scale, this laboratory exercise
demonstrates the process by which seasonal turnovers occur in ponds
and lakes. At
lower levels, teachers may choose to discuss physical principles of
heat transfer only, while at upper levels, teachers may choose to
integrate this small-scale investigation with the study of climate
processes and lake nutrient stratification and mixing.
1. Why does ice float?
2. Is there any evidence of convection? Why does or does
it not occur?
3. Draw a diagram to explain how seasonal turnover occurs in a
Return to Top
to The Passerine Birds home | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43411000 |
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise.
- v. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex.
- v. To cause great wonder or astonishment: a sight that amazes.
- n. Amazement; wonder.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To confound with fear, sudden surprise, or wonder; confuse; perplex.
- To strike with astonishment, surprise, or wonder; astonish; surprise: as, you amaze me; I was amazed to find him there.
- Synonyms Surprise, Astonish, etc. (see surprise); to confound, stagger, stupefy, dumfound.
- To wonder; he amazed.
- n. Astonishment; confusion; perplexity arising from fear, surprise, or wonder; amazement: used chiefly in poetry.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze.
- v. To confound, as by fear, wonder, extreme surprise; to overwhelm with wonder; to astound; to astonish greatly.
- v. Archaic To be astounded.
- v. Chiefly poetic Bewilderment, arising from fear, surprise, or wonder; amazement.
- v. be a mystery or bewildering to
- v. affect with wonder
- From Middle English amasen ("to bewilder, perplex"), from Old English āmasian ("to confuse, astonish"), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian ("to confound") from *mæs ("delusion, bewilderment"), from Proto-Germanic *mas-, *masōnan (“to confound, be weary, dream”), from Proto-Indo-European *mā- (“to stupefy”). Akin to Old Norse masa ("to struggle, be confused"), Ancient Greek μάτη (mátē, "folly"), μέμαα (mémaa, "I was eager"). More at automatic. (Wiktionary)
- From Middle English masen, to bewilder, and from amased, bewildered (from Old English āmasod), both from Old English āmasian, to bewilder : ā-, intensive pref. + *masian, to confuse. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
“I. ii.115 (240,4) [You amaze me, ladies] To _amaze_, here, is not to astonish or strike with wonder, but to perplex; to confuse; as, to put out of the intended narrative.”
“But, as I said, I was in amaze, and the next I knew was the pang of the entering steel as this clumsy provincial ran me through and charged forward, bull-like, till his hilt bruised my side and I was borne backward.”
“And the fluttering, chirping gentlemen are rubbing their hands in amaze and wondering why they did not do it long ago, it was so very, very simple.”
“From time to time I forsook my own thoughts to follow him, and I followed in amaze, mastered for the moment by his remarkable intellect, under the spell of his passion, for he was preaching the passion of revolt.”
“What continues to amaze is the ignorance about addiction.”
“He stared at it in amaze, his brain a racing wild-fire of hypotheses to account for this far-journeyer who had adventured the night of space, threaded the stars, and now rose before him and above him, exhumed by patient anthropophagi, pitted and lacquered by its fiery bath in two atmospheres.”
“But as I said, I was in amaze, and the next I knew was the pang of the entering steel as this clumsy provincial ran me through and charged forward, bull - like, till his hilt bruised my side and I was borne backward.”
“He set her on her feet and stared at her in amaze; she met his enraptured gaze with eyes that shone like twin blue stars.”
“A pig!" said Mr. Olmney, in amaze – Mrs. Evelyn again giving out in distress.”
“Mrs. Rossitur looked up in amaze, and waited for the question to be repeated.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amaze’.
Words with the prefix "a"
Key words of the Odyssey by Homer in English including all those famous repeating epitethons like
As in, 'confused' and 'entranced' both.
Definition Many of these can also be dynamic.
Please just list bare infinitives to keep the list wieldy. Perhaps a tag (e.g., “stative”) would be sufficient for participles.)
Modern English words impacted by and descended from Old English.
Looking for tweets for amaze. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43415000 |
Silbury Hill, Wiltshire, England.
After more than six years of internal wrangling, English Heritage have finally, decided on the best way to fix the mighty Sibury Hill - Britain's largest ancient mound, 4,000 years old.
Silbury is one of Britain's most enigmatic structures, like Stonehenge, it is the only structure like it in Britain and so far archaeologists have been unable to suggest a purpose for its construction during the Bronze Age.
It is this enigmatic quality that in many ways has been its undoing; About thirty years ago, Archaeologist Atkinson in conjunction with the BBC tunnelled in to the hill but failed to properly sure up the tunnels at the end of the investigation.
In 2000 these tunnels started collapsing, causing the hill to subside and raising fears of a major collapse. At the time English Heritage closed the hill to public access and asked for urgent funds for the hills repair.
Yet six years on, English Heritage, have finally announced that they have chose a method and a contractor; Skanska to do the work. Unfortunately, those concerned for the welbeing of the hill will still have to wait until 2007 before repairs will begin.
Nigel Swift of campaign group Heritage Action commented that "The total delay will be at least eight years - 70,000 hours. It has been estimated that a team of fifty men would have taken that long to build the entire hill and have time left for West Kennet long barrow!"
However, campaigners are in the main relieved that the long wait will soon be over.
For more information visit Heritage Action's website www.heritageaction.org.
Ode to a vandalised stone
In June 1996 paint was smeared over the standing stones at Avebury's famous stone avenue. Two stones were daubed with paint, one with the word 'cuckoo' and the other almost entirely painted red and green. The attack took place during the evening on June 17 or the early hours of June 18.
Ten years on we remember the damage with a poem from Barbara Tomlinson.
The Henge Stones
Ye did not noe
That they could goe
And nod theyr Grizl'd Heads
Leave theyr Mossie Beds
To whisper antient Lore
While the Moone flees from the Shore
And Darknesse reigns as afore.
They maun't be seene
By Mortal Eie
'Tis Death to spie
But when the Sunne
Hath his Race begun
They Silent fale
Stand stille and tall
Agaynst the Skie
None noweth why
Their Secrets they doe keepe
When we waxe wide awake
Originally pulished at http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/ | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43418000 |
Introduction to Enzymes
The following has been excerpted from a very popular Worthington publication which was originally published in 1972 as the Manual of Clinical Enzyme Measurements. While some of the presentation may seem somewhat dated, the basic concepts are still helpful for researchers who must use enzymes but who have little background in enzymology.
Enzyme Kinetics: Energy Levels
Chemists have known for almost a century that for most chemical reactions to proceed, some form of energy is needed. They have termed this quantity of energy, "the energy of activation." It is the magnitude of the activation energy which determines just how fast the reaction will proceed. It is believed that enzymes lower the activation energy for the reaction they are catalyzing. Figure 3 illustrates this concept.
The enzyme is thought to reduce the "path" of the reaction. This shortened path would require less energy for each molecule of substrate converted to product. Given a total amount of available energy, more molecules of substrate would be converted when the enzyme is present (the shortened "path") than when it is absent. Hence, the reaction is said to go faster in a given period of time. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43421000 |
How do I tell my kids about the shooting without scaring them too much?
There are a couple of pieces [of information] you need to convey to kids and it's very different depending on the age of the kids. A 5- or 6-year-old needs to be reassured and told that this is something that happened, and it's terrible, but their parents are in charge of taking care of them and will do their best to never let anything happen to them. It's designed to reassure a smaller kid.
Rare Event: An older child has a much larger understanding of this. They need to be talked to about the randomness of these events and the fact that this happened in a place that is very popular among teenagers, but could've happened anywhere. It could have happened in a supermarket, shopping mall, airport. Unfortunately there are very disturbed people out there who do this kind of thing, but it is very rare and very random and the adults in the world are doing the very best they can to make sure these things don't happen.
One of the components of the traumatic experience is the violation of a feeling of safety and compatibility in the world. Kids have the added component that those who are supposed to protect them, parents and the larger community, have failed to do that. That sense of safety is critical to everyone, but maybe especially critical to kids - [they] are less responsible for their own safety; part of their world is that adults take responsibility for them. [The traumatic experience is] a violation of expectations they have about the world. In the short term, everyone needs to integrate this experience with their understanding of the world.
What shouldn't I do?
Parents should always be prepared to deal with emergencies with kids. Whether physical emergency or emotional emergency, they shouldn't be standing there totally lost and not tell their kids what to do. Kids take their lead from their parents, and if parents can handle something and talk about it and be reasonably calm, that's what the kid will do. If a parent is hysterical, it will be very frightening for a child. If a parent can be reasonable and have a sense of what they want to say and how to talk to a kid about it, it will be much more reassuring.
How do I know my child is dealing with the event appropriately? When should I be concerned?
Having a nightmare might certainly be a normal [response], with all the kids talking about the shooting. Kids expressing anger or rage that someone has ruined something for them and having anxiety for a short period of time might also be normal. But if our experiences are any indicator, most of us can recover from traumatic events with surprising rapidity. It's when these symptoms or difficulties persist for a period of time that we need to become a little more concerned. If someone is still ruminating about this a week later, I would sit down and ask if they want to talk to anyone about it. Ask, 'Is anything wrong? Are you worried about something?' You can even list multiple possibilities and include the one thing you think it might be. Sometimes kids just don't want to say it out loud.
One really important thing to keep in mind is there is a wide range of normal responses to this type of event. Parents and kids can expect to experience both positive and negative emotions. Sometimes people worry if they feel happiness after an event like this, but that is normal. It's also normal to experience uncertainty, fear and concern. I would tell parents of children to be ready to listen. Expect that sometimes your child will not want to talk and sometimes your child will want to talk a lot about it. That can go on longer than someone might expect. Do not tell them something they're feeling is not O.K. to be feeling.
The shooting is all over the news. I want my kids to be informed, but how much should they watch?
I don't think young kids should watch this kind of stuff, or this repetitive reporting on television. Exposure for younger kids should be limited as much as possible. It's impossible these days to completely prevent it, but limit it.
For adolescents, it's always a good idea to have a parent in the room so the event can be discussed and their anxieties and concerns can be addressed on the spot. Adolescents are going to see it no matter what because they are independent, but if you're watching it on a TV at home or on the radio it's always a good idea to have a parent there to talk to.
What if I overreacted to a traumatic event in front of my kids? Did I blow it?
You can apologize for your behavior and say, 'Look, I was pretty upset, I think I may have overreacted and I didn't need to frighten you. This is something we can talk about and deal with.' Parents can certainly reissue a level of behavior. We all make mistakes in parenting and we can always apologize for those mistakes and we get a little do-over from our kids. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43436000 |
History: Hard Cider in New England
Before we had widespread refrigeration, before anyone needed to make a distinction between “sweet” and “hard” cider, all cider was hard. Throughout much of the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was the most common beverage in New England. Cheap and easy to produce from local seedling apples, the fermented, sometimes fizzy, juice was more popular than ale, kept longer than milk, and in many places was safer to drink than water. Farmers routinely steeped their apple mash and pressed it a second time for less-potent “ciderkin” for their children, and paid their farmhands partly in drink. Larger landholders planted named apple varieties specifically for cider: a mix of bitter, sweet, and tart types, including Gilpin, Smith’s Cider, and Esopus Spitzenberg, among others. Most dooryard cider was run-of-the-mill, but through trial and error, some growers refined cidermaking to an art.
But the temperance movement, founded in Boston in 1826, drained away some of the demand in the 19th century. Passionate members took axes to entire orchards. The shift away from an agricultural society–with its attendant waves of urban Italian, German, and Irish immigrants, who preferred their alcohol made from grapes, or barley and hops–took the commercial cider market down with it. Prohibition shut off what little production remained. By 1935, the year Yankee was first published, the once-ubiquitous drink had all but disappeared. Three years later, the Hurricane of ’38 flattened most of the apple trees that hadn’t already been yanked out, cut down, or lost during the harsh winter of 1934.
In their place, farmers planted McIntoshes and Cortlands: thin-skinned, mild-fleshed varieties that grew better here than anywhere else on earth. The high quality of the fruit compensated for the difficulty of managing orchards on the region’s hilly, rocky land. Over the next half-century, those bright-red apples became the profitable signature of New England’s autumn harvest. Hard cider survived mainly in memory.
Steve Wood knew all this when he took over his family’s orchard in Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the early 1980s. He soon discovered something else besides: that even as his orchard was prospering, the future of the New England apple industry was swinging away from the old stand-bys.
For a time, the spread of controlled-atmosphere cold storage prolonged the survival of short-lived Macs and Cortlands. But a series of changes was steadily eating away the advantages of local orchards. Advances in mechanized picking and transportation favored economies of scale. A big orchard by New Hampshire standards–250 acres, say–couldn’t compete with orchards two or three times that size in the West and upper Midwest, and most of those operations used big, cost-efficient, centralized packing facilities.
Then growers in New Zealand and South Africa created a year-round U.S. market for fresh apples. Supermarket customers’ taste homogenized around large, shiny, waxed, perfectly shaped apples. A decade after Wood had taken over the orchard, the McIntosh market collapsed. The global export trade had changed the game entirely. Speaking metaphorically, Wood says, “Granny Smith was killing us.”
Although he’d graduated from Harvard with a degree in history, Wood nevertheless felt compelled to stay on the farm–to figure out a way to keep his father’s orchard productive, to keep working the land. He and his wife, Harvard classmate Louisa Spencer, began grafting and selling old varieties such as Esopus Spitzenberg (one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites), tiny Wickson, Golden Russet: tasty types once common in early America but now commanding top dollar as uncommon heirloom eating apples in gourmet shops and high-end restaurants. And when they sensed that heirlooms alone wouldn’t be enough to keep the land paying, they brought back old cider apples, such as Ashmead’s Kernel and Kingston Black, and started pressing and bottling traditional hard cider.
“It was a huge gamble, and people called us crazy,” Wood recalls, sitting down with a glass of his Extra-Dry Still Cider in the bottling room at the end of a day. He and Louisa traveled and talked with old-time cider makers in England and France. They read everything they could find. They experimented with different varieties; discovered which apples grew well in the unforgiving New Hampshire climate; blended them for just the right proportion of sugars, acids, tannins, and fruitiness. Through trial and error, they refined the process. Their timing was good: They jumped into this just as the microbrew and local-food trends were gathering steam. Theirs was real cider, nuanced cider, with the complexity of fine wine. They created a label: Farnum Hill Ciders. And in liquor stores and fancy markets they found a niche.
Nearly two decades later, they’ve converted about half of the orchard’s 80 acres to cider trees and are preparing some 20 more for planting. At trade shows and farmers’ markets, Steve and Louisa are on a crusade to introduce a nation of consumers to a product once found in every farmhouse basement and back room in New England. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43439000 |
Origin: Ger < dial. form of rücken, the back (see ridge) + sack < OHG sac (see sack)
See rucksack in American Heritage Dictionary 4
Origin: : dialectal Ruck, back (from Middle High German rück, ruck, from Old High German hrukki; see sker-2 in Indo-European roots)
Origin: + Sack, sack (from Middle High German sac, from Old High German, from Latin saccus; see sack1).
Learn more about rucksack | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43444000 |
Pius XII Gave Instructions Specifically to Save and Protect Jews
Magazine to Publish 2 Wartime Letters
| 815 hits
ROME, JAN. 29, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Two documents soon to be published reveal Pope Pius XII's preferential help for the Jews during the years of Nazi persecution.
The documents would undercut the accusations that Pius XII avoided making express reference to the Jews during the Nazi era.
Susan Zuccotti, history professor at Barnard College in New York, contends in her book "The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy" that there is no proof of Pius XII's intervention in favor of the Jews.
"Pius XII never used the terms 'Jew' or 'race,'" writes Zuccotti. "The Pope often expressed in general terms his sorrow over the suffering of innocent civilians, but without referring explicitly to the Jews."
Given these grave accusations, the magazine Inside the Vatican will publish in its forthcoming issue two letters sent by Pius XII in 1940 to Bishop Giuseppe Maria Palatucci of Campagna, in southern Italy, where a major concentration camp was located.
Bishop Palatucci, in cooperation with his nephew Giovanni, chief of police in Fiume, and with the Vatican, looked after the Jews interned in Campagna.
In letter No. 28436 sent by the Vatican on Oct. 2, 1940, the Holy Father donated the sum of 3,000 lire and had it put in writing that "this money is allocated preferably to those suffering for reasons of race."
In a second letter, No. 31514, the Pope gave the sum of 10,000 lire "to be distributed in aid to interned Jews." The amounts were considerable at that time.
The letters have just been published in Italy in the book "Giovanni Palatucci, the Policeman Who Saved Thousands of Jews," edited by the state police.
Last Oct. 9, Cardinal Camillo Ruini opened the cause of beatification of Giovanni Palatucci. In 1990, he was proclaimed by Israel "Righteous Among the Nations," and a street in Tel Aviv has been named after him. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43448000 |
AP U.S. History
Doing the DBQ: In-class practice
Read the directions at the top of the page and the question. Think about the question, then read it again. Pay attention to the language of the question and consider what it requires you to do.
BEFORE READING THE DOCUMENTS, MAKE A LIST OF FACTS YOU KNOW THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE QUESTION AND TIME PERIOD. This is your outside information.
You have fifteen minutes to read the documents. As you read, underline significant passages and make marginal notes, particularly including facts NOT in the documents but relevant to them and the question.
After reading the documents, re-read the question and be sure you understand what it asks you to do. Go back to the question as often as necessary to keep the central issue or issues in mind.
Group the documents into as many as three groups or according to the criteria posed by the question. BE AWARE OF CHANGE OVER TIME. This may be an alternative to the organization suggested by the question. If you cannot categorize a document, omit it for the time being.
Based on your understanding of the question and the documents, draft a thesis statement – just a statement with a framework – don’t worry about background now.
Create an outline for the thesis, noting which documents you will use in each paragraph.
Add outside information from your notes to the outline in appropriate places. Each paragraph must have outside information. If you do not have enough outside information, think harder about the subject of the question, the time period and/or the documents.
Reconsider the documents you could not classify earlier; can you now fit them into the organizational system you have created for the question? If not, omit them.
Draft a complete thesis paragraph for a potential essay. Include content- relevant background information.
Draft a topic sentence for each paragraph and list the documents and outside information you would use in each. Be ready to explain your choices to the class tomorrow. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43455000 |
The Beer House
Having thus far cultivated the bog-trotter by washing and currying his person, forming his movements, refining his manners, and giving him some ideas of delicacy of behaviour, it now remained to introduce him in a knowledge of politics; and for this purpose, as he could not read the Gazettes, or other publications, it became necessary to give him the opportunity of oral information on political questions: and as attending the debates of congress, and hearing only in the galleries, would not put it in his power to join occasionally, in the debates, and exercise himself in speaking; the attending private clubs, or spending evenings occasionally at beer houses, seemed the more eligible means to be adopted Accordingly, an evening after this, the Captain taking him to a beer house, and occupying a bench, called for a mug of ale, and bade Teague attend to the conversations that were going forward.
The redemption of what are called certificates was at that time the subject of debate. It is well known to the readers of the present day in America, but which perhaps will not be so well understood when this work comes to be read an hundred years hence, that the United States, having incurred debts during the war with Great Britain, and being unable at that time to discharge them, could only give certificates of the respective sums due to the several creditors: these they did give to the soldiers of their army, to those from whom they had purchased articles, or who had rendered any service: The prospect not being immediate of the public being in a condition of taking up these, and the necessity of may of the holders pressing, they had transferred their right in the certificates for a fourth, fifth, or sixth of their nominal value; in some cases, at a much lower rate. --The question was, whether, under these circumstances, the original holder should be bound by the contract, and transferee ought to take the whole sum from the public.
It was stated on one side, that it was the folly of the holder to make the contract. There was no fraud or imposition in the case; what he did was with his eyes open. There was no undue advantage on the part of the purchaser, for he took no more than the place of the holder; and the bargain was fair and equal on both sides. The one had a present certainty which he preferred: the other an uncertainty of a greater sum, of which he chose to run the risk. The purchaser who gave credit to the bills of the states, stood in a better point of view than the holder, who distrusting payment, had parted with them.
On the other side it was contended, that the certificates being only the evidence of the debt, the receiving that was no payment; that real service was rendered, and real payment should be made; that the purchaser discovered a distrust of the credit of the government as well as the holder, in not giving the full value, and therefore stood on no better ground; that from the prevailing ideas under which these contracts were made, the holder did conceive himself parting with these securities at an under value, and the purchaser, as obtaining them at that rate, but neither had an idea that the loss on the one hand, or the advantage on the other, could be so great as on the principle of the provision made for the discharge of the public debt it had come to be; that for these and other reasons measures ought to have been adopted of a discrimination between the original holders and the transferees.
Teague had listened attentively, and, contrary to the injunction of the Captain, with his mouth open. He would willingly have taken a part in the debates, but the Captain, thinking the subject too abstruse to begin with, did not seem to approve of it, and shaking his head, repressed the disposition of the bog-trotter.
The next topic of argument was that of the assumption of the state debts. In order to understand this, we must state, that, in carrying on the war against Great Britain, contracts were made, and debts incurred, on the faith of the confederate states, by their representatives in congress, and this was called the continental debt. At the same time, contracts were made and debts incurred, on the faith of individual states, by their representatives in the state legislature, and this was called the state debt. This whole debt, continental and state, had been thrown into one mass, and the payment assumed by the Congress. The policy of this measure was now canvassed. On the one side it was contended, that as the whole debt, continental or state, was payable by the United States, each state paying the quota apportioned by the resolves of the former congress, and having credit for what state debt contracted on account of the war, was over or beyond this quota, the question was no more than this, whether the ways and means of raising money for the discharge of its proportion of the state debt, should remain with any state, as was before in the case of furnishing its quota; or whether the United States, assuming the debt in the first instance, should take upon themselves to discharge the whole; that it came to the same thing, as the debt was payable by the whole, and the only question was, with whom it should lie to devise ways and means, to discharge it; that the system of finance became more simple, when the United States assumed the whole, and provided for the payment by ways and means of their own at once; that it would contribute to the energy and secure the establishment of the federal government, to have that government the immediate debtor of the whole amount.
To this was answered, that each state was a better judge of the ways and means, within itself, for the raising money to discharge its debt; and while the United States, now having command of the imposts, should necessarily take upon them to collect and provide for the discharge of the continental debt, properly so called; yet it might be left with each state as before, to collect and pay over what is called the state debt; receiving credit from the United States, and having a right to draw from thence, any overplus of that proportion which by the resolves of the former congress they ought to pay of the whole debt.
The Captain thinking this subject also above the comprehension of the Irishman, was not willing that he should speak yet.
The next topic was that of the incorporation of the bank of the United States, some contending that no power was given by the constitution to the general government to incorporate banks; others asserting, though not expressly, yet under the article of paying debts, &c. and making laws necessary for that purpose, it was by implication given.
The Captain thought this also above the reach of Teague, and obliged him to be silent.
The next subject of argument was the policy of the war carrying on against the Indians. By some it was contended that an Indian was a good creature, simple and inoffensive, like a young child; that you might put your finger in his mouth and he would not bite; that by speaking softly and kindly, and giving him victuals and drink, and leggins, and breech-clouts, and blankets, you might do what you please with him; that when you gave him ammunition and fire-arms, he would go out and kill turkies, and shoot down squirrels, and bring you in a deer now and then; and there was no such thing as an Indian stealing a horse, or burning a house, or taking a scalp, unless you had first stolen his horse, or burnt his house, or taken his scalp; that when you made a treaty with these people, they had such a love of Justice, such a sense of honour, such a perfect command of themselves, and their young men, that there was no danger of their departing from the treaty.
On the other hand it was advanced, that, as a savage differed little from a beast of prey; a wolf, or a panther of the woods; was rude, his passions violent, attached to no farm, cultivating no art; his only amusement or sense of honour war, or hunting, the image of war; his sense of Justice little, his sense of honour none at all; no government in his state of society; no security for individual or national engagements; that fear pervading the mass, by reaching the feelings, and apprehensions of each individual was the only principle by which they could be governed; that instead of giving goods, as heretofore, it became us to retaliate by a heavy war.
Such were the arguments on each side of this question; when the Captain looking at Teague, and observing that he was anxious to advance his opinion, assenting with a bow, or inclination of his head, he seemed to signify that he might speak.
But before we hear him, it will be necessary to observe, that during the preceding arguments, the company had taken notice of him, as he sat beside the Captain with a mug of beer before them; and had wondered in their own minds who he could be; for though he was a little brushed up by this time, as may be supposed, having been at the levee, and taught to dance, and received lessons of delicacy; nevertheless, there was still and uncouthness in his appearance that could not be all at once shaken off.
He therefore the more easily engaged attention, when raising his voice, he began as follows:
Plase your anours, said he, I have heard of dese Indians, when I was tratting wid de Captain my master.-- I came acrass one odem, who affered a hundred dallars for my scoolp; he was going to a traty here abouts. But my good master de Captain took my part, and didnt let him take it aff; de vile savages! O! I have heard of dese Indians, plase your anours, dey come out of de woods, and stale shape, like de rabbers in Ireland, and burn houses, and take scoolps; trade wid dese! I would trate wid dem, wid a good shelelah, or tomahawk to break der heads. Give dem goods! by Shaint Patrick, I would give dem a good bullet hole in deir faces; or shoot dem trough de backside for deir pains. If I was in Cangress, and God love your shouls, I wish you would put me dere, I would make a law to coot dem aff, every one odem. O! if my uncle Phelim, and my cousins Dennis and Dermot, and my brother Murtock, and de oder boys was here, we would chase dem, as you would chase one of deir own shape; and keep dem aff de country, and send dem home to ate paratoes. God love your shouls, raise a good party and go out upon dem, and bring dem to de coort, and not let dem be staling shape, and taking scoolps from de poor people.
You tink to plase dem, by spaking good words to dem. Spake a good cudgel upon der heads, and bid dem be asy dear honies, and keep at deir homes, and plant paratoes, and be hangd in deir own country; plase your anours. Trate wid dem! Trate wid de wolves or de bears, dat roon troo de woods: I would trate wid a good knock in deir troat, and be doon wid dem.
From the manner in which he spoke, of having been in danger of losing his scalp, and the Captain rescuing him, it was understood that he had been in a campaign against the Indians, and his fervour was excused, and thought natural. Those particularly who were for using force against the savages, thought the Irish gentleman had spoken very well.
Encouraged with this success, the bog-trotter was confirmed in his opinion, that he was fit for any political appointment; and the Captain himself, began to entertain better hopes of his advances than he had yet done. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43463000 |
Lobelia commonly called cardinal flower is an orchid-like red wildflower that is native to the woodland areas in North America.
I first discovered this woodland flower while hiking in the valley just bellow the ridge where our home resides. The flower was growing close to the banks of a stream and I noted that it attracted butterflies and the red throat hummingbirds. I used a spoon to loosen the soil around the stem. The roots were close to the soil surface and the plant was easy to dig up. I quickly returned home so that I could transplant the Lobelia cardinal flower to my garden. I planted the cardinal flowers to the back border of my part sun to shade garden. The following year I had many cardinal flowers blooming in my garden. The one plant self seeded and I also planted additional seeds in spring.
Cardinal flower looks good growing in the back border of your garden as the stems can reach the height of 3 to 4 feet. You can also grow it with assorted wildflowers in a woodland setting. Flowers bloom in late summer and will continue to bloom well into autumn or until the end of season frost.
|Cardinal flower growing along stream: Wikipedia commons|
Where to Grow
Grow cardinal flower in zones 3 to 8. Choose a garden site that has sun to part shade. Also select an area where the soil is evenly moist but not wet.
When to Plant
Plant the seeds outside in May or June when the ground warms to 74 degrees.
Get the garden site ready for planting. Remove the sod, weeds and all debris. Loosen the soil to one foot. Break up the clumps of soil so that soil is fine.
Planting Seed in Masses:
Mix the seeds with compost or manure. Place the compost in a wheelbarrow and add water. The compost should be moist, not wet. Mix the seeds into the compost. Add other wildflower seeds to the compost if you are planting a prairie garden.
Scoop up the compost and place it on the soil. Rake the compost into the fine soil. Cover the seeds with soil to the depth of a half inch.
Planting Seeds for Small Gardens:
Use the eraser end of a pencil to dig holes in the soil that are a half inch deep. Space the seeds a foot apart. Set the seed in the center of the hole and cover the hole with the soil.
Care for Lobelia Cardinal Flowers:
Apply a thin layer of grass clippings or mulch around the plant stems. This organic mulch will aid in retaining moisture and will deter weed growth. Water the cardinal flower every morning with a dripline irrigation or with a soaker hose.
- Keep the soil evenly moist. Water the cardinal flowers twice a day in the morning and late afternoon when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees. Keeping the soil evenly moist will ensure that your flowers are healthy.
- Do not allow the ground to dry out.
- When seeds start to sprout, and are three to four inches in height you can transplant them by spacing eighteen inches apart, or leave them to grow in masses.
- Refrain from weeding during growing season, as you may remove new growth.
- Companion plants that I like grown with the cardinal flower: Blue Lobelia and Golden Ragwort. I like the contrast of the colors blue, yellow and red.
Introduction Image Credit by US Fish and Wildlife Services | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43464000 |
” Build a plane that’s as heavy as a car, but uses only as much energy as a scooter. And stay aloft with just the energy of the sun—even after sunset. That, pilot André Borschberg says, is the challenge facing the Solar Impulse team as it stares down its biggest challenge yet: flying around the world in a solar-powered plane.
You might have heard about Solar Impulse when the sun-powered plane project made its maiden flight in 2009, or in 2010 when Borschberg set the endurance record by piloting the aircraft for 26 consecutive hours, running on stored solar energy from on-board batteries after the sun went down. Now he and teammate Bertrand Piccard are off on even more ambitious ventures, which they came to New York to discuss last night. First, in 2013, they will fly their solar-powered plane across the United States. Then, in 2015, they will pilot a larger version around the world. “
- Solar Impulse Team to Attempt First Ever Solar-Powered Cross-U.S.A Flight in History (inhabitat.com)
- Solar Powered Plane Will Circumnavigate The Globe In 2015 (Can Even Fly At Night) (cleantechnica.com)
- Tackling an around-the-world plane flight — without fossil fuel (news.cnet.com)
- Solar-Powered Plane Flies Through the Night (techonomy.com)
- Sun-Powered Plane to Circle the World in 20 Days (news.softpedia.com) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43470000 |
Saturday, February 20, 2010: 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Room 5B (San Diego Convention Center)For the first time, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NBC News are partnering to offer specialized instruction for scientists and engineers in the use of hand-held camera technology and techniques. Participants will emerge with enhanced expertise in the communication of science research. Knowledge of digital journalism is significant because journalists are storytellers who sift through information and make the crucial distinction between fact and opinion. By integrating audio and video into their stories, journalists enhance the depth, impact, and credibility of news. In some cases, entire narratives can be explored, and entire worlds accessed, with only the use of audio and visual cues. This workshop will equip scientists and engineers with similar skills to share their research in an effective and compelling manner.
Marian Porges, NBC News and New York Film Academy Journalism Program
See more of: Sponsored Workshops | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43476000 |
This from Eurekalert:
You may think that with faster internet connectivity, internet phone calls and iPods, that we're living in a technological nirvana. But according to a new analysis we are fast approaching a new dark age. The results show that the number of technological breakthroughs and patents peaked a century ago and have been falling steadily ever since. But this is a controversial view not held by most futurologists.
The reason why an observation like this is controversial is that futurologists take a determinedly optimistic view of the future. I suspect this is a survey of American patent applications. There is a subjective increase in the wealth and comfort of Americans that leads them to think that they must be in a golden age. But wasn't Rome similar prior to its collapse? The Romans had become decadent, they suffered from an internal rot and cultural decline. They embarked on fruitless foreign adventures as a means of distracting an overlarge, and underused military. The recent resource wars in the middle east seem aimed at distracting the world with a sleight of hand allowing America to parasitize Iraq without feeling morally inferior.
If we truly are in a worldwide decline in creativity, what does that mean? Victorian scientists used to predict that all of the major discoveries had been made and the future was going to be a period of filling the gaps and creating a prosperous age of automation. Were they right? Our explanations of the fine detail of what goes on is a little more precise, but really we have just been adding decimal points to the accuracy of our picture. The whole of twentieth century physics has involved creating pictures of the world that even their inventors didn't understand or trust! Einstein made significant advances in quantum physics in an attempt to falsify it on aesthetic grounds!
Maybe the lull is exemplified by the history of Artificial Intelligence? Artificial Intelligence grew out of the availability of computing hardware in postwar America (called giant brains at the time) and the theoretical advances that had been made prewar by the likes of Turing, and von Neumann et al. Von Neumann and Turing both took a mechanistic view of the brain, that it was to all intents and purposes a "computer made of meat". There was great optimism that the algorithms of the brain would be quickly understood, and a means to emulate the brain would be found in "10 or 20 years". Minsky and others were finding ways to simulate neurons in hardware. All in all it seemed that AI would flourish in the 70s providing added impetus to the space race, and mankind's transcendence.
Researchers found that emulating human perceptual capabilities was actually much harder than performing the sort of tasks that humans find hard (like maths and logic). Philosophical problems arose over our very definition of intelligence and consciousness (it seemed to always be imminent). The whole effort became mired in attempts to work out what it was that they were really after. The over optimistic forecasts came back to haunt the researchers and the whole enterprise was scaled back to become a peripheral research enterprise in most universities. The high country was abandoned in favour of vocational education – computing for profit rather than fun.
Maybe we don't seem to be advancing as fast because we are now trying to solve the truly intractable problems of science that require a fundamental change in our understanding of the world or the brain or whatever. Maybe we can't solve these problems without skills that are not currently in our conceptual repertoire? | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43477000 |
Transcript for Happy Birthday, Emancipation Proclamation!
-- Kenneth C Davis. Even if it goes through American history -- you probably learn something about Abraham Lincoln. No he was not the vampire. Most. Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipated. He freed... See More
-- Kenneth C Davis. Even if it goes through American history -- you probably learn something about Abraham Lincoln. No he was not the vampire. Most. Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipated. He freed the slaves in January 1863. When he signed the emancipation proclamation. Right. Well not exactly. 150. Years of bloody civil war -- -- union armies crushed in a string of defeats. Confederate armies knocking -- beat Washington DC Lincoln attacked daily by friend and everything that could go wrong was going wrong. So what did Lincoln do with the world crashing down around him Lincoln announced a preliminary version of the emancipation proclamation. If the confederate states did not surrender Lincoln would free -- slaves on the first day of 1863. It was a threat pure and simple and the timing was no accident. Few days. Union army when a crucial victory at the -- battle and -- in one day more than war. Thousand men -- Another 171000. Were wounded and missing. Still the worst single day in American military history but this costly victory gave -- -- the political cover he needed. To announce his plan to free the slaves. The confederate ignored -- -- the war reached on and on January 1 1863. Abraham Lincoln issued the formal emancipation. Proclamation. So Lincoln freed the slaves right. Again not exact. The formal proclamation applied only to slaves in the rebellious states. There was still slaves in some union states in Lincoln's proclamation also did not apply to confederate areas in union hands. In the end. The great emancipated or. Freed very few slaves but the political and emotional impact of Lincoln's decision was enormous with a scratch of his pen he turned a fight to save the union into -- war and slavery. African Americans celebrated it but some abolitionist thought it was too little too late. Others saw an illegal abuse of power. And many union and refused to fight to free slaves one reason Lincoln -- so unpopular when he ran again in 1864. The actual end of slavery had to wait for the end of the war. And the thirteenth amendment. I'm Kenneth C Davis and you don't know much just --
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43481000 |
(NEW YORK) -- Seafood raised on pig feces and crawling with flies is being sold to U.S. consumers, according to a new report.
The November issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine, in a piece on food poisoning and safety, says that it is common practice in some parts of Asia to feed fish pig waste. It describes, for example, the sanitary conditions at a fish factory on the southern coast of Vietnam.
"Flies," it says, "crawl over baskets of processed shrimp."
The shrimp at some plants are packed in ice, which is good. What's bad is that it's ice made from water often found to be contaminated with bacteria and unfit for human consumption, say Bloomberg's reporters in Hanoi.
Vietnam ships 100 million pounds of shrimp a year to the U.S., about 8 percent of the shrimp sold in America.
Outside Hong Kong, at a tilapia farm, fish are fed a diet that includes pig and geese feces. That practice, Michael Doyle tells Bloomberg Markets, is unsafe for U.S. consumers, because the manure may be contaminated with salmonella.
Doyle is director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. Fish farmers, he says, use fecal matter as a cheaper alternative to commercial fish food.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspects food shipments to the United States, including seafood shipments, but the agency's resources are limited, says Bloomberg's report. It is able to inspect fewer than 3 percent of shipments. Of that, reports Bloomberg, much is sent back. The FDA has rejected 1,380 shipments of Vietnamese seafood since 2007, finding filth and salmonella.
Kevin Fitzsimmons, a professor and research scientist at the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, tells ABC News he has read the Bloomberg article and finds it "a little misleading. I do a lot of work in Asia and am headed there now for a conference on tilapia. They [Bloomberg] are cherry-picking a few items to make things sound as bad as possible." Fitzsimmons is an officer of the American Tilapia Association and an expert on seafood production in Asia.
For starters, he says, seafood shipments from Asia to the U.S. number in the "hundreds of thousands, if not millions," so the fact that 1,380 from Vietnam have been returned since 2007 is relatively insignificant.
Second, he says, the practice in Asia of putting hog feces into fish ponds dates back "thousands of years," and is not as repellent as it at first might sound. Why? "Because the fish are not eating the feces. The feces are added to the water to produce an algae bloom," he says, which in turn produces a form of plankton that the fish then eat.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43482000 |
A thorough knowledge of the root system of plants is
essential if their growth, flowering, and fruiting responses are
to be understood. The structure and growth habits of roots have a
pronounced effect on the size and vigor of the plant, method of
propagation, adaptation to certain soil types, and response to
cultural practices and irrigation. The roots of certain vegetable
crops are important as food. Roots typically originate from the
lower portion of a plant or cutting. They possess a root cap, have
no nodes and never bear leaves or flowers directly. The principal
functions of roots are to absorb nutrients and moisture, to anchor
the plant in the soil, to furnish physical support for the stem,
and to serve as food storage organs. In some plants they may be
used as a means of propagation.
Types of Roots
A primary (radicle) root originates at the lower end of
the embryo of a seedling plant. A taproot is formed when the
primary root continues to elongate downward. This makes them
difficult to transplant and necessitates planting only in deep,
well-drained soil. The taproot of carrot, parsnip, and salsify
is the principal edible part of these crops.
A lateral, or secondary root is a side or
branch root which arises from another root. A fibrous root
system is one in which the primary root ceases to elongate,
leading to the development of numerous lateral roots. These then
branch repeatedly and form the feeding root system of the plant. A
fibrous root is one which remains small in diameter because of a
lack of significant cambial activity. One factor which causes
shrubs and dwarf trees to remain smaller than standard trees is
the lower activity rate of the cambium tissue which produces a
smaller root system.
If plants that normally develop a taproot are undercut
so that the taproot is severed early in the plants life, the
root will lose its taproot characteristic and develop a fibrous
root system. This is done commercially in nurseries so that trees,
which naturally have tap roots, will develop a compact, fibrous
root system. This allows a higher rate of transplanting success.
The quantity and distribution of plant roots is very
important because these two factors have a major influence on the
absorption of moisture and nutrients. The depth and spread of the
roots is dependent on the inherent growth characteristics of the
plant and the texture and structure of the soil. Roots will
penetrate much deeper in a loose, well-drained soil than in a
heavy, poorly-drained soil. A dense, compacted layer in the soil
will restrict or stop root growth.
During early development, a seedling plant nutrients
and moisture from the few inches of soil surrounding it.
Therefore, the early growth of most horticultural crops which are
seeded in rows benefits from band applications of fertilizer,
placed several inches to each side and slightly below the seeds.
As plants become well-established, the root system
develops laterally and usually extends far beyond the spread of
the branches. For most cultivated crops roots meet and overlap
between the rows. The greatest concentration of fibrous roots
occurs in the top foot of soil but significant numbers of laterals
may grow downward from these roots to provide an effective
absorption system a couple of feet deep.
Parts of a Root
Internally, there are three major parts of a root. The meristem
is at the tip and manufactures new cells. It is an area of cell
division and growth. Behind it is the zone of elongation,
in which cells increase in size through food and water absorption.
These cells by increasing in size, push the root through the soil.
The third major root part is the maturation zone, in which
cells undergo changes in order to become specific tissues such as
epidermis, cortex, or vascular tissue. The epidermis is the
outermost layer of cells surrounding the root. These cells are
responsible for the absorption of water and minerals dissolved in
water. Cortex cells are involved in the movement of water from the
epidermis and in food storage. A layer of suberized (a fatty
material in some cells), known as the Casparian strips, has
regulatory effect on the types of minerals absorbed and
transported by the roots to stems and leaves.
Vascular tissues conduct food and water and are
located in the center of the root. However, some monocots have the
vascular system of their roots distributed around the root center.
Externally there are two areas of importance. Root
hairs are found along the main root and perform much of the actual
work of water and nutrient absorption. The root cap is the
outermost tip of the root, and consists of cells that are sloughed
off as the root grows through the soil. The root cap covers and
protects the meristem and also senses gravity and directs in what
direction the root grows.
Roots as Food
The enlarged root is the edible portion of several vegetable
crops. The sweet potato is a swollen root, called a tuberous root,
which serves as a food storage area for the plant. Carrot,
parsnip, salsify, and radish are elongated taproots. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43491000 |
The bacteria that reside in the intestines of adults and children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) differ from those of healthy adults and children, according to 2 studies in the November issue of Gastroenterology.
Microorganisms account for 90% of the cells in our body (many cannot even be cultured); only 10% of our cells are human. The large microbial mass in the intestine is established at birth, and its composition is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The makeup of this microbiota has been proposed to affect development of inflammatory bowel diseases and IBS.
Only recently have researchers developed technologies to quantify these microbes. Mirjana Rajilić–Stojanović et al. performed global and deep molecular analysis of fecal samples from 62 adult patients with IBS and 46 healthy adults. In a separate study published in the same issue, Delphine M. Saulnier et al. analyzed 71 stool samples from 22 children with IBS and 22 healthy children using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing.
Both studies found that patients with IBS had a greater abundance of the Firmicutes member Dorea than healthy individuals.
Rajilić–Stojanović et al. reported that adult patients with IBS had a 2-fold greater ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes than controls, resulting from an approximately 1.5-fold increase in numbers of Dorea, Ruminococcus, and Clostridium spp. They also observed a 2-fold decrease in the number of Bacteroidetes, a 1.5-fold decrease in numbers of Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium spp, and, when present, a 4-fold lower average number of methanogens (see figure).
The microbial groups correlated with IBS symptom scores, indicating that several groups of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria might mediate the development of IBS.
However, Saulnier et al. observed that the microbiomes of children with IBS had a significantly greater percentage of the class γ-proteobacteria. One prominent component of this group was Haemophilus parainfluenzae, but a novel, Ruminococcus-like microbe was also associated with IBS. Greater frequency of IBS pain in children correlated with an increased abundance of several bacterial taxa from the genus Alistipes. By contrast, taxa such as the genus Eubacterium and the species Bacteroides vulgatus were more frequently observed in healthy children.
Saulnier et al. were able to use their technology to identify children with IBS and determine their specific subtype, with greater than 95% accuracy. Different subtypes of IBS (IBS with constipation, IBS with diarrhea, etc.) were associated with different bacterial populations, encompassing at least 50–75 different taxa, so this technology might be used in diagnosis.
The authors concluded that qualitative and quantitative differences in specific bacterial components of the gut microbiome are important features of IBS and its subtypes in children. They propose that the role of generic bacterial overgrowth and, more specifically, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, be evaluated as mechanism of IBS. However, the total microbial load (the 16S rDNA copy number per gram of stool) did not differ significantly between healthy children and those with IBS.
There were some differences between findings of the 2 studies. For example, although Saulnier et al. reported differences in levels of Proteobacteria between children with IBS and controls, this difference was not observed in adults by Rajilić-Stojanović et al. Likewise, in pediatric patients with IBS, a greater frequency of pain was associated with an increase in the genus Alistipes, but in the adult study, levels of Alistipes were significantly higher in controls. These differences might result from the different patient populations analyzed (pediatric vs adult), geographic regions of the studies (Texas vs Finland), or platforms used (next-generation sequencing and Affymetrix arrays vs Agilent arrays).
In an accompanying editorial, Nicholas Tally and Anthony Fodor suggest that microbial niches in the colon and small intestine might exist—there could be specific differences in the mucosal-associated or the luminal microbiota that contribute to development of diseases such as IBS.
Nonetheless, Talley and Fodor concluded that the application of high-throughput technology to IBS is a first step toward identifying each person’s microbial community and individualizing therapy, perhaps with probiotics, prebiotics, and/or antibiotics.
Saulnier et al. propose that analyses of clinical features, dietary and medication history, and genetics will also help us better understand the genetic, metagenomic, and environmental factors that contribute to IBS and other intestinal disorders.
Read the articles online.
Saulnier DM, Riehle K, Mistret T-A, et al. Gastrointestinal microbiome signatures of pediatric patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology 2011;141:1782–1791.
Rajilić–Stojanović M, Biagi E, Heilig HGHJ, et al. Global and deep molecular analysis of microbiota signatures in fecal samples from patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology2011;141:1792–1801.
Read the accompanying editorial.
Talley NJ, Fodor AA. Bugs, stool, and the irritable bowel syndrome: too much is as bad as too little? Gastroenterology2011;141:1555–1559. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43492000 |
Boeing Aviation Hangar
As visitors enter the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, they first encounter the diminutive Pitts Special S-1C Little Stinker, an aerobatic championship aircraft, hanging upside-down overhead. A few steps to the west puts visitors at the hangar overlook facing the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Vought Corsair hanging at dramatic angles. The overlook provides a sweeping view of aircraft hanging throughout the Boeing Aviation Hangar.
The Boeing Aviation Hangar features aircraft hanging at several levels, suspended from the building's huge trusses, and aircraft displayed on the hangar floor. The suspended aircraft have been hung at various angles to demonstrate typical flight maneuvers. Visitors will see an aerobatic airplane hot-dogging upside down, a World War II fighter angling for a victory, and a small two-seater flying level. Walkways rising about four stories above the floor provide nose-to-nose views of aircraft in suspended flight.
Other aerobatic, general aviation, commercial, and World War II aircraft are located to the south. To the north, visitors see the post-World War II military aircraft collection; and straight ahead in the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar is a spectacular view of the space shuttle Discovery. Between the Discovery and the overlook is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet ever built.
Other unique artifacts exhibited in the Boeing Aviation Hangar include:
- the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay.
- the Boeing 367-80 or Dash 80, the prototype 707, America's first jet airliner.
- the Aichi Seiran Japanese WWII bomber, the only remaining Seiran.
- the Boeing 307 Stratoliner Clipper Flying Cloud, the first airliner with a pressurized cabin.
- a Concorde supersonic airliner.
See a live view inside the Boeing Aviation Hangar:
Boeing Aviation Hangar - Live Web Camera | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43495000 |
The heavier an aircraft, the more fuel it consumes. Cargo and baggage constitute a large portion of an aircraft’s weight. For each reduction of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) per passenger, an aircraft can save 9,000 gallons of fuel annually. Each individual traveler can make a big difference in fuel consumption by packing lightly. The cumulative weight reduction will reduce the total loaded weight of the aircraft and enhance fuel economy, which in turn means fewer CO2 emissions. Packing tips can be found in many sites online. For example, see the packing tips from the American Society of Travel Agents.
Learn more at Enviro Aero | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43498000 |
Last weeks mega-storm left behind more than downed power lines and trees, it also created multiple mosquito breeding habitats something that, in the long run, could prove a serious health hazard.
The day after the storm, the Alexandria Health Department issued a warning of the increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases in the aftermath of the storm. It urged the public to use personal protection when mosquito exposure appears likely.
There is more standing water around neighborhoods, many damaged homes that allow mosquitoes access to people indoors and more residents spending time outdoors cleaning up debris and making repairs, said Dr. Stephen Haering, the citys health director. People need to remember that we face risk from West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses as well as other mosquito-borne diseases this time of year.
Individuals over 50 are also at greater risk from serious complications from West Nile virus and EEE, according to the state health department
The Alexandria Health Department offered the following tips to reduce mosquito exposure: Wear long, loose, light-colored clothing; use insect repellent products with picardin or no more than 50 percent DEET for adults and no more than 30 percent for children; turn over or remove potential water containers in yards; eliminate standing water in tarps or on flat roofs; clean roof gutters and downspouts regularly. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43500000 |
19 October 2004. Inhibiting ACAT, a cholesterol-modifying enzyme, may prove a viable therapy for preventing or slowing the progression of Alzheimer disease, according to a report in the October 14 Neuron. A multi-institution collaboration led by Dora Kovacs at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, shows that inhibiting the enzyme limits production of amyloid-β (Aβ), reduces plaque load, and prevents learning and memory losses in a mouse model of the disease.
ACAT (Acyl coenzyme A: cholesterol transferase) catalyzes the esterification of cholesterol, redistributing the lipid from the plasma membrane into cytoplasmic droplets. Kovacs and colleagues have previously reported that blocking the enzyme attenuates production of Aβ in primary neurons (see ARF related news story). Now, joint first authors Birgit Hutter-Paier at JSW-Research Forschungslabor GmbH, Graz, Austria, and Henri Huttunen at MGH, along with other researchers from these institutions and the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, extend those observations to transgenic animals. They tested CP 113,818, an ACAT inhibitor developed by Pfizer, in mice expressing human amyloid precursor protein harboring two different kinds of mutation—the London mutation, which results in an isoleucine instead of a valine at amino acid number 717, and the Swedish double mutation, methionine and leucine for lysine and asparagine at positions 670 and 671, respectively. These animals develop amyloid plaques in the brain, and by six months old show signs of cognitive decline.
Because CP 113,818 is so poorly absorbed, the authors administered it in slow-release capsules, surgically implanting a two-month supply into four and a half-month-old mice. When the authors checked brain pathology at six and a half months, they found a considerable reduction in plaque load, as judged by both thioflavin S and antibody (6E10 antibody) staining. Treated animals had only about 26 plaques per square micrometer of cortex, while placebo-treated animals had over 200. The benefit was greatest in the hippocampuses of female animals, where the plaque load was only one percent of that found in sham-treated animals. In addition, when the authors measured soluble Aβ by ELISA, they found that levels of soluble Aβ1-42 were reduced by over 30 percent, a result that was statistically significant.
These particular transgenic mice only begin to show a hint of cognitive decline at six months. Nevertheless, the authors found that those given the ACAT inhibitor preformed consistently better in the Morris water maze—particularly the female animals. In these mice, improvement was statistically significant, which suggests that males, where the AD-like symptoms develop more slowly, may also benefit as they age. “We are presently examining the effect of the inhibitor on older animals,” Kovacs revealed.
These findings may put ACAT inhibitors on the fast track for development for AD. Already Pfizer has Avasimibe® in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of atherosclerosis, and it is already “considered safe for human use with a good therapeutic window,” write the authors.—Tom Fagan.
Hutter-Paier B, Huttunen HJ, Puglielli L, Eckman CB, Kim DY, Hofmeister A, Moir RD, Domnitz SB, Frosch MP, Windisch M, Kovacs DM. The ACAT inhibitor CP-113,818 markedly reduces amyloid pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Neuron. 2004 October 14;44:1-20. Abstract | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43506000 |
Club backs plan to protect kids from school bus fumes
By Kevin Finney
The exhaust from diesel trucks and buses is dirty and deadly. It has a very high content of tiny particulates that lodge deep in human lung tissues, causing a variety of ailments, including lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. These particulates, too small be cleared by the natural cleansing process of the lungs, pose a specific risk to children.
Diesel exhaust also contains at least 40 different substances that are known to be toxic, including benzene, chlorine, formaldehyde, mercury compounds, styrene, toluene, etc. This exhaust aggravates asthma attacks, can cause premature death and is a major source of smog-forming nitrogen oxides.
The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club is supporting efforts to clean up school bus fleets in Los Angeles County and throughout the rest of the South Coast Air Basin (Orange County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Children come into contact with diesel exhaust every time they ride a school bus, or play near or sit in a classroom near a school bus that is idling. Children are more susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution than adults because of their smaller body size and faster metabolisms and respiratory rates. Kids tend to engage in play and rigorous activity more frequently than adults, even when air pollution levels are high. It is well documented that a childs developing lungs receive and retain a greater dose of pollution than those of an adult, relative to body size.
In November, Southern Californias air regulatory agency, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, will be considering Proposed Rule 1195-Clean On-Road School Buses.
This rule is expected to require local school districts and private school bus operators to buy clean alternative-fuel buses such as those powered by natural gas or electricity when they order new buses. The district also is considering requiring school districts to retrofit existing diesel buses with particulate traps that curb pollution in combination with the use of a low-sulfur diesel fuel.
This rule is one of several so-called fleet rules which the AQMD has proposed to reduce diesel and other harmful emissions in the region. Environmentalists are strongly supporting these proposed fleet rules as an important step in cleaning up the regions toxic air pollution, but they have come under attack from diesel fuel producers, trucking associations, and some fleet operators and local government agencies.
An in-depth multiple air toxins study performed by the AQMD found that diesel soot is responsible for at least 70% of the regions total cancer toxic air risk. The study estimates the regions air toxic risk on average is approximately 1,400 cancer cases for every million individuals living in the basin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency establishes acceptable air toxic risk at 1 cancer case per million individuals exposed.
In June, the AQMD adopted three rules requiring covering garbage trucks, transit buses, and light and medium duty vehicles in public fleets. This was an important victory for clean air advocates and reflects the growing momentum of efforts to reduce diesel pollution.
Other recent victories for clean-air advocates include a unanimous decision by L.A. Countys Metropolitan Transportation Authority to maintain its alternative fuel policy. This action came after serious indications that the MTA board was considering a plan to purchase diesel transit buses again.
The MTA also voted to install particulate traps on existing buses and to give $2 million to support local research into zero-pollution fuel cell technology; a stunning turnaround hailed by a broad coalition of environmental, public health and community-based groups. These actions support the Clubs stance that theres no going back to dirty, deadly diesel.
Kevin Finney is co-chair of the Angeles Chapters Air Quality, Global Warming and Energy. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43512000 |
Clark's anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii) - Wiki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[Photo] Clark's Anemonefish or Yellowtail Clownfish (Amphiprion clarkii, family Pomacentridae) with sea anemone. Image by Ben Lancaster. Date 8 April 2005
Clark's anemonefish or the Yellowtail clownfish (Amphiprion clarkii) is a widely distributed clownfish. It is found in tropical waters, in lagoons and on outer reef slopes, from the Persian Gulf to Western Australia and throughout the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean as far as Melanesia and Micronesia, and as far north as Taiwan, southern Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.
Clark's Anemonefish is a spectacularly colourful fish, with vivid black, white and yellow stripes, though the exact pattern shows considerable geographical variation. There are normally two white bands, one behind the eye and one above the anus. The tail fin may be white or yellow, but is always lighter than rest of the body.
Clarke's Anemonefish are a popular aquarium species. They are omnivorous, and in the aquarium will readily eat brine shrimp. They will regularly host in many sea anemones in the home aquarium.
|The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.| | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43514000 |
What is Pedagogy?
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Pedagogy is teaching others how to teach. It comes from an ancient Greek word meaning 'to lead the child'. There is also an academic journal called pedagogy that discusses innovations in teaching strategy.
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UNMC obesity expert develops school design guidelines to promote healthy eatingRecommendations could become part of national strategy to reduce childhood obesity
Recommendations could become part of national strategy to reduce childhood obesity
Since kids spend much of their day at school, obesity experts think school design can impact student health.
A University of Nebraska Medical Center obesity expert is the main author of a report – Healthy Eating Design Guidelines for School Architecture (HEDG) – which was released today in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Merging architecture with public health, it details how cafeterias, water fountains, gardens and signage play a key role in establishing a healthy environment.
“We know there is a direct link between student performance and student health. What we want to do is develop evidence-based principles of school design that optimize healthy eating and health practices,” said Terry Huang, Ph.D., chairman and professor of health promotion, social and behavioral health in the UNMC College of Public Health.
The guidelines were incorporated into the Buckingham County Primary and Elementary School in a rural, ethnically diverse school in central Virginia. The school district embraced the goal of creating an optimized ‘healthy eating’ learning environment in addition to the goal of creating an energy-efficient building.
Some of the design principles incorporated include:
- A food lab where kids can learn how to prepare healthy foods;
- A cafeteria which facilitates fresh food production;
- A school garden for kids to grow food for the school cafeteria and burn a few calories;
- A lower-stress environment to address light, noise levels, air quality and crowding; and
- Layouts that encourage more movement and the use of attractive water fountains.
“Our goal is to provide fresh, healthy food choices and support school spaces which promote healthy nutrition and health habits,” said Dr. Huang.
Researchers add that even simple changes like providing healthy grab-and-go meal options, avoiding deep-fat fryers and a library of health information and nutrition are improvements that schools can use to promote optimal health.
Dr. Huang and his collaborators hope these guidelines will become part of a national strategy to prevent and reduce childhood obesity.
In 2012, Dr. Huang along with Matthew Trowbridge, M.D., M.P.H., at the University of Virginia and VMDO Architects received the Design Research and Scholarship at the Virginia Society of the American Institutes of Architects annual meeting in Richmond. The group also was recognized as one of the winners in the Childhood Obesity Challenge from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43518000 |
Karst diagram courtesy of Vancouver Island University.
Although the Cowling Arboretum does not exhibit any karst topography, much of Southern Minnesota does. Karst is a geological feature formed by the dissolution of soluble bedrock such as carbonates like limestone and dolostone. Karst formations lead to the formations of caves, disappearing streams, underground streams, sinkholes and other landforms in Southern Minnesota. The longest cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System in Kentucky was formed through the dissolution of carbonate rocks in its karst area.
Karst country in Southern Minnesota coincides with the Driftless Area that covers Southeastern Minnesota, Northwestern Iowa and Western Wisconsin. Glacial drift no younger than 500,000 years old has been discovered in Southern Minnesota Driftless Area, meaning it has not been glaciated in that time. Other geologists believe that the Driftless Area has not been glaciated in at least 2 million years. However, the Driftless Area has been subject to glacial lake outburst floods when titanic lakes like proglacial Lake Duluth began to cataclysmically drain about 9,500 years ago.
Karst forms when slightly acidic water meets a weakly soluble carbonate rock. Rainwater acidifies ever so slightly as it passes through the atmosphere and takes up CO2. As rainwater travels through the soil it picks up more CO2 and forms a weak carbonic acid solution, which readily dissolves carbonate rocks over time. Limestone is removed from the site in the form of calcium and bicarbonate.
A good way to spot a karst sinkhole in Southern Minnesota is to look for a tree covered area in the middle of a farmer’s field that she is wise not to plow.
- Callum McCulloch '15, for the Cole Student Naturalists | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43519000 |
Public Radio listeners know that in Lake Wobegon, all the children are
above average. However, if all the children there are above average, then
an equal number of children somewhere else are below average.
With a wife who teaches fifth grade in Bridgeport, and a son-in-law who
teaches seventh grade in Woodbury, I often hear more than I thought I'd
ever need to know about what's going on in our schools.
In Bridgeport, the Integrated Reading and Language Arts Curriculum states
as its first goal that all students will score "at or above the 50th
percentile on a norm-referenced test." In other words: All Bridgeport 5th
graders will be average or above.
"What's a norm-referenced test?" listeners may well ask. The Connecticut
Mastery Test (CMT) given to fourth, sixth and eighth graders, the pre-CMT,
given to third, fifth and seventh graders and the Scholastic Aptitude Test
used for college entrance are all norm-referenced. These are tests created
to differentiate between students- to sort and rank them. The tests are
carefully designed so that a graph of the scores produces a bell-shaped
curve. Most children should score at the top of the curve which is
average: 50 percent or grade level. By design, then, as many children
must score below fifty percent as above it.
This means that if one year the average score is in the 60th percentile,
the test will be made more difficult to bring the average down. All towns
and Boards of Education aspire to be just like Lake Wobegon, that is, to
have their students be above average. However, norm-referenced tests are
designed so that half the kids will fail.
Standards and testing drive education today. The talk about tests makes it
seem as if they exist to determine if students have mastered certain
academic competencies, but in reality, the test is designed so that half
the children won't succeed. Any question that all the students could
answer would be replaced by a question that some couldn't answer, even if
the original question reflected appropriate grade-level skills.
The tests have other problems, too. They are often culturally-,
geographically- or linguistically-biased. Many questions are ambiguous,
especially if prior knowledge or creative thinking is involved. The tests
are kept top-secret, and there is no feedback to students or parents except
a bar-graph which compares their performance to other students.
Everywhere throughout the state, the pressure is on. The kids haven't been
back in school for a full month yet and the goal is to quickly get them
ready to take the tests next week. Students are learning how to
"bubble-in" answers to multiple choice questions and how to write a short
essay on an assigned topic according to a very specific formula. And then
there's "cloze" practice (filling in the words from a list to complete a
sentence) to measure degrees of reading power.
Most of the children in Woodbury couldn't score above average if students
somewhere else didn't score below. That's where Bridgeport comes in. Yes,
we believe every child can learn. But here are some of the facts.
When I saw Suzanne's computerized class list, I noticed that it said
"capacity 25" at the top. In fact, the list contained 32 names. The union
contract mandates 5th grade classes should be no greater than 30 students.
Nevertheless, Suzanne has a smaller class than other teachers with as many
as 34 kids. The real shame is that the administration sees class size as a
contractual problem, rather than as an educational issue.
For eight of Suzanne's students, this is their first year in an
English-speaking situation, in a new school. The Bridgeport administration
pays substitute teachers so little, that there are rarely enough of them.
This not only often deprives the students of art or gym or music when those
teachers are absent, it also deprives teachers of much-needed planning
There are many other problems connected to poverty and large bureaucracies
which seem worse in the city.
The Connecticut Mastery Test is another abstraction in the educational
system that exists for the benefit of the administration. These tests drive
and shape the system, the curriculum and textbooks. However, teaching to
the test clearly doesn't address the urgent needs of many children,
especially in our cities.
This is Bill Duesing, Living on the Earth
(C) 1998, Bill Duesing, Solar Farm Education, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491
Bill and Suzanne Duesing operate the Old Solar Farm (raising NOFA/CT
certified organic vegetables) and Solar Farm Education (working on urban
agriculture projects in southern Connecticut and producing "Living on the
Earth" radio programs). Their collection of essays Living on the Earth:
Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future is available from Bill
Duesing, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491 for $14 postpaid. These essays first
appeared on WSHU, public radio from Fairfield, CT. New essays are posted
weekly at http://www.wshu.org/duesing and those since November 1995 are
To Unsubscribe: Email [email protected] with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email [email protected] with the command | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43524000 |
From birds to bees, Florida's cold weather has taken an unprecedented toll on some wildlife species -- requiring the rescue of more than 2,000 sea turtles, the loss of millions of dollars' worth of tropical fish and massive fish kills in rivers and streams.
And though warm weather would offer a badly needed respite to help their survival, there's worry that it'll be especially hard on the animals if there's another cold snap.
"Last year we had a hard freeze in early February. I just hope it does not play out again this year," said David Boozer, executive director of the Florida Tropical Fish Farms Association and the Florida Aquaculture Association.
Florida is the top producer of tropical aquarium fish, an industry worth $43 million a year, but dozens of farms have suffered massive die-offs of their fish stock, Boozer said. Some farms have lost 75 percent to 90 percent of their fish, which are kept in ponds and lakes.
"Goldfish and koi are coldwater fish, but some stock are so acclimated to the warm weather that there have been problems," Boozer said. "The true tropical varieties, such as African and South American cichlids, have been hit heavily."
The losses will make it tough for some farms to recover, and aquarium owners may have trouble finding some varieties, or they might see higher prices. Florida fish-farm owners are worried about losing market share to competing fish farms in China.
Most farms have hatcheries with breeding fish to rebuild stock, but it'll take months for some farms to recover and another cold snap would make it difficult to start that recovery, Boozer said.
Florida sea-turtle rehabilitators have organized a massive rescue of more than 2,000 turtles suffering cold-stun syndrome. The cold water paralyzes them, making them unable to swim or feed.
Allen Foley, wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said hundreds of turtles have been pulled out of the Indian River Lagoon, which stretches through Volusia and Brevard and three other counties. Hundreds more turtles have been rescued from St. Joseph's Bay in the Panhandle and the Tampa Bay area.
Many of the Indian River Lagoon turtles were taken to warehouses in Brevard County, where they can be triaged and sent to rehabilitation centers.
"It's disturbing to see that many animals coming in," said Brian Stacy, a veterinarian with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and the National Marine Fisheries Services who helped in one of the triage warehouses. "It's madness."
Every place capable of caring for sea turtles has been overwhelmed. SeaWorld Orlando has 140 sea turtles in its care and had 20 others that didn't survive. Volusia County's Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet has had 67 sea turtles come in from the cold, including several 200-pound green sea turtles.
Tammy Bolerjack, turtle-rehabilitation specialist at the Volusia facility, said the turtles need a few days to warm up but have recovered quickly, and some are ready to be released.
The Panhandle turtles haven't fared as well, Foley said. About 25 percent of those didn't survive the cold.
On Tuesday, about 60 turtles rescued during the early days of the cold spell were released Tuesday at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Broward County.
Volusia's facility has also rehabilitated several dozen seabirds, including northern gannets, brown pelicans and several species of gulls and terns that suffered in the cold. As with other wildlife, the cold slows their metabolism.
Some pelagic birds, including several northern gannets, were emaciated and have needed additional fluids.
Volusia officials hope to release several of the birds later this week as the weather warms up.
Hundreds of warm-water fish have died in rivers, streams and lakes, with at least 40 fish kills reported to the state database — from large barracuda in mangroves in the Keys, to large schools of mullet, sheepshead and snook near the east coast and amberjack and catfish in Tampa Bay.
The fish kills have caused a feeding frenzy among birds, according to local bird watchers.
Wildlife officials have warned anglers that fishing regulations still apply.
Manatees have been taking refuge from the cold at springs and canals near power plants and other pockets of available warm water. Blue Spring State Park has hit new records this winter, with a one-day record of 311 manatees counted Jan. 8.
Cold water can be lethal to the sea cows. The weather was a key factor in last year's death-tally record, with 56 of the 429 manatee deaths blamed on the cold.
This year, two manatees have died and four have been rescued from cold stress, including a 7-foot young female pulled out of a canal in the St. Petersburg area last week. On Tuesday, the animal-care team of SeaWorld Orlando rescued another young female manatee, a 1-year-old, 280-pound sea cow found by Sebastian Inlet. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43544000 |
The February 9 start of the Lunar New Year in East Asia is fast approaching, and snake-themed decorations are everywhere in honor of this year's titular animal. However, travel during the holiday season is laborious, and festivities are accompanied by long lines, sold-out tickets, crowded trains and stations, and uncomfortable train rides that last days. The spring travel period in China, or chunyun, begins about two weeks before the New Year and is said to comprise the world's largest single human migration.
This year, in addition to the usual travel nightmares, Beijing residents are lugging their baggage full of gifts through dangerous levels of pollution to get to the station. Ideally, by the time they return from relaxing with their relatives, the air will have improved from its currently severe levels of toxicity and opacity to its normal dull gray hue.
Click through the slideshow above to see the preparations underway as people travel home to celebrate. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43551000 |
Approximately 2400 seeds per gram
seed-counts are only a guide, not to be used for accurate calculations.
B and T World Seeds' reference number:
USDA average, annual, minimum temperature Zone:8
Type of plant - bulb or plant, depending on season
Flower: frag. YELLOW turns ORANGE, fades PINK
Height in meters: 1
Oenothera stricta Sulphurea
is included in the following B and T World Seeds flowering plant categories:
9: Alpine and Rock Garden Seed List (Hardy and Tender)
43: Herbaceous Border Plant Seed List
55: Fragrant or Aromatic Flower or Foliage Plant Seeds
110: South American Native Plant Seed List
Oenothera stricta Sulphurea seeds will usually germinate in 15-30 days. Normally will only germinate with light so surface sow. Sow seeds about 1mm deep in a Well drained seed sowing mix at about 20°C.
Reduce soil temperature at night. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43562000 |
Sir Henry Sidney (by or after
Arnold van Brounckhorst, 1573).
Search the Archive
Add or Correct Items
History of Sidney Scholarship
Introduction to the Site
Guide for Browsers
(Thomas Lant, 1587)
Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke
(Nicholas Hilliard, ca. 1590)
Penelope and Dorothy Devereux
(from the First (?) Edition
of Defence of Poetry)
History of Sidney Scholarship
Introduction: Sidney as a Rennaisance Man
When Sidney died in 1586 fighting against Catholic forces in the Netherlands, he was mourned in England and on the Continent as few Englishman below the ranks of royalty had ever been mourned. The Dutch honored him as a national hero, offering to build him a great monument and publishing nearly three dozen elegies in his memory. Many citizens gathered at the docks along with the twelve hundred English soldiers who came to see his coffin off on its journey to England. His own countrymen arranged one of the most elaborate funerals ever given an English subject and published a flood of elegies, including two volumes prepared at Oxford and one at Cambridge, which brought together the work of more than a hundred and forty contributors. Other memoirs and elegies were published separately by a long and distinguished list of mourners, including Barnabe Barnes, Richard Barnfield, Nicholas Breton, William Byrd, Thomas Campion, Thomas Churchyard, Henry Constable, Samuel Daniel, Michael Drayton, Fulke Greville, George Peele, Sir Walter Ralegh, Edmund Spenser, George and Bernard Whetstone, and Sidney's sister, the Countess of Pembroke.
To understand these extraordinary public expressions of grief and respect, one must not only consider what Sidney accomplished in his brief life but also what others hoped that he would accomplish. In a phrase later remembered by Charles Dickens, he once described himself as a man of "great expectations," and it is hard to think of any commoner of his generation who was born with more advantages or more promise. His mother, Lady Mary Sidney, was a Dudley, daughter of the Earl of Northumberland and sister-in-law to Lady Jane Grey. His father, Sir Henry Sidney, was a favorite of the young King Edward VI and was--at least at the time of Sidney's birth--extraordinarily wealthy, holding considerable property in his own right and standing as prospective heir to other land-holdings scattered through several counties of England. He later served Queen Elizabeth in several prominent posts, most notably as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Sir Philip's uncles, the earls of Leicester and Warwick, were among the most wealthy and powerful men in the realm, and he was also connected to influential circles at court through his marriage to the daughter of Elizabeth's great secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham.
Throughout his life, Sidney hoped that his expectations would be fulfilled in high office and in great affairs of state. Indeed, from 1575 to 1585, he played limited but visible roles as a courtier, an ambassador, a member of Parliament, and a joint Master of Ordnance, helping to fortify Dover and the coast against the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada. Unfortunately, however, he was too impetuous and too outspoken--particularly in supporting the radical Protestant faction surrounding his uncle, the Earl of Leicester--to gain the confidence of the Queen. In consequence, he was never given responsibilities that matched either his abilities or his connections at court. Though many prominent leaders in England and on the Continent regarded him as a promising candidate to lead an international Protestant League against the Catholic forces of France and Spain, his part in that effort was ultimately confined to that of a military governor and a field commander fighting limited skirmishes against the Spanish in the Netherlands.
It was not in his public actions, then, but in his private character and in his literary works that his "great expectations" were fulfilled. He was the most illustrious English example of what we now call the "Renaissance man," cultivating excellence in a remarkable range of intellectual, artistic, and athletic pursuits. As his friend Fulke Greville remarked in his Life of Sidney, "His end was not writing, even while he wrote; nor his knowledge molded for tables, or schools; but both his wit and understanding bent upon his heart, to make himself and others, not in words or opinion, but in life and action, good and great."
Though not as learned as Spenser or Jonson or Milton, he was well read in the classics and in contemporary works of literature, philosophy, and history. His languages included Latin and French, Italian and Spanish, a gentleman's Greek and perhaps a smattering of German. He was the most dazzling rhetorician of his generation and a remarkably prolific and innovative writer, both in poetry and in prose. He was also a student of military tactics and a fearless--some say reckless--soldier. He took an active interest in the exploration and colonization of the New World, once attempting to sail with Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies and failing only because the Queen sent messengers to the docks recalling him to court. As a patron, he encouraged artists and musicians, prose stlylists and rhetoricians, philosophers and historians, and--most of all--poets. In return, unprecedented numbers honored him in the prefaces and dedications to their books and in elegies published after his death.
He was, in short, a man one who valued a life of thought and action on a grand scale. Though known for his tendency to seriousness, and even melancholy, he was also fond of play, delighting endlessly in the turns and counter-turns of his own wit and taking part in public entertainments at court as well as private amusements at his sister's country estate at Wilton. In both his life and his works, one continually senses a powerful and restless desire to excel, though it is nearly always concealed behind the studied aristocratic ease and self-deprecation that the Italians call "sprezzatura."
Aside from his own self-fashioning, his greatest achievement was the extraordinary body of writings that he left behind unpublished in England when he departed for the Netherlands in 1585. His Defence of Poetry was the first major work of literary theory in English and remains one of the most widely read. His sequence of songs and sonnets, Astrophil and Stella, began the great English vogue for sonnets in the 1590s and served as a model for the cycles of Spenser, Shakespeare, and many others. For nearly a century, his prose romance Arcadia remained the most widely admired and frequently reprinted work of fiction in the language.
In all these literary endeavors, Sidney was important not only as an innovator but also as a transmitter of cultural tradition. He was unusually receptive to literary forms, techniques, and ideas popular on the Continent, helping to bring many of them across the Channel for the first time. He was, for example, the first major English author to assimilate the teachings of Aristotle's Poetics and the neo-classical criticism of Renaissance Italy. He helped to popularize Hellenistic romance and Italian poetic style, and his treatments of Machivellian politics and Epicurean philosophy are among the earliest in English literature. Other writers of the age may have been greater, but none did more to inspire the movement in literature and the arts that we call the "Elizabethan Renaissance."
Initial Fame, 1587-1674
During the decade following Sidney's death, the dissemination of his works was limited by his family's slowness in putting them into print. Authorized editions of Arcadia, Astrophil and Stella, and the Defence of poetry were gradually released, but always under the pressure of unauthorized texts derived from manuscripts that had circulated among his friends and acquaintances. Not until 1598 did his sister finally publish all of his main works in the folio collection that passes under the title of The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. This compilation became enormously popular, going through ten authorized printings before the end of the seventeenth century and even attracting the attention of literary pirates in Scotland. So popular was the title work in this volume that, although long and complex already, it gradually became encrusted with continuations by other authors. Sir William Alexander began this process in 1616 by supplying material to round out the unfinished Third Book. His continuation appeared in all seventeenth-century English editions of Arcadia from 1621 on. Subsequent issues added Sir Richard Beling's attempt at a Sixth Book and James Johnstoun's supplement to Book III.
Abroad, Sidney's Arcadia was also the most popular of his works. In France, parts of it were translated in manuscript by Jean Loiseau de Tourval between 1607 and 1610. Complete versions were published in the years 1624-25 by two competing translators, Geneviéve Chappelain and Jean Boudoin. In Germany, a translation by an unknown author writing under the pen name Valentinus Theocritus von Hirschberg appeared in 1629 and, with extensive revisions by the well-known author Martin Opitz, went through five more editions between 1638 and 1658. In the Netherlands, a Dutch translation by Felix van Sambix de Jonghe was also successful, going to press three times between 1639 and 1659. In the last year of its run, it was joined by an Italian version by Livio Alessandri.
The list of translations of Sidney's other works reveals a growing interest in them, as well. In the first century and a half, their number included a partial Dutch rendering of the Defence of Poetry published in 1619, a complete translation printed in 1712 by Joan de Haes, and a sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript version, most likely by Juan Ruiz de Bustamante. Later publications include another translation of the Defence issued in 1891 by Albert Verwey, a 1946 Italian rendering by Silvio Policardi, extensive selections from Astrophil and Stella brought out in German by Graffin Maria Lanckoronska in 1936, and two twentienth-century French versions of the complete sequence by Charles Garnier and Michel Poirier.
The popularity of the early editions and translations of Sidney's works, coupled with his reputation as a national hero, insured the attentions of a long list of imitators, chroniclers, and commentators. In England, a continual stream of literary imitations appeared during the century following his death, mostly in the genres of the sonnet, the chivalric romance, and the pastoral eclogue, but also in tragedy and tragicomedy. Arcadia influenced the productions of no fewer than nine playwrights, including Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Shirley. The century also brought forth a good deal of biographical material by John Hooker, John Stow, Fulke Greville, and others, and it produced a scattering of printed comments on Sidney's works. The latter are limited in scope and depth of analysis, but they are not without interest. Early discussions of the poetry, for example, include speculations on the identity of Stella and culturally revealing attempts to minimize the role of Sidney's sister in translating the Psalms. Although early references to the Defence of Poetry are surprisingly rare, there are several discussions of the minor prose works and entertainments, including Four Foster Children of Desire, the Letter to the Queen, and a translation of du Plessis-Mornay's Trueness of the Christian Religion that was begun by Sidney and finished by Arthur Golding.
As one might expect, Arcadia received the greatest attention. Soon after its publication, Gervase Markham and Thomas Wilson recognized its debts to earlier literature, notably to Heliodorus's Greek romance Aethiopica and to Jorge de Montemayor's Spanish pastoral Diana. John Hoskins combed through it for illustrations of the tropes and figures that characterize its widely imitated style. Early commentators also made the first attempts to solve the thorny problem of its genre and intent. Some, such as Fulke Greville, regarded it as an epic poem written to instill serious moral and political principles. Others, including a surprisingly large audience outside the upper classes, read it as a romance of unrequited love and faithful friendship and were drawn by its crowded action and lofty sentiments. Spenser's friend Gabriel Harvey listed five points in which it seems to have exerted a special appeal: "amorous courting, sage counseling, valorous fighting, ... delightful pastime by way of pastoral exercises," and "politic secrets of privity."
Not all readers admired Arcadia as much as Greville and Harvey. In Every Man out of His Humour and again in published conversations with William Drummond of Hawthornden, Ben Jonson took great pleasure in ridiculing Sidney's style, laughing at him for "making everyone [from shepherds to kings] speak as well as himself." After the story went around that Charles I had read Pamela's prayer from the Captivity Episode in preparing for his execution, John Milton charged the King with impiety and Sidney with having written "a vain, amatorious poem." By the end of the seventeenth century, the enormous popularity of Arcadia was waning, Commentators tended to repeat the observations of their predecessors without offering much evidence that they had bothered to read the book for themselves, and literary authors lost their interest. After 1650, only scattered borrowings occur, and some, such as those in Charles Sorel's Bergere extravagant, are parodies.
Decline and Revival, 1674-1900
By 1674, when the last of the seventeenth-century editions of Sidney's works appeared, his literary reputation was in sharp decline. By the second quarter of the eighteenth century, it was in eclipse. To be sure, the Augustan preoccupation with neo-classical criticism preserved some measure of interest in the Defence of Poetry, which is reflected in the publication of separate editions in 1752 and 1787. Yet these seem to have sold badly, and the only other reprintings of Sidney's works were the collected editions published in London in 1724-25 and in Dublin in 1739 and Lord Hailes's edition of the correspondence with Languet, which was issued in 1776. Sidney continued to be revered as a half-legendary national hero, but his works were not widely read. Not until 1829 would there be another edition of Astrophil and Stella, and Arcadia would not appear again until Hain Friswell's condensed version of 1867.
The reasons for the decline are not hard to identify. Sonnets were long out of fashion, as were pastoral romances. The luxuriant Arcadian style, so admired in Sidney's day, did not fare well with readers taught to admire classical simplicity and Royal Society prose, and Sidney's Arcadia was much too long and involuted to hold readers who were put off by its style. As William Bond has noted (438), it is no accident that the first simplified paraphrase of the romance, stripped of the eclogues, appears in this period. Horace Walpole seems to have spoken for many when he characterized the book as a "tedious, lamentable, pedantic, pastoral romance, which the patience of a young virgin in love cannot now wade through." Ironically, Walpole's attacks on Sidney's literary reputation may actually have helped to preserve it by rousing a long list of commentators to his defence. For the most part, however, Sidney was allowed to sleep with his fathers, forgotten by nearly everyone except a few learned souls who were still interested in Milton's attacks on Charles I or Shakespeare's borrowings in King Lear.
The revival of serious interest in Sidney came with the antiquarian movement of the early nineteenth century. Thomas Zouch's Memoir of Sir Philip Sidney, which was the first attempt at a critical biography since the author's death, stirred a good deal of new interest. Bibliographers such as Egerton Brydges and James O. Halliwell-Phillipps added to it by reexamining the early texts of Sidney's works, and soon important new editions began to appear: the first printing of the Sidney Psalms in 1823, William Gray's Miscellaneous Works in 1829, Steuart Pears's edition of the correspondence in 1845. William Hazlitt helped keep this new-found interest alive by attacking Sidney even more outrageously and derisively than had Walpole, and Isaac Disraeli and Charles Lamb rose to his defense. By mid-century, such casual and gentlemanly interest in Sidney began to bear fruit in serious scholarship. In 1862, H.R. Fox Bourne raised the standards for biographical studies by publishing a lengthy memoir based on early documents, many of which had sat neglected on the shelves of the State Papers Office for nearly three centuries. In the 1860s and 70s, periodicals such as Athenaeum and Notes and Queries began to run frequent articles on Sidney and his place in literary history, and in the 1880s and 90s, there was a flurry of interest in his prose style. At about the same time, scholarly editions began to appear, including well-annotated texts of the Defence by Albert Cook and Evelyn Shuckburgh, a new Astrophil and Stella by Alfred Pollard, a scholarly edition of the same work and the Defence by Ewald Flègel, and a facsimile of the 1590 Arcadia by Oskar Sommers.
Sidney Scholarship, 1900-present
In the first half of the twentieth century, new manuscripts were discovered, and these encouraged even more ambitious scholarly efforts. As early as 1887, Emil Koeppel had noticed that Sidney's contemporaries sometimes quoted a text of Arcadia different from the published versions, yet twenty years passed before Bertram Dobell finally happened upon a manuscript of the Old Arcadia. Subsequently, eight other manuscripts came to light, offering scholars a rare opportunity to study a major Renaissance author's methods of composition, revision, and manuscript circulation. Scholars and collectors also discovered a variety of letters and minor poems by Sidney that had never before been edited. With such texts to work with, Albert Feuillerat was able to produce the first nearly complete edition of Sidney's works, which appeared between 1912 and 1926. In the same period, Malcolm W. Wallace published his Life of Sir Philip Sidney, which long remained the standard biography.
Despite advances in biographical and textual scholarship, however, works such as Arcadia and the sonnets were not much better understood in 1926 than they had been a hundred years earlier. Until the middle of the twentieth century, commentators tended to focus on matters external to the works themselves: sources and influences, Sidney's life and Elizabeth's court, Renaissance fashions in prose-style and metrics. With a few notable exceptions, such as R.W. Zandvoort's comparison of the two versions of Arcadia, even the finest studies of the romance tended to isolate one of its elements or to study the whole only in relation to larger historical developments. Edwin Greenlaw, for example, aroused a good deal of interest in Sidney's use of Epicurean philosophy during Pamela's debate with Cecropia in the Captivity Episode. Kaspar Brunhuber and Herbert Wynford Hill began systematic examinations of Sidney's influence on Renaissance drama, which have since been greatly extended by M.C. Andrews and others. William Dinsmore Briggs sparked interest in Sidney's political philosophy, which subsequently developed into a major topic of scholarly investigation that has been carried on more recently by Martin Bergbusch, Roger Howell, and Martin Raitiére. Kenneth O. Myrick and E.M.W. Tillyard made important contributions by recovering Renaissance theories of genre and exploring Sidney's grounding in literary criticism, particularly that of the Italian neo-classical movement. Not until the advent of New Criticism, however, did substantial numbers of scholars begin systematic internal analysis of Arcadia.
Until 1965, the rich inner patterns of Sidney's poetry likewise remained largely unexplored, though an influential section in Hallet Smith's 1952 book Elizabethan Poetry made important strides in that direction. Smith treated Astrophil and Stella as a carefully articulated sequence, in which Astrophil is a deliberate persona and the structure of the whole is essentially dramatic. Most scholarship of the period, however, was concerned with individual poems or with external matters such as Sidney's influence on later poets, his experiments with classical prosody and Continental verse forms, or his adaptation of the conventions of earlier sonneteers. The most important debate of the period had to do with the relation of the sonnets to Sidney's own life. The controversy had its origins in the nineteenth-century, when commentators such as Edward Arber and J.A. Symonds read the sequence as a more or less straightforward revelation of Sidney's unrequited love for Lady Penelope Rich. Around the turn of the century, however, Sidney Lee and others began to dismiss such heavily autobiographical interpretations as Romantic excesses. In the 1930s, Kenneth Myrick contributed to this change in approach by concentrating on Sidney's self-conscious role as a courtier-poet, and in the 1950s, J.W. Lever further undermined the biographical approach by revealing the many ways in which apparently spontaneous and "sincere" sonnets are actually transformations of conventions established by earlier poets on the Continent. In the 1960s, John Buxton took the last step in this process of dismantling the Romantic conception of Astrophil by arguing that Sidney did not write about Lady Rich because he loved her but because, like a painter, he needed a model. Nonetheless, the autobiographical theory never entirely lost its appeal. It continued to appear in the work of scholars such as Mona Wilson and Patrick Cruttwell.
In the same period, the Defence enjoyed attention of a more systematic sort than either Arcadia or the poetry. Of particular importance were studies of its historical background. Kenneth Myrick, for example, proposed a widely influential analysis of its structure based on the outline of a classical oration, and he and others, such as Marvin T. Herrick, traced its philosophical roots to the literary criticism of Aristotle and the neo-Aristotelian critics of Renaissance Italy. In 1940, however, this latter view was challenged by Irene Samuel, who argued that the primary influence in Sidney's critical thinking was Plato. During the next two decades, the dispute flared into a major point of controversy, with opinion gradually shifting toward Plato. At about the same time, however, a third group of scholars began to argue in favor of yet another major source: Christian arguments against the arts put forward by Cornelius Agrippa and echoed in attacks on the English stage by Stephen Gosson. Proponents of this view included Jacob Bronowski, A.C. Hamilton, and Harry Berger.
The most notable change in Sidney studies in the twentieth century took place from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, when the number of publications began to rise exponentially. In that period, scholars recovered more items of Sidney's correspondence and more manuscripts, including the Helmingham Hall text of The Lady of May and the Norwich manuscript of the Defence of Poetry. They also undertook new and more carefully researched editions of Sidney's works, including William Ringler's collection of the poetry, Jean Robertson's text of the Old Arcadia, Katherine Duncan-Jones and J.A. van Dorsten's Miscellaneous Prose, and Geoffrey Shepherd's edition of the Defence. Scholarly books and dissertations, which once appeared at wide intervals, became an annual harvest, and they tended to concentrate more narrowly on the internal dynamics of Sidney's works than they had before. Even historical scholars tended to shift their emphasis, placing research into Sidney's political and cultural context at the service of literary criticism rather than the other way around. Whatever the ultimate causes of this change--whether the advent of New Criticism or the proliferation of universities in North America, which increased dramatically the number of publishing scholars and so brought about increased specialization and higher rates of publication--the change was dramatic.
In studies of the poetry, it made itself felt in the number of books devoted altogether to Sidney and in the effort to interrelate various parts of the canon and to explore a wide variety of critical strategies. Robert Montgomery's work in the late 1950s and early 1960s, for example, considered style and rhythm, imagery and unifying themes, and set forth a theory that the structure of Astrophil and Stella follows shifts in the psychology of Astrophil. David Kalstone's 1967 book emphasized the role of sonnet conventions, explicated the poems more closely than had earlier studies, and also considered elements common to the sonnets and the poems of Arcadia. Neil Rudenstine worked systematically through the corpus of Sidney's verse, arguing against major shifts in his style and emphasizing the recurring element of dramatic tension and debate.
Even more noticeable were changes in the scholarship on Arcadia. Older varieties of stylistic analysis, which tended to focus on the standard tropes and figures of classical rhetoric and to set Sidney's prose style off against Euphuism, gave way to studies of persuasive strategy, narrative tone, and verbal nuance. Beginning with the work of Walter Davis in the 1960s, scholars such as Nancy Lindheim, Elizabeth Dipple, and Josephine Roberts focused on the interrelations between structure, theme, and generic form. There were also numerous studies of the connections between the major parts of the work: the main plot and the comic subplot, the earlier Asian adventures of the young heroes and their later intrigues in Arcadia, the prose narration and the pastoral eclogues. Such scholarship--represented in the work of Arthur Amos, Jon Lawry, Franco Marenco, and others--made the coherence of Sidney's complex design more apparent. As more detailed studies appeared, however, they also left the moral and political principles of the work less certain than they had seemed to earlier generations. The work of Richard Lanham, Robert Eril Levine, Dorothy Connell, Richard McCoy, Alan Sinfield, and others placed new emphasis on such things as the irony and the playful unreliability of Sidney the narrator, the constant cross-currents of dialectically opposed values in the speeches of his characters, and the difficulty of judging their actions. Perhaps for this reason, much criticism of the period turned on morally ambiguous scenes: Pyrocles's early debate with Musidorus about love, the lovers' conduct on the night of their elopements (especially in the original version), and the harsh judgments and extraordinary reversals that they undergo at the end of the book.
Examinations of moral and philosophical ambiguity also figured prominently in criticism of the Defence. The most frequently debated issue was that of philosophical coherence. To the possibility that Sidney had not altogether succeeded in reconciling the Platonic, Aristotelian, and Christian elements of his theory were added others: that his mind was deeply divided over the proper relation between sensuous pleasure and moral instruction, between verisimilitude and poetic justice; that he had no settled standard by which to judge poetry and so created conscious "fictions" in defending it; and that his main interest lay in rhetorical maneuvers to win the audience rather than in philosophic coherence. In response, critics offered ingenious defenses of the Defence, suggesting, for example, that Sidney intentionally assumed the mask of an enthusiastic but philosophically naive orator, or that his arguments derived from intellectual traditions now obscure to us, such as humanist forms of neo-Platonism. Prominent in the renewed evaluation of Sidney's philosophical position were Forrest G. Robinson's study of Sidney's visual epistemology, S.K. Henninger's studies of his aesthetic and critical assumptions, and Andrew D. Weiner's study of his particular brand of Protestantism.
It may be that, like the moralist Fulke Greville or the romantic Charles Lamb, critics of our own day have refashioned Sidney as a mirror to reflect themselves. Certainly attempts to portray him as a moral relativist, for example, or as an anti-war satirist or someone torn by existential doubts strike an oddly modern note when applied to the man who defied the Earl of Oxford on the tennis court, opposed the Queen over the French marriage, and rode half-armed into the caliver fire at Zutphen. Yet it is clear that Sidney was a great deal more complex than earlier generations of scholars recognized. The most comprehensive studies of Sidney's life and works listed here--works such as A.C. Hamilton's Sir Philip Sidney: A Study of His Life and Works, Dorothy Connell's Sir Philip Sidney: The Maker's Mind, and Katherine Duncan-Jones's Sir Philip Sidney, Courtier Poet--paint an extraordinarily lifelike portrait, one that justifies the boundless praise of those who knew the poet personally. As their footnotes attest, however, such books have benefited from the best that has been written in all the periods represented in this volume. If the scholarship of our own day rises above that of earlier generations--if, using methods such as those of New Historicism, feminism, psychological criticism, and other forms of post-structuralist analysis, we come to understand still better the complexities of Sidney's character and context and the extraordinary richness of his art--it will be, in part, because the insights on which we draw have been gathering and maturing for more than four hundred years.
Saint Louis University | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43578000 |
Hydrology of the Bow River
There’s a word beneath the water, and the Bow River belongs to God. Have you been listening?
A Scientific Commentary on Genesis 7:11
Although committed to the principle of sola Scriptura, Calvin recognized that the Bible would have been written in terms its original recipients would have understood. Calvin inherited the medieval cosmology of his time, a way of viewing the world heavily influenced by Greek thought and one which was about to receive shocks from astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo. But not just yet.
Off with Their Heads
The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. “Off with his head!” she said, without even looking round
Surprised by Jack, Part 3: Mere Depravity
“Man is now a horror to God and to himself and a creature ill-adapted to the universe not because God made him so but because he has made himself so by the abuse of his free will. To my mind this is the sole function of the doctrine [of the Fall].”—C.S. Lewis
Scientists Tell Their Stories: George Murphy
During his seminary education, Dr. Murphy also gained a deeper understanding of Luther’s theology of the cross, and he realized that it’s really the best way to approach the science and theology dialogue.
Series: It's an Old World After All
In our sixth BioLogos videocast, we take a look at the age of the Earth. We explain four methods scientists have used to determine that age: tree ring, lake varve, radiometric, and seafloor spread dating, and also offer some theological insight on how an old earth can fit with the first chapters of Genesis.
Series: From the Dust
In this series, Ryan Pettey offers several clips from his powerful documentary "From the Dust". This feature-length film is divided up into various sections, each of which wrestles with the difficult problems that arise when reconciling Scripture with the theory of evolution. A light of hope dawns on the science-faith conversation, however, as scientists and theologians engage in honest dialogue about tough issues such as the interpretation of Genesis, the nature of the Fall, and the idea of random design. Their profound insights are sure to enlighten all minds, raise deeper questions, and provoke new thought.
Shaping the Human Soul, Part 5
We need to have an account of Sin in terms of habit. A lot of Christians today think of “sins” and discreet choices, but historically Christians have thought of Sin as a habitual tendency and disordering.
Science and the Bible: Theistic Evolution, Part 4
Scientist-theologians who write about TE also think about creation and theodicy in terms of divine “kenosis” and eschatology. So today we’ll conclude our “implications” section by returning to creational theology, and then turn to the ways TEs re-think Adam and Eve in light of human evolution.
A Pastor's Approach to Science
Since the sermon is the main component used to build the congregation’s collective approach to understanding how the church relates to the world, I want to take a few moments to lay out what has worked in my preaching and what has not when it comes to science, and more specifically, the subject of evolution.
How Do We Know the Earth is Old? (Infographic)
The BioLogos Forum is pleased to present this infographic about the tools scientists use to determine the age of the Earth. The graphic, titled "How Do We Know the Earth is Old?", uses data compiled and summarized by geology professor Dr. Gregg Davidson.
The Questions Update: The Age of the Earth
We've recently been looking at the evidence for an old earth and the long history and vibrancy of this view among evangelical Christians. Today’s post features a preview of the updated Question, “How are the ages of the Earth and universe calculated?" revised by Senior Web Consultant and Writer Deborah Haarsma.
Series: Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople
The six-part series by Dr. Keller considers three main clusters of questions lay people raise with their pastors when introduced to the teaching that biological evolution and biblical orthodoxy can be compatible. As a pastor and evangelist, Keller takes these concerns seriously and offers suggestions for addressing them without requiring believers to adopt a particular view or accept a definitive answer.
Behold, the Man
Anyone interested in the faith and science conversation knows that there currently is considerable, heated debate over the problem of “Adam.” I’d like to suggest that this argument is in significant ways misplaced.
The lyrics begin by painting a picture of the Fall as something in which each person has participated: “The fruit (of the Fall of man) is seen in every eye and every hand.”
Mystery and Faith
In today’s video, Michael Ramsden discusses the importance and meaning of mystery in the Bible.
Saturday Sermon: The Failure of Religion
In the last verses of Romans 2, the Apostle Paul relates the “failure of religion because of the terrible beauty of the Law” to the need for a regenerate heart.
"Centered": The Language of Science and Faith
In a recent interview with the Sirius XM radio show Centered, Karl Giberson sat down with host Don Belanus to discuss the book The Language of Science and Faith.
Life and Death
If you go back into the Genesis account, it says “now do not eat this or you will surely die”. There is a whole chain of events that happens when Adam and Eve decide they want to walk away from God.
Confidence and Slippery Slopes
In today’s video, Pastor Brian McClaren notes that the metaphor "slippery slopes" is problematic, because we often assume that we are on the top of the slope to begin with, when in fact changing our views may help us ascend the slope, or to reach a new peak of understanding on the other side. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43579000 |
In Journey into the Cell, we looked at the structure of the two major types of cells: prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Now we turn our attention to the "power houses" of a eukaryotic cell, the mitochondria.
Mitochondria are the cell's power producers. They convert energy into forms that are usable by the cell. Located in the cytoplasm, they are the sites of cellular respiration which ultimately generates fuel for the cell's activities. Mitochondria are also involved in other cell processes such as cell division and growth, as well as cell death.
Mitochondria: Distinguishing Characteristics
Mitochondria are bounded by a double membrane. Each of these membranes is a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins. The outermost membrane is smooth while the inner membrane has many folds. These folds are called cristae. The folds enhance the "productivity" of cellular respiration by increasing the available surface area.
The double membranes divide the mitochondrion into two distinct parts: the intermembrane space and the mitochondrial matrix. The intermembrane space is the narrow part between the two membranes while the mitochondrial matrix is the part enclosed by the innermost membrane. Several of the steps in cellular respiration occur in the matrix due to its high concentration of enzymes.
Mitochondria are semi-autonomous in that they are only partially dependent on the cell to replicate and grow. They have their own DNA, ribosomes and can make their own proteins. Similar to bacteria, mitochondria have circular DNA and replicate by a reproductive process called fission.
Journey into the Cell:
To learn more about cells, visit: | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43580000 |
Marie Vandenbeusch, Egyptologist
Last season, three fragmentary fertility figures were found in house E13.6, with another four recovered from other houses within the town at Amara West.
These are all hand-modelled clay objects, mostly rectangular in shape, without a distinct human, or even female, shape, other than an occasional hint of shoulders, pubic triangle or breasts. Similar objects have been found in various ancient settlements in Egypt and Nubia.
A few days ago, Rizwan Safir and Vera Michel discovered a new fragment in villa D12.5 (F2284). This figurine is rather different. Very fragmentary, it is preserved only from the navel to the upper part of the legs, but preserving rather realistically modelled buttocks. The genitalia are represented by a series of dots gathered inside a triangle. A further detail is the large dot indicating a navel, surrounded by smaller dots that might represent a tattoo.
The generous, curvaceous form of the figurine contrasts with the schematic, almost geometric, shapes of the other Amara West figures. Here the nature and purpose of the figure is more immediately apparent.
Such figurines of naked women can be modelled in clay, but examples in faience, wood and stone are known, found in settlements, tombs and temples. Sometimes referred to as “concubines of the dead”, “fertility figures” or “female figurines”, most scholars believe they are related to conception, rebirth or sexuality.
In short, they could clearly be used in life as well as death, sometimes in association with divinities. Their purpose was most likely benevolent, and hints at the needs and fears of those living at Amara West.
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Did You Know?
Facts, Figures &
Folklore about Christmas
Dec 15 : 10 days till Christmas
Did you know that the word Advent comes from the Latin term “adventur”, meaning arrival?
The Advent Calendar begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and counts down the 25 days until the holiday’s arrival. The tradition of counting down the days until Christmas began in the early 19th century in Holland, where families marked a chalk line on their front door each day before Christmas Eve.
BTW – Have you checked out our 2009 Advent Calendar? A new holiday video each day!
Christmas is the Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and is a central part of the winter holiday season. In Christianity the holiday marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. And although traditionally a Christian holiday, Christmas is widely celebrated worldwide by many non-Christians.
Popular holiday customs include the playing of seasonal music, gift-giving, the exchange of greeting cards, observing special church celebrations and masses. The display of holiday decorations are common; including Christmas trees, indoor and outdoor lights, garlands, mistletoe, and nativity scenes.
Santa Claus, a popular mythological figure, is also an important part of the celebration and is associated with the bringing of gifts for children.
Join us for a new Did You Know holiday fact each day as we countdown to Christmas. This year Christmas Eve will be celebrated Thursday December 24, Christmas Friday December 25.
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The Portrait of a Fly (part 1): Come fly with me
For more than a hundred years, scientists have used the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to study the fundamentals of developmental biology and genetics.
But as biological understanding and techniques have improved, we are now able to do sophisticated genetic experiments in animals further along the evolutionary scale, such as mice.
What role, then, for the fly today?
At the entrance to the Fly Facility at the University of Manchester, there is a poster on the wall. It proudly proclaims that Drosophila (a genus of fruit flies) has won six Nobel Prizes. All were won in conjunction with human collaborators, of course, who took the glory (not to mention the cash).
The Fly Facility, which is funded by the university and the Wellcome Trust, brings together the university’s collective expertise in fly husbandry and research techniques. It supports a community of 13 research groups who consider the potential of the fly stronger than ever for informing us not just about basic biology but about human diseases as well. I suspect they dream of one day adding a seventh Nobel to Drosophila‘s trophy cabinet.
Dr Andreas Prokop, the head of a laboratory in the Faculty of Life Sciences and an unashamed proselytiser for fruit flies in research, is keen to show them off. He takes me around the Fly Facility’s specialist microscopes and the breeding rooms where the flies are grown. One room is kept at the scientific standard temperature of 25°C, while the other is at 18°C for experiments in which researchers want to slow down Drosophila‘s usual development cycle (this works both ways: some experiments are done at 29°C to speed up development).
Inside each breeding room, the shelves are full of trays and incubators with different fly stocks. The flies live in plastic vials – one genetic stock per vial – with food and a cotton wool plug to stop them flying away. These are no house flies: each adult fly is only a couple of millimetres long, their bodies are pale with black markings and they have bright red eyes.
Fertilised female flies can lay hundreds of eggs over several days. Embryonic development takes 21 hours (at 25°C), at which point each egg hatches to release a Drosophila larva. After a few heady days of continuous feeding at the bottom of its vial, the larva wanders up the side of the vial, away from its food source, and forms a hard shell called a pupa. At this stage, all of its organs are broken down and restructured in their adult forms. Eventually, a mere ten days after the egg was laid, an adult fly emerges from the pupal case.
Pretty fly with a white eye
The first of the Drosophila Nobels was awarded in 1933 to Thomas Hunt Morgan, whose ‘fly room’ at Columbia University laid the groundwork for pretty much all Drosophila research that has followed.
Morgan was interested in problems of development and how heredity might help him understand them. He spent two years searching for Drosophila with clear, heritable variations in characteristics so that he could start to unpick how the differences had been inherited. At last, in 1909, he found white-eyed male flies among his normally red-eyed stock. Crucially, eye colour was a sex-linked variation, which meant the gene responsible had to be on the Drosophila sex chromosome (Drosophila have four pairs of chromosomes, whereas humans have 23; in both species, the sex chromosomes are either XX for females or XY for males). It was the first unambiguous link between a chromosome and a characteristic.
Morgan’s style in the lab was democratic. It spawned a school of pupils and collaborators who spread the techniques he developed around the world, training the next generation to do the experiments that would connect characteristics to chromosomes and, in time, to specific genes.
One of Morgan’s protégés was Hermann Muller. In the 1920s, Muller began looking for ways to change genes artificially rather than relying on spontaneous mutations. His research showed that X-rays caused widespread genetic mutation and chromosomal damage. It won him Drosophila‘s second Nobel, in 1946.
It was some time before Drosophila‘s next Nobel, but then it won three in the same year. Innovations in the 1970s and 1980s meant that DNA could now be manipulated directly. Using such techniques, Ed Lewis discovered genes that controlled the fly’s ‘body plan’, whereas Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus identified and classified genes that were crucial for early development. At around the same time, studies in other species showed that these genes had closely related analogues in other vertebrates. Such genes are described as being ‘conserved’, and it confirmed that Drosophila research had direct relevance to human biology.
Lewis, Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology for their work. As news of their success spread around the world, it’s possible Jules Hoffmann would have taken inspiration from it. In 1995, Hoffmann was director of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology in Strasbourg, part of France’s National Centre of Scientific Research. At the same time, he was attempting to unravel the fly’s immune system.
Humans have two lines of defence against infections, one of which is conserved from simpler organisms such as Drosophila. This is the innate immune system. Hoffmann discovered that a gene called Toll is central to the fly’s innate immune system, controlling the response to certain bacterial infections. Soon, related genes – so-called ‘Toll-like receptors’ – were discovered in other species, including humans. As well as contributing to our innate immune system, human Toll-like receptors activate our second line of defence, the adaptive immune system, which is slower to respond but incorporates components such as antibodies that ‘remember’ infections and establish immunity.
Reflecting on his work at the Euroscience Open Forum conference this summer, Hoffmann said that “no one in the medical field would have believed the systems [of fly and human] were so close in evolution”, but work in both species was needed to uncover the control mechanisms for our immune systems. Hoffmann shared the 2011 Nobel Prize with two of the scientists who had subsequently worked on Toll-like receptors in mice and people.
Despite such an illustrious history, Prokop says researchers began to drift away from Drosophila in favour of other species, most notably the mouse, in which exciting new techniques were continually being developed through the final decades of the 20th century and into the 21st. As genetics became easier to do in mammals, many scientists thought that experiments should be done in as highly evolved a species as possible.
However, Prokop thinks there is more to be gained by combining these new molecular and cell biology techniques with genetics in the fly. Mice, and indeed humans, tend to have multiple genes with overlapping functions, so when you ‘knock out’ a gene to see the effect on the organism of not having it, the results can be ambiguous. Drosophila has little or no such redundancy in its genes, plus the added advantages of having a rapid reproduction cycle and being relatively cheap to maintain.
Return of the fly
Prokop’s own research focuses on the cytoskeleton: the architecture of actin filaments and microtubules woven into structural networks inside all our cells. Far from being static scaffolding, however, these networks are dynamic, constantly rearranging and interacting with other proteins.
“The cytoskeleton is involved in every aspect of every single cellular function you can think of,” he says. Many of its components have been studied for decades but many fundamental questions remain.
“We know what these components do biochemically, but in the cellular context, we are not sure why those interactions are necessary. For example, the protein Tau was discovered in 1975. Today, we know it has a role in Alzheimer’s disease, but we still don’t really know what Tau is doing in the cell in the first place.
“One thing that blocks a lot of this type of research is that we do not have a proper understanding of the cell biology.”
Numerous proteins are known to bind to actin and microtubules, which implies some degree of regulation. But how do all these different functions and regulators combine in one coordinated system of cytoskeletal function? Prokop’s approach to finding an answer is to narrow down the question. He is studying the cytoskeleton in one specific context and, from that, aims to work up a general conceptual understanding that can be tested in other contexts and other species.
“I made three decisions,” he explains.
“First, study axonal growth. This is the best context for understanding what the cytoskeleton does because we know the principal roles of actin and microtubules, and there are drugs we can use to manipulate axonal growth – there aren’t many other places where we can get such meaningful results.”
Axons are the wires and cables of the nervous system. They connect neurons, the most important cells in the nervous system, and carry electrical signals between cells. Problems with axonal development lead to impaired cognition; damage later in life, from strokes or dementia for example, can cause sustained paralysis, permanent loss of basic brain functions such as coordination, or changes in personality.
Axons grow out of neuron cell bodies, led from the front by specialist structures called growth cones. Chemical gradients – varying concentrations of substances that attract or repel the growth cone – determine the direction of growth and help each axon find its target. How these external cues are translated into changes in the behaviour of the growth cone remains unclear. What we do know is that the actin and microtubule structures of the cytoskeleton are constantly rearranging at the axon tip and that they must be regulated in response to certain signals.
“There are probably hundreds of genes that regulate the cytoskeleton,” Prokop says. “But the really essential ones are relatively few. Those genes, and the targets they regulate, present us with a common mechanism dependent on a limited number of factors. Focusing our research on these genes and proteins within the context of axon growth is a good strategy for learning about their function in general. It is simpler than trying to tackle the entire cellular machinery.”
Laud of the flies
His second decision was to work on Drosophila, for the usual reasons: “Efficient genetics, low redundancy. If you knock out one gene, there is less opportunity for compensation than there would be in higher species. Plus you can take out combinations of classes of genes simultaneously and it would be extremely challenging, even impossible, to do that in the mouse. In flies, it takes between a couple of weeks and a few months, so you can create and generate possibilities, test hypotheses.”
Prokop stresses that this is no longer the simple fly genetics of years gone by, when a gene would be knocked out and the gross effects observed. Moreover, combined with modern Drosophila genetics are other sophisticated techniques, developed and well established in mice, for studying what is going on inside cells. Many of these techniques, which have now been adapted for use in fly neurons, visually label specific proteins within cells so that researchers can watch the dynamics of microtubules, actin and other proteins as they operate.
I see this for myself when Dr Natalia Sánchez-Soriano, a postdoctoral researcher in the Prokop laboratory, shows me around. As well as looking at neurons in developing fly embryos, they grow Drosophila neurons in culture. “It takes around 30 fly brains to make four cultures,” she explains, holding out one of many round agar plates, a few centimetres in diameter. “Within six hours, the neurons have grown enough to start analysing them.”
Cultured neurons lack the external signals that would normally direct their growth in the fly but their cell machinery is intact and axons grow, although in a less organised way. Sánchez-Soriano puts a plate under a microscope and focuses on a small area in the middle. At 10x magnification, I can see clusters of neurons on the screen.
“These are young cultures,” she says, showing me the cell body of a neuron and the axon growing from it. We zoom in. The neurons have been marked with fluorescent markers. “Looking in green light, you see the microtubules. If we look in red, you can see the actin.
“I always find it amazing to look at one of these cultures where they have formed a network, a mature network. It looks very messy because they are cultures but you can see how they connect. Now you have this complex neural network with lots of synapses, which are the contacts between the neurons.”
Microtubules are found in abundance at synapses, so the fluorescence also reveals the neurons’ connections. I can see synapses all the way along the axons, not just at the tip, which is how I remember having seen them portrayed in simplified textbook diagrams.
We are supposed to be going to lunch with other scientists from the lab. They hover at the doorway, but Sánchez-Soriano waves them away – she wants to show me one more slide.
“This is a Drosophila embryo. It’s completely different to the cultured cells – the axons of the neurons are all organised. These axons connect to the muscles; their cell bodies are in the spinal cord. We can see where these axons are growing, and we can be very specific about developmental time. We can look at embryos after 21 hours of development and the axons are always in these positions, so we can detect tiny changes in axonal growth.
“The beauty of this system is that we can go back and forward all the time between neurons in the organism and in culture, and that’s what makes it very attractive for me. And it’s easy to have expertise in both. That makes it a really nice model.”
Prokop’s third decision was which component of cytoskeleton regulation to focus on. He chose a protein called Shot, which, he explains, “sits at the heart of the machine”. Shot is one of a family of proteins called spectraplakins, which have so many different functions that they are sometimes also called ‘the Swiss Army knives of the cell’. In this context, Shot regulates microtubules during axonal growth.
In a normal growing axon, microtubules are constantly joining together, elongating and pushing against the cell membrane in the direction of growth. Actin networks provide some control over microtubules by blocking microtubule extension in the wrong direction. Proteins like Shot that bind actin and microtubules are therefore likely to be involved in regulating that interaction and, indeed, without Shot, microtubules become disorganised and axons are severely shortened (and when they do grow, it is often in the wrong direction).
The very model of a research model organism
Having shown that axon growth cone behaviour, cytoskeletal dynamics and the underlying functions of actin and microtubule regulators in Drosophila are well conserved with higher animals, Prokop’s group is using the Shot system to discover the mechanisms by which it all hangs together. They work mostly in the fly but regularly do analogous experiments in mice to confirm the general relevance of their findings.
They have already begun to show how Shot performs its role in cytoskeletal regulation during axon growth. In research published this summer, Prokop and his team showed that Shot links the tips of microtubules to actin networks, providing a physical connection that points the microtubules in the right direction. It also binds along the length of the microtubules, providing structural stability as they push out along the path of the growth cone.
Understanding how Shot works at a molecular and cellular level in one biological process in Drosophila will inform research on many other aspects of spectraplakins’ functions. For example, these proteins have roles in neurodegenerative diseases, skin blistering, and cell migration during wound healing and brain development.
In humans, the equivalent of Shot is dystonin, which causes neurodegeneration if it is impaired. In mice, loss of the dystonin gene in neurons produces exactly the same effect as loss of Shot in Drosophila: the microtubules are disorganised and unstable. Studying Shot may therefore be relevant to explaining the processes of neurodegeneration.
“We are beginning to study neurodegeneration in the Petri dish,” says Sánchez-Soriano. “We can cultivate neurons for a month, two months – they make connections and have active synapses, so we can look at matters that affect more mature neurons and study how they become disorganised and degenerate.”
Prokop’s model system certainly seems to be on the right track. “If you can establish a concept in Drosophila neurons, it is easier to verify it in other cell types,” he says. “Drosophila is an efficient system to narrow down what you are looking for. Then you can go and look for it in higher animals, including humans. Our system can be used to develop the whole concept rather than piecing together evidence from lots of different models and trying to construct a concept that way before seeing if it maps on to other species.”
When, a little later than planned, I go to lunch with members of the lab, I discover that the postdocs and PhD students are as evangelical as Prokop in championing Drosophila. These researchers are the latest generation of TH Morgan’s intellectual descendants, eager to celebrate the fruit fly’s contribution to science and persuade you that it is the pre-eminent model organism.
Prokop sums up the philosophy: “The task of Drosophila is to produce ideas that can then stimulate research in mammalian systems. That’s what it has been doing for a hundred years, and that’s what our system can do too.”
In part 2, ‘Fly on the wall’, I visit a second Drosophila lab at the University of Manchester to see how the fly is actually used in experiments, and how relevant they can be for understanding human diseases.
Alves-Silva J et al. Spectraplakins promote microtubule-mediated axonal growth by functioning as structural microtubule-associated proteins and EB1-dependent +TIPs (tip interacting proteins). J Neurosci 2012;32(27):9143.
Bier E. Drosophila, the golden bug, emerges as a tool for human genetics. Nat Rev Genet 2005;6:9.
Green M. A century of Drosophila genetics through the prism of the white gene. Genetics 2010;184:3-7.
“The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1933“. Nobelprize.org. 13 Nov 2012
“The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1946“. Nobelprize.org. 13 Nov 2012
“The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1995“. Nobelprize.org. 13 Nov 2012
“Jules A. Hoffmann – Biographical“. Nobelprize.org. 13 Nov 2012 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43617000 |
April 23, 2013
Last Monday, April 15, the National Museum of Natural History actually did come to life after hours. Not with mummies or miniature armies, of course, but with a small group of volunteers, a bunch of fancy-looking equipment and two guys at the forefront of museum digitization.
Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi, of the 3D Lab in the Smithsonian’s Digitization Program Office, work with laser scanners to create high resolution, three-dimensional digital models of objects and places around the Smithsonian Institution. Last week, they teamed up with curators at the Natural History Museum for the second of two nights of scanning the Dinosaur Hall, the museum’s iconic galleries that house prehistoric fossils from the ancient seas through the Ice Age. The hall is scheduled to close in 2014 for a ground-up, multi-year renovation, so Metallo and Rossi, dubbed the “Laser Cowboys” by their colleagues, were brought in to capture the hall’s present arrangement before all the fossils are removed.
“The main purpose of 3D scanning an exhibit like this is to have an archive of what an exhibit of this era might have looked,” Metallo says. “This is a documentation for folks in the future to know what a museum experience here was like.”
The scanning has immediate uses as well. With accurate digital 3D models of T-Rex and his friends’ skeletons, curators and designers will have a much easier time envisioning the exhibition’s future iterations and testing out ideas for optimal arrangements. Paleontologists, too, will suddenly have access to fossils anytime, anywhere. “There’s one specimen that’s on display two stories up in the air,” Metallo says. “Now, instead of a researcher having to get up on a scissor lift to look at it, we can just email him the digital model.”
And if digital models aren’t enough, 3D scanning might soon allow anyone interested in fossils to get even closer to the real thing. “We’re seeing a real democratization of 3D printing along with 3D scanning,” says Rossi. “There are apps for iPhones that allow you to use a camera as a 3D scanning device. Pretty much any museum visitor could create a pretty decent model of a museum object, and potentially take that through a 3D printer. There’s still a fair amount of expertise required at the moment, but it’s going to be a lot more user-friendly in the next two or three years.”
In other words, it’s not inconceivable that you could print out your own stegosaurus skeleton for your living room on your home 3D printer someday.
Ultimately, Rossi and Metallo dream of digitizing all 137 million of the objects in the Smithsonian’s collections. Because only two percent of the objects are displayed in the Institution’s museums at any time—and many people never have the chance to see even those in person—precise replicas could be printed and sent to local museums across the country, or viewed digitally on a computer screen anywhere in the world.
As for future of the Dino Hall, Matthew Carrano, the museum’s curator of dinosauria, says his team is still in the early stages of planning exactly how the exhibit will look when it reopens in 2019, but that it definitely will strive to incorporate humans into the dinosaurs’ story. “The biggest thing I hope for in the new hall is that a visitor comes here and is inspired, amazed and interested in the history of life on earth, and understands that this history is still relevant to them today, and to the world today,” he explains. “There are problems we face as human beings that paleontology can help address. Dinosaurs didn’t exist by themselves; they were part of environments and ecosystems just like we are today. And that connection is really important to everything we’re going to show in this hall.”
To learn more about 3D scanning and printing at Smithsonian, check out Metallo and Rossi’s Facebook page, and follow them on twitter @3D_Digi_SI. To learn more about dinosaurs, check out the Natural History Museum’s dinosaur page.
March 29, 2013
Thousands of years old, the ceramics of Central America tell us a great deal about the societies who made them. Religious beliefs, gender dynamics, societal hierarchies–all of this lies encoded in the sculptural and pictorial choices of the people who made the more than 160 objects that comprise the American Indian Museum’s new exhibition, “Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed,” opening March 29 in Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by both the museum and the Smithsonian’s Latino Center, the new bilingual exhibition is supported by more than two years of research and a thorough investigation of the American Indian Museum’s archaeological collections, some 12,000 pieces from the region, many of which have never been displayed in public. The show seeks to display the diversity of not only the objects, but also the cultures of Central America, and showcases 160 works crafted from gold, jade, copper, marble, shell and stone and dating from 1,000 B.C. to the present.
Kevin Gover, the museum’s director and Eduardo Díaz, the director of the Latino Center, write that the materials, “testify to the complexity of long-lived governments and social systems, and to the importance and sophistication of the art and science in the communities where they were made. They speak of the patience, sensitivity, and innovation of their makers.”
The exhibition will be open through February 1, 2015 at the American Indian Museum.
March 8, 2013
When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., he encountered the same problem many political leaders face today: How do rulers keep the peace?
Cyrus, the King of Persia, was in the midst of building the largest empire that the world had ever seen. By his death in 530 B.C., his reign would extend from present-day Turkey to India.
For Cyrus, establishing control over vast miles of land with peoples of different cultures, languages and faiths created numerous obstacles in unifying his kingdom. The king sought order, not more war. “It is the first time anyone has had to address that challenge,” says Neil MacGregor, director of London’s British Museum.
“As well as a transport system, as well as an economic system, as well as an administration, you need to have policy, an ideal of what you’re trying to do to control this empire,” he adds.
Cyrus’s solution can be found today on a football-shaped cylinder of baked clay: give people the freedom to practice whatever religion they please.
The Cyrus Cylinder, one of the most significant archaeological artifacts in history, travels here from the British Museum and makes its United States debut on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at the Sackler Gallery. Inscribed with cuneiform, one of the earliest known scripts, the text denounces Nabonidus, the displaced Babylonian King, and boasts of liberating Cyrus’s newly conquered people from religious persecution by restoring their temples, their temple goods and their ceremonial vessels; and sending prisoners and the enslaved home to worship their own gods. ”[I] returned [the people] to their settlements, and the gods of the land . . . I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy,” Cyrus declares in the text. “I have enabled all the lands to live in peace.” (See the full translation here.)
Cyrus’s tolerant approach has had a lasting impact. According to MacGregor, “For Europeans and Americans in the 18th century, there is only one political problem: How do you avoid the wars of religion that had devastated Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries? How do you create a state where people don’t kill each other for their faith? Everybody goes back to Cyrus.”
The exhibition entitled, “The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia,” features quotes and historical artifacts that trace the generations of political thinkers inspired by Cyrus’s philosophy. Thomas Jefferson studied the life of Cyrus; he owned two copies of a biography of the king.
Julien Raby, director of the Sackler Gallery, hopes the exhibit will encourage visitors to appreciate how different cultures learn to value objects in different ways. “There isn’t a single story,” he explains. “It’s actually about looking at the way in which we constantly reinterpret, the way that different eras and different agendas take objects and project onto them.”
MacGregor thinks Cyrus’s legacy is particularly important today. “We are confronting in every one of our cities, in Europe and in America, a new kind of diversity—people of different ethnicities, languages, faiths, traditions trying to live together,” he says. “We don’t really have a model for this. But we all know that somebody once did.”
“The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia” is on view at the Sackler Gallery from March 9 to April 28, before making a nation-wide tour. For a list of locations and dates, visit the exhibition’s website.
To learn more about the cylinder itself, watch MacGregor detail its history and significance in a 2011 TED talk, “2,600 Years of History in One Object.” | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43638000 |
for all who make decisions that affect the mathematics education of students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12” (p. ix). NCTM is an organization of over 110,000 mathematics educators concerned with pre-K–12 mathematics education. This update of the NCTM's three previously developed sets of standards for curriculum, teaching, and assessment is intended to establish a curriculum framework to bring focus and coherence to K–12 mathematics. The document was developed through an extensive and inclusive process that engaged a wide spectrum of experts on issues concerning mathematics education. As such, Principles and Standards represents a negotiated position about appropriate content for school mathematics to which educators should give careful consideration.
The developers offer the standards as a guide for ensuring quality, developing goals, and promoting change by suggesting common language, examples, and recommendations to engage people at state, provincial and local levels in conversations about mathematics education. The document is intended to (p. 6):
Set forth a comprehensive and coherent set of goals for mathematics for all students that will orient curricular, teaching, and assessment efforts.
Serve as a resource for teachers, education leaders, and policymakers to use in examining and improving the quality of mathematics instructional programs.
Guide the development of curricular frameworks, assessments, and instructional materials.
Stimulate ideas and ongoing conversations about how best to help students gain a deep understanding of important mathematics.
Principles and Standards is built on the following vision (p. 5):
In this changing world, those who understand and can do mathematics will have significantly enhanced opportunities and options for shaping their futures. Mathematical competence opens doors to productive futures. A lack of mathematical competence keeps those doors closed. NCTM challenges the assumption that mathematics is only for the select few. On the contrary, everyone needs to understand mathematics. All students should have the opportunity and the support necessary to learn significant mathematics with depth and understanding. There is no conflict between equity and excellence.
To fulfill this vision, the document describes what mathematics in pre-K–12 school programs should look like including how mathematical ideas should be developed across five content areas and five process domains. The standards present a deeper look at the mathematics within each of four grade-level bands, pre-K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12; they also suggest how mathematics should grow | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43648000 |
Everything in moderation, right?
ALSO: Be sure to read Mike's "Fats, cholesterol and the lipid hypothesis" article for more information on foods to avoid.
You can eat anything as long as it’s in moderation. How many times have you heard this statement? Or better yet, how many times have you made that statement? I will not deny that there are some foods you can eat in moderation that are not considered health foods but still have some nutritional benefits. Pizza, chocolate and ice cream are three of the most common examples, as long as they’re made with whole, natural ingredients.
The problem we Americans face is that most of the foods we eat are not only lacking any nutritional value, they are made with ingredients that have serious health consequences. The following are some of the worst foods and ingredients we need to stay away from, in no particular order. When it comes to these items, there is no moderation.
Sources: This garbage is found in everything from soda to cereal. It’s literally in thousands of products. Read your labels.
The “fat carb” has been in our food supply for more 35 years. We’ve been led to believe that fructose from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is akin to naturally occurring sugar, the same that’s found in fruit. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fructose from HFCS is not the same as the molecule from sucrose (table sugar), or fruit leveulose. Is it any wonder they have worked so hard to link HFCS to something natural and healthy like fruit?
The problem is our bodies metabolize HFCS differently than sucrose or fruit leveulose. When we consume sucrose, our bodies convert it into glucose, which raises our blood glucose levels. We then get an insulin spike to shuttle the glucose where it’s needed. When we consume HFCS, unlike natural sugar, it is metabolized in the liver and produces high triglyceride levels which are linked to heart disease. In addition, HFCS does not induce insulin secretion, nor does it boost leptin production, both of which are key signals for decreasing hunger. Hence, the name “fat carb.” Eat it, get fat. Eat more, get fatter.
Russ Bianchi, a pharmacologist and toxicologist, explains: “There is no safe form of fructose available from any source, unless already existing in an unprocessed apple or other piece of fruit. The science is known and epidemiologically proven.”
If you follow the obesity epidemic in the U.S., you’ll find that Americans are eating less fat. In 1965, men ate an average of 139 grams and women 83 grams of fat per day. In 1995, men ate 101 grams and women ate 65 grams of fat per day. With the way fat has been demonized over the last four decades, you’d expect an increase in fat consumption to be the main cause of the obesity epidemic, yet it’s not.
What does mirror the increase in fat Americans is the consumption pattern of HFCS. Between the years of 1970 and 1990, HFCS consumption increased 1000% and today represents 40% of the sweeteners added to foods and beverages. In fact, HFCS is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States. Is it any wonder that obesity is an epidemic? One of the main ingredients in our food supply not only converts to fat when we consume it, it facilitates fat storage. And Americans as a whole are eating more and more and more.
Sources: Corn oil, soy oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, cotton seed oil, walnuts, flax oil, hemp oil, herring, salmon, sardines, mackerel.
Technically called lipids, fats and oils are made up of many different types of fatty acids. Fatty acids are the same whether they come from plants or animals. Oleic acid that is found in olive oil is exactly the same as the oleic acid found in lard (pig fat). It’s the proportions of fatty acids that will vary from plant to plant, from animal to animal and from plant to animal.
Safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean and cottonseed oils all contain more than 50% of the highly unstable fatty acid omega-6 and should never be used in cooking, frying or baking. Heating these oils causes oxidation and produces large amounts of free radicals.
We have been force fed a load of crap concerning the virtues of polyunsaturated fats. We’ve been told relentlessly that polyunsaturated fats are good for our health and to increase our consumption. Unfortunately, polyunsaturated fats cause many health problems. One of the biggest reasons polyunsaturated fats are so unhealthy is because they are very susceptible to becoming oxidized or rancid when exposed to heat and light. The polyunsaturated oils you buy in grocery stores are already rancid.
The extraction process is the problem:
|Throughout the entire process, these oils are exposed to oxygen.|
1. The oil is extracted with mechanical pressing and heated to 230 degrees.
2. Then a chemical solvent is used to get what oils are left.
3. The solvent is then boiled off, gain exposing the oils to heat.
4. Because these oils become rancid, they are treated with deoderizers to get rid of the horrible smell.
5. Finally, most oils are then bleached to give them eye appeal. Americans love the light golden color.
Now, you go to the store to purchase soy oil, which has been touted as super healthy, not knowing that you’re actually purchasing a free radical cocktail that, over time, causes serious health problems. Free radicals, or “chemical marauders” as some scientists refer to them, reek havoc on our bodies. They have been linked to problems ranging from wrinkles to premature aging to cancer.
Sources: Any foods containing “shortening,” “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “hydrogenated vegetable oil” in the ingredients list.
These manmade fats, like fructose, are in thousands of products. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading food labels. However, do not be fooled by products that claim “zero trans fat”. Showing the power the edible oil and processed food industries have, the FDA agreed to allow food labels to list trans fat as zero if it contains a half a gram or less. And yes, small amounts of trans fat will yield negative consequences over time.
Decades of research show the consumption of trans fats to be detrimental to health. As early as the 1940s, researchers found a strong correlation between cancer, heart disease and the consumption of hydrogenated fats.
What are trans fats? They are poison in our food supply. “The latest government study confirms that trans fat is directly related with heart disease and increases LDL cholesterol. Because of that, the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, declared there is no safe amount of trans fat in the diet.” “There should be a warning on food made with this stuff like there is on nicotine products. It’s that bad for you, says Dr. Jeffery Aron, a University of California at San Francisco professor of medicine and one of the nation’s leading experts on fatty acids and their effect on the body.
Poison is the most appropriate description of trans fat I can think of. These manmade fats are literally toxins in our bodies. Trans fat is produced through the process of hydrogenation. This process turns polyunsaturated oils into fats that are solid at room temperature, which are used to make products like margarine and shortening.
You talk about the ultimate junk food. Doughnuts are the king. It is said this tasty treat has been around since the colonial times. In the middle of WWI, millions of American soldiers were fed doughnuts by women volunteers. These soldiers were nicknamed “doughboys."
Despite its history, the doughnut is by far one of the top three worst foods you can eat. Made from enriched white flour, sugar, and other nutrient-free ingredients (depending on the type of doughnut), they are then fried in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The donut is a nutrient-free, calorie-dense food full of free radicals and trans fat. Below, you’ll find some nutritional information from KrispyKreme.com.
The average krispy Kream doughnut yields:
200 to 380 calories
12 to 20 grams of total fat with 4 to 7 grams being trans fat
10 to 27 grams of sugar.
In 1960, the average American consumed about 81 pounds of fresh potatoes and four pounds of frozen french fries. In 2000, health conscience as we are, we consumed about 50 pounds of fresh potatoes and 30 pounds of frozen fries. And McDonald's is happy to help meet that demand. They are the number one purchaser of potatoes in the U.S.
The popularity of McDonald's French fries is legendary. Their fries used to be made from scratch every day and fried in beef tallow. This, despite what’s been shoved into our heads over the years, is the best/healthiest way to make fries outside of frying them in coconut oil. Then, in the early '90s, because of the cholesterol scam and vegetarian wackos, McDonald's switched to pure vegetable oil. Polyunstaturated fats and trans fat, ummmmmmm yummy.
Nutritional information from McDonalds.com:
|Total fat||Trans fat|
Nutritonal information from Burger King:
|Total fat||Trans Fat|
The next time you make fries at home, because I know you won’t be eating fast food varieties, cut a few sweet potatoes to the size you like. Fry them in a pan of organic virgin coconut oil and salt to taste. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how good these fries are, and they’re much healthier for you.
As stated earlier, fructose is the sole sweetener of soft drinks in the U.S. Children and adolescents in the U.S. are increasingly choosing soft drinks rather than milk or juice. The USDA’s Economic Research Service found that the consumption of soft drinks increases as a child becomes older. On average, for every one ounce reduction in milk consumption, a child consumes 4.2 ounces of soft drinks. Just what a growing child needs.
Between the years 1970 and 2001, per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks more than doubled. By 2001, per capita milk consumption had dropped to 22 gallons, while soft drink consumption soared to 49 gallons. Should we be worried about this shift in drink consumption? You bet.
One can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar in the form of manmade fructose, and if this isn’t bad enough, soft drinks also contain high levels of phosphates. These higher phosphate levels have been alleged to cause osteoporosis in adults and impaired calcification in the growing bones of children. “Soft drinks have long been suspected of leading to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood. When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of the bones. The phosphate content of soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi is very high and they contain virtually no calcium.”
We have been led to believe that soy is a health food. However, contained in the United States Food and Drug Administrations Poisonous Plant Database, which contains references to the scientific literature describing studies of the toxic properties and effects of plants and plant parts, under soy there are 288 records. The deleterious effects soy has on our bodies are caused by several different substances -- we’re going to go over just a few.
One of the substances contained in soybeans is goitrogens. These are naturally occurring and interfere with the function of the thyroid gland. Goitrogens get their name from the term “goiter,” which means enlargement of the thyroid gland. Other foods that contain goitrogens include: broccoli, cabbage, mustard, peanuts, turnips, brussel sprouts, and others. However, unlike soy, the goitrogens in these foods are easily neutralized by cooking or fermentation. Heat, pressure or alkaline solutions will neither deactivate nor remove goitrogens from soy. They are virtually in all soy foods, with the highest concentration being in products that are not fermented like tofu and soy sauce.
Another nasty substance found in soy that can inflict damage upon your body is phytoestrogens. Isoflavones are examples of phytoestrogens and are in many plants, with the highest concentration being in soy beans. Phytoestrogens, although not hormones, are very similar and can bind to estrogen receptor sites and have been shown to cause negative effects.
Phytoestrogens' ability to decrease testosterone has been shown in several studies. [14-16] In fact, as long ago as 164 BC, monks included tofu in their diet as an aid to spiritual enlightenment and abstinence. They found the more tofu they consumed, the lower their libido.
The following is an excerpt from a letter written by scientist to the FDA concerning soy’s health benefits approval. The FDA’s own researchers raise valid concerns about the safety, let alone the health benefits, of soy.
Public Health Service
Food and Drug Administration
National Center For Toxicological Research
Jefferson, Ark. 72079-9502
Daniel M. Sheehan, Ph.D.
Director, Estrogen Base Program
Division of Genetic and Reproductive Toxicology
and Daniel R. Doerge, Ph.D.
Division of Biochemical Toxicology
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
Rockville, MD 20852
To whom it may concern,
We are writing in reference to Docket # 98P-0683; "Food Labeling: Health Claims; Soy Protein and Coronary Heart Disease." We oppose this health claim because there is abundant evidence that some of the isoflavones found in soy, including genistein and equol, a metabolize of daidzen, demonstrate toxicity in estrogen sensitive tissues and in the thyroid. This is true for a number of species, including humans. Additionally, the adverse effects in humans occur in several tissues and, apparently, by several distinct mechanisms.
Our conclusions are that no dose is without risk; the extent of risk is simply a function of dose. These two features support and extend the conclusion that it is inappropriate to allow health claims for soy protein isolate. Additionally, isoflavones are inhibitors of the thyroid peroxidase which makes T3 and T4. Inhibition can be expected to generate thyroid abnormalities, including goiter and autoimmune thyroiditis. There exists a significant body of animal data that demonstrates goitrogenic and even carcinogenic effects of soy products (cf., Kimura et al., 1976). Moreover, there are significant reports of goitrogenic effects from soy consumption in human infants (cf., Van Wyk et al., 1959; Hydovitz, 1960; Shepard et al., 1960; Pinchers et al., 1965; Chorazy et al., 1995) and adults (McCarrison, 1933; Ishizuki, et al., 1991).
The health labeling of soy protein isolate for foods needs to be considered just as would the addition of any estrogen or goitrogen to foods, which are bad ideas. Estrogenic and goitrogenic drugs are regulated by FDA, and are taken under a physician's care. Patients are informed of risks, and are monitored by their physicians for evidence of toxicity. There are no similar safeguards in place for foods, so the public will be put at potential risk from soy isoflavones in soy protein isolate without adequate warning and information.
Daniel M. Sheehan
Daniel R. Doerge
The following is a list of myths and truths about soy taken from westonaprice.org.
Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.
Fact: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is about 10g (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.
Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.
Fact: Like all legumes, soy beans are deficient in sulfur containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.
Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B12 in vegetarian diets.
Fact: The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12.
Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.
Fact: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.
Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflvones) are good for you.
Fact: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about four tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.
Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.
Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.
Truth: Isoflavones in soy have been shown in several studies to lower total testosterone and increase sex hormone binding globulin which adheres itself to free testosterone rendering it inactive. Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Japanese housewives feed tofu to their husbands frequently when they want to reduce his virility.
What to do?
Would you like to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and a whole host of other ailments? Would you like to keep your thyroid healthy and your libido normal? Then avoid the above foods and substances like the plague. I know it’s asking a lot because fructose, soy, polyunsaturated fats and hydrogenated oils are virtually in tens of thousands of products, but 10, 20, 30 years from now you’ll be very happy you did.
Next month, we’ll be discussing the healthiest foods and substances essential for your daily consumption. (Read it here.)
2. "Is lots of fructose water foolhardy? Apology, too.” Sugarshockblog.com, 13 September 2005.
8. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2001
9. Bray et al. “Consumption of high fructose corn syrup in beverages may play role in the epidemic of obesity” Am J Clin Nutr. 2004; 79(4): 537.
13. Daniel, Kayla T. The Whole Soy Story. Washington, New Trends Publishing, 2005.
15. Habito, RC et al. “Effects of replacing meat with soybean in the diet on sex hormone concentrations in healthy adult males.” Br J Nutr. 2000; 84(4), 557-563.
16. Weber, KS et al. “Dietary soy-phytoestrogens decrease testosterone levels…” J Endocrin. 2001; 170(3), 591-599
Questions or comments? Send them to [email protected]. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43656000 |
The document Agenda 21 of the United Nations on Sustainable Development in Chapter 14 calls for "major adjustments in agricultural, environmental and macroeconomic policy" and for the integration of different policies. A great number of similar calls can be found in documents of other international organisations (FAO, OECD, Council of Europe, EU etc.). Still, it seems that no real progress has been achieved so far in reforming agricultural policies and in integrating different policies.
The author believes that the main reason of this situation is the prevailing false concept of agriculture and rural areas which is a result of the disintegration and substitution processes in the development of industrialized agriculture. Disintegrating agriculture from its natural environment and the rural area in which it was operating, the substitution of industrial inputs for natural resources became an aim just for its own sake to make agriculture more “modern” or more “industry like”. Finally, agriculture and rural areas became just mere receptacles or markets for products and services of industrial companies located in towns and industrial centres. The utilisation of local natural and human resources decreased, less and less value added was produced by agriculture. In this way its contribution to the maintenance of rural areas decreased rapidly. This so called “development” proved clearly not being sustainable.
In order to have a really sustainable agricultural development a radically new approach is needed. Agriculture has to be reintegrated with its natural resource base and with rural areas. The main objective of sustainable agriculture has to be the production of the greatest amount of value added by the efficient utilisation of local natural and human resources. To translate this new concept of agriculture into practice a radical reform of agricultural policy and intensive research to find new possibilities to utilize local resources is needed. The paper explains in more detail the non sustainable "industrial input transforming" and the sustainable "resource utilizing" concept of agriculture.
The need for a real progress towards sustainable agricultural and rural development
The Agenda 21 document of the United Nation on sustainable development declares that "Major adjustments are needed in agricultural, environmental and macroeconomic policy at both national and international levels." It also stresses the need to integrate different policies into "a coherent national policy framework".
A great number of similar statements and declarations can be found in the documents of other international organisations. There is also a vast number of books and journal articles on different aspects of sustainable agriculture and the relationships between agriculture and rural areas. Here only a few examples can be mentioned.
OECD has paid increasing attention to agricultural policy reform during the last two decades. Ministers of agriculture of the OECD member countries adopted a set of policy principles in March 1998 including the need of governments "to take actions to ensure the protection of the environment and sustainable management of natural resources in agriculture” (OECD, 2001). This most recent report concludes that agricultural policies have not changed enough and calls for integrating the different, sometimes contradictory policies (i.e. agricultural, environmental and other policies).
The situation is similar in the European Union, however the need for policy integration and for a radical reform of the CAP is well recognized. The often cited Cork Declaration in Point 2 calls for an integrated approach to rural development. It would be too long to overview the great number of statements and declarations of EU leaders and politicians which all call for more reform of the CAP in order to move agriculture towards sustainability and to ensure a greater contribution of it to rural development. Franz Fischler (2001), the Commissioner responsible for agriculture and rural development, declared: “common agricultural policy has also changed, but not enough”, and: “We must ensure that the much-touted sustainability is translated into practice”. Molterer (1998) for example emphasizes that the European modell of agriculture is a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture in which the different functions must not be separated but have to form a whole (i. e. should be integrated). The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also been intensively working on the problems of sustainable agricultural and rural development and has produced a major document, the “European Charter for Rural Areas” (Council of Europe, (1996)).
In spite of all these works and declarations no real progress has been achieved yet. The CARPE (Common Agricultural and Rural Policy for Europe) concept presented by a group of experts during the discussions on the Agenda 2000 document (European Commission, 1997) in which the removal of all the subsidies coupled with production was finally rejected by the European Council (Berlin, March 1998). Willis and Bryden (1999) in their analysis of Agenda 2000 drew the same conclusion: “When compared to the vision expressed in the Cork Declaration on Living Countryside, what is called rural development in Agenda 2000 seems better described as agricultural policy paying lip-service to rural development”.
These few examples show that sustainable agriculture and rural development are mostly just a fashionable topic for scientific discussions and declarations of politicians rather than a concept realized in practice. It seems to be right time now to try to answer the question: Why has so little progress been achieved in “translating sustainability into practice”?
2. The present situation: non-sustainable agriculture
As a result of disintegration and substitution processes in the course of the development of agriculture it has become separated from its natural environment, and from the rural areas in which its operates. Different branches of production has become specialised and separated from each other. Food processing was removed from rural areas into towns. In this way, value added produced by food processing has also been removed from rural areas. Parallel to this disintegration process, industrial means of production and industrial inputs have been substituted for natural, human, farm produced and other local resources to an ever increasing extent. In this way, the scope of agriculture has been narrowed to transformation of industrial means of production and inputs into some fresh food and raw materials for industries located in towns. Agricultural labour, natural resources and other local resources has become less and less important and for this reason they have got devaluated or completely lost their value while industrial inputs are relative more and more expensive (i.e. the well-known problem of price disparity). The relative role of agriculture in the national and rural economies has decreased dramatically. Rural people were forced to move to towns to find jobs, depopulation of rural areas in some cases reached a frightening level. While specialisation and the use of more productive means of production can be justified to a given extent by the need of feeding more people but later on, the use of more and more industrial inputs, larger and larger machines, more and more industrially processed feeds for animals, substituting artificial resources for natural ones has been continued just for its own sake following the directives of the prevailing economic development and modernisation theories according to which agriculture is just one among the other branches of industrial activities, and farms have to be organised and operated as business enterprises.
As a result of this so called “development” or “modernisation”, agriculture and rural areas have become just mere receptacles or absorbing markets for industries located in towns. The only function of agriculture and rural areas is to take up the maximal possible amount of industrial products for consumption or to transform them into agricultural products even if there is an overproduction of these products and the natural environment and rural areas are deteriorated or destroyed. We call this concept of agriculture “industrial input transformer agriculture”. This kind of agriculture and the rural areas housing it are just auxiliary to towns and industries and they are clearly not sustainable.
The EU is still following this “modernisation” concept and try to help and force the candidate countries to follow the same direction in spite of the nice talks about rural development and agricultural environmental programs. The internal relations among the element of this “non-sustainable” concept of agriculture and rural areas can be summarized as it is show by Figure 1.
This system is not sustainable because sooner or later it would completely exhaust its rural base. This is very vaguely recognised in the concern about the maintenance and development of rural areas. But still there is not strong enough political will to break up this system in which subsidies intended to help farmers are in fact supporting the industries located in towns and causing further decline of rural areas. Agricultural policies which keep up this mechanism including the CAP of EU are deemed as typical cases of “government failure” by some authors in Environmental Economics. (See for example: Turner et al., 1994.)
3. The concept of sustainable resource utilising agriculture
To achieve any real progress towards sustainability we have to depart from the above described concept of agriculture and modernisation. An integrated and multifunctional agriculture has to be developed. The main function of this type of agriculture is to utilise the human, natural and other local resources available in rural areas to produce a diverse mix of products and services in order to supply the highest amount of added value for the maintenance of rural areas. This means that the disintegrated parts of agriculture have to be reintegrated, agriculture has to be reintegrated with its rural and environmental base, and its dependency on external input and output markets has to be decreased. Farming has to be based on the creation, modernisation and efficient utilisation of local resources. Industrial means of production and inputs are to be used only as auxiliary factor to such extent necessary to increase the productivity of local resources, but not for the sake of substituting them. In short, the traditional exogenous way of “modernisation” which is forced on agriculture from outside has to be changed into endogenous type of development.
This concept of agriculture can be termed as “resources utilising agriculture” which is sustainable because it is built on the maintenance and development of its own local resource base. The system of this resource utilising agriculture is summarized in Figure 2.
This “new concept” of agriculture is really very old and the one which had existed before “industrialised” agriculture became dominant. It can be realised only if radical changes in agricultural policies can be achieved. First of all, farmers have to understand that present agricultural policies (including the CAP) in fact are not supporting them but subsidies finally go to industries. Secondly, the politicians forming agricultural policies have to be persuaded that agricultural policy supporting “resource utilising agriculture” is much cheaper than the present system in which first industrial input intensive agricultural production is subsidized, then a great amount of money is spent on repairing environmental damage caused and on rural development. Subsidizing agriculture to produce more value added from its local resource base simultaneously help to maintain viable farms, to protect the environment and to develop rural areas in one coherent supporting system. In this way, integration of different policies called for in Agenda 21 can be realized. Besides, taxpayers’ money could be saved and the agricultural policy would be more efficient.
We can just regret that the basic problem of the concept or the definition of agriculture and rural areas is given very little attention in discussion on sustainable agriculture and on agricultural policy reforms.
Still, it has been encouraging to find a similar approach in a recent presentation of van der Plough and Rooij (2001). They use the term “Capitalist commodity production” for the type of non-sustainable agriculture in which even labour is used as a commodity, and “petty commodity production” for the “resource utilizing agriculture” outlined here. They contrast industrialization with repeasantization as alternatives of agricultural development. But “repeasantization” might easily be rejected as being old fashioned and regress. While the concept of integrated, multifunctional and resource utilisating agriculture is a “modern” concept in the real sense which is using any kind of “high tech” means of production but only to increase the efficiency of mobilizing, maintaining and utilising local resources. The issue of the need to redefine the meaning of agriculture has already been raised in some other publications but there has been almost no response from agricultural experts and researchers. (See for example: Szakál (1997) and Szakál (1999).)
According to general economic or modernisation theory, agricultural development means the substitution of industrial means of production and inputs for local human and natural resources. As a result of this kind of “development” agriculture and rural areas became just mere receptacles and transformers of industrial products and inputs. It we want to move towards sustainability the concept of agriculture has to be redefined. In contrast to the industrial input transformer concept, the basic function of agriculture should be the utilisation of the human and natural resources available in rural areas to produce marketable goods and services in order to contribute to rural development with the maximum possible amount of values added. To develop such a “resource utilising agriculture”, which would be really sustainable, agricultural policies have to be changed accordingly.
- Council of Europe (1996): Recommendation 1296(1996) on an European Charter for Rural Areas, Strasbourg
- European Commission (1997): Towards a Common Agricultural and Rural Policy for Europe. European Economy, Reports and Studies, No.5. Eur-OP, Luxembourg
- Fishler, F. (2001): The CAP after Agenda 2000. The achievements and challenges. Opening address for International Green Week, Berlin, 18 January 2001
- Molterer, W. (1998): Statement at the Congress of European Agriculture, Ljubljana, 30. Sept.– 2. Oct. 1998. Proceedings of the Congress, 31-35 p.
- OECD, (2001): Improving the environmental performance of agriculture: policy options and market approaches, Paris, 51. p.
- Plough, van der, J. D. and Rooij, de, S. (1999): Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe: Industrialization or repeasantization? In: Rural Development in Central and Eastern Europe, Proceeding of Research Conference, 6-9 December 1999, Podbanske, Slovakia, 45-53 p.
- Szakál, F. (1997): The need to redefine the meaning of “Agriculture”. Information document. Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Parliamentary Assembley of the Council of Europe, Strassbourg, Doc. No. AS/Agr.(1997) 7. 12 p.
- Szakál, F. (1999): A fenntartható mezőgazdaság és szerepe a vidéki térségek fejlődésében, A falu, XIV. évf. 2.sz. 23-37 p.
- Turner, R.K., Pearce, D. and Bateman, I. (1994): Environmental Economics, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hemtead. 328 p.
- Willis, P. and Bryden, J. (1999): The implementation of Agenda 2000. In: Rural Areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The Arkleton Trust, Eston, Oxon, 35 p. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43660000 |
Applied Mathematics Department Secretary:
Tel: 01 69 33 46 01.
Fax: 01 69 33 46 46.
Scientific computing is the art of the engineer devoted to producing numerical simulations based on a scientific analysis and with computers. Most of problems that can be formalised with mathematical equations lead to problems too complicated to be solved with elementary methods or with methods of formal calculus. The objective of scientific computing is to propose approximate numerical solutions for problems that can be modelised with a mathematical equation. The development of scientific computing is related to the increasing of computer power. It is an applied science in continuous evolution.
The industries that use and develop scientific computing are first the main partners of State technical administrations in charge of the conception and development of complex systems: space and aeronautics, nuclear, automotive industry, petroleum industry, civil engineering.
Reduced to amount development and the certification of complex systems only few years ago, the numerical simulation allows the reduction of important development times on conception cycles and the production of more sophisticated products.
The option "scientific computing" is devoted to students needing training in scientific computing, either for the analysis of an industrial problem, or the initiation to scientific research, whatever can be the future choice in terms of career orientation. For those who wish to enter the Master Program "Mathematical Modeling" in Applied Mathematics of the Ecole Polytechnique (co-organised with Paris 6 University), the training period can be an important first step.
Examples of subjects studied in recent years
- Adaptive and multi-scales methods.
Assessment and design of optical fiber systems.
Inverse problem in electromagnetism.
Requirements : Some knowledge of numerical analysis and/or optimization.
Evaluation mechanism : Written report and oral defense
Last Modification : Monday 8 April 2013 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43670000 |
Want to know how to conquer kids' learning obstacles? If after
every lesson your kids can say, "We came, we saw, we heard, we
touched," they'll also be able to say, "We conquered!"
Kids experience their world through their senses, and each child
has a favored sense that sends more information to the brain than
the other senses.
The three primary perceptual preferences or "learning styles" are
visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
By understanding these three learning styles, you can create
lessons that'll give all your children a better chance of
*Characteristics-Visual learners need to see or observe
things closely. Visual learners recognize words by sight, remember
faces but forget names, take notes, make lists, have vivid
imaginations and think in pictures. Visual learners express emotion
through facial expressions.
Jonna is a visual learner. She's distracted by visual disorder or
movement and prefers a neat, meticulous environment. She doesn't
talk at length and becomes impatient when she has to listen for a
long time. While her teacher lectures, Jonna will stare, daydream
*Lesson Design-In every lesson, provide pictorial or
graphic representations and demonstrations. Allow visual learners
to read and look at illustrations, charts and other visual aids.
Don't just tell kids about a topic, but allow them to also read
*Characteristics-Auditory learners learn best by reading
aloud or listening. Auditory learners remember things they hear
better than things they see. These students move their lips or
subvocalize as they talk out situations and problems. They hum and
are easily distracted by sounds. They remember names by auditory
repetition but forget faces. Auditory learners express emotion
verbally through changes in tone, volume and pitch of voice.
Brad is an auditory learner. He often talks to others during class
because, even though he enjoys listening, he can't wait to talk.
Brad enjoys the sound of his own voice.
*Lesson Design-Provide opportunities for kids to listen
to oral reading or a taped presentation. Ask questions and form
group discussions to get these kids talking. Encourage dramatic
presentations or role-plays. Always read aloud any
*Characteristics-Kelly is a kinesthetic learner. She sits
at the front of a group so she can touch the object of the lesson.
In a line, Kelly is frequently told to "keep your hands to
yourself!" Kinesthetic learners enjoy touching or doing things.
These children aren't attentive to visual or auditory presentations
and so seem distracted.
Kinesthetic learners attack problems physically, impulsively
trying things out-touching, feeling and manipulating. When bored,
they fidget or find reasons to move. When happy, they jump for joy.
When angry, they stomp off.
*Lesson Design-Structure "real-life" situations such as
field trips and allow kids to make things. Give these kids objects
to touch or feel what they're learning about. Make lessons active
by having kids play educational games or run relays.
Joyce Platek works with children in Ohio.
Copyright© 1992 Group Publishing, Inc. / Children's Ministry | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43685000 |
- About Us
- SW Climate
February 2012 La Niña Drought Tracker
February 08, 2012 / Vol. 2 / Issue 3 / Drought Tracker / A Publication by CLIMAS
After a wet December, more typical, dry La Niña conditions returned in January. Across Arizona and New Mexico precipitation generally was less than 50 percent of average, with large swaths of both states experiencing less than 25 percent of average (top figure). Most of the West also experienced scant rain and snow, including the mountains of the Upper Colorado River Basin, where about 70 percent of the water in the Colorado River originates. In many La Niña winters, the impacts of dry conditions are minimized by average or above-average snow in these mountains, which was the case last winter. This year, however, storms have been pushed farther north than typical by a dome of high-pressure off the northwestern coast. The Pacific Northwest, for example, which typically bares the brunt of winter storms during La Niña, was exceptionally dry for most of December and January.
Warm conditions also accompanied January’s scarce precipitation. January temperatures were between 2 and 6 degrees F above average (Supplemental Figure 1), which helped drive a precipitous decline in mountain snow. Most of the country also experienced unseasonably mild temperatures, and many scientists point to the Arctic Oscillation (AO) as part of the cause. The AO describes changes in surface pressure in and around the Arctic (Supplemental Figure 2) that intensify or slacken the winds circulating the polar regions. In the positive phase of the AO, fierce winds prevent the frigid air from flowing south, while the reverse occurs during the negative phase. Up until mid-January this winter, the AO was positive (Supplemental Figure 3). Historically, the confluence of a positive AO and La Niña tends to bring warmer conditions to the Southwest (Supplemental Figure 4), jiving with temperatures in the region in the past month. The AO recently switched to negative and may help bring colder conditions in coming weeks; the AO was negative during February 2011, when several cold snaps froze the region.
Drought conditions are still widespread and extend into Mexico (Supplement Figure 5). The soggy December spurred only minimal drought improvements because wet conditions did not persist. With a recent return of dry weather, moderate drought expanded in Arizona by about 13 percent since January 3, most notably in central Arizona (bottom figure). Abnormally dry conditions or a more severe drought category currently cover more than 92 percent of both Arizona and New Mexico. Forecasts also suggest La Niña will continue through the February–April period (Supplemental Figure 6), likely bringing more dry weather.
Source: National Resources Conservation Service
- The amount of water contained in the snowpack, or snow water equivalent (SWE), was largely below average in Arizona and New Mexico on February 6 (left); SWE in southern mountains dropped by more than 50 percent from one month ago.
- Winter storms were few and far between in the Upper Colorado and Rio Grande basins in January. As of February 8, SWE in these basins were reporting less than 80 percent of average (Supplemental Figure 7).
- Early streamflow forecasts suggest only a 50 percent chance that the April–June flow into Lake Powell will be above 64 percent of average (Supplemental Figure 8); streamflow forecasts progressively become more accurate as the winter advances.
- The precipitation outlook for February–April calls for increased chances for below-average precipitation in all of Arizona and New Mexico (right). Odds for below-average precipitation are 50–60 percent in the southern tier of Arizona and New Mexico (right). There is greater than a 40 percent chance for below-average precipitation in all of Arizona and New Mexico for the February–April period.
- The February–April outlook calls for increased odds of above-average temperature in all of Arizona and New Mexico; odds for above-average temperatures are greater than 40 percent in all of New Mexico and in eastern Arizona (Supplemental Figure 9).
La Niña conditions were present 16 times between 1950 and 2008. In this period, precipitation during the February–April period was often 0.2–2.7 inches below average in most of Arizona and northern New Mexico; central Arizona experienced the most precipitation deficits (Supplemental Figure 10). Two inches is about 25 percent of the total winter precipitation in many areas.
- The Seasonal Drought Outlook calls for drought to persist or intensify in all of the Southwest during the February–April period (Supplemental Figure 11). This forecast is influenced by expectations for below-average precipitation and the continuation of La Niña.
- A looping jet stream, which often accompanies La Niña events, combined with a negative Arctic Oscillation that allows cold polar air to waft south, could begin to ferry colder air into the region in coming weeks.
- While it is too early to reliably forecast the 2011–2012 winter, it is worth noting that there have been 10 back-to-back La Niña events since 1900. In four of those cases, a La Nina developed for a third consecutive winter, while an El Niño developed in the third winter in the other six cases. ENSO-neutral conditions have never followed a two-year La Niña.
- This winter has evolved similarly to the last, as a dry January followed a wet December. However, this January delivered dry conditions to the Upper Colorado and Rio Grande basins (Supplemental Figure 12), which was not the case last winter.
- Spring streamflow forecasts in Arizona call for high probabilities for below-average flows in all river basins. In New Mexico, flow in the Rio Grande measured at Otowi Bridge has a 30–50 percent chance of being above average; most other basins have lower odds for above-average flows. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43696000 |
November 1, 2010
— Space shuttle Discovery is ready to fly its final flight this week, but where it will make its last landing is still up in the air.
Long thought destined for the Smithsonian, NASA's oldest flying orbiter
may actually end up elsewhere unless the Washington, DC institution can find the millions of dollars needed to prepare Discovery for delivery and display, collectSPACE has learned.
The first of NASA's three remaining space shuttles set to retire after flying its last mission -- STS-133, scheduled to launch Nov. 3 at 3:52 p.m. EDT -- Discovery has been identified by NASA since 2008 as being set aside for the Smithsonian.
"The National Air and Space Museum has been offered the space shuttle Discovery," NASA spokesman Michael Curie told collectSPACE almost two years ago
when the agency first announced it would award its three orbiters -- Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- to museums.
Like the 20 other organizations
that applied to NASA for a retired orbiter though, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum would need to pay the then estimated $42 million to prepare and transport Discovery to the museum, Curie said.
The cost, which lowered to $28.8 million
in January of this year, is still beyond the Smithsonian's reach and NASA is not in the position to underwrite the cost, sources close to both the museum and space agency told collectSPACE.
"What if" the Smithsonian cannot afford Discovery
"At this point, we're not in a position to go down the 'what if' road," said Robert Jacobs, NASA's deputy associate administrator for communications.
"There have been discussions between NASA and the Smithsonian about the issue," Jacobs said, "but I am not sure they are on-going at this point because the process has been put on hold."
According to Jacobs, NASA administrator Charles Bolden will ultimately make the final decision, but he has tabled all discussion of where Discovery or any of the orbiters are going for museum display.
"We've had a lot of other things on the agency's plate besides where the orbiters are going to go," said Jacobs. "The agency is focused on safely flying out the manifest."
Originally, NASA had said it would announce the homes for the shuttles by the end of the summer, but schedule changes -- including the delay of Endeavour's final flight to February and the possible addition of another flight for Atlantis in June 2011 -- resulted in the agency delaying the news
"They were pushing toward a decision, and [then] decided not to," said Jacobs.
The postponement has led to increased speculation inside and outside of NASA. According to sources internal to the agency, whether Discovery still goes to the Smithsonian changes on a week-by-week, if not day-by-day basis.
Inappropriate to comment
After initially agreeing to provide interviews in support of this article, the Smithsonian refused comment and instead provided a brief written statement.
"The National Air and Space Museum appreciates NASA designating the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as a repository for the shuttle orbiter Discovery," began the statement. "The museum has been involved in discussions with NASA about acquiring Discovery and other artifacts from the shuttle program."
"It would be inappropriate to comment on plans, including funding, until arrangements are finalized."
As part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Air and Space Museum is funded by federal and private sources, including by endowment, contributions and from the profits realized from retail sales.
According to its website, the museum's annual budget is approximately $28 million -- just about the same amount NASA is requiring to deliver Discovery -- which covers the National Mall building; its Chantilly, Virginia-based annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center; and the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility located in Suitland, Maryland.
According to NASA, the $28.8 million being asked is not a price tag, but rather is the sum of two component costs: $8.3 million to ferry the orbiter atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, and $20.5 million for "display preparation," including setting up the crew cabin in flight configuration and installing structural shells and skins in place of hazardous systems that will be removed at NASA's expense.
As these expenses are not included within NASA's 2011 budget, the museums -- including the Smithsonian -- must assume their cost to be eligible to receive an orbiter.
The Smithsonian's 2011 budget request to Congress does not include a substantial increase to the National Air and Space Museum's funding, nor does it include among its planned activities mention of accessioning an orbiter.
The budget documents do however, mention the on-going efforts by the institution to raise private funds to complete "Phase Two" of the Udvar-Hazy, including the move of the Garber Facility to a new wing under construction at the Virginia annex. (A congressional mandate prohibits federal funds from being used for construction.)
Championing for a champion
The Smithsonian already owns a space shuttle orbiter -- the prototype Enterprise used for glide and landing tests in the late 1970s. Should the institution obtain the funding, the plan is to replace Enterprise
with Discovery on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
Why then does the Smithsonian desire Discovery? Other than Enterprise having never flown in space, the National Air and Space Museum specifically favors Discovery over Atlantis and Endeavour because it is the fleet leader.
"We consider it to be the champion of all the orbiters because when the program ends, it will have flown the most missions," said curator Valerie Neal in an August 2010 interview with the radio news show The Takeaway. (collectSPACE requested to speak to Neal for this article but the museum declined).
"It will retire with 39 missions and because it is the oldest of the remaining orbiters, it has the most varied history. It has flown every kind of mission that the shuttle program was designed to fly," said Neal.
Congress has yet to weigh in specifically about Discovery or any other orbiter going to the Smithsonian. In a recently passed NASA authorization act though, Congress did insert language addressing the shuttles' retirement and in doing so, implied that the National Air and Space Museum should be considered for a retired flown orbiter.
"The Smithsonian Institution... shall determine any new location for the Enterprise," the bill states. It was signed into law by President Obama last month.
The astronaut commanding Discovery's final flight, Steven Lindsey has said in media interviews that he expects the orbiter to go to the Smithsonian. Asked by collectSPACE about the possibility of Discovery not going there, Lindsey focused his reply on what he hoped exhibiting the orbiter would achieve, regardless of where it was retired.
"In terms of it being displayed, I have several criteria and I don't think you can meet them all at the same time," he said.
"I would like it to be displayed in a place where the most people can see it, where it somewhere mainstream where everyone can go see and observe it. I would personally like to see all these orbiters displayed in way that people can instead of just walking up to an orbiter with a rope around it, they can somehow -- and I don't know exactly how one could do this -- experience what it was like for the workers to service it, what it was like for the payload folks to get payloads into it, and what it was like for the crew to fly it and operate it."
"I think it also important for the space shuttles to be -- personally, kind of nostalgic -- to have it's home close to where all of us worked on it," Lindsey added.
"So I do not think we can meet all of those criteria but without specifying a place, those are what I would like to see." | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43702000 |
Bicycle Safety: New Law Helps Protect Cyclist
A new Maryland legislation that would impose stiffer fines and penalties on negligent drivers in bicycle accidents has once again highlighted the importance of bicycle safety.
The recently-passed statute would impose a fine of up to $5,000 and three years in jail. Prior to this new legislation, drivers only faced a fine of up to $300 and some points on their license.
Around 20 other states have already adopted similar punishments and fees as the new Maryland legislation.
However, legislation or not, bicyclists should try to take some simple safety tips to heart. When sharing the road, it is all too easy for accidents to occur, even if both the bicyclist and the driver are being cautious.
Tip #1: Some jurisdictions actually allow bicyclists to cycle on sidewalks. Of course, you should check your city's ordinances first to be absolutely sure. Cycling on the sidewalk can help you avoid any unnecessary run-ins with unruly drivers, though it also creates the possibility that you might hit pedestrians, so continue to take extra care.
Tip #2: Be informed about dangerous intersections. Some streets are just more dangerous than others due to general traffic conditions, or due to blind spots. Ask friends who cycle regularly, or do an internet search. San Francisco has a Bike Accident Tracker that gives information on collisions and where they often take place.
Tip #3: Wear the appropriate gear. Helmets won't necessary prevent fatal accidents, but they can offer some element of protection. Wearing bright colors at night can help distinguish you against the darkness. Invest in a headlight or some other light to attach on your bike so that cars can actually see you.
Tip #4: Keep track of where your bike is - and where cars are. All too often, drivers may be looking one way to look out for car traffic, but then pull out and hit a bike. Some simple tips about what to do in various situations and different intersections can help save you from injury. Such as, did you know that a common bike accident occurs when a driver opens their door - and the bicyclist runs into it? Being aware of your surroundings can definitely go a long way.
While this is in no ways a complete list of bicycle safety tips, it's a start to help you get biking in the right direction.
- Rules of road for bicyclists proposed (Baltimore Sun)
- Many drivers and cyclists still need some education (Greater Greater Washington)
- Bicycle Accidents (FindLaw) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43706000 |
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns residents in the path of Hurricane Ophelia in North Carolina and nearby coastal communities to take special precautions.
"Based on our experience with Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, people often use portable generators when their power is knocked out," said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. "But if you don't use them safely, you risk deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. NEVER use a generator inside the house or attached garage. Keep it a safe distance from your home. Don't take a chance."
Unofficial estimates indicate at least 11 deaths and numerous injuries have been attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning stemming from portable generators used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.
The Commission provided these important life-saving tips:
- Never use a portable generator indoors – including garages, basements, crawlspaces and sheds. Opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent CO buildup in the home.
- During use, keep portable generators outdoors and far away from open doors, windows and vents, which can allow CO to build up indoors.
- If you start to feel sick, dizzy or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air right away. The CO from generators can readily lead to full incapacitation and death.
- Keep generators dry and wait for the rain to pass before using a generator. Consumer-grade generators are not weatherproof and can pose the risk of electrocution and shock when used in wet conditions.
- Do not connect the generator directly into your home's electrical system through a receptacle outlet – this is an extremely dangerous practice that poses a fire hazard and an electrocution hazard to utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer.
- If using a generator, plug individual appliances into heavy duty, outdoor-rated extension cords and plug cords into the generator.
- Check that the extension cords have a wire gauge adequate for the appliance loads and have all three prongs, including a grounding pin.
- Keep charcoal grills outside. Never use them indoors. Burning charcoal in an enclosed space can produce lethal levels of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Check to make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms have batteries and are working.
Wet Carpets and Furniture Are Dangerous to your Health
- Discard water-damaged mattresses, wicker furniture, straw baskets and the like that have been water damaged. These cannot be recovered.
- Throw out wet room-size carpets, drapes, upholstered furniture, stuffed toys, ceiling tiles and anything that can't be picked up and cleaned by dry cleaning, steam cleaning or put in a washing machine or dryer.
- Remove and replace wet insulation.
- Microorganisms may grow in these water-damaged products and may cause allergic reactions and infections. For more information, go to http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/425.html
Avoid Electrical and Gas Hazards
- Look for signs that your appliances have gotten wet. Discard electrical or gas appliances that have been wet because they pose electric shock and fire hazards.
- Before using your appliances, have a professional or your gas or electric company evaluate your home and replace all gas control valves, circuit breakers, and fuses that have been under water.
Dangers to Children
- Medicines and chemicals should be thrown away. Water may have infected the integrity of the medicine. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers additional safety tips. For more information, go to FDA Drug Safety site
- Young children and water don't mix. Watch children around buckets, tubs and standing water in and around the home. Even small amounts of water can be a drowning hazard.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals - contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @OnSafety or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43721000 |
We're on the brink of summer, Seattle's biggest outdoor season. More likely than not, one day in the next few months you'll find yourself gazing out at Puget Sound. The waters will be sparkling, the rugged Olympics or Cascades will make a spectacular backdrop and overhead — for a couple of days in August — might be, as Perry Como sang, "the bluest skies you've ever seen...."
If you're lucky, you'll be out there on a boat, perhaps on one of the innumerable pleasure craft or on a ferry crossing Elliott Bay. You'll point out the visible wonders to your fellow shipmates, and your out-of-town guests will be in awe. But the reality is, you might as well be the little yachtsman in the old bathroom cleanser commercials: The Man from Ty-D-Bol. Indeed, he probably sailed on cleaner waters in a freshly scrubbed toilet.
The fact is, Puget Sound is a toxic dump and a sewer.
Sure, we've heard that Puget Sound needs to be cleaned up. But even knowing the Sound's long history of industry around its edges — and that sometimes septic tanks leak into its waters — it looks so damn good. How can anything be wrong? Puget Sound's pollution isn't the kind that sets waters on fire, as happened to the old Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, once upon a time. It's a quiet, almost invisible disaster.
The Sound is an arm of the sea, and it's deep. That's what attracted so many settlers, adventurers and city builders: good ports and protected waters. In the last 150 years, humans have swarmed into the Puget Sound Basin, some 4 million of us. The Sound is now suffering, but its pain is masked by its pristine surface. The deep waters hide much of the problem: In sediments and throughout the food chain, our presence is being felt.
Take this shocking figure, reported in The Olympian earlier this year. The number-one source of pollution in the Sound isn't industry, it's us. Runoff from our roads, sidewalks, driveways, etc. is the biggest single source of pollutants, according to the state Department of Ecology. Every year, 22,580 metric tons of oil and petroleum flow in just from this source. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez-size oil spill every other year. This in a body of water from which oil tankers are banned. Can you imagine the outrage if we'd had 10 Exxon Valdez spills in the last 20 years?
Much of the pollution flowing into the sea is more personal. The Sound's Chinook salmon have high levels of flame retardants, the kind of chemicals used to make your upholstery and pajamas fire resistant. Every drug we put into our bodies finds its way into the water, mostly through the sewer system (what goes in, comes out, eventually, and not everything is "treated" at your local sewage treatment plant). What finds its way into the water eventually gets into the creatures that live there. On the East Coast, a study showed that chemicals from the anti-depressant Prozac were altering the reproductive cycles of mussels.
And our lifestyle is a factor, too. In California, some sea otters have been infected with parasites that can only have come from pet cats, presumably when their poop is flushed down the toilet or washed away by rain. Last year, researchers detected elevated levels of vanilla extract and cinnamon in Puget Sound right around Thanksgiving, evidence that traces of our seasonal diet, cookies and all, are reflected in our waste and, therefore, in our waters. The onslaught of Christmas fruitcake could have consequences!
Our impact on the environment is so extensive that we really have to begin rethinking the whole concept of "wilderness." All that beauty we look at from our decks or high-rise offices is not what it appears to be. A six-year study by the Environmental Protection Agency's National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory found that even the most remote parts of our national parks are polluted. It found high levels of mercury in fish in lakes of the Olympics and Mount Rainier.
Citizens have been trying to mobilize to "save" Puget Sound for decades. The government is working on the problem with task forces and studies. But a sense of urgency is still lacking. One recent poll asked central Puget Sound-area residents what the top priority for state government was. Only 2 percent named cleaning up Puget Sound.
It's hard to take a crisis seriously when it looks so pretty.
Like what you just read? Support high quality local journalism. Become a member of Crosscut today! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43727000 |
COMMEMORATING INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY
By Dr. Angel W. Colon-Rivera
April 8th marks International Roma Day – a day to remember that Europe’s largest ethnic minority still faces anti-Roma violence, violations of their human rights, discrimination, and systematic marginalization, so that many have difficulty meeting their basic human needs, such as education, housing, health care and, in some cases, even clean water. In a number of OSCE participating States, Roma live in segregated communities, their children attend segregated schools, and they are discriminated against in employment and other areas of public life. In some OSCE countries, Roma are subject to violence or threat of violence on a daily basis.
The Helsinki Commission has long monitored and reported on human rights violations against Roma and other ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities. In the early 1990s, the commission issued a series of reports on OSCE countries making the transition from communism to democracy – almost every report identified the deteriorating situation of Roma as a problem. Commissioners have addressed violations of Roma rights through hearings and briefings, engagement with representatives of the OSCE participating States, and by encouraging the Department of State to ensure that human rights violations of persons belonging to Romani communities are appropriately reported in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights.
Last year, the Commission hosted two special roundtables in Washington for representatives of OSCE Embassies to elevate the discussion of Romani human rights concerns: the first, in January, was a conversation with Andrzej Mirga, the OSCE Senior Advisor for Romani issues; the second, in October, was with Viktoria Mohacsi, who had served as one of two Romani MPs in the European Parliament and was a recipient of the Human Rights First 2010 award. During the OSCE Review Conference in Warsaw, the Commission also organized a meeting for the U.S. delegation with Romani participants, many of whom are now advisors to their governments. The discussion focused on mass expulsions of Roma from France and the dangerous rise in anti-Roma political rhetoric in much of Europe. Commissioners have paid particular attention to the escalation of anti-Roma violence in the Czech Republic and Hungary, and to comments by public figures in a number of countries associating Roma with criminality – discourse that echoes the rhetoric of the Nazi period.
In September and October of 2011, the OSCE will hold its annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, where one of this year’s special topics will be “Enhancing implementation of OSCE commitments regarding Roma and Sinti.” The OSCE Chair-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis has made tolerance education a priority. Part of that effort emphasizes the importance of Holocaust remembrance and education due to a need to educate future generations about the tragedies of the Holocaust where millions of Jewish, Romani, and other victims perished because of intolerance and hatred. Commission leaders have paid particular attention to the goal of Holocaust education and commemoration, as well as access to Holocaust-era archives. Accordingly, the Commission continues to follow on-going efforts to build, in Berlin, a memorial for Sinti and Roma victims of the genocide. Although various complications have delayed this historic undertaking (including weather-related construction delays), German officials have indicated the monument should be completed and unveiled this year. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43728000 |
- Our Story
- In Memory
CAF's Dr. Tanzi on the latest on Alzheimer's Disease Genes
The Four Known Alzheimer’s Genes
Over the past several decades, it has become increasingly clear that inheritance plays a major role in Alzheimer’s disease. The roughly 25,000 genes in the human genome are comprised of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) packaged into 24 different chromosomes, 1-22, X and Y. A gene’s job is to either make proteins or control the activity of other genes. Over many generations, the DNA of a gene can mutate to create a “variant”. A very rare DNA variant is called a “mutation”, while a variant that is common in the population is called a “polymorphism”. DNA variants allow for all of us to be a little different from each other. There are about 3 million variants that differ between any two individuals. Variants in certain genes can directly cause a disease like Alzheimer’s, can increase susceptibility to disease, or can even confer protection against disease. One’s risk for most age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s is strongly influenced by our genes. For all of these age-related diseases, we know of mutations that guarantee onset of these diseases with no need for input from any other genes or environmental factors. And, we know of polymorphisms that can increase (or decrease) one’s susceptibility to the disease, but without guaranteeing onset of the disease. In this latter case, other genes and environmental factors usually conspire together to determine when and whether one will get disease. Any gene which can contain a variant(s) that significantly influence one’s susceptibility to Alzheimer’s, whether it be to guarantee the disease or serve to increase (or decrease) risk, is called an “Alzheimer’s gene”. It is important to remember that all genes are “good”; it is only the variants in the DNA of these genes that can influence one’s lifetime risk for a disorder such as Alzheimer’s disease.
In the 1980’s and 90’s, my laboratory co-discovered the three known genes that can carry mutations causing early-onset (<60 yrs) familial Alzheimer’s disease. These three genes, known as APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2, can harbor any of over 200 different gene mutations that guarantee onset of Alzheimer’s at a relatively early age with no need for additional input from other genes or environmental factors. These mutations are rare, accounting for only 1-2% of Alzheimer’s cases. Inheritance of one of these mutations from just one parent virtually guarantees onset of Alzheimer’s, usually by 60 years old. If a parent carries such a mutation, each child has a 50% chance of inheriting the same mutation and getting early-onset Alzheimer’s disease with virtual certainty before 60 years old. Genetic testing is available for the early-onset Alzheimer’s gene mutations, but is usually reserved for those who have a family history of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The fourth known Alzheimer’s gene is APOE. In the early 1990’s, investigators at Duke University found that a common gene variant (polymorphism) of APOE, called epsilon 4, can increase risk for late-onset (>60 yrs) Alzheimer’s disease. This variant is present in about 20% of the general population but this increases to >50% in Alzheimer’s patients. Unlike the early-onset AD gene mutations, this variant does not guarantee Alzheimer’s, but only serves to increase risk. Inheriting one copy of the variant (from one parent) increases risk by 4-fold (versus the general population) and two copies (from both parents), >10-fold. Importantly, a person can inherit the APOE epsilon 4 gene variant from one or both parents and never get Alzheimer’s in the span of a normal lifetime.
With regard to genetic testing for the common late-onset form of Alzheimer’s, we are not yet able to do so reliably. This is because the APOE epsilon 4 gene variant is not sufficient on it’s own to predict one’s risk for Alzheimer’s reliably. Other genes and environmental factors need to combine with the APOE epsilon 4 gene variant to cause Alzheimer’s. Some gene variants can exacerbate while others mitigate the risk for Alzheimer’s conferred by the APOE epsilon 4 gene variant. And, we do not yet know the full set of gene variants that can increase or decrease risk for Alzheimer’s when inherited together with the APOE epsilon 4 gene variant. Thus, APOE gene testing is not recommended as a sole means for predicting Alzheimer’s risk. The other late-onset Alzheimer’s genes must first be identified in order to reliably test for risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
So how many other Alzheimer’s genes are there? We know that the four known Alzheimer’s genes, APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, and APOE account for roughly 30% of the inheritance of Alzheimer’s. Thus, 70% of the genetics of Alzheimer’s remains undefined. We as well as others have been engaged in comprehensive projects to find the other Alzheimer’s genes. Once we have all of the Alzheimer’s genes in hand, we will be able to more reliably predict one’s lifetime risk for the common late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease. However, one might ask, “Why bother to test if there is nothing we can currently do to prevent, stop, or reverse it?” This is certainly a fair question since we still do not have drugs that stop the disease process in Alzheimer’s. We only have drugs like Aricept and Namenda that modestly and temporarily alleviate the symptoms of cognitive decline, but without affecting the progress of the disease.
We need to do better more effective therapies for Alzheimer’s, but how do we get there? First we need to identify all of the genes and variants involved in influencing risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Studies of the known Alzheimer’s disease genes (the four previously mentioned) have provided the vast majority of information being used to guide novel drug discovery aimed at preventing, stopping and maybe even reversing Alzheimer’s disease. Every new Alzheimer’s gene defect we find provides new clues regarding the cause of the disease what we need to do to stop the disease. Thus far, all four genes have pointed to a small protein called “Abeta” as the cause. Abeta is normally made in the brain, but is found in excessive amounts in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, e.g. in senile plaques that litter the Alzheimer’s brain around nerve cells. Small clumps of Abeta can gum up the connections between nerve cells known as synapses. Billions of nerve cells in the brain form trillions of synapses making up our neural network. The neural network, in all its complexity, is needed for all brain function, including memory and learning. Excessive Abeta disrupts synaptic communication between nerve cells leading to loss of memory and learning and eventually dementia. Dementia is defined as global and catastrophic cognitive failure; Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in the elderly.
Beyond the Original Four Alzheimer’s Genes
Most drug discovery for Alzheimer’s today is based on studies of the four original Alzheimer’s genes. But, we know that there are many more Alzheimer’s genes yet to be identified. Since 2005, the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has supported a project called the Alzheimer’s Genome Project (AGP), carried out in my laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. The goal of this project is to study 5000 families with multiple members who are affected with the common late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease in an effort to identify all of the other Alzheimer’s genes. In addition to the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project (IGAP a consortium of dozens of research institutions in Europe and the U.S., in which we are members), uses tens of thousands of individual Alzheimer’s cases from the general population in the U.S. and Europe, to find common DNA variants that influence risk for Alzheimer’s. The family-based method of our Alzheimer’s Genome Project and the population-based method of IGAP have identified some of the same Alzheimer’s genes, but also find different ones with different effects on risk.
In the family-based studies of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, we are able to find not only common DNA variants that influence one’s risk for Alzheimer’s, but also rare mutations that profoundly affect risk or for the disease or directly cause it. The Alzheimer’s Genome Project places a high priority on finding these rare but very potent gene mutations because historically, amongst the four known Alzheimer’s genes, it has been the rare early-onset familial Alzheimer’s gene mutations that have been most effectively guiding drug discovery efforts. This is mainly because hard-hitting mutations have clear-cut adverse effects on biological systems, which can be elegantly recapitulated in animal models. This then allows for more effective drug discovery and development.
Along these lines, one of the first new Alzheimer’s genes to be identified in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project was ADAM10. This gene was specifically chosen for testing as a potential Alzheimer’s gene because like the four original Alzheimer’s genes, it affects the production of Abeta in the brain. We identified two rare mutations in this gene that strongly predispose carriers to Alzheimer’s disease at around 70 years old. These two mutations were found in only 7 (of 1000 AD families tested). Thus, they are very rare. We have recently demonstrated these two mutations dramatically impair the activity of ADAM10. ADAM10 normally blocks the production of Abeta. Accordingly, we have found that these two rare mutations greatly enhance Alzheimer’s amyloid pathology in animal-based models of the disease. With the validation of these mutations to be “pathogenic”, or disease causing, the Alzheimer’s Genome Project considers ADAM10 to be the fifth Alzheimer’s gene. We published the original findings showing ADAM10 to carry rare mutations causing Alzheimer’s disease in 2008 in the prestigious scientific journal, Human Molecular Genetics. The publication of the validation data from transgenic mouse models is planned for the coming year in 2011.
Also beginning in 2005, with Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support, as part of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, we carried out the first family-based “genome-wide association study” for new Alzheimer’s genes. This entailed a screen of the entire human genome in patients and their relatives in thousands of Alzheimer’s families. The first phase of this study was completed in 2008 and led to the identification of over 100 new Alzheimer’s candidate genes. We reported the top four Alzheimer’s candidate genes from this study in 2008; it was named by TIME/CNN to be one of the Ten Top Medical Research Breakthroughs of 2008.
The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Alzheimer’s Genome Project was the first large-scale study of the human genome performed in the world on the world’s largest collection of families affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It was also the first genome-wide study for Alzheimer’s in the world to discover novel Alzheimer’s gene candidates with statistically significant results and confirmation in thousands of subject from families with a high incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. The four new Alzheimer’s genes reported by the Alzheimer’s Genome Project in 2008 in the American Journal of Human Genetics included: ATXN1, CD33, GWA14Q34, and DLGAP1. ATXN1 is known to carry mutations that cause another neurodegenerative disease called spinal cerebellar ataxia, a movement disorder. We found that when this gene is inactive, Abeta levels increase dramatically leading to cognitive decline in mouse models. Another gene, CD33, is perhaps the most interesting since it controls the brain’s innate immune system and inflammation in the brain. In a related study funded by the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, Abeta was found to play a role in the brain’s innate immunity system. CD33 regulates the brain’s immune system and concurrently, levels of Abeta. We are now developing CD33 as a drug target for Alzheimer’s based on the genetic findings of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project. It should be emphasized that without the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Alzheimer’s Genome Project we would probably have never guessed that genes like ATXN1 and CD33 might be involved with Alzheimer’s.
As part of the current activities of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, we are now testing these as well as over one hundred other new Alzheimer’s candidate genes, coming out of our genome screen, to identify all of the DNA variants and mutations that influence risk for Alzheimer’s in the five thousand Alzheimer’s families under study in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project. We are specifically searching for DNA mutations and variants in these genes that very strongly affect risk for onset of Alzheimer’s. As new defects are found in these genes, we will not only increase our ability to reliably predict risk for Alzheimer’s, but more importantly, garner new clues regarding the causes of Alzheimer’s, and in doing so, gather new ideas and biological targets for novel drug discovery aimed at preventing, stopping and reversing Alzheimer’s disease.
In the parallel screen for new Alzheimer’s genes conducted by the IGAP, the DNA from tens of thousands of individual Alzheimer’s patients was compared to the DNA of elderly subjects without Alzheimer’s to find common variants that influence risk for Alzheimer’s. In 2009, this led to the identification of four new Alzheimer’s gene candidates called PICALM, CLU, CR1, and BIN1. More recently in April 2011, IGAP found four more Alzheimer’s genes called CD2AP, MS4A, EPHA1, and ABCA7. In addition, they found Alzheimer’s risk to be influenced by the gene CD33, which was first reported by our Alzheimer’s Genome Project in 2008.
It should be noted for the sake of clarity that the IGAP had stated in their reports and press releases that they had increased the number of known late-onset genes from “five to ten”. However, these numbers only pertained to studies of individual Alzheimer’s patients in the general population screened in IGAP, and not the family-based Alzheimer’s genes reported by the Alzheimer’s Genome Project. The IGAP considered the original five late-onset Alzheimer’s genes to be APOE (discovered as mentioned earlier at Duke U. in the early 1990’s), PICALM, CLU, CR1, and BIN1. They then considered the next five to be CD2AP, MS4A, EPHA1, ABCA7, and CD33. However, as mentioned above, CD33 had been already identified earlier in our Alzheimer’s Genome Project in 2008, which was reported in the major scientific journal, The American Journal of Human Genetics. In the IGAP announcement, they also overlooked the other three late onset genes, which had been discovered three years earlier in our Alzheimer’s Genome Project. So, in fact, with the 8 new genes reported by IGAP and the 5 new genes reported by the AGP, there have been 13 new late onset Alzheimer’s genes discovered in the last 5 years, which, when added to the discovery of APOE yields 14 total late onset genes now reported in the scientific literature. To that total would be added the 3 early onset genes co-discovered by Dr. Tanzi and colleagues to reach a total of Alzheimer’s genes discovered of 17. In addition, Dr. Tanzi and AGP have also identified over 100 unpublished Alzheimer’s candidate genes that are currently being confirmed and validated for publication over the coming year.
With regard to effects on risk, all of the new Alzheimer’s gene candidates reported by the IGAP carry common DNA variants that confer only tiny effects on risk. Specifically, according to IGAP, the new genes contain common DNA variants that are present in a large proportion (30-70%) of the general population, but only increase or decrease risk for a given individual by a mere 10-20%. In contrast, the epsilon 4 variant in APOE, which is present in 20% of the population, increases risk by 400 – 1200 %! And the ADAM gene just discovered by the AGP increases risk for the individuals who have it by about 500%
With regard to the CD33 gene, which was identified as an Alzheimer’s gene in both our Alzheimer’s Genome Project in 2008 and the IGAP in 2011, each project actually discovered different Alzheimer’s-associated DNA variants in this gene. In our family-based Alzheimer’s gene study, we originally reported a relatively uncommon variant in CD33 that increases risk for Alzheimer’s in a subset (<100) of the 5000 Alzheimer’s families we studied. In contrast, the IGAP discovered a very common variant in CD33, present in about 50% of the population that conferred only marginal protection against Alzheimer’s (decreasing risk by only 11%). The fact that we now know of two different Alzheimer’s-associated DNA variants in the CD33 gene from multiple Alzheimer’s samples increases the odds that CD33, is a bona fide Alzheimer’s gene.
As with all of the new genes found in the genome-wide association screens of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project and IGAP, the next critical step is to identify all of the DNA variants and mutations in these genes that increase or decrease risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund continues to support these efforts. We are currently screening over a 100 new Alzheimer’s candidate genes found in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project along with those found in the IGAP, to identify the all of DNA variants and mutations in these genes that influence risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Elucidating the full deck of Alzheimer’s-associated gene variants and mutations and understanding the interrelationships among them is is necessary to fully understand all of the biological processes that are affected in Alzheimer’s disease. This will give us the best odds of reliably predicting the disease early in life (with appropriate counseling and legal protection). But, most importantly, the full set of Alzheimer’s genes and the knowledge of how they biologically influence risk for disease will continue to provide the most critical information needed to guide the development of new and effective therapies aimed at preventing, stopping or reversing Alzheimer’s disease.
Finally, it should be noted that whether a DNA mutation in an Alzheimer’s gene is rare and restricted to a small subset of families or more broadly observed in the general population, most believe that new drugs or therapies for Alzheimer’s based on what is learned from that mutation will be useful in preventing and treating all cases of Alzheimer’s. As noted above, in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, we place a high priority on family-based gene studies of Alzheimer’s since there we have the highest odds of finding DNA mutations with very strong effects on risk for Alzheimer’s, akin to those of the early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease gene mutations discussed above. These mutations are most useful for driving successful drug discovery since their biological effects on the disease process are of much greater impact and more clear-cut in terms of mechanism by which they cause disease. They also lend themselves to more useful animal models for drug testing. Ultimately, the full list of Alzheimer’s genes emerging from the family-based genetic studies of the Alzheimer’s Genome Project and the population-based studies of IGAP getting us closer and closer to someday being able to eradicate Alzheimer’s disease using a strategy of early prediction and early intervention.
Alzheimer’s Genes Identified To Date (Total of 17):
Early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease genes (onset < age 60):
Late onset genes (onset > age 60):
ADAM 10 (2008)**
* Co-discovered in Tanzi laboratory
** Discovered by the Cure Alzheimer’ Fund Alzheimer’s Genome Project in Alzheimer’s families-these genes are expected to contain DNA variants that significantly increase risk for Alzheimer’s.
*** Discovered by the IGAP-these genes are expected to contain DNA variants that are common in the general population but which have only tiny effects on risk for Alzheimer’s.
N.B. The Alzheimer’s Genome Project has also discovered over 100 additional Alzheimer’s candidate genes that are in the process of being confirmed and validated. In addition, the Cure Alzheimer’ Fund supports a website called AlzGene Http://alzgene.org, in which we are tracking all of the Alzheimer’s candidate genes reported in the scientific literature, including their ongoing testing for confirmation as bona fide Alzheimer’s disease genes.
With regard to functional effects, the above list of 17 Alzheimer’s genes can be divided into four major categories based on their known or predicted biological effects on Alzheimer’s risk:
1. The production and clearance of Abeta, the major protein in beta-amyloid deposits in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients (APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, APOE, ADAM10, ATXN1, CD33, CLU)
2. Cholesterol metabolism (APOE, CLU, ABCA7)
3. The innate immune system and inflammation (APOE, CD33, CLU, CR1)
4. Cell signaling and protein trafficking (PICALM, BIN1, EPHA1, CD2AP) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43731000 |
Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
“I was a hidden treasure and wanted to be known.” This is the beginning of probably the most famous hadith qudsi, or extra-Qur’anic Word of God, ḥadiṯs-e kanz-e maḵf. Its more correct translation might be as follows:
“I was a Treasure unknown then I desired to be known so I created a creation to which I made Myself known; then they knew Me.”
Tradition says that it is the divine response to the Prophet David’s query, when he asked about the purpose of creation. These are not the words of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and no chain of transmission is known for this hadith, whether sound or weak, as Ibn Taymiyya and others state. But the meaning is true and is inferred from Q51:56:
“I created the Jinn and humankind only that they may worship Me!” meaning “that they may know Me” as the Prophet’s (SAW) cousin Ibn Abbas explained it.
Since human beings were created in His image (as self-aware consciousnesses evolved in a physical body), all human beings are also hidden treasures to each other. And all have this deep desire to be known. So, all of us create our own little worlds, each according to his or her capabilities of love, talents, and gifts. Of course it is a limited and ephemeral world, not comparable with Almighty Allah’s creation, but part of our nature nonetheless :)
- Edited and adapted from a post on Br. Fahad’s Freelance blog. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43738000 |
PPP GNI (formerly PPP GNP) is gross national income (GNI) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GNI as a U.S. dollar has in the United States. Gross national income is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. Data are in current international dollars.
World Bank, International Comparison Program database. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43739000 |
from A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.
Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.
The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.
Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy's inmost nook.
Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.
Help your child make a picture of your family or friends and what you can do outside in the summer. Draw the pictures, color, or cut pictures from magazines. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43744000 |
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This press release is an announcement submitted by Monash University Centre for Obesity Research and Education, and was not written by Diabetes Health.
A new world-first study by Monash University researchers has found gastric banding surgery has a profound impact on one of society's biggest health issues - diabetes.
The study, published today in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found obese patients with Type 2 diabetes who underwent gastric banding were five times more likely to have their diabetes go into long term remission, compared with patients who engaged in conventional weight loss therapies, such as a controlled calorie diet and exercise.
The four-year study, which was led by Drs John Dixon and Paul O'Brien from Monash University's Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE), monitored 60 volunteers for two years who underwent significant weight loss of more than 10 per cent of their body weight.
Dr Dixon said of those who underwent gastric banding surgery, 73 per cent achieved remission for Type 2 diabetes, compared to just 13 percent of the people who underwent conventional therapy.
"Our study presents strong evidence that obese patients with a Body Mass Index greater than 30 with Type 2 diabetes need to lose a significant amount of weight to improve their overall health and glycemic management," Dr Dixon said.
"Our study shows that gastric banding surgery can assist those patients to achieve this - and with sustained results."
Professor O'Brien said obesity and Type 2 diabetes were strongly linked and combine to present one of the greatest public health problems facing our community.
"We found that the amount of weight loss was a key determinant of effectiveness. Most of those losing ten per cent of their total weight had remission of the diabetes. Few who lost less did so."
Dr Dixon said the study also found patients who lost substantial weight could not only dramatically reduce their diabetes medications, but also those for controlling blood pressure and lowering blood fats.
"We found that after two years, the surgical group when compared to the conventional therapy group displayed a four times greater reduction in glycated haemoglobin, which can be an indicator of poorly controlled diabetes," Dr Dixon said.
Gastric banding is a medical procedure where a band is placed around a patient's stomach to reduce appetite and food intake. For more information on the study, visit the CORE website: http://www.core.monash.org/.
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43756000 |
Word Origin & History
c.1300, from O.Fr. as "one at dice," from L. as (gen. assis) "a unit," from the name of a small Roman coin, perhaps originally Etruscan and related to Gk. eis "one." It meant the side of the die with only one mark before it meant the playing card. Since this was the lowest roll at dice, ace was used
metaphorically in M.E. for "bad luck;" but as the ace is often the highest playing card, the extended senses based on "excellence, good quality" arose 18c. as card-playing became popular. Meaning "outstanding pilot" dates from 1917 (technically, in WWI aviators' jargon, one who has brought down 10 enemy planes, though originally in ref. to 5 shot down), from Fr. l'ace (1915), which, according to Bruce Robertson (ed.) "Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War" was used in prewar Fr. sporting publications for "top of the deck" boxers, cyclists, etc. Sports meaning of "point scored" (1819) led to that of "unreturnable serve" (1889). The verb meaning "to score" (in sports) is first attested 1923, and led to the extended student slang sense of "get high marks" (1959). Ace in the hole "concealed advantage" is attested from 1915. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43757000 |
The most common biomechanical explanation for the chin is that it acts as a buttress against masticatory stress. However, recent evidence suggests that this hypothesis is unlikely [...] More recently Ichim et al. (2007) have suggested that speech production is associated with mechanical stresses acting on the mandibular symphysis due to tongue and orofacial muscle activity. Thus, they argue that the chin is an adaptive response to resist stresses caused by oblique contractions of the genioglossus muscles during speech. Computer simulations provide results that are consistent with the orofacial stress hypothesis (Ichim et al., 2007), but this hypothesis has yet to be fully tested.
A less well-established adaptive hypothesis, but one worth considering, is that chin shape variation is a consequence of sexual selection (e.g., Hershkovitz, 1970). Psychological studies of facial attractiveness suggest that a ‘‘broad chin’’ in males is correlated with social dominance, which some females may prefer in a potential mate
Our study provides the first quantitative evidence of sexual dimorphism in chin shape among a geographically diverse sample of modern humans. The presence of sexual dimorphism appears to refute mechanical explanations of the chin that preclude sexual dimorphism, such as the masticatory and orofacial stress hypotheses (e.g. Daegling, 1993; Ichim et al., 2007).
While the presence of sexual dimorphism is consistent with the hypothesis that sexual selection influences variation in chin shape, the degree of overlap between males and females requires further explanation. It is safe to say that the male chin pales in comparison to the more exaggerated ornaments found in other animals, such as the large and colorful tail of the peacock (Pavo cristatus) (Petrie, 1991). The modest contrasts in male and female chin shape indicated by our data (see Fig. 4) do not seem to fit a runaway process of selection driven by female choice (Fisher, 1958). We suggest there are at least two possible explanations for this pattern.
One hypothesis for why male chin shape is not more exaggerated is that some females may avoid mating with extremely aggressive males
Second, the large amount of overlap in male and female chin shape may be due to regional differences inchin shape dimorphism (see Fig. 6). Regional differencesin the level of dimorphism would tend to inflate within-sex variance in the pooled human sample, thereby reducingthe probability of finding between-sex differences.
Sexual dimorphism in chin shape: Implications for adaptive hypotheses
Zaneta M. Thayer, Seth D. Dobson
The chin, or mentum osseum, is one of the most distinctive anatomical traits of modern humans. A variety of hypotheses for the adaptive value of the chin have been proposed, ranging from mechanical stress resistance to sexual selection via mate choice. While the sexual selection hypothesis predicts dimorphism in chin shape, most biomechanical hypotheses preclude it. Therefore determining the presence or absence of significant sexual dimorphism in chin shape provides a useful method for differentiating between various adaptive hypotheses; however, this has yet to be done due to a lack of quantitative data on chin shape. The goals of this study are therefore: (1) to introduce a new method for quantifying chin shape and (2) to determine the presence or absence of sexual dimorphism in chin shape in a diverse sample of modern humans. Samples were drawn from recent human skeletal collections representing nine geographic regions. Outlines of mentum osseum contours were quantified using elliptical Fourier function analysis (EFFA). Fourier coefficients were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA). Sexual dimorphism in chin shape was assessed using PC loadings in the pooled geographic sample, and statistically significant differences were found. These findings provide the first quantitative, morphologically based evidence in support of adaptive hypotheses that predict dimorphism in chin shape, including the sexual selection hypothesis. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43758000 |
Watchable Wildlife Sites
Fish Slough is a lush oasis amid an otherwise arid landscape - with less than six inches of rain, and summer temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The unusual surface water supply provides for varied plant and animal life, from unique and sensitive species such as Owens pupfish and Owens tui chub, to resident and migrating birds, and small mammals.
Haiwee Deer Winter Range
This area on the edge of the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains was designated as a Watchable Wildlife site because it offers outstanding opportunities to view a portion of the East Monache mule deer herd. As winter moves in, deer move down from the mountains to the valley bottom, at about 4,000 feet above sea level. Here they can forage on diverse grasses and forbs and find water in hidden springs.
Desert Tortoise Natural Area
For three million years, the desert tortoise survived and adapted to changing climates in what is now the California Desert. But in recent years, their numbers have been greatly reduced. This public land in the northwestern Mojave Desert in northeastern Kern County, is managed to protect a unique habitat in its natural state.
Most of Harper Lake is a dry lake bed that lies under the flight area of Edwards Air Force Base. But in its southwest corner, water runoff from nearby farms has created what is probably the largest marsh in the Mojave Desert. This oasis attracts resident wildlife and thousands of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds, making this a prime birdwatching spot.
One of the only places where the Mojave River flows above ground all year round. This unusually reliable Mojave Desert water source provides bounty for many animals. More than 180 species of birds have been spotted, and bighorn sheep can now find water here, thanks to habitat restoration efforts. The area also hosts various turtles and lizards, and desert tortoises.
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Big Morongo Creek rises to the surface for just three miles between the Mojave and Colorado deserts, before it disappears underground again. The resulting canyon oasis has gained a national reputation among birdwatchers as "a usual spot to see the unusual." At least 235 species of birds have been observed here - including several rare species - along with desert bighorn sheep, mule deer and smaller mammals, lizards and more.
Southeastern Great Basin and Mojave Desert
1- Fish Slough
2- Haiwee Deer Winter Range
3- Desert Tortoise Natural Area
4- Harper Lake
5- Afton Canyon
6- Big Morongo Canyon Preserve | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43760000 |
Date: October 31, 2003
Creator: Jurenas, Remy
Description: Leaders of Western Hemisphere countries have agreed to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement by 2005. FTAA’s objective is to promote economic growth and democracy by eliminating barriers to trade in all goods (including agricultural and food products) and services, and to facilitate investment. If diplomats reach agreement, free trade in the hemisphere could occur by 2020. Negotiations on FTAA’s agriculture component have become contentious. This report discusses the controversial aspects of FTAA, describes the advantages and disadvantages of FTAA, and discusses FTAA in relation to the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43763000 |
Date of this Version
Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) has monitored water quality since 1989 and fish populations since 1993 on the Niobrara River in Nebraska in the vicinity of Spencer Hydro during "flushing" or "sluicing" activities. These sluicing activities alter water quality in the river downstream, which can negatively impact fish populations. Higher numbers offish were sampled in 1995 when compared to 1993 and 1994. Of the 6,187 fish and 22 total species sampled above and below the hydro, six species comprised approximately 93 percent of the total sample. The most common species sampled were sand shiner, Notropis ludibundus (35.4%), red shiner, Cyprinella lutrensis (22.9%), flathead chub, Hybopsis gracilis (14.4%), carpsucker spp., Carpoides sp. (10.9%), bigmouth shiner, Hybopsis dorsalis (5.1%), and channel catfish, lctalurus punctatus (4.0%). Operational modifications instituted since 1989, such as opening the flood gates slower and dropping the pond at a slower rate, have reduced sluicing impacts and the hydro structure may not be limiting species diversity to the extent originally thought. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43765000 |
Economics Research Institute Study Paper
Utah State University Department of Economics
Careful studies of the distribution of income in nineteenth-century United States have been hampered by a paucity of available data. This study undertakes the analysis of factors influencing the distribution of personal income in communities in the Great Basin region of the western United States for the years 1860-61 and 1870. The study utilizes estimates of full income by individual based on information contained in the General Economic Records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, demographic and economic data from the manuscript censuses of 1860 and 1870, and other relevant data from contemporary sources. Mean income and Gini ratios are calculated for nearly all Great Basin communities, and econometric analysis is undertaken to identify the impact on income distribution of changes in mean income, community size, crop destruction by grasshoppers, and the percentage of the population born in non-English speaking countries. The econometric results are compared to the results of an earlier study that looked at factors influencing income inequality for the Great Basin as a whole over the period 1855-1900. Of particular interest is the impact of ethnic mix on relative income inequality. While the earlier study found that Gini ratios for the Great Basin region rose as the fraction of the population born in non-English speaking countries increased, the current study finds that Gini ratios first rose, then fell as the percentage of the community born in non-English speaking countries rose. At the territorial level, grasshopper infestation increased relative inequality, but at the community level it decreased inequality. The completion of the transcontinental railroad allowed a few individuals in urban communities to earn large incomes in capital-intensive activities, increasing community income inequality, ceteris paribus, but community access to the railroad had a leveling effect on labor income and product prices, reducing community income inequality.
Israelsen, Karl E. and Israelsen, L. Dwight, "Nativity and Income Distribution in Frontier Utah Communities" (2000). Economic Research Institute Study Papers. Paper 179. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43766000 |
In fourth grade, students learn to use a variety of sentence structures in their narratives, summaries, responses to literature and information reports. They learn to use compound sentences, and may also learn to use complex sentences. Students learn to combine short, related sentences with appositives, participial phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. When introducing a new type of sentence structure, the teacher should provide adequate practice in writing sentences before requiring students to use the new sentence type in writing passages. Those assignments should be structured to prompt usage of the new sentence type. In addition, the teacher should provide adequate cumulative review to facilitate understanding and retention as well as exercises requiring the students to revise existing passages by combining sentences and thereby create a new type of sentence structure. Students should be taught not only how to create new sentence types but when to use them. For example, some students will need careful instruction to determine when words, phrases, or clauses should be joined by and, or, or but.
the Reading/Language Arts Framework for California Public Schools) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43769000 |
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|Trusted Extensions User's Guide Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library|
In contrast to traditional UNIX systems, superuser (the root user) is not used to administer Trusted Extensions. Rather, administrative roles with discrete capabilities administer the system. In this way, no single user can compromise a system's security. A role is a special user account that provides access to certain applications with the rights that are necessary for performing the specific tasks. Rights include labels, authorizations, privileges, and effective UIDs/GIDs.
The following security practices are enforced on a system that is configured with Trusted Extensions:
You are granted access to applications and authorizations on a need-to-use basis.
You can perform functions that override security policy only if you are granted special authorizations or special privileges by administrators.
System administration duties are divided among multiple roles.
In Trusted Extensions, you can access only those programs that you need to do your job. As in the Oracle Solaris OS, an administrator provides access by assigning one or more rights profiles to your account. A rights profile is a special collection of programs and security attributes. These security attributes enable successful use of the program that is in the rights profile.
The Oracle Solaris OS provides security attributes such as privileges and authorizations. Trusted Extensions provides labels. Any of these attributes, if missing, can prevent use of the program or parts of the program. For example, a rights profile might include an authorization that enables you to read a database. A rights profile with different security attributes might be required for you to modify the database or read information that is classified as Confidential.
The use of rights profiles that contain programs with associated security attributes helps prevent users from misusing programs and from damaging data on the system. If you need to perform tasks that override the security policy, the administrator can assign to you a rights profile that contains the necessary security attributes. If you are prevented from running a certain task, check with your administrator. You might be missing required security attributes.
In addition, the administrator might assign you a profile shell as your login shell. A profile shell is a special version of a common shell that provides access to a particular set of applications and capabilities. Profile shells are a feature of the Oracle Solaris OS. For details, see the pfexec(1) man page.
Note - If you try to run a program and receive a Not Found error message or if you try to run a command and receive a Not in Profile error message, you might not be permitted to use this program. Check with your security administrator.
Trusted Extensions recommends the use of roles for administration. Make sure that you know who is performing which set of duties at your site. The following are common roles:
root role – Is used primarily to prevent direct login by superuser.
Security Administrator role – Performs security-relevant tasks, such as authorizing device allocation, assigning rights profiles, and evaluating software programs.
System Administrator role – Performs standard system management tasks, such as creating users, setting up home directories, and installing software programs.
Operator role – Performs system backups, manages printers, and mounts removable media. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43777000 |
06 Feb 2012: Report
In Fast-Track Technology, Hope
For a Second Green Revolution
With advances in a technique known as fast-track breeding, researchers are developing crops that can produce more and healthier food and can adapt and thrive as the climate shifts.
In Zambia during the current planting season, a corn crop will go into the fields that begins the process of rapidly boosting vitamin A content by as much ten-fold — helping to address a nutritional deficiency that causes 250,000-500,000 children to go blind annually, most of them in Africa and Asia. In China, Kenya, and Madagascar, also this planting season, farmers will put out a crop of Artemisia annua
that yields 20 to 30 percent more of the chemical compound artemisinin, the basis for what is now the world’s standard treatment for malaria.
Both improvements are happening because of fast-track breeding technology that promises to produce a 21st-century green revolution. It is already putting more food on tables — though it’s unclear whether it can add enough food to keep pace as the world’s human population booms to 9 billion people by 2050.
Fast-track breeding is also giving agronomists a remarkable tool for quickly adapting crops to climate change and the increasing challenges of drought, flooding, emerging diseases, and shifting agricultural zones. And it can help save lives: In the absence of prevention, half those victims of vitamin A deficiency now die shortly after going blind, according to the World Health
Fast-track breeding is a faster and more efficient way of doing what nature and farmers have always done.
Organization; and in 2010, lack of adequate treatment — meaning artemisinin — contributed to the deaths of 655,000 children from malaria.
The fast-track technology, called marker-assisted selection (MAS), or molecular breeding, takes advantage of rapid improvements in genetic sequencing, but avoids all the regulatory and political baggage of genetic engineering. Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety
, a nonprofit advocacy group, calls it “a perfectly acceptable tool. I don’t see any food safety issue. It can be a very useful technique if it’s used by breeders who are working in the public interest.”
Molecular breeding isn’t genetic engineering, a technology that has long alarmed critics on two counts. Its methods seem outlandish — taking genes from spiders and putting them in goats, or borrowing insect resistance from soil bacteria and transferring it into corn — and it has also seemed to benefit a handful of agribusiness giants armed with patents, at the expense of public interest.
By contrast, molecular breeding is merely a much faster and more efficient way of doing what nature and farmers have always done, by natural selection and artificial selection respectively: It takes existing genes that happen to be advantageous in a given situation and increases their frequency in a population.
In the past, farmers and breeders did it by walking around their fields and looking at individual plants or animals that seemed to have desirable traits, like greater productivity, or resistance to a particular disease. Then they went to work cross-breeding to see if they could tease out that trait and get it to appear reliably in subsequent generations. It could take decades, and success at breeding in one trait often meant bringing along some deleterious fellow traveler, or inadvertently breeding out some other essential trait.
Cornell University Photography Photo/Lindsay France.
A Cornell researcher bags rice plant panicles to prevent cross pollination.
Molecular breeding enables growers to get the improvements they want far more precisely, by zeroing in on the genes responsible for a given trait. If genetic engineering is a tool for “bludgeoning the genome,” as Cornell University researcher Susan McCouch
puts it, what molecular breeding does instead is to “open a window” into how the genome works, enabling researchers to collaborate with it.
Sequencing the entire genome of a species is the first step, and this process, which cost millions of dollars a decade ago, is down now to the low thousands. Next, researchers sort out which genes are responsible for a given function, the bottleneck in the process so far, though McCouch says it becomes faster and cheaper with each new species that gets sequenced, because nature tends to employ the same mechanisms from one species to another. Finally, researchers map out markers — bits of genetic material that are linked to those genes, to flag whether or not the desired genes are present in a given individual.
“It’s not uncommon for a company to want to combine 10 or 20 traits in a variety,” says Harry Klee
, a specialist in tomato breeding at the University of Florida in Gainesville. In the past, to get the perfect combination of traits using conventional methods, “you would have to put out millions of plants in the field.” Instead, breeders typically simplified, narrowing down their wish list to a few key traits.
With tomatoes, for instance, as many as 30 or 40 different genes influence taste — too many variables to juggle. So shelf life and appearance inevitably trumped taste. “But this is where molecular breeding really pays off,” says Klee. Breeders now use genetic markers to automatically screen one-inch-tall seedlings and immediately weed out the 99 percent they don’t want, cutting years off the breeding timetable. That makes it easier to get to desirable cross-breed quickly — and also stack up a complex array of traits in a single strain. As a result, says Klee, even mass-produced supermarket tomatoes should actually taste good five years from now.
In the two decades since researchers first proposed molecular breeding in 1989, high costs and the difficult work of discovery have largely confined the technology to big companies working in commodity crops like corn and
These methods have the potential to make breeding aim at enhancing biological and agricultural diversity.
soybeans. But as costs fall even faster than Moore’s Law would predict and genetic methods become routine, researchers are now also applying them to the so-called orphan crops on which much of the developing world depends. Molecular breeding is not as effective so far for crops that propagate clonally, including such tropical staples as cassava, sweet potato, yams, bananas and plantains. But for rice and many other crops, it enables breeders to quickly tailor a plant to a particular environment or taste.
“Every village has its own favorite rice,” says Ian Graham, director of the University of York’s Centre for Novel Agricultural Products
. “The challenge is if you come up with a great trait, how on earth do you put that trait into all these local varieties easily, economically, and quickly? Sequencing gives you the tool to do it. That’s the secret of really making molecular breeding work for the developing world.” There are still economic barriers, he says, but equipment to set up a basic laboratory in a developing country “is on the order of $100,000 instead of millions.” Thus genetic methods have the potential to make breeding more local, more democratic, and aimed at enhancing biological and agricultural diversity, instead of stripping it away.
The Green Revolution of the 1960s largely achieved its huge leap in productivity by streamlining plants and farming methods to work across hundreds of millions of hectares, regardless of local tastes or environments. It re-designed plants for high-input industrial agriculture, so they could respond to an intensive regimen of fertilizers, water, and pesticides, regardless of the environment. But the molecular Green Revolution will work, says McCouch, by fine-tuning crops to perform in a particular environment, minus additional input. Farmers are backing off growing rice in water, for instance, “because they can’t afford the water, there isn’t enough water in the world.”
Molecular breeding will also build crops, McCouch says, to “respond constructively to changes in the environment that we cannot predict,” like flooding and drought. “A really big challenge in discovery genetics right now,” she says, “is to understand how plants sense environments: How do they count number of days? How do they count the number hours of daylight? How do they know when to grow and when to hold their breath if they’re underwater? Once we make the discovery of which genes allow the
MORE FROM YALE e360
Can ‘Climate-Smart’ Agriculture
Help Africa and the Planet?
An idea promoted at the recent Durban talks is “climate-smart agriculture,” which could make crops less vulnerable to heat and drought and turn depleted soils into carbon sinks. The World Bank and African leaders back this approach, Fred Pearce
writes, but some critics are skeptical that it will benefit small-scale African farmers. READ MORE
plants to sense these things, then we can do marker-assisted selection” and move those genes into local varieties that already have the other traits farmers want.
The potential for molecular breeding to help farmers adapt to a rapidly changing world became evident last month when Nature Biotechnology published an article about rice breeding in Japan
. Geneticists at the Iwate Biotechnology Research Center 130 miles north of Fukushima were already using molecular breeding to improve the cold-tolerant rice variety preferred by farmers there, when last year’s earthquake
hit. The subsequent tsunami left a huge swath of rice paddies — 58,000 acres, representing almost a fifth of the nation’s rice supply — contaminated with too much salt for conventional farming. The researchers promptly switched their focus to salt-tolerant genes. Instead of taking five years to produce a suitable crossbreed by conventional methods, they now hope to deliver those seeds to affected farmers in just two years, for the 2014 growing season.
POSTED ON 06 Feb 2012 IN
Business & Innovation Climate Policy & Politics Policy & Politics Africa Asia Europe North America | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43785000 |
The number of hurricanes occurring annually on a global basis varies widely from ocean to ocean. Globally, about 80 tropical cyclones occur annually, one-third of which achieve hurricane status. The most active area is the western Pacific Ocean, which contains a wide expanse of warm ocean water. In contrast, the Atlantic Ocean averages about ten storms annually, of which six reach hurricane status. Compared to the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic is a much smaller area, and therefore supports a smaller expanse of warm ocean water to fuel storms. The Pacific waters also tend to be warmer, and the layer of warm surface waters tends to be deeper than in the Atlantic. The frequency and intensity of hurricanes varies significantly from year to year, and scientists haven’t yet figured out all the reasons for the variability.
Hurricanes and El Niño
Scientists continue to investigate the interactions between hurricane frequency and El Niño. El Niño is a phenomenon where ocean surface temperatures become warmer than normal in the equatorial East Pacific Ocean. In general, El Niño events are characterized by an increase in hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific and a decrease in activity in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. During El Niño years, the wind patterns are aligned in such a way that there is an increase in vertical wind shear (upper level winds) over the Caribbean and Atlantic. The increased wind shear helps to prevent tropical disturbances from developing into hurricanes. Oppositely, in the eastern Pacific, El Niño alters wind patterns in a way that reduces wind shear, contributing to more storms.
Hurricanes and Global Warming
Since warm ocean waters and warm, moist air fuel storms, theory predicts that global warming should increase the number and intensity of tropical cyclones. As the oceans soak up extra heat from the atmosphere, ocean surface temperatures rise, increasing the extent of warm water that can support a hurricane. Not only should this mean that more hurricanes can form, but increased ocean surface temperatures could also increase a storm’s maximum potential intensity, the strongest a storm can get in ideal conditions.
Models based on scientists’ current understanding of hurricanes suggest that if ocean temperatures increased by 2-2.5 degrees, the average intensity of hurricanes would increase by 6 to 10 percent. Since 1970, the average ocean temperature has warmed about half a degree, which means that theoretically, storms could be one to three percent stronger. Such an increase translates to a few knots in wind speed, too small a change to accurately measure. Hurricane wind speeds have historically been measured in increments of five knots, so any increase in intensity that has already occurred as a result of global warming would, in theory, be too small to detect yet.
However, in 2005 and 2006, several studies suggested that global warming may be impacting hurricanes more than theory predicts. In an analysis of the historical record, there appeared to be an increase in the number of intense (Category 4 and 5) storms in recent years. Another analysis charted sea surface temperatures and the number of tropical cyclones. It revealed that as sea surface temperatures went up, the number of cyclones went up. Was the increase in sea surface temperatures responsible for the increased number of storms or did some outside factor drive both?
The studies triggered many questions. Both theory and the studies suggested that there should be a link between global warming and hurricanes, but the studies showed a much greater increase in storm frequency and intensity than theory predicted. What caused the discrepancy? Is humanity’s current understanding of hurricanes flawed? Can the theory be adjusted to explain why hurricanes would have a stronger reaction to warming than previously predicted?
One theory put forth to explain the recent increase in storm intensity and frequency in the Atlantic basin is the multi-decadal oscillation. Storms in the Atlantic may go through a natural cycle of 20-30 years of increased activity followed by a quieter period. The record seems to show such a cycle, with more intense hurricanes in the 1950s and 1960s followed by two decades of relative quiet, and then increased intensity from the mid-1990s to the present. Some scientists argue that this natural cycle may actually be a product of global warming and atmospheric aerosols. In the 1970s and 1980s, aerosol pollution may have “shaded” the Earth, keeping temperatures cooler than they had been in previous decades. This cooling would have suppressed hurricane formation. In the 1990s, global warming may have increased enough to overcome aerosol cooling and allowed hurricane intensity and frequency to climb again.
Other scientists argued that the flaw isn’t necessarily in the theory, but in the historical records. Satellite data used to estimate hurricane intensity only goes back to the 1970s for the Atlantic basin, and other basins have a shorter record. A thirty-year record may not be long enough to coax out real trends. Further, satellite technology and the methods used to estimate a storm’s intensity have improved, so a storm that may have been classified a Category 1 or 2 in the 1970s through the mid-1980s would be classified as a much stronger storm today. The change in intensity-predicting methods could skew the record to show fewer intense storms in the 1970s and 1980s than there are today.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, hurricane intensity estimates were based on aircraft and ship data. This means that fewer storms were recorded than probably actually occurred. The intensity records may also be skewed because the early flights did not go directly over the eye of the hurricane, but measured winds in safer flying areas farther from the center of the storm. From those measurements, wind speeds at the center of the storm and thus the storm’s intensity were estimated. As a result, many storms may have been stronger than they were estimated to have been.
Before the 1940s, intensity estimates were made based on surviving ship’s records. It is likely that any ship at the center of a Category 4 or 5 storm didn’t survive, so the record probably contains fewer big storms than actually occurred. From changes in the methods used to estimate hurricane intensity to spotty ship records, the historical record may well be skewed towards weaker storms, argue many scientists. If all these factors were accounted for, the trend toward greater hurricane frequency and intensity could disappear.
Regardless of their position, scientists need a longer and more accurate data record to fully understand the connection between global warming and other factors that may influence hurricane intensity and frequency. A longer, more accurate record will help improve theory and models, and it will amplify or flatten the currently observed trends. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43787000 |
A study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has found that even if older, post-menopausal women are successful at losing weight, keeping the weight off for a long time is a bigger challenge.
Lead investigator Bethany Barone Gibbs, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh department of health and physical activity, explains that a number of factors work against long-term weight loss.
“Not only does motivation decrease after you start losing weight, there are physiological changes, including a decreased resting metabolic rate. Appetite-related hormones increase. Researchers studying the brain are now finding that you have enhanced rewards and increased motivation to eat when you’ve lost weight,” Gibbs says.
These findings demonstrate that post-menopausal women need special strategies against regaining weight.
Eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat and cheese may be especially helpful.
“If the goal is to reduce the burden of obesity, the focus must be on long-term strategies because changes in eating behaviors only associated with short-term weight loss are likely to be ineffective and unsustainable,” Gibbs says. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43789000 |
Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or metals, in 11 of 39 wells tested there since March.
The study, which is being conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, is the first time the EPA has undertaken its own water analysis in response to complaints of contamination in drilling areas, and it could be pivotal in the national debate over the role of natural gas in America’s energy policy.
Abundant gas reserves are being aggressively developed in 31 states, including New York and Pennsylvania . Congress is mulling a bill that aims to protect those water resources from hydraulic fracturing, the process in which fluids and sand are injected under high pressure to break up rock and release gas. But the industry says environmental regulation is unnecessary because it is impossible for fracturing fluids to reach underground water supplies and no such case has ever been proven.
Scientists in Wyoming will continue testing this fall to determine the level of chemicals in the water and exactly where they came from. If they find that the contamination did result from drilling, the placid plains arching up to the Wind River Range would become the first site where fracturing fluids have been scientifically linked to groundwater contamination.
In interviews with ProPublica and at a public meeting this month in Pavillion’s community hall, officials spoke cautiously about their preliminary findings. They were careful to say they’re investigating a broad array of sources for the contamination, including agricultural activity. They said the contaminant causing the most concern – a compound called 2-butoxyethanol, known as 2-BE – can be found in some common household cleaners, not just in fracturing fluids.
But those same EPA officials also said they had found no pesticides – a signature of agricultural contamination – and no indication that any industry or activity besides drilling could be to blame. Other than farming, there is no industry in the immediate area.
In Pavillion, a town of about 160 people in the heart of the Wind River Indian Reservation, the gas wells are crowded close together in an ecologically vivid area packed with large wetlands and home to 10 threatened or endangered species. Beneath the ground, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earth is a complex system of folded crusts containing at least 30 water-bearing aquifer layers.
EPA officials told residents that some of the substances found in their water may have been poured down a sink drain. But according to EPA investigation documents, most of the water wells were flushed three times before they were tested in order to rid them of anything that wasn’t flowing through the aquifer itself. That means the contaminants found in Pavillion would have had to work their way from a sink not only into the well but deep into the aquifer at significant concentrations in order to be detected. An independent drinking water expert with decades of experience in central Wyoming, Doyle Ward, dismissed such an explanations as "less than a one in a million" chance.
Some of the EPA’s most cautious scientists are beginning to agree.
"It starts to finger-point stronger and stronger to the source being somehow related to the gas development, including, but not necessarily conclusively, hydraulic fracturing itself," said Nathan Wiser, an EPA scientist and hydraulic fracturing expert who oversees enforcement for the underground injection control program under the Safe Drinking Water Act in the Rocky Mountain region. The investigation "could certainly have a focusing effect on a lot of folks in the Pavillion area as a nexus between hydraulic fracturing and water contamination."
The Superfund investigation follows a series of complaints by residents in the Pavillion area, some stemming back 15 years, that their water wells turned sour and reeked of fuel vapors shortly after drilling took place nearby. Several of those residents shared their stories with ProPublica , while other information was found through court and local records. Several years ago, one resident’s animals went blind and died after drinking from a well. In two current cases, a resident’s well water shows small pooling oil slicks on the surface, and a woman is coping with a mysterious nervous system disorder: Her family blames arsenic and metals found in her water. In two of those cases, the Canadian drilling company EnCana, which bought most of the area’s wells after they were drilled and assumed liability for them, is either supplying fresh drinking water to the residents or has purchased the land. In the third case, a drilling company bought by EnCana, Tom Brown Inc., had previously reached an out-of-court settlement to provide water filtering.
Though the drilling companies have repeatedly compensated residents with the worst cases of contamination, they have not acknowledged any fault in causing the pollution. An EnCana spokesman, Doug Hock, told ProPublica the company wants "to better understand the science and the source of the compounds" found in the water near Pavillion before he would speculate on whether the company was responsible.
Precise details about the nature and cause of the contamination, as well as the extent of the plume running in the aquifer beneath this region 150 miles east of Jackson Hole, have been difficult for scientists to collect. That’s in part because the identity of the chemicals used by the gas industry for drilling and fracturing are protected as trade secrets , and because the EPA, based on an exemption passed under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, does not have authority to investigate the fracturing process under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Using the Superfund program gave the agency extra authority to investigate the Pavillion reports, including the right to subpoena the secret information if it needs to. It also unlocked funding to pay for the research.
EPA officials have repeatedly said that disclosure of the fluids used in fracking – something that would be required if the bill being debated in Congress were passed – would enable them to investigate contamination incidents faster, more conclusively and for less money. The current study, which is expected to end next spring, has already cost $130,000.
About 65 people, many in jeans, boots and 10-gallon hats, filled Pavillion’s community hall on Aug. 11 to hear the EPA’s findings. They were told that a range of contaminants, including arsenic, copper, vanadium and methane gas were found in the water. Many of these substances are found in various fluids used at drilling sites.
Of particular concern were compounds called adamantanes, a natural hydrocarbon found in gas that can be used to fingerprint its origin, and 2-BE, listed as a common fracturing fluid in the EPA’s 2004 research report on hydraulic fracturing. That compound, which EPA scientists in Wyoming said they identified with 97 percent certainty, was suspected by some environmental groups in a 2004 drilling-related contamination case in Colorado, also involving EnCana.
EPA investigators explained that because they had no idea what to test for, they were relegated to an exhaustive process of scanning water samples for spikes in unidentified compounds and then running those compounds like fingerprints through a criminal database for matches against a vast library of unregulated and understudied substances. That is how they found the adamantanes and 2-BE.
An EnCana representative told the crowd that the company was as concerned about the contamination as the residents were, and pledged to help the EPA in its investigation.
Some people seemed confounded by what they were hearing.
"How in god’s name can the oil industry dump sh*t in our drinking water and not tell us what it is?" shouted Alan Hofer, who lives near the center of the sites being investigated by the EPA.
"If they’d tell us what they were using then you could go out and test for things and it would make it a lot easier, right?" asked Jim Van Dorn, who represents Wyoming Rural Water, a nonprofit that advises utilities and private well owners on water management.
"Exactly," said Luke Chavez, the EPA’s chief Superfund investigator on the project. "That’s our idea too."
Now that the EPA has found a chemical used in fracturing fluids in Pavillion’s drinking water, Chavez said the next step in the research is to ask EnCana for a list of the chemicals it uses and then do more sampling using that list. (An EnCana spokesman told ProPublica the company will supply any information that the EPA requires.) The EPA is also working with area health departments, a toxicologist and a representative from the Centers for Disease Control’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to assess health risks, he said.
Depending on what they find, the investigation in Wyoming could have broad implications. Before hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005, the EPA assessed the process and concluded it did not pose a threat to drinking water. That study, however, did not involve field research or water testing and has been criticized as incomplete. This spring, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson called some of the contamination reports "startling" and told members of Congress that it is time to take another look. The Pavillion investigation, according to Chavez, is just that.
"If there is a problem, maybe we don’t have the tools, or the laws, to deal with it," Chavez said. "That’s one of the things that could come out of this process." | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43792000 |
Gladstone’s Library was founded by Victorian Statesman, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), arguably Britain’s greatest Prime Minister, and the most significant Anglican lay person of the last two centuries. Four times Liberal Prime Minister, four times Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Parliamentarian for 63 years, few politicians have achieved as many lasting reforms as Gladstone. He even came within a hair’s breadth of bringing peace to Ireland with his sadly ill-fated Home Rule Bill.
Gladstone was a pragmatic political leader with an insatiable interest in history, literature, the classical world and theological dispute; a voracious reader who read 20,000 books. Britain at this time was the most powerful nation on earth, at the height of Queen Victoria’s imperialism.
I find it hard to reconcile Gladstone’s clear Christian conviction with the hypocrisy and barbarity of Empire. Yet he was solidly at the heart of it. Was he compromised by this or did he provide the conscience against even greater excesses?
‘We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace … nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right’. W. E Gladstone.
Gladstone, a millionaire, lived in the Castle in the village of Hawarden, North Wales, just a few miles from Chester. This is the site of St Deiniol’s Library which Gladstone founded. He bought the land in 1889 and the Library opened in 1894. The present Grade 1 listed building was opened in 1902 as the National Memorial to Gladstone. It is the only Prime Ministerial Library in the UK and is unique in being a residential library with 26 study bedrooms, some now fully refurbished and en-suite.
It’s a fascinating Victorian building; with the double-tier library occupying one entire wing and the residential areas including the dining room, kitchen and chapel the other. The bedrooms and offices are spread across the whole of the first floor. You quickly get to find your way around as the building is not actually that large.
I decided, after my week, that this is a rather special and unusual place.
Gladstone’s influence pervades the entire place. There is a huge granite statue in the grounds gazing out over the village! There are pictures, busts and other statues of the GOM (Grand Old Man) everywhere including a photo collage detailing the main aspects of his life in the main corridor leading to the dining room.
The library was created around Gladstone’s original donation of 32,000 books. It houses a world renowned collection of theology and nineteenth century studies. The collection boasts more than 250,000 items. Gladstone wanted his library to be a country house “for the Pursuit of Divine Learning”, offering ‘insight and refreshment’ to visiting scholars and users.
The library is galleried with access to the second floor up some very narrow, winding and rickety stairs with rope handholds! Here you go back in time. This is an old-style ‘quiet’ library; individual study tables with desk lamps and old comfy leather chairs. It’s extremely conducive to study and thought, which of course is the USP of the place. It’s why it works so well. You come here specifically to think, write, study, reflect and retreat. It’s open in the evening until 10pm which I found to be a real boon.
The book collection covers mainly theology and history with the emphasis on publications from the late Victorian period. The GladCat computer system makes finding books within the library very easy indeed. There’s a thrilling touch of serendipity to come across books with Gladstone’s own pencilled annotations!
The property has a mixture of older and the newer refurbished bedrooms. I had one of the older rooms (Room 7, no view) which was very spacious, with the bathroom directly opposite. There are no TV’s in any of the bedrooms which I think is good! Broadband is fast, free and available throughout the building although one guest said it didn’t work in some of the bedrooms. I had no problems. One bug-bear however was the horrible noise late at night and early in the morning caused by the expansion of the hot water pipes!
I found that in a very short time, the place draws you into its own daily rhythm. You feel very much apart from the day-to-day. There’s a lovely modern Chapel on the ground floor. Communion takes place each weekday morning at 8am, following the Church of Wales Anglican liturgy.
The ‘Food for Thought’ Coffee Shop replaces the dining room during the day and provides snacks and drinks. I found the food overall – both in quantity and quality – adequate but not noteworthy. After dinner, the Gladstone Lounge takes on the atmosphere of a club or common room. An honesty bar operates from this room. There is a good selection of daily newspapers available both in the dining room and in the lounge. The Fox and Grapes pub, just a short distance away across the road, serves good beer and food if, as I did, you want to get away from the library for just a while.
‘Be inspired with the belief that life is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing that we are to shuffle through as best we can, but an elevated and lofty destiny’.
W. E Gladstone. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43793000 |
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 recognizes that improved student achievement occurs when communities implement programs and strategies scientifically proven to be effective. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program is an essential part of this initiative.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
recognizes that improved student achievement occurs when communities implement programs and strategies scientifically proven to be effective. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC)
program is an essential part of this initiative. Many communities across the Commonwealth are working together with new energy and inspiration to create a more positive future for their children and youth. Their focus is on constructive learning activities during non-school hours. With caring adult guidance, school and community-based academic and youth development programs result in greater achievement and social outcomes for children and youth.
The intent of the funds is to enable communities to design and implement effective out-of-school programs that will result in improved student achievement, and be sustained through community partnerships at the conclusion of the grant funds.
Specifically, the purposes of The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 as authorized under Title IV, Part B (21st CCLC) are to: 1) provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students meet State and local student performance standards in core academic subjects such as reading and mathematics; 2) offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, art, music, fitness, and recreation programs, technology education programs, and character education programs, that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and 3) offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for literacy and related educational development.
21st CCLC Grantee Documents
Kentucky's current 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grantees list and other documents.
This memorandum contains an overview of the regulatory requirement that religiously affiliated (or "faith-based") organizations be able to compete on an equal footing with other organizations for funding by the U.S. Department of Education (the "Department") in programs in which they are eligible, including state-administered programs such as 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program.
- The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of afterschool programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group of public, private and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's vision of ensuring that all children have access to afterschool programs by 2010.
Benton Foundation Kids Campaign
- It is the future goal of Connect for Kids that health, safety, education, and financial security of children be a priority. This website provides best use of communications technologies, specially the Internet, to give adults - parents, grandparents, guardians, educators, advocates, policymakers, elected officials and others - the tools and information they need to work on behalf of children, youth and families.
C.S. Mott Foundation
- The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is a partner with the U.S. Dept. of Education which provides tools and funds toward the 21st CCLC Program.
The Finance Project
- Under "Information Resource Center" you fill find in this website, "Out-of-School-Time Clearinghouse Topics" that provide after school programs information on finding funding resources to sustain their programs.
Harvard Family Research Project
- This project will provide your program with insights on past and new research to evaluate, improve and sustain your program.
National Institute for Out-of-School Time
- Providing information by part of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College regarding high end programs and activities for children in after school programs.
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
- This organization provides research and development assistance for adults, youth and children. They have an online catalog, newsletters, special resources and training/workshop opportunities.
U.S. Dept. of Education
- At this location, you will get the current information on purpose, eligibility, applicant info, awards, performance, funding status, laws/regs/guidance, resources, FAQs and who to contact regarding the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43796000 |
Teachers replaced by holograms. Sounds like something from a science fiction movie or T.V show. What would happen if holographic teachers could be sent into you? The reality is, the technology exists right now to bring live holograms from one location and beam it into any location in the world. Thanks to Teaching College Math blog for sharing.
Musion describes it as, “a high definition holographic video projection system allowing spectacular three-dimensional moving images to appear within a live stage setting.
Live or virtual stage presenters can appear alongside and interact with virtual images of humans or animated characters…”
“The Musion® Eyeliner™ system utilises the current generation of High-Definition technology and integrates it into a visual ecosystem that enables HD media to fully realise its potential within the blossoming digital ecosystem.
Eyeliner™ requires only a single camera shoot, single projector playback and does not require any special audience props, such as the use of 3D glasses. Yet, the audience viewing Eyeliner™ are always left awestruck by the startling realism of our 3D virtual shows. When using Musion® Eyeliner™, your imagination is the only limit.”
Awestruck is right.
So, what are the implications and applications of this technology for education? Teachers can now teach from any location on the globe and beam themselves into any other location on the globe with this technology. Experts on different subject matter could be made available for lectures right in the classroom, interacting live with the students. Teachers would be able to enter a classroom and interact with students, teachers, and administrators from across, campus, across town, or across the globe.
Distance is dead!
Tear down these four walls!
What are the applications for this technology in education?
In what ways could/will this technology impact education in the future?
How might we begin to prepare our schools and districts for such a change?
What changes in thinking might have to occur for this technology to be utilized effectively?
In what ways will the technology impact the infrastructure of the school? (I.e.; TelePresence labs, classroom, boardrooms, etc.)
How can this technology be leveraged to provide greater learning opportunities for our students?
In what ways might parents and community react to such technology being utilized in education?
What sorts of systems, vendors, and educational business might arise out the use of such a technology?
At what point would this technology become a “must have” rather than a novel idea? | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43797000 |
A new study from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center suggests that North Carolina agricultural workers who are exposed to pesticides also may be affected by wage violations. Thomas A. Arcury, Ph.D., one of the study’s authors and professor and vice chair for research in the center’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, spoke to EHS Today to discuss the study and its implications.
According to the study, “Wages, Wage Violations and Pesticide Safety Experienced by Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina,” migrant farm workers face “a myriad of problems” including poverty, food insecurity, pesticide exposure, occupational hazards, lack of health care and more. Limited safety regulations are available to protect these workers.
“This is a work force that needs to be protected,” said Arcury, who also is the director of the Center for Worker Health at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “It is vulnerable for many reasons, one of which because it’s poor, another because it’s a dangerous industry. We need to do something so it’s safe for them.”
The study focused on 300 migrant farm workers who worked in 52 camps, or employer-provided housing, in eastern North Carolina. Most of the workers hailed from Mexico. Approximately two-thirds of the workers had H-2A visas for temporary or seasonal work; the remainder of participants were undocumented, had other types of documentation or were permanent U.S. residents. The study found:
- Approximately 15 percent of workers were provided with safety equipment to protect against pesticide exposure.
- One-third of workers said they were offered safety instruction about pesticides.
- About half of study participants were informed when pesticides were applied or when the no re-entry period was over.
- One-quarter of workers reported that they were asked to enter fields before the no re-entry interval had ended.
- Sixteen percent of workers said they worked in the fields while pesticides were being applied.
- Workers who experienced wage violations also often experienced “improper pesticide safety and training conditions.”
The study suggests that workers with H-2A visas often experience fewer pay or safety violations. Workers with H-2A visas were more likely to be provided with safety equipment, be informed when the no re-entry period had ended and less likely to work in fields when pesticides were being applied. And while one-fifth of all studied workers experienced minimum wage violations, these violations were experienced by 45 percent of those workers without H-2A visas.
“The greater compliance available to migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas for wages and pesticide safety, as well as housing regulations, indicates that we could expect higher compliance for all farmworkers with more regulations and with greater monitoring and review of these regulations,” the study stated.
The Pay-Safety Correlation
Arcury pointed out that the correlation between employers not following pesticide regulations and those not following wage and salary regulations may reveal a new way to seek out those in noncompliance.
“We need to pay attention to people who aren’t following one set of regulations to see if they’re following the other set of regulations,” he told EHS Today. “Maybe there’s just a need for greater education about safety issues and regulations for agricultural workers. On the other hand, there may be individuals who don’t think they have to follow the rules, and they need to be dealt with just like anyone else who doesn’t follow regulations.”
Arcury stressed that regulations must be enforced to protect these workers and identified the following areas of concern:
- Worker pesticide exposure must be monitored.
- Farmers and others who apply pesticides should be required to regularly and centrally record what pesticides they are applying, the amount they apply and where they apply.
- Heat stress requirements, training and prevention techniques should be developed.
- Child labor concerns must be addressed within the industry.
- Wage and salary concerns also must be addressed, and farm workers must be paid at least minimum wage.
“In North Carolina, our agricultural economy is based on immigrant workers. Without immigrant workers, we would not be able to pick the cucumbers and sweet potatoes, apples and peaches, tobacco and Christmas trees that are essential to our economy,” Arcury explained. “What we’re trying to do is improve the health of workers because I think that’s best for everyone.” | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43798000 |
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects Win 12 R&D 100 Awards for 2012
Researchers funded by the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) have won 12 of the 100 awards given out this year by R&D Magazine for the most outstanding technology developments with promising commercial potential. The Energy Department announced last week that it received a total of 36 awards across all of its research and development programs, including EERE. The coveted awards—now in their 50th year—are presented annually in recognition of exceptional new products, processes, materials, or software that were developed throughout the world and introduced into the market the previous year.
The R&D 100 awards highlight some of the successes achieved by the Department's national laboratories in technology transfer, moving basic research results into commercial products.
Since 1962, when R&D Magazine's annual competition began, the Department's national laboratories have been the recipient of over 800 R&D 100 awards in areas such as energy, national security, and basic scientific applications.
R&D 100 awards are selected by an independent panel of judges based on the technical significance, uniqueness, and usefulness of projects and technologies from across industry, government and academia. View the complete list of R&D 100 awards.
A list of EERE's winning program areas, technologies, and national laboratory partners is below:
Ultra-fast and Large-Scale Boriding (Argonne National Laboratory): This green, efficient industrial-scale boriding process can drastically reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve the performance and reliability of machine components, such as engine tappets, agricultural knife guards, pump seals, and valves. This new process increases surface hardness of these components by factors of three to ten.
Low-cost, lightweight robotic hand based on additive manufacturing (Oak Ridge National Laboratory): This technology costs approximately 10 times less than similar devices while commanding 10 times more power than other electric systems. Composed of only 46 parts, this simplified, lightweight robotic hand can be manufactured and assembled within 40 hours. It has robotics, prosthetics, remote handling and biomedical and surgical applications.
Asymmetric Rolling Mill, co-developed with FATA Hunter Inc. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory): The Asymmetric Rolling Mill provides a way to efficiently process sheet and plate materials, accelerating the production and availability of low-cost magnesium a lightweight metal. Commercial use of magnesium has been limited because of the high cost associated with its multistep production process. This technology is likely to reduce processing steps, thereby reducing the cost of finished magnesium components and allowing for the replacement of aluminum with magnesium in many commercial goods. The widespread use of magnesium instead of aluminum in cars would reduce vehicle weight and lead to improvements in transportation by improving fuel economy.
Low Frequency RF Plasma Source (LFRF-501), co-developed with Structured Materials Industries, Inc. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory): LFRF-501 is a low-cost plasma generator for research, development and production of nanometer scale materials at lower temperatures, faster rates and with enhanced properties. These materials are enabling new developments in many technologies, including microelectronics, renewable energy, sensors and LEDs.
Advanced Manufacturing and Geothermal:
NanoSHIELD Coatings (Oak Ridge National Laboratory): NanoSHIELD is a protective coating that can extend the life of costly cutting and manufacturing tools by more than 20%, potentially saving millions of dollars over the course of a project. It is created by laser fusing a unique iron-based powder to any type of steel, which forms a strong metallurgical bond that provides wear resistance between two and 10 times greater than conventional coatings. NanoSHIELD was designed to protect high-wear tools used for tunnel boring and construction, but its potential for Navy applications and geothermal drilling tools also is being explored.
Desiccant-Enhanced Evaporative Air-Conditioning (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Developed with AIL Research and Synapse Product Development LLC: DEVAP systems cool commercial buildings at a small fraction of the energy use of a traditional cooler, provides superior comfort in any climate, releases far less carbon dioxide, and could cut costly peak electricity demand by 80%.
The Sandia Cooler (Sandia National Laboratories): Also known as the "Air Bearing Heat Exchanger," this technology will significantly reduce the energy needed to cool the processor chips in data centers and large-scale computing environments. The Sandia Cooler also offers benefits in other applications where thermal management and energy efficiency are important, particularly heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC).
Hydrogen and Fuel
Platinum Monolayer Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell Cathodes (Brookhaven National Laboratory): Platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for fuel cells, but platinum-based catalysts are expensive, unstable, and have low durability. The new electrocatalysts have high activity, stability, and durability, while containing only about one-tenth the platinum of conventional catalysts used in fuel cells, significantly reducing overall costs.
SJ3 Solar Cell (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Co-developed with Solar Junction, the cell achieves a world-record conversion efficiency of 43.5% with potential to reach 50%. Like a three-blade safety razor that uses all its blades for a closer shave, the three-layered SJ3 cell captures different light frequencies, ensuring the best conversion of photons to electrons. The 43.5% efficiency occurs under lens-focused light having 418 times the intensity of the sun.
Microsystems Enabled Photovoltaics (Sandia National Laboratories): Tiny, glitter-sized PV cells are created using microdesign and microfabrication techniques, released into a solution and "printed" onto a low-cost substrate. The technology has potential applications in buildings, houses, clothing, portable electronics, vehicles and other contoured structures.
High-Energy Concentration-Gradient Cathode Material for Plug-in Hybrids and All-Electric Vehicles (Argonne National Laboratory): Argonne and several partners have developed a novel high-energy and high-power cathode material for use in lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries especially suited for plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles. It provides much higher energy and longer life than any other Li-ion cathode material, and as such is also ideal for batteries in hybrid vehicles and a wide range of consumer electronics applications.
Graphene Nanostructures for Lithium Batteries, co-developed with Vorbeck Materials Corp. of Jessup Md. and Princeton University (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory): Small quantities of graphene—ultra-thin sheets of carbon atoms—can dramatically improve the performance and power of lithium-ion batteries. Graphene Nanostructures could lead to the development of batteries that last longer and recharge quickly, drastically reducing the time it takes to charge a smartphone to as little as ten minutes and charging an electric vehicle in just a few hours.
The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.
For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Energy | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43800000 |
On Earth, scientific breakthroughs are made by the USSR which develops the H-bomb and eventually the satellite Sputnik, which ushered the Human Space Age as the first object to exit Earth. This event attracted Vulcan explorers who discreetly lingered in Pennsylvania before rescued, but not before introducing some of their technology to humans. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")
The USA creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as a response to this "space race". Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeds Harry S. Truman as president. This era was the most heated period of the Earth Cold War.
This decade also saw productivity in arts and entertainment with film releases such as Shane, The Searchers, The Court Jester, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Sunset Boulevard, From Here to Eternity, To Catch a Thief, Wages of Fear and b-movies such as Revenge of the Creature and Bride of the Corpse. The songs Come Fly with Me, Fever, Louie, Louie, Crazy Arms and Just in Time were written. The popular music genre known as Rock 'n roll also born in this decade, with performers like Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Television becomes a popular form of entertainment, which it remains until 2040. Shows in this decade include Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy, The Untouchables and The Twilight Zone.
- A border dispute begins between Andoria and Vulcan, shortly after First Contact between the two worlds, lasting for the next 200 years. According to Shran, the only thing that kept Vulcan from invading Andoria was the threat of massive retaliation. After stealing a prototype of the Xindi weapon from the Xindi, Shran declared that, "with a weapon of this magnitude at our disposal, they wouldn't dare attack us." (ENT: "Proving Ground") | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43804000 |
Center pivot irrigation
||This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (June 2012)|
Center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation), also called circle irrigation, is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. A circular area centered on the pivot is irrigated, often creating a circular pattern in crops when viewed from above (sometimes referred to as crop circles). Most center pivots were initially water-powered, and today most are propelled by electric motors.
Center pivot irrigation is a form of overhead sprinkler irrigation consisting of several segments of pipe (usually galvanized steel or aluminum) joined together and supported by trusses, mounted on wheeled towers with sprinklers positioned along its length. The machine moves in a circular pattern and is fed with water from the pivot point at the center of the circle. The outside set of wheels sets the master pace for the rotation (typically once every three days). The inner sets of wheels are mounted at hubs between two segments and use angle sensors to detect when the bend at the joint exceeds a certain threshold, and thus, the wheels should be rotated to keep the segments aligned. Center pivots are typically less than 1600 feet (500 meters) in length (circle radius) with the most common size being the standard 1/4 mile (400 m) machine. To achieve uniform application, center pivots require an even emitter flow rate across the radius of the machine. Since the outer-most spans (or towers) travel farther in a given time period than the innermost spans, nozzle sizes are smallest at the inner spans and increase with distance from the pivot point. Aerial views show fields of circles created by the watery tracings of "quarter- or half-mile of the center-pivot irrigation pipe," created by centor pivot irrigators which use "hundreds and sometimes thousands of gallons a minute."
Most center pivot systems now have drops hanging from a u-shaped pipe called a gooseneck attached at the top of the pipe[clarification needed] with sprinkler heads that are positioned a few feet (at most) above the crop, thus limiting evaporative losses and wind drift. There are many different nozzle configurations available including static plate, moving plate and part circle. Pressure regulators are typically installed upstream of each nozzle to ensure each is operating at the correct design pressure. Drops can also be used with drag hoses or bubblers that deposit the water directly on the ground between crops. This type of system is known as LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application) and is often associated with the construction of small dams along the furrow length (termed furrow diking/dyking). Crops may be planted in straight rows or are sometimes planted in circles to conform to the travel of the irrigation system
Originally, most center pivots were water-powered. These were replaced by hydraulic systems and electric motor-driven systems. Most systems today are driven by an electric motor mounted at each tower.
For a center pivot to be used, the terrain needs to be reasonably flat; but one major advantage of center pivots over alternative systems is the ability to function in undulating country. This advantage has resulted in increased irrigated acreage and water use in some areas. The system is in use, for example, in parts of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and also in desert areas such as the Sahara and the Middle East.
The center-pivot irrigation system is considered to be a highly efficient system which helps conserve water. It is used by Arrowhead Mills, the largest natural foods wholesaler in the United States, founded by organic farmer and activist Frank Ford from the Texas Panhandle, for example. However, by 2013 it was shown that as the water consumption efficiency of the center-pivot irrigator improved over the years, farmers planted more intensively, irrigated more land, and grew thirstier crops. Using treated, recycled sources of water in agriculture is one approach to safeguarding the future of the aquifer. Another method of reducing the amount of water use is changing to crops that require less water, such as sunflowers.
Center pivot irrigation typically uses less water compared to many surface irrigation and furrow irrigation techniques, which reduces the expenditure of and conserves water. It also helps to reduce labor costs compared to some ground irrigation techniques, which are often more labor intensive. Some ground irrigation techniques involve the digging of channels on the land for the water to flow, whereas the use of center-pivot irrigation can reduce the amount of soil tillage that occurs and helps to reduce water runoff and soil erosion that can occur with ground irrigation. Less tillage encourages more organic materials and crop residue to decompose back into the soil, and reduces soil compaction.
Early settlers of the semiarid High Plains were plagued by crop failures due to cycles of drought, culminating in the disastrous Dust Bowl of the 1930s. It was only after World War II when center pivot irrigation became available that the land mass of the High Plains aquifer system was transformed into one of the most agriculturally productive regions in the world.
Risks: shrinking irreplaceable aquifers
Hydrology is no longer a mystery and it is now understood that groundwater level elevation decreases when the rate of extraction by irrigation exceeds the rate of recharge. At some places, the water table was measured to drop more than five feet (1.5 m) per year at the time of maximum extraction. In extreme cases, the deepening of wells was required to reach the steadily falling water table. In the 21st century, recognition of the significance of the aquifer has led to increased coverage from regional and international journalists.
Writer John Miller Morris characterized the increased use of the center pivot irrigation system as part of a profound attitude shift towards modernism (expensive tractors, center-pivot irrigation, dangerous new pesticides) and away from traditional farming that took place in the mid-1970s and 1980s in the United States. A new generation chose high-risk, high-reward crops such as irrigated corn or peanuts, which require large quantities of ground water, fertilizer and chemicals. The new family farm corporations turned many pastures into new cropland and were more interested in rising land prices than water conservation.
In the United States, by May 2013 the center-pivot irrigator was described as the "villian" in the New York Times article "Wells dry, fertile plains turn to dust" recounting the relentless decline of parts of the High Plains Aquifer System. One of the world's largest aquifers, it covers an area of approximately 174,000 mi² (450,000 km²) in portions of the eight states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, beneath the Great Plains in the United States.
In parts of the United States after sixty years of the profitable business of intensive farming using huge center-pivot irrigators has emptied parts of the High Plains Aquifer. It would take hundreds to thousands of years of rainfall to replace the groundwater in the dried up aquifer. In 1950 irrigated irrigated cropland covered 250,000 acres. With the use of center-pivot irrigation, nearly three million acres of land were irrigated in Kansas alone. In some places in the Texas Panhandle, the water table has been drained (dewatered). "Vast stretches of Texas farmland lying over the aquifer no longer support irrigation. In west-central Kansas, up to a fifth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile swath of the aquifer has already gone dry."
Center pivot manufacturers
Over the 30 years after World War II, there were at least 60 center pivot irrigation manufacturers created in the United States. As of 2010, it's been reported that there are less than 12 U.S. manufacturers, of which five are major: Valmont Industries and their "Valley" products, Lindsay Corporation and their "Zimmatic" brand, Reinke Irrigation with their "Electrogator" machines, T-L Irrigation who make a hydrostatically powered system and Pierce Corporation and their "CircleMaster" products. Valmont, Lindsay, Reinke, and Pierce Corporation all manufacture systems powered by 480 volt electricity. T-L's variable-displacement hydraulic pump which is typically driven by a 480v, natural gas or diesel motor on standard quarter section pivots. Water application typically consist of brass impacts,[clarification needed] drip tubes, rotating nozzles, or stationary sprays. These sprinklers are manufactured by Nelson Irrigation and Senninger Irrigation. Varying applications, soils, and crops require different volumes of water and application rates. Pivots often have a large bore impact sprinkler (called "big guns") located on the very end of the machine to aid in irrigating most number of acres possible. While these "end guns" may dramatically increase the irrigated area they suffer from poor uniformity and may have negative impacts on the entire pivot if not designed properly.
The largest maker of mechanized irrigation market is Valmont Industries. Valmont claims a market share between 35–45% of all new center pivots sold in the United States. Reinke is a privately held company which limits the ability for market researches to determine the exact number of center pivot sold. Reinke and Zimmatic compete to share between 30–35% of the irrigation market. Valley, Zimmatic, and Reinke manufacture modern irrigation equipment and consume about 75% and support networks of professional dealers. T-L Irrigation, also privately held, manufactures a hydraulically driven irrigator and markets throughout the United States and in more than 55 countries through independent agriculturally oriented equipment dealers (market share 25%).
Today, many countries use center pivot irrigation. By the mid 1970s Valmont began manufacturing a significant amount of irrigation systems in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, China, Thailand, Latin America and Switzerland.
Linear/lateral move irrigation machines
The above mentioned equipment can also be configured to move in a straight line where it is termed a linear move or lateral move irrigation system. In this case the water is supplied by an irrigation channel running the length of the field and positioned either at one side or midway across the field width. The motor and pump equipment is mounted on a cart adjacent to the supply channel that travels with the machine. Farmers may opt for linear moves to conform to existing rectangular field designs such as those converting from furrow irrigation. Lateral moves are far less common, rely on more complex guidance systems, and require additional management compared to center pivot systems. Lateral moves are common in Australia and typically range between 500 and 1000 meters in length.
- Mader, Shelli (May 25, 2010). "Center pivot irrigation revolutionizes agriculture". The Fence Post Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ddr.nal.usda.gov Center pivot irrigation system modification to provide variable water application depths.
- Gray, Ellen (May 3, 2012). "Texas crop circles from space". NASA. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Morgan, Robert (1993). Water and the Land. Cathedral City, CA: Adams Publishing Corp. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0935030026.
- Alfred, Randy (July 22, 2008). "July 22, 1952: Genuine Crop-Circle Maker Patented". Wired Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- "Growing Rice Where it has Never Grown Before: A Missouri research program may help better feed an increasingly hungry world". College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri. July 3, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Wines, Michael (19 May 2013). "Wells Dry, Fertile Plains Turn to Dust". New York Times.
- "About Arrowhead Mills". Arrowhead Mills.
- Jeremy P. Meyer, "Farmers' tower of power", Denver Post, 2 October 2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006
- "Shrinking aquifer looms as big problem for farms". Nancy Cole, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. September 24, 2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006.
- Column - Mansel Phillips: "Too many thirsty industries, not nearly enough water". Mansel Phillips, Amarillo Globe News. October 4, 2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006.
- "Another sign of long-term water worries", Lincoln Star Journal, October 8, 2006. Last accessed November 20, 2012
- Daily Telegraph (UK) Saturday Magazine Issue no 48,446 (dated 5 March 2011) pp 26-32 "High and Dry" Report by Charles Lawrence
- Morris, John Miller (2003). Sherry L. Smith, ed. The Future of the Southern Plains. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 275. ISBN 0806137355.
- Rainwater, Ken (1 January 2004). "Book Review: The Future of the Southern Plains". Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies (Lincoln, Nebraska: Center for Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska).
- Darton, N.H. 1898. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred and third meridian. In: Walcott, C.D. (ed), Nineteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, 1897-1898, Part IV, pp. 719-785.
- Dennehy, K.F. (2000). "High Plains regional ground-water study: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-091-00". USGS. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- Mull, Marty (January 14, 2012). "Center pivot irrigation more efficient, labor-saving than flood irrigation". The Prairie Star. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Evans, R.O.; et al. (March 1997). "Center Pivot and Linear Move Irrigation System". North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Snyder, Cindy (January 18, 2011). "Center pivot irrigation systems cost big bucks". Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho). Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Becker, Hank (October 2, 2000). "Can Crop Temperature Guide Center-Pivot Irrigation?". USDA Agriculture Research Service. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Garner, Fay (February 2008). "Tuskegee Turf Farm Battles Drought With More Efficient Irrigation". USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Boyd, Vicky (February 16, 2012). "Valley Irrigation unveils tire sensor for center-pivot systems". The Grower Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Media related to Center pivot irrigation at Wikimedia Commons
- "The Ogallala Aquifer" Manjula V. Guru, Agricultural Policy Specialist and James E. Horne, President & CEO, The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Poteau, Oklahoma
- USGS High Plains Regional Groundwater Study
- A Legal Fight in Texas over the Ogallala Aquifer
- Kansas Geological Survey information on the High Plains / Ogallala Aquifer
- Rapid Recharge of Parts of the High Plains Aquifer Indicated by a Reconnaissance Study in Oklahoma | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43807000 |
Earl of Radnor
Earl of Radnor is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. He was made Viscount Bodmin at the same time. Robartes was the son of Richard Robartes, who had been created Baronet in July 1621 and Baron Robartes, of Truro, in the Peerage of England in 1626. All three titles became extinct on the death of the fourth Earl in 1757. Anna Maria Hunt, great-niece of the fourth Earl, married the Hon. Charles Bagenal-Agar, youngest son of James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden. Their son Thomas James Agar-Robartes was created Baron Robartes in 1869. For more information on this title, see the Viscount Clifden.
The earldom was created for a second time in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1765 when William Bouverie, 2nd Viscount Folkestone, was made Earl of Radnor. The Bouverie family descends from William des Bouverie, a prominent London merchant. He was created a baronet, of St Catherine Cree Church, London, in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1714. His eldest son, the second Baronet, represented Shaftesbury in the House of Commons. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baronet. He sat as Member of Parliament for Salisbury until he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Longford and Viscount Folkestone in 1747.
His son, the second Viscount, also represented Salisbury in Parliament. In 1765 he was made Baron Pleydell-Bouverie, of Coleshill in the County of Berkshire, and Earl of Radnor. The earldom was created with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to the heirs male of his father. Both peerages were in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He was Member of Parliament for Salisbury and served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. The second Earl assumed the additional surname of Pleydell after succeeding to the estates of his maternal grandfather, Sir Mark Stuart Pleydell, 1st Baronet (see Pleydell Baronets). His son, the third Earl, represented Downton and Salisbury in the House of Commons. On his death the titles passed to his son, the fourth Earl. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.
He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Earl. He sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for South Wiltshire and Enfield and held political office as Treasurer of the Household from 1885 to 1886 under Lord Salisbury. His son, the sixth Earl, represented Wilton (also known as South Wiltshire) in Parliament as a Conservative and served as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire. He was succeeded by his son, the seventh Earl. He notably held the honorary posts of Keeper of the Privy Seal and Lord Warden of the Stannaries and was made a Knight of the Garter in 1962. As of 2009 the titles are held by his grandson, also William Pleydell-Bouverie, the 9th Earl of Radnor, who succeeded his father in 2008.
Barons Robartes, first creation (1625)
- Richard Robartes, 1st Baron Robartes (d. 1634)
- John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes (1606–1685) (created Earl of Radnor in 1679)
Earls of Radnor, first creation (1679)
- John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor (1606–1685)
- Charles Bodvile Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1660–1723)
- Henry Robartes, 3rd Earl of Radnor (1695–1741)
- John Robartes, 4th Earl of Radnor (1686–1757)
des Bouverie baronets, of St Catherine Cree Church (1714)
- Sir William des Bouverie, 1st Baronet (1656–1717)
- Sir Edward des Bouverie, 2nd Baronet (c. 1690–1736)
- Sir Jacob des Bouverie, 3rd Baronet (1694–1761) (created Viscount Folkestone in 1747)
Viscounts Folkestone (1747)
- Jacob des Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (1694–1761)
- William Bouverie, 2nd Viscount Folkestone (1725–1776) (created Earl of Radnor in 1765)
Earls of Radnor, second creation (1765)
- William Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor (1725–1776)
- Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1750–1828)
- William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor (1779–1869)
- Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 4th Earl of Radnor (1815–1889)
- William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor (1841–1900)
- Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor (1868–1930)
- William Pleydell-Bouverie, 7th Earl of Radnor (1895–1968)
- Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 8th Earl of Radnor (1927–2008)
- William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor (b. 1955). The son of Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 8th Earl of Radnor and Anne Garden Seth-Smith, daughter of Donald Farquharson Seth-Smith, Pleydell-Bouverie was educated at Harrow and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Until the death of his father, he was known by the courtesy title Viscount Folkestone. In 1996 he married Melissa Stanford, daughter of James Keith Edward Stanford, OBE, formerly Director-General of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and grand-daughter of the author J. K. Stanford. They have four sons and two daughters, and the heir apparent is now their eldest son, Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, Viscount Folkestone, born 7 April 1999.
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, Viscount Folkestone (b. 1999)
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013)|
- George Edward Cockayne Complete Baronetage Volume 1 1900
- Seth-Smith family tree at seth-smith.org.uk, accessed 5 December 2008
- Folkestone, Viscount (born 5 Jan. 1955), in Who's Who 2008 (London, A. & C. Black, 2008
- Stanford, James Keith Edward, in Who's Who 2008 (London, A. & C. Black, 2008 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43809000 |
Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of both sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients in both the water column and sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.
Most existing estuaries were formed during the Holocene epoch by the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000-12,000 years ago. Estuaries are typically classified by their geomorphological features or by water circulation patterns and can be referred to by many different names, such as bays, harbors, lagoons, inlets, or sounds, although some of these water bodies do not strictly meet the above definition of an estuary and may be fully saline.
The banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the world's population living along estuaries and the coast. As a result, many estuaries are suffering degradation by many factors, including sedimentation from soil erosion from deforestation, overgrazing, and other poor farming practices; overfishing; drainage and filling of wetlands; eutrophication due to excessive nutrients from sewage and animal wastes; pollutants including heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, radionuclides and hydrocarbons from sewage inputs; and diking or damming for flood control or water diversion.
The word "estuary" is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: "a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage". However, this definition excludes a number of coastal water bodies such as coastal lagoons and brackish seas. A more comprehensive definition of an estuary is "a semi-enclosed body of water connected to the sea as far as the tidal limit or the salt intrusion limit and receiving freshwater runoff; however the freshwater inflow may not be perennial, the connection to the sea may be closed for part of the year and tidal influence may be negligible". This definition includes classical estuaries[clarification needed] as well as fjords, lagoons, river mouths, and tidal creeks. An estuary is a dynamic ecosystem with a connection with the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the fresh water flowing from rivers and streams. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of fresh water, the tidal range, and the extent of evaporation of the water in the estuary.
Classification based on geomorphology
Drowned river valleys
Their width-to-depth ratio is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m (100 ft). Examples of this type of estuary in the U.S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast; and along the Gulf coast, Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay.
Lagoon-type or bar-built
These estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches (barrier islands and barrier spits). Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters. Bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments and where tidal ranges are less than 4 m (13 ft). The barrier beaches that enclose bar-built estuaries have been developed in several ways:
- building up of offshore bars by wave action, in which sand from the sea floor is deposited in elongated bars parallel to the shoreline,
- reworking of sediment discharge from rivers by wave, current, and wind action into beaches, overwash flats, and dunes,
- engulfment of mainland beach ridges (ridges developed from the erosion of coastal plain sediments around 5000 years ago) due to sea level rise and resulting in the breaching of the ridges and flooding of the coastal lowlands, forming shallow lagoons, and
- elongation of barrier spits from the erosion of headlands due to the action of longshore currents, with the spits growing in the direction of the littoral drift.
Barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries. The average water depth is usually less than 5 m (16 ft), and rarely exceeds 10 m (33 ft). Examples of bar-built estuaries are Barnegat Bay, New Jersey; Laguna Madre, Texas; and Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
Fjord-type estuaries are formed in deeply eroded valleys formed by glaciers. These U-shaped estuaries typically have steep sides, rock bottoms, and underwater sills contoured by glacial movement. The estuary is shallowest at its mouth, where terminal glacial moraines or rock bars form sills that restrict water flow. In the upper reaches of the estuary, the depth can exceed 300 m (1,000 ft). The width-to-depth ratio is generally small. In estuaries with very shallow sills, tidal oscillations only affect the water down to the depth of the sill, and the waters deeper than that may remain stagnant for a very long time, so there is only an occasional exchange of the deep water of the estuary with the ocean. If the sill depth is deep, water circulation is less restricted, and there is a slow but steady exchange of water between the estuary and the ocean. Fjord-type estuaries can be found along the coasts of Alaska, the Puget Sound region of western Washington state, British Columbia, eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, and Norway.
These estuaries are formed by subsidence or land cut off from the ocean by land movement associated with faulting, volcanoes, and landslides. Inundation from eustatic sea level rise during the Holocene Epoch has also contributed to the formation of these estuaries. There are only a small number of tectonically produced estuaries; one example is the San Francisco Bay, which was formed by the crustal movements of the San Andreas fault system causing the inundation of the lower reaches of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
Classification based on water circulation
In this type of estuary, river output greatly exceeds marine input and tidal effects have a minor importance. Fresh water floats on top of the seawater in a layer that gradually thins as it moves seaward. The denser seawater moves landward along the bottom of the estuary, forming a wedge-shaped layer that is thinner as it approaches land. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the seawater upward with the freshwater. An example of a salt wedge estuary is the Mississippi River.
As tidal forcing increases, river output becomes less than the marine input. Here, current induced turbulence causes mixing of the whole water column such that salinity varies more longitudinally rather than vertically, leading to a moderately stratified condition. Examples include the Chesapeake Bay and Narragansett Bay.
Tidal mixing forces exceed river output, resulting in a well mixed water column and the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient. The freshwater-seawater boundary is eliminated due to the intense turbulent mixing and eddy effects. The lower reaches of the Delaware Bay and the Raritan River in New Jersey are examples of vertically homogenous estuaries.
Inverse estuaries occur in dry climates where evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow of fresh water. A salinity maximum zone is formed, and both riverine and oceanic water flow close to the surface towards this zone. This water is pushed downward and spreads along the bottom in both the seaward and landward direction. An example of an inverse estuary is Spencer Gulf, South Australia.
(See also Estuarine water circulation)
The most important variable characteristics of estuary water are the concentration of dissolved oxygen, salinity and sediment load. There is extreme spatial variability in salinity, with a range of near zero at the tidal limit of the tributary river(s) to 3.4% at the estuary mouth. At any one point the salinity will vary considerably over time and seasons, making it a harsh environment for organisms. Sediment often settles in intertidal mudflats which are extremely difficult to colonize. No points of attachment exist for algae, so vegetation based habitat is not established[clarification needed]. Sediment can also clog feeding and respiratory structures of species, and special adaptations exist within mudflat species to cope with this problem. Lastly, dissolved oxygen variation can cause problems for life forms. Nutrient-rich sediment from man-made sources can promote primary production life cycles, perhaps leading to eventual decay removing the dissolved oxygen from the water; thus hypoxic or anoxic zones can develop.
Implications for marine life
Estuaries provide habitats for a large number of organisms and support very high productivity. Estuaries provide habitats for many fish nurseries, depending upon their locations in the world, such as salmon and sea trout. Also, migratory bird populations, such as the black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa islandica make essential use of estuaries.
Two of the main challenges of estuarine life are the variability in salinity and sedimentation. Many species of fish and invertebrates have various methods to control or conform to the shifts in salt concentrations and are termed osmoconformers and osmoregulators. Many animals also burrow to avoid predation and to live in the more stable sedimental environment. However, large numbers of bacteria are found within the sediment which have a very high oxygen demand. This reduces the levels of oxygen within the sediment often resulting in partially anoxic conditions, which can be further exacerbated by limited water flux.
Phytoplankton are key primary producers in estuaries. They move with the water bodies and can be flushed in and out with the tides. Their productivity is largely dependant upon the turbidity of the water. The main phytoplankton present are diatoms and dinoflagellates which are abundant in the sediment.
As ecosystems, estuaries are under threat from human activities such as pollution and overfishing. They are also threatened by sewage, coastal settlement, land clearance and much more. Estuaries are affected by events far upstream, and concentrate materials such as pollutants and sediments. Land run-off and industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste enter rivers and are discharged into estuaries. Contaminants can be introduced which do not disintegrate rapidly in the marine environment, such as plastics, pesticides, furans, dioxins, phenols and heavy metals.
Such toxins can accumulate in the tissues of many species of aquatic life in a process called bioaccumulation. They also accumulate in benthic environments, such as estuaries and bay muds: a geological record of human activities of the last century.
Estuaries tend to be naturally eutrophic because land runoff discharges nutrients into estuaries. With human activities, land run-off also now includes the many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. Excess oxygen depleting chemicals in the water can lead to hypoxia and the creation of dead zones. This can result in reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations.
Overfishing also occurs. Chesapeake Bay once had a flourishing oyster population which has been almost wiped out by overfishing. Historically the oysters filtered the estuary's entire water volume of excess nutrients every three or four days. Today that process takes almost a year, and sediment, nutrients, and algae can cause problems in local waters. Oysters filter these pollutants, and either eat them or shape them into small packets that are deposited on the bottom where they are harmless.
- Albemarle Sound
- Amazon River
- The Golden Horn
- Chesapeake Bay
- Delaware Bay
- Drake's Estero
- Gippsland Lakes
- Great Bay
- Gulf of Saint Lawrence
- Hampton Roads
- Laguna Madre
- Lake Borgne
- Lake Pontchartrain
- Long Island Sound
- Mobile Bay
- Narragansett Bay
- New York-New Jersey Harbor
- Ob River
- Puget Sound
- Pamlico Sound
- Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour)
- Rio de la Plata
- San Francisco Bay
- Shannon Estuary
- Thames Estuary
- Pritchard, D. W. (1967). "What is an estuary: physical viewpoint". In Lauf, G. H. Estuaries. A.A.A.S. Publ. 83. Washington, DC. pp. 3–5.
- McLusky, D. S.; Elliott, M. (2004). The Estuarine Ecosystem: Ecology, Threats and Management. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852508-7.
- Wolanski, E. (2007). Estuarine Ecohydrology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-53066-0.
- Kunneke, J. T.; Palik, T. F. (1984). "Tampa Bay environmental atlas". U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 85 (15): 3. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- Kennish, M. J. (1986). Ecology of Estuaries. Volume I: Physical and Chemical Aspects. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-5892-2.
- Wolanski, E. (1986). "An evaporation-driven salinity maximum zone in Australian tropical estuaries". Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science 22 (4): 415–424. Bibcode:1986ECSS...22..415W. doi:10.1016/0272-7714(86)90065-X.
- Tomczak, M. (2000). "Oceanography Notes Ch. 12: Estuaries". Retrieved 30 November 2006.
- Day, J. H. (1981). Estuarine Ecology. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema. ISBN 90-6191-205-9.
- Kaiser; et al. (2005). Marine Ecology. Processes, Systems and Impacts. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019924975X.
- Gillanders, Bronwyn M. (2003). Evidence of connectivity between juvenile and adult habitats for mobile marine fauna: an important component of nurseries. Marine Ecology Progress Series.
- Gill, Jennifer A. (2001). "The buffer effect and large-scale population regulation in migratory birds". Nature 412 (6845): 436–438. doi:10.1038/35086568.
- Ross, D. A. (1995). Introduction to Oceanography. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers. ISBN 978-0-673-46938-0.
- "Estuaries tutorial". NOAA. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
- Branch, G. (1999). "Estuarine vulnerability and ecological impacts: Estuaries of South Africa, edited by Brian R. Allanson and Dan Baird". Trends in Ecology & Evolution 14 (12): 499. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01732-2.
- "Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and Far East: Nivkh" by Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic
- Gerlach (1981). Marine Pollution. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0387109404.
- "Oyster Reefs: Ecological importance". US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Estuaries|
|Look up estuary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- Animated documentary on Chesapeake Bay NOAA.
- "Habitats: Estuaries - Characteristics". www.onr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2009-11-17
- The Estuary Guide (Based on experience and R&D within the UK). | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-43810000 |
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007)|
A hole punch (known also as a holing pincer, hole puncher, hole maker, or rarely perforator, or paper puncher) is a common office tool that is used to create holes in sheets of paper, often for the purpose of collecting the sheets in a binder or folder. A leather punch, slightly different from one designed for paper, is used for leather goods.
The origins of the hole punch date back to Germany via Matthias Theel, where two early patents for a device designed to "punch holes in paper" have since been discovered. Friedrich Soennecken made his patent on November 14, 1886, for his Papierlocher für Sammelmappen.
A typical hole punch, whether a single or multiple hole punch, has a long lever which is used to push a bladed cylinder straight through a number of sheets of paper. As the vertical travel distance of the cylinder is only a few millimeters, it can be positioned within a centimeter of the lever fulcrum. For low volume hole punches, the resulting lever need not be more than 8 cm for sufficient force.
Two paper guides are needed to line up the paper: one opposite where the paper is inserted, to set the margin distance, and one on an adjacent side.
Hole punches for industrial volumes (hundreds of sheets) feature very long lever arms, but function identically.
Another mechanism uses hollowed drills which are lowered by a screwing action into the paper. The paper is cut and forced up into the shaft of the drill to be later discarded as tightly packed columns. This method allows a small machine to cut industrial volumes of paper with little effort.
The most common standard for the dimensions and location of filing holes punched in paper is International Standard ISO 838. Two holes with a diameter of 6±0.5 mm are punched into the paper. The centers of these holes are 80±0.5 mm apart and have a distance of 12±1 mm to the nearest edge of the paper. The holes are located symmetrically in relation to the axis of the sheet or document.
Any paper format that is at least 100 mm high (e.g., ISO A7 and larger) can be filed using this system. A printed document with a margin of 20–25 mm will accommodate ISO 838 filing holes.
4-hole extension ("888")
A four-hole extension is also commonly used. The two middle holes are punched in accordance with ISO 838, and so paper punched with the four holes can be filed in binders that are consistent with ISO 838. The two additional holes are located 80 mm above and below these. The use of two additional holes provides more stability. This extension is sometimes referred to as the "888" system, because of the three 8-cm gaps between the holes. Some 2-hole punches have an "888" marking on their paper guide, to assist punching all four holes into A4 paper.
For US Legal Size paper format (8-1/2" x 14" or 216x355 mm) traditionally 4 holes has been used in the past and still in use today but not as common as it sibling the standard 3 holes (see below). The 4 holes are preferred due to the extra long length of 14" side of the paper where the 4 holes would be placed. Binders with 4-rings gives the paper a better support in the binder. Were the documents only punched with 3 holes it will with time create sacking of the paper at the top part of the binder above the top ring. The 4 holes are positioned symmetrically 3.5" (89 mm) apart (center to center of each hole)
In regions that use the U.S. "Letter" paper format (8.5" x 11" or 216×279 mm; United States, Canada, and in part Mexico and the Philippines), a three-hole standard is widely used. The holes are positioned symmetrically, with the centres 108 mm (4-1/4 in) apart. The diameter of the holes varies between manufacturers, with typical values being 6–8 mm (1/4 to 5/16 inch). (The 5/16 value is most commonly used, as it allows for more variation in both ring binder and paper punching.) The distance of the hole center to the paper edge also varies, with 12 mm (1/2 inch) being a typical value. Unlike ISO 838, this 3-hole system appears to have no well-established exact specification. It can only be applied to paper formats that are at least 240 mm high.
Another standard also occasionally used in the United States is a filebinder system. Its two holes are positioned symmetrically, with the centres 70 mm (2-3/4 inch) apart.
In Sweden, a four-hole national standard is almost exclusively used. The centres of the holes are 21mm, 70mm and 21 mm apart. The guides help keep the paper in a straight line.
The official name of this four-hole system is triohålning since it was adapted to the "Trio binder" which was awarded Swedish patent in 1890. The binder's inventor Andreas Tengwall supposedly named it after a consortium consisting of himself and two companions, i.e., a trio.
According to Shaugho Punchers Inc., the ideal 1 Hole Punch places the centre of the hole punched at 1.0 cm in from the left of a page and 4.0 cm down from the top of a page. According to Killeen Co., the punched hole should between 0.9 cm and 1.1 cm from the left hand side of a page and between 3.9 cm and 4.1 cm from the top of a page.
Uses of hole punches
Single hole punches
Single hole punches are often used to punch tickets, which indicates its credit has been used, and to make confetti when creating scrapbooks and other paper crafts. For applications needing a variety of hole shapes, a ticket punch may be used. A single hole punch differs from a ticket punch in having a shorter reach and no choice of hole shape.
In the United States, single hole punches are often used to punch holes through playing cards, rendering them "used." This helps cut down on cheating by eliminating any cards that may have been tainted by players. Paper drilling is also popular for this purpose.
A related office tool is the eyelet punch. This is a single-hole punch which also presses a metal fastening loop around the hole. It is used to permanently secure a few sheets of paper together which must not be separated or modified.
Multiple hole punches
Multiple hole punches typically make between one and eight holes at one time, the placement of which matches the spacing of the rings in a binder. For example the filofax system uses six holes in two groups of three.
With a few exceptions, two-hole and four-hole punches consistent with ISO 838 are the norm.
In the United States the three-hole punch is most common. Less frequently seen is the two-hole filebinder punch.
There are office models available for the perforation of 1 to 150 sheets of paper, and industrial models for up to 470 sheets. Most multiple-hole and many single-hole punches accumulate the waste paper circles (chads) in a chamber, which must be periodically emptied in order to facilitate the continued operation of the punch.
Paper drills are machines similar to a drill press that use hollow drill bits to drill through stacks of paper. The hollow bit design allows the chads to be ejected during drilling. Paper drills in the United States are most commonly either single-hole or three-hole in construction.
- br-online (German)
- "Appletonideas Punch Resources". Retrieved 2013-02-12.
- "Paper Punch & Cutter Resources". Retrieved 2009-08-12.
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