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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia The Fuller Building or as it is better known, the Flatiron Building, was one of the tallest buildings in New York City upon its completion in 1902. The building was designed by Daniel Burnham in the Beaux-Arts style on a triangular island block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, facing Madison Square. Like a classical Greek column, its limestone façade is separated into three parts horizontally. Locals took an immediate interest in the building, placing bets on how far the debris would spread when the wind knocked it down and nicknaming it "the Flatiron" because of the building's resemblance to the irons of the day. At the rounded tip, the triangular tower is only 2 meters wide. The 22-story Flatiron Building, with a height of 87 meters (285 ft), is generally considered the oldest surviving skyscraper in Manhattan, though in fact the older Park Row Building (1899) is several stories taller. The aerodynamic shape of the building led to a wind-tunnel effect up the streets on which it was situated. It is said that in the building's early days, when a lady's bare ankle was a titillating sight, roués would line up along the sidewalk to catch glimpses. Police officers would then shoo the men away from their 23rd Street loitering positions; they called this the "23 skidoo." See the 23 skidoo entry for competing explanations of the term. Appearance in Film or Video Game - The Flatiron Building is featured in the motion picture Shark Tale as the underwater Times Square/Tuna Square. - The Flatiron Building is featured in motion pictures Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 as the newspaper office Daily Bugle. - The Flatiron Building is destroyed by the military in Roland Emmerich's Godzilla. - The Flatiron Building is featured in the game Spider-Man 2 as the newspaper office Daily Bugle. - The building is also featured in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Hitch, Armageddon, and Aftershock: Earthquake in New York The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The alcohol and substance abuse program provides leadership and technical cooperation to Member States on public health policies related to alcohol consumption and the use of psychoactive substances (illegal or used for non medical purposes). Therefore, it generates and disseminates information on alcohol and drug consumption and related harms, evidence based policies and interventions, and monitors trends in consumption and related problems, with the goal of minimizing the negative health outcomes associated with their use. Among the various psychoactive substances consumed in the region, alcohol is a leading risk factor for the burden of disease. The harmful consumption of alcohol is associated with a range of health and social consequences, including injuries, several forms of cancer, chronic liver disease, heart disease, alcohol dependence, and domestic violence. Priority cross-cutting issues for the program include: gender, human rights, health promotion and services in primary health care. On this site you can find many resources with information on the impact alcohol and substance abuse have on health in the Americas. Alcohol and Substance Abuse Facts - Alcohol consumption in the Americas is approximately 40% greater than the global average. - In 2000 alcohol was the most important risk to health in low and middle income countries in the Americas. It was second in the developed countries of the Americas. Illicit drugs ranked 8th among the 10 leading risk factors for the region. - Use of illicit drugs, especially by injection, are linked to HIV and other blood borne infections. - The average drinking pattern of adults in the majority of countries in the Americas is hazardous to health. - It is estimated that in the year 2002, alcohol led to the death of one person every two minutes in the Region. - Health services to deal with the range of substance use disorders are lacking. - Stigma and discrimination against drug users hinder their access to health services and treatment. Última atualização em Sex, 27 de Maio de 2011 05:26
December 14, 2012 — from the NEXRAD RADAR station just north of Reno, Nevada — a large pulse of radio frequency energy was emitted , which in turn produced multiple actual HAIL returns detected by storm tracking. (click to enlarge): 2km RADAR view from College of Dupage — showing the pulse out of west nevada (return in bright green, which then turned to white/red): NEXRAD RADAR 100NMview (college of dupage feed): At the same time of the pulse — Intellicast storm tracking picked up multiple returns of Hail : High frequency pulse.. producing heating .. which in turn produces CCN (cloud condensation nuclei) .. Ions.. which form into water droplets… then.. because its cold aloft where this is taking place.. the droplets cool into ice.. which is quickly detected as HAIL by the computer before it dissipates more on RADAR heating the atmosphere here:
Encouraged by bacteriological discoveries, leaders of early-20th-century medicine hoped to reduce the causes of all disease to microbes. Clinicians observed that certain strains of bacteria appeared to infect particular targets, such as tooth sockets, sinuses, tonsils, the lungs, and the colon, resulting in speciﬁc diseases such as bacterial inﬂammation of the lining of the heart (endocarditis), kidney disease (nephritis), appendicitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. These observations were made credible in 1914 by Mayo Clinic physician E.C. Rosenow, who reported that he had isolated streptococcal bacteria from patients with some of these diseases and that the bacteria, when “injected intravenously in animals, tended to provoke inﬂammation in the same organs that had been affected in the patients from whom they had been obtained.” Rosenow’s discoveries lent credence to the claims of Frank Billings, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and Rush medical schools, who had asserted in a 1912 article in the Archives of Internal Medicine that “focal infections” were responsible for conditions as varied as arthritis and nephritis. Billings, who served as president of both the American Medical Association and the Association of American Physicians, became the chief exponent of the focal infection theory. Relying on Rosenow’s data, Billings presented a series of lectures at Stanford University Medical School in 1915 in which he asserted that removal of the infected organ site eliminated the disease. Given Billings’s credibility and stature, many American (and not a few European) physicians adopted his view, performing a variety of minor and major surgical procedures—from tooth extractions to tonsillectomies to hysterectomies—to counter infections. Not until the mid-1930s was focal infection ﬁnally discredited, when researchers proved unable to repeat Rosenow’s laboratory experiments, and the introduction of antibiotics made these surgical procedures irrelevant even to their remaining advocates. Soon after Billings promulgated his theory, some psychiatrists began to make a connection between focal infection and intractable psychiatric conditions. One of the most inﬂuential of these psychiatrists, Henry Cotton, medical director of the New Jersey State Hospital in Trenton, is the subject of Andrew Scull’s new book, Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine. Cotton argued that infected sites produced bacterial toxins that migrated to the brain, causing an array of mental disorders. Beginning in 1918, Cotton performed surgical procedures, ranging from removal of previously ﬁlled teeth, tonsils, and sinuses to major interventions such as colon resections and hysterectomies, on mentally ill patients. In one year alone (1919 to 1920), Cotton performed 200 such procedures; by 1922, he had operated on 1,720 mental patients, claiming improvement in 77 percent. The details are what enable Scull to place Cotton’s disastrous treatments in a much wider context, one that exposes how practitioners were seduced by their desires for scientiﬁc recognition, even when their own data and experience should have alerted them that they had placed their patients’ lives in mortal danger. Elliot Valenstein’s widely read Great and Desperate Cures (1986) outlined Cotton’s psychiatric experiments, and Scull has now ﬁlled in all the missing details. Some readers may ﬁnd these details overwhelming, and Scull’s discussions of the personal lives of his principal actors are at times distracting, but his goal includes making the complete record available. The details are what enable Scull to place Cotton’s disastrous treatments in a much wider context, one that exposes how practitioners were seduced by their desire for scientiﬁc recognition, even when their own data and experience should have alerted them that they had placed their patients’ lives in mortal danger. Despite overwhelming evidence that his interventions were killing many of his patients, and maiming many more, Cotton persisted, encouraged by like-minded psychiatrists in North America and Britain. Even when the slaughter became obvious to them, Cotton was protected by others. Most inﬂuential among these protectors was the distinguished Johns Hopkins psychiatrist, Adolf Meyer, under whom Cotton had served early in his career at the prestigious Worcester State Hospital. In 1906, at Meyer’s encouragement, Cotton traveled to Munich, where he spent a year learning the latest in brain pathology and histology from Emil Kraepelin, Franz Nissl, and Alois Alzheimer. For the rest of Cotton’s career, Meyer would serve as mentor and protector. Cotton’s interventions were not uniformly praised. During the early 1920s, Cotton’s claims were interrogated and disputed at national psychiatric meetings by reputable psychiatrists, including Billings, who wrote that he was “unable to fully evaluate” Cotton’s work, warning of danger that focal infection could be “utilized with poor judgment and discretion by individual medical practitioners.” At the 1922 meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Québec City, Canada, psychiatrists George Kirby (who had studied under Meyer) and Clarence Cheney, along with bacteriologist Nicholas Kopeloff, delivered a stinging indictment of Cotton’s surgical interventions. Based on their clinical research, they could ﬁnd “no evidence on which to base a conclusion that removal of focal infection has itself brought about recovery” of any of Cotton’s patients. Moreover, Cotton’s bacteriological work was suspect. There was no “evidence to indicate anything more than the most gross relationship between particular species of bacteria and foci which have been considered and little to suggest that the bacteria found are in any way causally related to psychoses.” The criticisms of Cotton’s claims reached the Trenton State Hospital’s governing board, and one of its two physicians, Joseph Raycroft of Princeton University, asked Meyer to conduct an independent evaluation of Cotton’s procedures. In the fall of 1924, Meyer selected Phyllis Greenacre, a brilliant young psychiatrist at Hopkins, who later would become a leading American psychoanalyst, to undertake the investigation. Greenacre combed the Trenton State Hospital records and found that “there were elementary mistakes in the very ﬁrst tables. As she looked more closely, she found several instances in which multiple admissions of the same patient were counted as though they were new cases each time...her suspicions were further aroused when she saw that virtually all the discharges were classiﬁed as cures.” The records and record keeping, according to Scull, were “so sloppy and unprofessional” that Greenacre “was appalled.” Greenacre’s interviews and detailed examinations of case reports conﬁrmed her darkest suspicions. Typical of these cases was a young woman who had been admitted to Cotton’s care in 1922 with a diagnosis of recurrent manic depression. Within two days of admission the woman’s tonsils were removed, and nine days later “she underwent ‘the usual total colectomy,’ following which ‘she ran a fever of 100-102 for a month or six weeks, without the cause being discovered.’ ” She also had 16 teeth extracted and “was injected with vaccines derived from ‘streptococcus mitis and stock colon streptococcus.’ ” Discharged to her relatives when she “showed some more interest in her surroundings,” the woman, still depressed, was readmitted eight months later. When staff members reported that the patient was concealing stomach pains, Cotton ordered a laparotomy and colostomy. The woman died eight days later from post-operative peritonitis. After reading Greenacre’s report, Meyer wrote that her “investigation” of “Dr. Cotton discloses a rather sad harvest. His claims and statistics are preposterously out of accord with the facts.” Raycroft and the Trenton State Board received copies of Greenacre’s report, but, writes Scull, “remarkable as it seemed, they obviously had not fully grasped their import.” Meanwhile, in 1925, a New Jersey legislative committee began a series of hearings on ﬁnancial waste in state government hospitals. In the midst of that investigation, former patients, their families, and disaffected hospital staff members at Trenton State Hospital testiﬁed about “patients being beaten, kicked, and dragged screaming into the operating room, of trolleys ﬁlled with body parts and not a few corpses streaming in the opposite direction.” As the stories multiplied, Cotton, now on the defensive, became unhinged and soon was conﬁned to bed. Although the legislative investigating committee did learn of Greenacre’s investigation, Meyer kept them from viewing the actual report. Greenacre ultimately was called to testify but was asked only whether she had personally witnessed “cruel treatment of patients” and, in deference to Meyer’s instructions, volunteered nothing else. The investigation ended without condemnation of Cotton’s treatment of patients. Instead, the medical director was commended for his cost-cutting measures, and his accusers were dismissed as “disgruntled former employees and insane witnesses.” As a result of the suppression of Greenacre’s report, Cotton was able to continue to remove his patients’ teeth, resection their colons, and perform hysterectomies and other unneeded surgeries for another half decade until his not entirely voluntary retirement from Trenton State Hospital in 1930. Having regained his sanity, Cotton was free to return to “curing” his patients. As a result of the suppression of Greenacre’s report, Cotton was able to continue to remove his patients’ teeth, resection their colons, and perform hysterectomies and other unneeded surgeries for another half decade until his not entirely voluntary retirement from Trenton State Hospital in 1930. Cotton continued to maintain his private practice until his death three years later. As Scull points out, “Meyer did more than cover up the parade of death and debility” that was documented in Greenacre’s devastating report. He also suppressed a follow-up and equally damning investigation by Solomon Katzenelbogen, who joined Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at Johns Hopkins in 1928 and was selected to head its Internal Medicine Laboratory. Like Greenacre before him, Katzenelbogen was astounded by “the very unsatisfactory examination of the mental status” of Cotton’s patients and called into question “the statistics referring to the recovery rates of certain psychotic types.” Moreover, Katzenelbogen found that the pathological testing “was slipshod and badly performed” and that the medical staff was not “sufﬁciently trained in pathophysiology.” According to Scull, Katzenelbogen “observed that when even careless work did not sufﬁce to demonstrate pathology, Cotton and his staff simply manipulated the accepted boundaries of what constituted an abnormal reading.” Cotton died of a heart attack in 1933. Scull writes: Knowing that what had resulted in Trenton was a piling up of the edentulous, the eviscerated, and the extinguished, Meyer chose the most prominent of professional platforms, The American Journal of Psychiatry, to praise the whole enterprise as “a most remarkable achievement of the pioneer spirit,” to laud Cotton as “one of the most stimulating ﬁgures of our generation,” to call for his work “to be carried on” through “prolonged observation and comparison”; and to lament that this therapeutic approach “now will have to be carried on without the leading and active spirit of the sincere and convinced protagonist.” Scull insists that Cotton’s story is no anomaly, writing that: ...dismissing Cotton’s surgical assaults as an aberration is not the lesson we should draw from these events. On the contrary, the long-suppressed story demonstrates the extraordinary vulnerability of the mentally ill to victimization and the hollowness of professionals’ claims to police themselves. Morally, socially, and physically removed from the ranks of humankind, locked in institutions impervious to the gaze of outsiders, deprived of their status as moral actors, and presumed by virtue of their mental state to lack the capacity to make informed choices for themselves, patients were helpless to resist the interventions of those who controlled their very existence. Scull is correct in asserting that interventions practiced at Trenton State were not unique. I found that, in the 1920s and early 1930s, children at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center with a variety of diagnosed movement disorders, including convulsive tics, habit spasms, and chorea (many of whom today would be diagnosed with Tourette syndrome), routinely received tonsillectomies and often removal of their sinuses. Even though these surgeries failed to improve patients’ tics and vocalizations and even though children died of complications from the operations, physicians at the time considered these surgeries the ﬁrst line of intervention. These procedures were not conﬁned to the Northeast. On the West Coast, University of Oregon Medical School psychiatrist Laurence Selling claimed in the late 1920s that he had alleviated tics by removal of some or all of his patients’ tonsils and infected sinuses. The procedure moved in stages. Thus, when a 14-year-old boy failed to improve after removal of his tonsils and adenoids, Selling removed his antrum sinuses. When this also failed to halt the tics, Selling removed both ethmoid sinuses and claimed a cure. Selling never published follow-up studies, and the duration of “remissions” of Selling’s patients is unknown. The atmosphere that enabled Cotton and the others to continue their interventions, despite the overwhelming evidence available that the results were more debilitating than the putative disease they were intended to cure, argues Scull, remains much the same in current psychiatry’s attempt to reduce mental illness to its biological substrates. Why did so many psychiatrists not only fail to see the ﬂaws in Cotton’s claims but also, like Selling, to conduct similar interventions? Clearly, unlike Cotton, they were not all monomaniacs. The answer, Scull believes, lies in their uncritical attraction to reductionist science. Moreover, the atmosphere that enabled Cotton and the others to continue their interventions, despite the overwhelming evidence available that the results were more debilitating than the putative disease they were intended to cure, argues Scull, remains much the same in current psychiatry’s attempt to reduce mental illness to its biological substrates: Central, after all, to the medical identity of psychiatry for most of its history has been its metaphysical embracing of the body. From the humoral accounts of the origins of mania and melancholy that underpinned the medical claims to comprehend and treat mental disorder in the eighteenth century, to the declaration by the paymaster of American academic psychiatry, the National Institute of Mental Health, that the 1990s marked “the decade of the brain,” alienists have repeatedly tried to account for mental disorder in somatic terms. This “attribution of madness to disorders of the body,” according to Scull, “has, unsurprisingly, led to a recurrent fascination with somatic treatments for presumed underlying pathology.” Scull makes a persuasive case, but his antipathy to organic explanations of mental illness may restrict our understanding of why so many psychiatrists, even those who openly rejected Cotton’s claims, seemed willing to give his interventions more credibility than they deserved. The way Scull tells it, one would have to be a monomaniac, like Cotton, or a blind conspirator to give any credence to infectious causes of mental illnesses. Starting with this premise, it is difﬁcult for Scull to explain why so many seemingly sane neurologists and psychiatrists continued to believe that a connection existed between infection and mental disorders, unless, as he seems to imply, the entire psychiatric enterprise was and continues to be built on lies, self-deception, greed, and a deep-seated need to dominate nonconformists. That psychiatrists and physicians are often arrogant cannot be disputed, but, unfortunately, this is not a trait limited to any one profession. Was there, after all, something compelling about the connection between infection and the behaviors labeled as mental illness, which Cotton took to its illogical conclusion? Early on, Scull remarks that fever therapies for neurosyphilis, a serious infection of the brain caused by syphilis, provided the soil for focal infection interventions on psychiatric patients. In 1904, Nissl and Alzheimer established the infectious origin of neurosyphilis, and, two years later, Wasserman developed a reliable serological test that identiﬁed active infection. But the problem of an effective intervention against the infection remained. Around this time, the Viennese psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg and his colleagues discovered that syphilitic patients who contracted febrile diseases during the early years of their syphilitic infection rarely developed neurosyphilis. By the late teens, Wagner-Jauregg began injecting syphilitic patients with a tertian type of malaria to cause a fever, and, by 1921, he reported that 21 percent of these patients were able to resume a normal life, cured of syphilis. Later in the decade, he reported a cure rate of close to 30 percent. In 1927, Wagner-Jauregg was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine “for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica.” Scull cites Wagner-Jauregg’s malarial therapy as emblematic of the absurdity of biological psychiatric theory and practice and as evidence of the milieu from which Cotton emerged: Julius Wagner-von Jauregg, Freud’s contemporary and a notorious anti-Semite who later would become an enthusiastic Nazi, had long argued that fevers might bring about a remission of psychiatric disorders. From the late 1880s onwards... he had experimented with a variety of febrile agents, searching for a reliable means of inducing the physiological response he sought. Scull writes that, unable to produce the results he desired, Wagner-Jauregg was undeterred and: ...pressed forward, increasingly focusing his efforts on the paretic...In the last months of the war [World War I], von Jauregg was presented with a shell-shocked patient from the Italian front who was simultaneously suffering tertian malaria. Finally he had found a reliable source for producing sustained fevers of up to 106 degrees Fahrenheit... Immediately, he made use of the source to transfer the malaria to ﬁrst one and then to a whole succession of paretics, launching a therapy that he claimed produced near-miraculous results in two-thirds of his patients, and one that, after the war, spread rapidly across Europe and North America. Scull’s implication, along with his selection of adjectives, suggests that this was an insane and dangerous intervention. But it worked. Historian and psychiatrist Edward Brown wrote (in response to an earlier article by Scull making a similar argument) that at the turn of the century syphilis and its resultant general paresis (paralysis) were as menacing and widespread as HIV/AIDS is today. Its victims experienced a slow and horrible death through ﬁnal stages of dementia and insanity. By inducing leukocyte production, malarial therapy called on the body’s immune defenses to defeat the spirochetes, the bacteria that caused syphilis. The intervention, and the theory that drove it, was based on a robust understanding of both how bacterial infection could result in insanity and how that infection could be defeated. Scull implies that Wagner-Jauregg was inadvertently passing syphilis from patient to patient by using blood from infected syphilitics to get febrile responses in other patients, although the evidence for this claim seems weak. As Brown reminds us, “malarial treatment continued to be used into the early 1950s.” The most authoritative textbook, the 1946 Neurosyphilis by H. Houston Merrit, Raymond Adams, and Harry C. Solomon, insisted that malarial therapy was “the simplest and most effective method of treatment of paretic neurosyphilis.” Brown admits that “there is no question that it was a desperate treatment. Even so, there was reason to be proud of it. After a hundred years of hopelessness and despair, it offered hope for people afﬂicted with a devastating disease.” The subsequent discovery and reﬁnement of penicillin was, of course, a much more effective weapon against neurosyphilis, but the biological reductionists were correct to try to understand the insanity of tertiary syphilis was a sequel to an infection. Indeed, this connection had long occupied Meyer and was the subject of Greenacre’s early research at Hopkins. Scull rejects all claims of an organic cause of mental illness in favor of a psychogenic one. The tale of Cotton’s outrageous interventions is used to imply that any claim of an infection as the source of a psychiatric disorder is, ipso facto, ridiculous. Scull rejects all claims of an organic cause of mental illness in favor of a psychogenic one. The tale of Cotton’s outrageous interventions is used to imply that any claim of an infection as the source of a psychiatric disorder is, ipso facto, ridiculous. But the example of neurosyphilis is not unique. Bacterial antibodies had long been suspected and are now understood as the cause of Sydenham’s chorea, and a similar mechanism is probably part of the cascade of many obsessive-compulsive disorders and serves as the environmental trigger for some people with Tourette syndrome. Disorders such as multiple sclerosis, which were, until the 1930s, often diagnosed and treated as psychogenic now appear to be virus mediated, and it would be malpractice to treat patients as if the cause and progression of their condition were mental or emotional, rather than physical. Other disorders, which indisputably are organic, but which in the past were seen as psychogenic and treated by psychiatry, include Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Tourette syndrome. The evidence that most schizophrenias have an organic substrate seems difﬁcult to ignore. At one point, Scull derides as absurd Cotton’s belief that infection could be spread by grandparents kissing babies. Actually, in this case, Cotton was probably correct, at least about bacterial transmission. Research suggests that the gum disease, gingivitis, is most often and increasingly passed to infants from infected adults kissing babies. Infected teeth also can be part of a cascade for acquired heart disease. Having made this connection does not, however, authorize a prohibition of baby kissing or removal of the teeth of grandparents, but rather a more systematic investigation of the extent and risk of possible transmission. Likewise, Scull has exposed the mindless translation of infectious and organic hypotheses from theory and research to medical intervention. What separates malarial fever interventions from Cotton’s promiscuous interventions is the doctrine of lesser harms, elucidated wonderfully in Lesser Harms: The Morality of Risk in Medical Research, a recent book by another medical sociologist, Sydney Halpern. From that perspective, malarial fever therapy for neurosyphilitics was justiﬁable because, lacking any other effective intervention, the procedure could save some, if not all, surely doomed lives. Once penicillin was available, fever therapies would be unethical, because they would subject syphilitic patients to a greater harm. The interventions that Cotton performed could never meet the test of lesser harms. The problem is how to know the difference and what standards to apply. How we deﬁne a “cure” is complicated by what is classiﬁed as illness and who is authorized to make that classiﬁcation. Scull is right to challenge researchers and physicians to examine these questions; but, it would be wrong to conclude that, because of classiﬁcation uncertainty, there is no neuropsychiatric illness or that the causes of psychic distress can never be infective or organic. Unfortunately, much of what authorized Cotton and misled his defenders continues to inform psychiatric practice. The gap between the tentative nature of current neuroscientiﬁc and molecular research and its too eager translation into therapeutics continues; it may have gotten worse. Unfortunately, much of what authorized Cotton and misled his defenders continues to inform psychiatric practice. The gap between the tentative nature of current neuroscientiﬁc and molecular research and its too eager translation into therapeutics continues; it may have gotten worse. The promiscuous re-prescription (by both general practitioners and psychiatrists) of mood-altering and stimulant pharmaceuticals is epidemic and probably dangerous. Given the inﬂuence of the pharmaceutical industry in clinical research, it is increasingly difﬁcult for skeptical voices to be heard. Nevertheless, it would be sad if the only response left to critics would be Luddite—if the only choice the distressed had was between over-eager and partially-informed interventionists and nihilistic critics. What is labeled as mental illness represents real distress. Most often that distress reﬂects an interaction of organic substrates with existential conﬂict. Identifying this interaction requires more than a theory; treating it should demand more than power. What is essential is a deeper and continually skeptical investigation of scientiﬁc claims, not a counter theory informed by only past failures and excesses, but rather a robust interdisciplinary approach that recognizes past mistakes and teaches us appropriate lessons. From Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine by Andrew Scull. © 2005 by Andrew Scull. Reprinted with permission of Yale University Press. Henry Cotton’s experiments on his Trenton patients were not an isolated and transient phenomenon. The notion of focal sepsis upon which he seized to explain psychosis and promote his campaign for surgical bacteriology was embraced by some of the best medical minds of his era, and its significance and practical application extended far beyond the marginal realm of psychiatry. In general medicine over several decades, millions of tonsils were sacrificed on this particular altar, and major figures in physic and surgery accepted the basic idea that focal sepsis could cause chronic disease as plausible and promising. And what many found plausible was not just this general idea, but its specific applications to psychiatry. On at least two occasions, as we have seen, the best and the brightest— or rather, the most prestigious and most prominent, at least in British medicine—flocked to sing Henry Cotton’s praises and embrace his theories and therapeutics as a signal contribution to twentieth-century medicine. They did so at length and in very public settings, and with scarcely a whisper of dissent, even when the object of their hosannas acknowledged that his most drastic interventions killed almost a third of those he treated. Visitors from three continents descended on Trenton. All pronounced themselves profoundly impressed by what they had seen. In Britain, T.C. Graves, who had independently happened upon and embraced the focal sepsis hypothesis, actively and aggressively treated all the mental patients hospitalized in the Birmingham area along Cotton’s lines. He presided over all the mental hospitals in England’s second city till well after the end of the Second World War, and continued assaulting sepsis during the four years he occupied the post of president of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association in the 1940s (the longest period anyone has ever held this position). And Cotton was by no means a prophet without honor in the United States. A substantial number of his fellow asylum superintendents visited Trenton in the twenties and lamented that the parsimony of their local state legislators kept them, too, from embarking on so ambitious, so laudable, so desirable an antiseptic program. Respectable figures like Hubert Work, the president of the American Medical Association, and Stewart Paton, author of perhaps the most influential American textbook of psychiatry in the early twentieth century, blessed Cotton’s endeavors, as did medical men whose expertise was of more dubious provenance but whose public influence was large: the nation’s most famous medical agony aunt, Senator Royal Copeland, and the entrepreneur who had built the country’s most lucrative funny farm for the fashionably nervous and the prostrated neurasthenic, John Harvey Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Cotton’s assistant physicians at Trenton included at least two Hopkins-trained psychiatrists who went on to very prominent careers in North American psychiatry—Clarence Farrar, editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry from 1931 to 1965, and Franklin Ebaugh, director of the Division of Psychiatric Education at the National Committee for Mental Hygiene and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado. Neither of them is known to have objected to what went on, either then or later. Indeed, during his time at the Trenton hospital, Ebaugh gave every sign of being a willing and enthusiastic participant in the search for sepsis. Right down to Cotton’s premature demise, for a period of more than a decade and a half, the moneyed classes flocked to the doubtful charms of New Jersey’s capital city, bringing loved ones whose teeth, tonsils, and colons were willingly sacrificed in a frantic search for sanity—a practical (and profitable) endorsement of Cotton’s theoretical claims.
Easter Island, situated in the southeast Pacific over 1,000 miles from the other islands of Eastern Polynesia and some 1,400 miles west of South America, is one of the most remote inhabited places in the world. Between 600 and 800 A.D., a group of colonists from an unidentified location in Eastern Polynesia settled on Easter Island after sailing in a southeasterly direction for many weeks. The name Easter Island originated with the European explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who first saw the island on Easter Sunday, 1722. Today, the Easter Islanders call themselves and their homeland Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui society was organized following the classic Polynesian pattern: an aristocracy composed of ranked hereditary chiefs (ariki) with political authority over the commoners, who constituted the majority of the population. The art of Easter Island is distinctively Polynesian, much of it centering on the creation of religious images. The most recognizable art form from Easter Island are its colossal stone figures, or moai, images of ancestral chiefs whose supernatural power protected the community. Between roughly 1100 and 1650, Rapa Nui carvers created some 900 of these sculptures, nearly all of which are still in situ. The moai represent ancestral chiefs who were believed to be descended directly from the gods and whose supernatural powers could be harnessed for the benefit of humanity. The massive stone figures were generally erected on temple platforms (ahu) along the coast, where they faced inland to keep watch over the local community. Most were carved from soft volcanic tuff at Rano Raraku, an extinct volcanic crater that served as the primary statue quarry. The giant stone sculptures commonly weigh between 10 and 12 metric tons. Their average height is roughly 13 feet, but they range anywhere from 8 feet to an unfinished example over 70 feet high. Moai are characterized by long sloping noses, strong brows, deeply inset eyes, and prominent chins. Some examples also wear a hatlike cylinder made of red stone on their heads, which may represent a headdress or elaborate hairstyle. Each moai was commissioned by a specific individual or group and created by a team of expert stoneworkers under the direction of a master carver. As many as fifteen people began by quarrying a large rectangular block using basalt picks (toki). Once the figure was roughed out, the master carver and his assistants added the fine details, usually beginning with the head and face. Afterwards, a team of workers used ropes and levers to move the sculpture down the quarry slope. It was then set upright and the remainder of the carving was completed. The finished sculpture was then moved to its final destination using a wooden sled or rollers. Experimental re-creation of this feat by modern archaeologists suggests that it required approximately 40 individuals to move an average-sized moai, and roughly 300 to 400 people to produce the rope and food required. By the time Europeans first reached Easter Island in 1722, the moai tradition was already in decline. Early explorers reported many moai still standing, but by the mid-nineteenth century, all had fallen due to neglect or warfare. Many have since been restored by archaeologists. Other art forms on the island include petroglyphs, many depicting birdmen and other fantastic creatures, as well as a variety of wooden sculptures. One type of wooden image, the naturalistic male figures known as moai tangata, may depict family ancestors. Although their imagery is conventionalized, they may be individual portraits. What appears to be hair on the top of their heads is actually a low-relief carving depicting fishlike creatures with human heads and long flowing beards, possibly representing shark-human spirits (nuihi). In a number of respects, the moai tangata bear a close formal resemblance to the larger stone moai. With their enlarged heads, frontal orientation, prominent stomachs, and arms that extend down the sides of their bodies, both types of image embody a classically Polynesian conception of the human form. Easter Island art also includes barkcloth images, wooden ornaments, and featherwork. Apart from the stone figures and petroglyphs, virtually all surviving works from the island date to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Independent Films, Art, Documentaries, Social Responsibility Movies April 30 is International Jazz, and UNESCO willcelebrate with concerts in Paris, New Orleans and at UNHQ in NYC. Why International Jazz Day? * Jazz breaks down barriers and creates opportunities for mutual understanding and tolerance; * Jazz is a vector of freedom of expression; * Jazz is a symbol of unity and peace; * Jazz reduces tensions between individuals, groups, and communities; * Jazz fosters gender equality; * Jazz reinforces the role youth play for social change; * Jazz encourages artistic innovation, improvisation, new forms of expression, and inclusion of traditional music forms into new ones; * Jazz stimulates intercultural dialogue and empowers young people from marginalized societies. Year of Production: 2012 Length: 4 mins Jazz Day by DiplomaticallyIncorrect is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License. - Muhamed Sacirbey (UNTV-UNESCO) - Susan Sacirbey (UNTV-UNESCO)
One of my childhood treasures is a slim book called Inside Information on Space Travel, which was published in 1970 and has cutaway diagrams of various spacecraft, from Sputnik 1 forward in time – via Black Arrow, communications satellites and Apollo – to the Space Shuttle (or a rather oddly-shaped Shuttle as it was envisaged in those days, before it became a reality.) The final page has a picture of a futuristic, sleek-looking spacecraft, accompanied by the following text: WHAT OF THE FUTURE? A space liner like this will shuttle passengers between earth and orbiting space stations in the late 1970′s. It will be a combination of aircraft and space ship and will be able to take-off and return to land-based space ports. Maybe there is an alternative dimension where space liners actually did start to operate in the late 1970s, but not in this particular universe, sadly. However, spaceplanes are on the drawing board and a technology that might power them was tested to destruction again last week. A scramjet could propel a vehicle up into Earth orbit, as an air-breathing engine of this kind is theoretically capable of providing the sheer power needed to climb up and out of the planet’s gravity well, and the U.S. military carried out its latest attempt to fly a prototype, over the sea off Southern California last Tuesday. This trial, like the others before it, ended in failure, when the machine – the hypersonic X-51A “Waverider” – crashed into the ocean, due to a faulty control fin, before the scramjet engine could even be ignited. So it’s really still early days, and we won’t be able to ride in comfort up to space or across to a distant continent in one of those, to the music of Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube waltz (one of my favourite moments from 2001: A Space Odyssey) for some years yet. Spaceplanes are taking shape, though – on paper and on computer screens. One promising (and British!) example is the Skylon, which is a hydrogen powered spaceplane that could take off from a conventional runway; the SABRE engine powering this vehicle would be an air-breather, technically not a scramjet but a kind of jet/rocket combination. The Skylon remains a wonderful idea, but at the moment only the military appear to be actually building and testing anything similar, and their motivation, as you’d imagine, has to do with war and the capability of delivering some sort of explosive payload anywhere on the planet within minutes of launching. However, military technology has a habit of trickling down to the rest of us, given time. The jet engine is an example of this, of course – swiftly developed during World War II (although the concept and early development of the jet engine pre-dates the war), but now powering civilian airliners across the globe, 24/7. And so is the internet. Eventually, something of the sort will be available for the likes of you and me – and even if there is no space station for us to rendezvous with, there’s always the promise of being able to hop from London over to Sydney, or Tokyo or Honolulu in a couple of hours. It would probably be very expensive but you might even be able to commute!
Over the past decade or so, there have been huge strides made in terms of making cars more eco-friendly. Electric and hybrid-drive cars produce fewer emissions at source, which reduces their impact on local air quality. They still require electrical energy, the majority of which is still produced by burning fossil fuels, but you can lessen the impact of this by signing up to a renewable energy tariff, or by installing renewable energy generators such as solar panels in your home. At the moment, the range (the amount of miles you can drive without a recharge) of electric-only cars means that these are only really suitable for city driving, which is why hybrid drive vehicles are currently preferred. These are powered by an electric motor, with a high-efficiency petrol engine being used to charge the battery or take over when the battery runs flat. The most important statistic to look at when considering an eco-friendly car is the level of CO2 emissions. Generally speaking, the lower these are, the less a car contributes towards climate change, and if it is under 100 g/km, then the car will be exempt from road tax. An eco-friendly car won’t just help to reduce your environmental impact, it can also save you money as well. Although the initial cost of this type of car tends to be higher, the lower fuel costs, and the tax-exempt status of them, means that they can save you a lot of money over the long term. The most important statistic, in terms of how much the car will cost to run, is the effective kilometers per liter of the car. The higher the number, the less you will need to refuel the car, saving you money at the petrol pump. So, without further ado, here are the three most eco-friendly cars available in the UK: The most environmentally-friendly cars on the UK market at the moment are the Chevrolet Volt and the Vauxhall Ampera. These two models are effectively the same car, designed and built by the same parent company (General Motors), with only minor cosmetic and functional differences. At the time of writing, the Chevrolet is slightly cheaper to buy, which makes it a more attractive option. Both cars are theoretically capable of 235.4 miles per gallon by using a combination of a 1.4 litre petrol engine and an electric motor, with CO2 emissions of 27 g/km. Like most hybrid-drive cars, they can be powered entirely from the battery for shorter journeys, but will require some help from the petrol engine on longer trips. General Motors claims that you can charge both cars up for around £1, depending on the electricity tariff you are on, and this should be enough to keep the car going for around 50 miles or so. If you need something a little bigger, then the Volvo V60 could be the hybrid-drive car for you. Despite its massive 2.4 litre engine and all-wheel-drive technology, it can still manage an impressive 148.7 miles per gallon, and puts out around 49 grams of CO2 for every kilometre driven. Having been the first mass-market hybrid-drive car to sell in significant numbers, the Toyota Prius is still synonymous with eco-friendly driving. It’s a bit larger than GM’s offerings, with a bigger 1.8 litre engine and correspondingly higher emissions of 49 g/km. Fuel efficiency-wise, it can manage 134 MPG, which is much less than the Volt/Ampera, and is more surprisingly less than the Volvo V60, but is still much better than the majority of cars on the road. Information provided to you by Allianz Your Cover
Healthy Summer Fruits & Veggies Basil: Basil has become inextricably tied to Italian food, but it’s native to India. And in that country, it’s prescribed as a treatment for stress, asthma and diabetes. Modern science is just beginning to catch on to what the ancient Indian doctors have known since before the time of the Buddha: Compounds in basil have been shown to have potent antioxidant, anti-aging, anticancer, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties. Beets: Beets have become all the rage in culinary circles. They’re great steamed and served thinly sliced in a cool summer salad. They also happen to be an ancient panacea. Beetroot has been prescribed throughout the ages as an aphrodisiac, fever reliever and laxative. Broccoli: It’s in the cabbage family, but it tends to be a whole lot tastier and better for you than its pale-green relative. Broccoli is high in vitamin C, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin B6, and pantothenic acid. Peak harvesting season for broccoli is late summer, July to September. Spinach: Popeye wasn’t just a marketing ploy. The sailor’s spinach-derived superhuman powers are based on the vegetable’s potent nutritional value. Ounce for ounce, spinach contains more nutrients than any other food. It’s got tons of vitamin A, carotene, folate (vitamin B9), vitamin C, and vitamin K. This sublime vegetable really packs a punch. Zucchini: It’s a good low-calorie summer treat and contains vitamin A, folate and manganese. And when we say low-calorie, we mean it: 100 grams of zucchini only contains 15 calories. good summer eatin’With rising fuel prices and concerns over global warming, seasonal eating should once again become the norm. Fret not, however; locally grown produce is often fresher, tastier and healthier than fruits and vegetables from far-flung foreign countries. So relish these healthy summer fruits and veggies all season long. You’ll be healthier and happier for it.
\|Lunar Elliptical Halo ~ Guillaume Poulin took this perhaps the finest image of an elliptical halo at Mont-Megantic National Park, Québec, Canada. Guillaume had been taking astro photographs in a temperature of -15 Celsius. "On our way back home we noticed that the water vapor contained in the air began to form tiny ice crystals that were falling like snow flakes and at the same time a halo was forming around the moon. A few minutes later, another halo, twice the size of the first one was also visible." The 38° high moon was just past first quarter. It had to be overexposed to capture the halos but its shape remains apparent. All images ©Guillaume Poulin, shown with permission. \|Elliptical halos are rare, they are ephemeral and they are enigmas. They are likely related to the even more rare Bottlinger’s Rings superbly imaged in the previous OPOD. Ellipticals are small halos just a few degrees across. They can have two or three oval rings. They are mostly seen in altocumulus cloud although here crystals in ice fog might be the source. The rings are of frustratingly varied angular size and likely depend on the solar or lunar altitude. The paucity of good observations and crystal samples has considerably hindered analysis. Guillaume took several outstanding images. They show three rings in some detail. The innermost ring is perhaps bluish and the inside of the second ring has a definite reddish hue indicating that refraction has played at least some role in its formation. Other cues for a better understanding are the variation in brightness around the rings and the way that they are offset from the moon. We are fortunate that some of his images show faint but identifiable stars allowing the ring dimensions to be measured very precisely. On a line through the moon the second ring is 5.6° across. Do we understand how ellipticals are formed? Their small dimensions could imply refraction between crystal faces only slightly inclined to one another. That is in considerable contrast to the 60° responsible for the common 22° halo. One possibility is that very flat pyramidal crystals produce the rings. The crystals are assumed to drift nearly horizontal in the same manner as ordinary hexagonal plates. The same crystals were invoked to model Bottlinger’s rings although other routes might also form the latter. At right we have a ray tracing simulation made by HaloSim in an attempt to match the ring sizes and intensity variations. The simulation used crystals with upper and lower pyramidal faces inclined 3.5° from horizontal. This corresponds to face Miller Indices like 1,0,-1,35 which are crystallographically preposterous. Faces more usually follow planes of atoms or ions within the crystal lattices and yield Miller Indices with low integer values. One let out is to invoke snow-like crystals with ice wedges arranged dendritically.. The simple crystal yields a halo of the right size. There are three different ray paths through its faces which generate three rings not dissimilar to those observed. (The numbers are those of the faces traversed.) The similarity is encouraging and the fit is OK - But not as good as that obtained when modeling other halo displays. It is tempting to think that a few more iterations - separately altering the upper and lower face angles, inserting flat caps at top and bottom and changing the wobble from horizontal will improve it. It doesn't - or not very much anyway. That’s the challenge. We have a theory demanding rather unusual crystals and predictions that are not quite right. Download HaloSim and try it!
The Little Known Story Of African-Americans In West Virginia’s Mines June 22, 2010 CHARLESTON, W.Va. - African-Americans have worked in West Virginia's mines maybe as long as the coal mines have been here, but their stories have often been hidden underground. Now, the Upper Big Branch mine disaster is bringing to light their little-known history. Two of the 29 men who died at the Upper Big Branch mine at Montcoal in April were black. Diana Zigler has worked nearly thirty years at a Pineville mine, driving a shuttle car before being sidelined by an injury. She says in 1980 she was a single mother from a mining family, and thought the job was such a blessing that she's happy to see her daughter go to work at the same mine. "My daughter, she has a son and I raised her and her brother on the mining job. So she has a son, I let her have the same opportunity that I did." Zigler is a member of the United Mine Workers of America, a union that was integrated from the day it was founded in 1890. She says her father and brothers were known as good workers, and she had few problems in the mine when people realized she could do her job. And she says she went out of her way avoid problems. "That's my motto: don't start nothing, it won't be nothing." Zigler says sometimes being a woman was more of an issue, but again, she was accepted as soon as the other miners realized she could pull her weight. And she says there's a good deal of support and solidarity among women in the mines. "With the white women and the African-American women, we were a family. We were there for each other. Cry on each other's shoulders when things wasn't right. When one hurt, all of us hurt." An event on July 11 at Tamarack in Beckley will commemorate the "Soul of Coal," including Roosevelt Lynch and Joel Price, who died at Montcoal.
Back to Home Page or Contents Page or Stones Beryl is a mineral and in certain varieties a valuable gem material. It consists of aluminum berllyium silicate, Be3Al2(SiO 3)6, and it is the chief commercial ore of beryllium. Pure beryl is colorless and transparent. Emerald, a most valuable gem, is green with traces of chromium in it. Aquamarine, likewise a gemstone, is blue in color but less valuable than the emerald. There is a golden beryl and morganite or rose beryl that are even less valuable. Sometimes the colorless beryl is sold under the name of goshenite. Beryl helps heal liver complaints and diaphragm ailments. (see Gem Healing) A.G.H. "Beryl"; 70, 197.
con‧struc‧tion S3 W2 the process of building things such as houses, bridges, roads etc the construction of a new airport under construction (=being built) The hotel is currently under construction. a road construction project the process of making something using many parts: making something from many parts[uncountable]TI Work out the exact design before you start construction. the materials used to build or make something, or its design and structure: way something is made[uncountable] The houses were partly timber in construction. External doors should be of robust construction. something that has been built: a building/structure[countable] formal a modern construction the way in which words are put together in a sentence, phrase etc: difficult grammatical constructions the process of forming something from knowledge or ideas: the construction of sociological theory to think that a statement has a particular meaning or that something was done for a particular reason: The judge put an entirely different construction on his remarks.
Drug Shortages Exist Across the Board Drug Shortages Exist Across the Board Ongoing shortages of several psychotropic medications have wreaked havoc among patients and their families, caused frustration and reluctant prescription switches among physicians, and prompted investigations by Congress. Drug shortages reached an all-time high in 2011. According to the University of Utah Drug Information Service, 267 drugs—primarily injectables—were in short supply, up from 211 in 2010 and 58 in 2004. While numerous press reports have publicized the shortage of medications for ADHD, there are also shortages of drugs for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and addiction. Ann Richards, PharmD, BCPP, a past President of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists and the Pharmacy Director for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said that according to data collected by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, there are shortages of diazepam injection, diphenhydramine hydrochloride for injection, haloper-idol decanoate injection (Haldol), haloperidol lactate injection, lorazepam injection (Ativan), naltrexone oral tablets (Revia), and thiothixene capsules (Navane).1 Adelaide Robb, MD, Chair of the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Initiative of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), told Psychiatric Times, “We are having shortages of most if not all of the stimulants, and it’s nationwide.” Patients and their families are experiencing diffi-culty in obtaining mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall), methylphenidate immediate-release (Ritalin, Concerta, and Daytrana), and dexmethylphenidate (Focalin). “Even Dexedrine spansules [dextroamphetamine], which is one of the oldest ADHD drugs besides Ritalin, has been in short supply. The only one that is still fairly easy to get is Vyvanse [lisdexamfetamine], which is not available in a generic form,” says Robb. A benzodiazepine shortage is causing problems for alcohol and substance abuse detoxification programs. Last year, there were shortages of such mood stabilizers as divalproex (Depakote) and lamotrigine (Lamictal), and of the first-generation antipsychotic haloperidol. Ruth Hughes, PhD, psychologist and Chief Executive Officer of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization, said the shortages in ADHD medications that began with a shortage of short-acting generic versions of Adderall “have been going on for more than a year.” A January survey of CHADD members revealed that nearly half (49.9%) of the 5500 respondents were having difficulty in getting their medications and of that group, 37% had to switch medications. “In our survey, every single stimulant medication, name-brand and generic, long-acting and short-acting, was named as a medication that was difficult to obtain,” said Hughes. With 15 million people who have ADHD in the United States, “we have a very significant segment of the population that can’t get their medications.” The ADHD medication shortage has serious life ramifications for children and adults with the disorder, Hughes explained. CHADD has “received a dozen reports of adults who tried to tough it out without medication, made serious mistakes on their jobs and were subsequently fired,” she said. “We have reports of college students who were kicked out of school. We have reports of children with ADHD doing very poorly in school or being suspended or expelled, because their parents were unable to get their medication.” In addition, adolescents who are driving automobiles and are unable to get their ADHD medications are of great concern because they are 3 times more likely to have car accidents than are teens without ADHD and 4 times more likely to have fatal accidents. Reports of price gouging have also emerged. “Some CHADD members have gone to pharmacies for generic ADHD medications and been told it would be more than $1000 for a month’s supply. Yet pharmaceutical manufacturers have told me they have not increased their prices,” said Hughes. Medication shortages are influencing prescribing patterns. The best medication for the individual may not be the one that is being prescribed, according to both Robb and Richards. In the DC metropolitan area (Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia), some parents of children with ADHD cannot get a 30-day supply of their child’s medicine at local pharmacies or a 90-day supply through large mail-order companies, Robb said. “So then we have to either switch medications or the parents have to run around to 5 or 6 different pharmacies, trying to find enough to fill a 30-day prescription,” she said. The shortage of benzodiazepines has also caused a change in detoxification treatments for adolescents and young adults, Robb said. “Normally, what we would do is have a benzodiazepine taper and now those medicines are in short supply, so we have to use very old-fashioned medications like phenobarbital.” Richards reported that most hospitals in her system “will use either diphenhydramine injection, lorazepam injection, haloperidol injection, or a combination of these products to treat adults experiencing behavioral emergencies. But all 3 drugs are in a shortage situation. Thus, we are looking for alternative treatments for these emergencies.” Clinicians who would ordinarily prescribe haloperidol decanoate for a patient with adherence issues, she added, are forced to determine whether a switch to another long-acting injection might be more beneficial than prescribing oral haloperidol. “Switching to another long-acting injection can lead to therapeutic failure or side effects, but adherence is guaranteed if the medication is administered. On the other hand, switching to an oral product of the same medication ideally leads to a similar response, but if the individual has adherence issues, then the medication may not be taken as prescribed. Furthermore, the dosing of the oral product may be challenging, as the blood concentration of the long-acting medication will slowly decline.”
Cleft Lip and Palate Also called: Harelip Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that affect the upper lip and roof of the mouth. They happen when the tissue that forms the roof of the mouth and upper lip don't join before birth. The problem can range from a small notch in the lip to a groove that runs into the roof of the mouth and nose. This can affect the way the child's face looks. It can also lead to problems with eating, talking and ear infections. Treatment usually is surgery to close the lip and palate. Doctors often do this surgery in several stages. Usually the first surgery is during the baby's first year. With treatment, most children with cleft lip or palate do well.
The WWTP was upgraded in 2008 to remove phosphorus from the discharge in a bid to reduce the growth of algae, bacteria and microbes (periphyton) downstream thereby reducing the impact on the macroinvertebrate community - mayflies. Last year concerns were raised after river sampling found a decline in the quality of the macroinvertebrate community downstream of the discharge. PNCC and HRC agreed on a joint monitoring programme and engaged Opus International's principal environmental scientist Keith Hamil to help investigate the concerns and it's his peer reviewed report that is being publically released today. The report has found periphyton grew three-times faster at a site 800m downstream of the WWTP discharge than upstream and that this has a significant adverse effect on the macroinvertebrate community during long dry periods. Water and waste services manager Rob Green says work carried out in 2008 to improve the discharge has not been as effective as expected when the resource consent was granted. Mr Green says, "the report has eliminated most of the causes of the growth in periphyton and council staff acknowledge it is clear nutrients emanating from the WWTP discharge are the likely However, he says further investigations are required into river sediments, ammonia levels and macronutrients to pinpoint the exact "We are committed to working proactively with HRC to ensure solutions are found. A work plan is currently being prepared and it will be work-shopped with Councillors before being formally reported back to Council." The work plan is expected to include changes - trial: increased alum dosing around long dry investigation - of river sediments monitoring - of periphyton levels and the macroinvertabrate Both Councils have also agreed that a resource consent review should occur and work is expected to begin on that shortly. PNCC acting chief executive Ray Swadel says PNCC is committed to improving the situation and ensuring the discharge meets the consent conditions in the timeframe provided. Next week Councillors will receive the joint report and staff recommendations for consideration. "At this stage it's too early to say how much the project will cost," says Mr Swadel. "Initially it will be carried out from within existing budgets however it is anticipated that at some stage staff will need to go back to Councillors to seek further funding to continue the project."
All about fleece fabrics Winter hats need to keep you warm so they need to be made from fabrics that have good insulation properties. Place a piece of fleece fabric over the back of your hand and it will soon start to feel warm. This is because the heat from your hand warms up the air that is between the fibres and yarns inside the fleece fabric. Fleece fabric is a knitted fabric that has been brushed to make the surface fluffy. This is called the pile. Fleece fabric is stretchy because it is a knitted fabric Different types of fleece fabric have different amounts of stretch; different parts of your product may need to be stretched more than other parts. It is important that you choose a sewing machine stitch that will stretch where the hat needs to stretch. Right side of my fleece Some fleece fabric only has pile on one side. On double-sided fleece fabric look carefully to see which side looks the fluffiest. If you are using patterned fleece the design will look fuzzy on the wrong side. The top layer of fleece stretched when I was sewing it! You need to use pins to hold the layers of fleece together. If you put the pins at right angles to the direction you are sewing you can sew over them. Safety tip – take care to sew very slowly as you go over a pin. If you go too fast and the needle hits the pin it could break off and fly up. The ends of my stitching are coming undone! Always start and end a seam with about three reverse stitches to stop this happening. Fleece fabric is a popular choice for garments industry. Fleece fabric is available in not only different colors and patterns, but also in different types of fleece. Knowing the different types of fleece will make choosing the right fabric for a sewing project or for clothing an easy task. Faux-sherpa closely resembles wool and is normally used to line coats and as decorative trim. Polar fleece is the most common type of fleece. It is frequently made from polyester or other synthetic fabrics and is light and warm. Microfiber is a low-pile fleece. It is lightweight and is commonly used in the production of hats, scarves and gloves. Wind-blocking fleece is wind and water resistant. Outdoor apparel is commonly made from wind-blocking fleece. Berber fleece is the least warm of all fleeces. It is medium-pile and is popularly used in the clothing manufacturing industry as a lining. Performance fleece is a light fabric commonly used to make active wear and pajamas.
Please Note: You are viewing the non-styled version of this Web page. Either your browser does not support Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or it is disabled. We suggest upgrading your browser to the latest version of your favorite Internet browser. Acuity is the clarity or sharpness that a person can see an object. Acuity screening targets are used in the Keystone to measure different levels of acuity such as 20/20, 20/40, 20/100, etc. The lower the second number in the set, the better the applicant's acuity. The higher the second number in a set, the worse the applicants acuity.Acuity Unrestricted License Generally, the minimum vision for most drivers to qualify for an unrestricted license is an uncorrected acuity reading of 20/40 (both eyes together). An applicant screened for a School Bus Endorsement or a Commercial Drivers License who is required to meet the 391 Federal Standards or drives for a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) regulated Company Must have visual acuity of at least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye with or without corrective lenses. The law requires better acuity and horizontal field levels for one eye vision than for two eye vision. See below Vision Acuity Standards The two stereo targets test eyes individually to indicate if a red/green discrimination deficiency exists. An applicant to be screened for a School Bus Endorsement or a Commercial Driver License who is required to meet the 391 Federal Standard or is driving for a regulated Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) company must have the ability to recognize the colors of traffic signals and devices showing standard red, green, and amber. Horizontal Field is the amount of visual field, measured in degrees, that an applicant can see in each eye. To qualify for a license an applicant must have a total visual field of at least 115 degrees.There are two types of horizontal field: Temporal Field - The degrees of field that an applicant can see to the side of their head. Nasal Field - The degrees of field that an applicant can see across the bridge of their nose. This field is only screened when just one of the applicant's eyes can see at least 70 degrees temporal.Horizontal Field Unrestricted License Generally, most drivers to qualify for an unrestricted license must have a temporal horizontal field of 70 degrees in each eye. Restricted License (F1 and F2) If applicant does not have 70 degrees temporal in both eyes but has at least 70 degrees temporal and 45 degrees nasal in one eye, he/she can obtain a restricted license as indicated by restrictions F1 and F2. If applicant does not have 70 degrees temporal in both eyes but has at least 70 degrees temporal in one eye and 45 degrees temporal in the other eye they can be granted a restricted license as indicated by restrictions F1 and F2. These applicants cannot be tested on our Keystone Vision Viewer and will have to be referred to an ophthalmologist or optometrist. We will accept the vision results from the eye doctor as our procedure requires on the horizontal field referrals.
- Students discuss possible impacts of zebra mussels on the Hudson River ecosystem - Students play a population dynamics game. - They then graph the data collected during the game and compare it with the zebra mussel data collected by scientists. - Students report and discuss results. Day 4: Effects of Zebra Mussels on the Hudson River Students will know how the zebra mussel invasion has changed the Hudson River and be able to use graphed data to explain the history of these changes. - Pictures of zebra mussels and/or (nonliving) examples collected from the river - Copies of the lab handout - Computers with Microsoft Office Excel and/or graphing paper - Copies of “Zebra Mussel Fact Sheet” to hand out Engagement: Show students pictures or examples of zebra mussels and the native unionid mussels. Ask: What do you know about the zebra mussel invasion? Remind students that the invasion began in the Hudson River in 1991. If students haven’t done the introduction to the invasive species lesson, use images from that PowerPoint to pique interest. Ask what they think happened to the native mussel population, the population of plankton and water clarity. Record their hypotheses on the board. Part 1:Game time! Students play the game “Mussel Your Way In” (instructions below). - Divide the class into two groups—one small group (2-3 students) of native unionid mussels and one large group of resources. - Explain that in this game they are going to be native mussels in the Hudson River and, for the purposes of this game, the two resources that they need to survive – plankton (food) and rocks (a place to live). Demonstrate how to make the symbols for each resource. For plankton, place your hands over your stomach. For rocks, cross your arms over your chest. - Establish two horizontal lines ~10-15 meters apart in an open area. Put the mussels behind one line and the resources behind the other. - Have the mussels and the resources turn around on the line so that they cannot see one another. Everyone will decide on a resource. The mussels are deciding which component they need or want; the resources are deciding what they are. Each person makes the symbol for his or her chosen resource. Once they are ready, count slowly to three, and then allow both lines to turn around. - The resources should mill about throughout the space between the two lines. The mussels should look for their resource. Once the mussels have found the resources they want, they link hands with that resource and walk back behind the “mussels” line. Since this mussel has found the resource it needed, it will “use” the resource and be able to survive and reproduce, so the person who was the resource will now become a mussel. Note: Neither the mussel nor the resource can change symbols once they have decided on one during each bout of selection. - Any mussel that fails to find the resource they needed “dies” and will become a resource. The resource person can only satisfy one mussel, so if two or more mussels try to get the same one, only the first one to reach the resource person survives. - Starting with number 4, repeat the process for a total of 10-15 rounds, each beginning with the new assignments from the previous round. - The leader should record the number of mussels and of each resource type at the beginning and end of each round. Running about 10-15 rounds of selection is usually adequate to let participants see how population and resource abundance interact. - In order to help kids understand how an invasive species impacts a native’ species populations, repeat the game with three other variations: - (a) Introduce a predator to the system. Begin with: 1 predator, 3-5 native mussels, and the rest of the students as resources. The predator stands in between the two lines and tries to tag native mussels. Any native mussel he or she tags becomes a resource. If the predator tags 2 native mussels, the predator gets to pick one of them to become a predator. However, if the predator doesn’t get any mussels for 2 successive rounds, they “die” and become a resource. As before, keep track of mussel, predator, and resource populations for 10-15 rounds. This activity demonstrates the effect of predator-prey dynamics on a system. - (b) Introduce 2 invasive zebra mussels to the system--Give students lab goggles to identify them. So you begin with: 2 zebra mussels, 2 native mussels, and the rest of the students are resources. Give new zebra mussels goggles as needed, and keep track of the number of each mussel and resource as before (10-15 rounds). This activity will help students see how resource competition affects population sizes. - (c) Play the game with both the invasive species and the predator in the system: Begin with 3 zebra mussels (with goggles), 3 native mussels, 1 predator, and the rest of the students as resources. Tell the predators that they can tag native mussels ONLY. Invasive species tend to have few or no predators in their new environment, while the native species, having a long evolutionary history with the region, do have natural predators. As before, keep track of mussel, predator, and resource populations for 10-15 rounds. This final activity demonstrates two common ways that an invasive species impacts a system—they both compete for resources and because they tend to have few predators, they tend to increase predation pressure on native populations. Part 2: Graphing game dynamics At the end of the game, divide students into four groups. Give each group one set of the population data from one of the four versions of the game and a large sheet of paper or poster board. Instruct them to plot the data, numbering the y-axis by 5’s to ~35 (or the number of students in your class) and the x-axis up to the number of “years” (rounds) that you repeated the game. Instruct students to plot the values of the zebra mussels and each of the resources on their graphs using a different color or symbol for each population or resource value (native mussels, zebra mussels, plankton, rocks, predators). Discuss axes labels so that students will make sure to graph appropriately (“Resource or population abundance” versus “Year”). Students often have a hard time creating anything besides a bar plot. They will probably need help to be guided through the process of plotting the points and connecting the points with a line. Have the students work with their group to tell a story about how and why the mussel population sizes increased and decreased over the years (i.e. there was an abundance of all resources, so the population went up; there was a lot of plankton, but not many rocks to live on, so their populations went down; the zebra mussel populations increased a lot, because they didn’t have any predators; the predator populations fell when there were few native mussels left). Have each group tell the class their story, beginning with the ‘no competition’ scenario (the first version described) and ending with the ‘predation + competition’ scenario (Step 9c, above). Ensure each student gets to tell part of the story, citing data from the graph so that everyone can see on the graph the story they are telling (e.g. ‘In the first two years, there were few mussels and abundant resources, so their populations increased rapidly’). Guide each group to recognize the basic population principle(s) their game version demonstrates (‘no competition, with limited resources;’ ‘competition with limited resources’ [9a]; ‘predator-prey with limited resources’ [9b]; ‘predator-prey + competition with limited resources’ [9c]). They should be able to discuss how the resources worked as limiting factors for the population’s ability to grow. They should also recognize that both resource availability and the population size are dynamic, and that predators play an important role in moderating population sizes. In groups, have them compare the similarities and differences between the unionid mussel population dynamics and the zebra mussel population dynamics. Encourage the students to ask each other questions. Part 3: Telling stories with real data Next, students will look at real data collected by Cary IES scientists. If possible, each student should be able to work at his/her own computer. If no computers are available, or you’d like the students to graph by hand, another version of the worksheet is available with the data. The students should have familiarity with Excel (use the Excel tutorial if necessary). The third option is to use the pre-made graphs embedded in the worksheet. Explain the objectives of the lab and provide them with a copy of the instructions, making sure they have been able to find their way to Excel. Be sure to point out that “no data” (“nd”) does NOT mean 0.0. They should simply leave these spaces blank (Excel) or not graph them (if they are graphing by hand). Encourage the students to ask for help when they get stuck and to show you their results and graphs during the exercise. Another common mistake occurs when they are asked to highlight the second set of data points that they want to graph. Many students include the title, when only the data points should be highlighted. They should also be shown how to name and save their graphs. After reading about how scientists have collected the data in the Hudson River, the students will make two sets of graphs. The first set of graphs will show students how phytoplankton and zooplankton populations have changed in response to the zebra mussel invasion, and the second set of graphs will look at water chemistry and transparency. Explanation: Zebra mussels were first detected in the Hudson in 1991. By 1992 they had spread throughout the freshwater and slightly brackish parts of the estuary and had a biomass greater than the combined biomass of all other consumers (fish, zooplankton, zoobenthos, bacteria) in the river. The mussels filter the equivalent of all of the water in the Hudson River about once every four days. Native mussels, one of the most rapidly declining animal groups in the U.S., are the largest group of federally listed endangered or threatened invertebrates. Of nearly 300 species of mussels in North America, 13 are considered extinct and 57 are designated federally endangered or threatened species. In the Hudson, their major competitor is the zebra mussel. After the introduction of zebra mussels, populations of phytoplankton and small zooplankton plummeted. Plankton are pillars of the riverine food web, and their decline has effects on all of the life in the river. For example, the zebra mussels filter out so many small plankton that the number of open water (often planktivorous—plankton-eating), fish has decreased, while there has been an increase in the number of fish that depend on shallow-water, vegetated areas. Zooplankton such as cladocerans and larger copepods have not decreased, because they are too large for zebra mussels to eat. Water clarity has increased, while nutrient levels have decreased, due to there being far fewer plankton in the water column. Students should be encouraged to think about how other factors may regulate the changes in the river, besides the zebra mussels. Dissolved oxygen levels have decreased as well. Besides inducing many ecological changes, zebra mussels have also caused economic damage in the Hudson. They attach to water intakes, boat hulls, and other submerged objects in very high numbers. Estimates for zebra mussel damage in the Hudson ranges from $100,000 to $1million per year. Extension: Students can read further about zebra mussels and their effects on the Hudson River in the “Zebra Mussel Fact Sheet.” They can also make additional graphs and generate more hypotheses using the data provided. Evaluation: Evaluate students’ graphs and their answers to the questions. Comments: The ‘Mussel Your Way In’ game was modified from the popular ‘Oh Deer!’ game created by Project Wild (www.projectwild.org).
It’s a twice in a lifetime moment: the transit of Venus across the Sun On 6 June, an event that takes place only four times every two centuries will enthral the world’s astronomers, as it has ever since the 1600s – but now it can provide priceless data in the hunt for habitable planets in deep space In the image: 1. The tiny black disc of Venus edges across the Sun during the last transit, in 2004. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Observer As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses only part of the Sun is obscured. Ready to Go Amelia Earhart, 39, stands next to a Lockheed Electra 10E, before her last flight in 1937 from Oakland, Calif., bound for Honolulu on the first leg of her record-setting attempt to circumnavigate the world westward along the Equator. This photo was taken shortly after the airplane was delivered in 1936. Various atoms and molecules as depicted in John Dalton’s A New System of Chemical Philosophy (1808). March 18, 1987: Woodstock for Physicists 1987: Thousands of physicists crowd a ballroom at the New York Hilton for a hastily arranged marathon session on high-temperature superconductivity. The event generates so much excitement that it is later referred to as the “Woodstock of Physics.” March 9, 1862: Ironclads 1862: Civil War ironclads stage the first sea battle in naval history between armor-plated vessels. The battle took place at Hampton Roads, Virginia, where a day earlier theCSS Virginia(known popularly as theMerrimack, her name when she had been a frigate in the pre-war U.S. fleet) savaged the Union blockade squadron anchored there. The Union guns proved ineffective against the armor plating protecting the Confederate marauder, allowing the ironclad to move in close and even ram and sink a ship. TheVirginiawas returning at daybreak to finish off the Union fleet when the ungainly lookingUSS Monitorshowed up to engage it. TheVirginiawas slow, difficult to maneuver and prone to engine trouble, but it outgunned theMonitor. During the battle the ships collided several times and were struck repeatedly by cannon fire, often at point-blank range, but their protective plating prevented any severe damage. They slugged it out for several inconclusive hours until theVirginiafinally drew away. The battle ended in a draw and the Union blockade of the James River continued. The significance of the engagement, however, was lost on no one. The nature of naval warfare had been changed overnight, and forever. As one historian observed, the moment theMonitorengaged theVirginiain battle, every navy on earth became obsolete. (Source: Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson) This article first appeared on Wired.com March 9, 2007. Space Station Flying by the Moon The International Space Station can be seen as a small object in upper left of this image of the moon in the early evening Jan. 4 in the skies over the Houston area flying at an altitude of 390.8 kilometers (242.8 miles). The space station can occasionally be seen in the night sky with the naked eye and a pair of field binoculars. Image credit: NASA/Lauren Harnett Statue of Liberty Liberty Island, New York New York City skyline and Statue of Liberty in black and whit Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent drawing March 7, 1876. Former NASA astronaut Joseph Tanner is photographed during a space walk outside the space shuttle Discovery in low Earth orbit during the second servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope. The sun is visible behind him. Even when the sun is shining, the sky appears dark in low Earth orbit, because there isn’t enough atmosphere to diffuse sunlight.
If you are running a single virtual machine on your host, you do not have to be too concerned about the virtual machine settings. It is when you get into a multiple virtual machine configuration that you need to start thinking about them because some of the settings can affect all the virtual machines running on a host, not just one. So let’s take a look at some of the settings you need to pay close attention to. When you create a new virtual machine, you are prompted to provide a file name. This is the name assigned to the virtual machine configuration (.vmc) file. This file name can not exceed 150 characters and if you are running multiple virtual machines, each one must have a unique file name. CPU Resource Allocation You need to pay close attention to the CPU Resource Allocation settings when running multiple virtual machines. For example, if one of your virtual machines will not start, it may be due to over-allocated CPU resources. In other words, some virtual machines have been assigned more CPU resources than others. Since only those virtual machines that you have permissions to appear on the CPU Resource Allocation page, it is easy for someone to mistakenly over-allocate CPU resources to the virtual machines listed. This can prevent other virtual machines from turning on or affect the performance of virtual machines running in the background. Virtual Hard Disks Each virtual machine uses a virtual hard disk (vhd file). This is where a virtual machine will store files and install programs – the same way that the host operating system uses a physical hard disk. When you are running multiple virtual machines on a host remember that a virtual hard disk can only be used by one virtual machine at a time. Therefore if you plan to run two virtual machines simultaneously, you will require two virtual hard disks. [tags]virtual machine, networking[/tags]
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new study, people who ate chocolate a few times per week or more weighed less than those who rarely indulged in the sweet. The finding doesn't prove that adding a candy bar to your daily diet will help you shed pounds. But researchers said it's possible that antioxidants in chocolate could be behind health benefits including lower blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as decreased body weight. "People have just assumed that because it comes with calories and it's typically eaten as a sweet, therefore it would inherently have been, one way, bad," said lead researcher Dr. Beatrice Golomb, from the University of California, San Diego. To test that theory, she and her colleagues used data from a study on cholesterol-lowering drugs that surveyed 1,000 healthy adults on their typical eating habits -- including how often they ate chocolate. The participants, who were anywhere from 20 to 85 years old, ate chocolate an average of twice per week and had an average body mass index, or BMI, of 28 -- considered overweight but not obese. (For instance, a five-foot, ten-inch-tall man weighing 195 pounds would have a BMI of about 28). The researchers found that people who ate chocolate with greater frequency tended to eat more calories overall, including more saturated fat, than those who went light on the candy. Even so, the chocolate lovers tended to have a lower body weight. That was still the case after researchers accounted for participants' age and gender, as well as how much they exercised. The effect worked out to a five- to seven-pound difference between people who ate five servings of chocolate per week compared to those who didn't eat any, according to Golomb. However, it was only how often people ate chocolate -- and not the total amount they ate regularly -- that was linked to their weight, the study team reported Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Golomb and her colleagues noted that past studies have tied chocolate to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and better insulin sensitivity, possibly because of antioxidants or other chemicals in cocoa. The new report was funded by the National Institutes of Health and none of the researchers noted any conflicts of interest related to chocolate -- other than liking it themselves. One nutritionist who wasn't involved in the new research said there are a number of possible explanations for the findings that don't necessarily imply a weight-loss benefit for eating extra chocolate. It's possible that poorer people stick to the basics when they're buying food and don't eat as much chocolate -- and poverty has been tied to higher body weight, said Eric Ding, from the Harvard Medical School in Boston. Another possibility, he told Reuters Health, is that "people who lost weight reward themselves with chocolate, more than chocolate causing the weight loss." Ding said past evidence suggests antioxidants in cocoa called flavonoids are behind any benefits tied to chocolate -- especially dark chocolate, which has the most flavonoids. "People know that eating the sugar and the fat won't cause you to lose weight," he said. Because the new study is relatively small and couldn't prove cause-and-effect, it's hard to take any lessons away from the findings, according to Ding. But the key for chocolate lovers seems to be considering calories and knowing that not all chocolate is created equal. "If you consume chocolate, consume it in place of something else, rather than adding to your net daily calories (and) try to consume dark chocolate," Ding said. Both researchers agreed that moderation is important as well. "This certainly does not provide support for eating large amounts of chocolate," Golomb told Reuters Health. Still, she added, "For those of us that do eat a little bit of chocolate regularly, perhaps any guilt associated with that might be quelled." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/6d3trk Archives of Internal Medicine, online March 26, 2012. The #1 daily resource for health and lifestyle news! Your daily resource for losing weight and staying fit. We could all use some encouragement now and then - we're human! Explore your destiny as you discover what's written in your stars. The latest news, tips and recipes for people with diabetes. Healthy food that tastes delicious too? No kidding. Yoga for Back Pain Pets HelpYour Heart Are YouMoney Smart?
credit NASA/Flight / caption: this amended image purports to show a refuelled descent stage ascending NASA is considering launching Moon rock samples into low lunar orbit using refuelled Altair lunar lander descent stages to overcome the cargo return limitations of its Constellation programme vehicles After each of the lunar missions, expected to start in 2020, NASA's scientists want hundreds of kilograms of lunar rock brought back for analysis. But the space agency's transportation system can only deliver 100kg (220lb) while the Apollo programme could bring back 110kg The 100kg limit is due to the Altair lunar lander and Orion crew exploration vehicle's capabilities. So NASA has set a goal of increasing its sample return capabilty to 250kg. Conceivably, once in orbit the reused descent stage would be met by Orion and its rock samples transferred by astronaut extra-vehicular activity? NASA's Altair project office manager Kathy Laurini told Flight no robotic sample return vehicle was being considered with that refuelled descent stage and she did not know how the stage's sample cargo would reach Earth "Maybe we could build Altair so it can be reused but you would need to get the fuel there. We have a couple of years to work on these problems," says Laurini, who replaced Lauri Hansen on 1 October 2008 Another reason to reuse the landers would be to reduce the number needed and limit what Laurini described as the "boneyard on the lunar surface" of spent descent stages Before Christmas Laurini's team also started discussing a recyclable Altair. This would see landers disassembled on the Moon and their components used for surface elements and their materials as feedstock NASA is to award contracts for conceptual Altair design work by July. This industry work will follow the agency's Lunar Design Analysis Cycle-3, which ends in March, and its first Requirments Analysis Cycle that will look at overall vehicle configurations Laurini added that "there are Altair designs that look nothing like the ones you have seen. [For deploying habitats] we have side loading designs."
Objective and history The first Smart Gate was introduced in 1986 as a part of the Rockman Sustainor. This unit has both an input compressor and a distortion stage: the perfect combination to get a lot of noise! Tom Scholz worked on a circuit that would suppress the noise where it is generated: right after the compressor. This choice is weird, in a first approach (we are used to noise reductors that are placed at the end of the chain), but it was after all very smart, cause it leaves the distortion sounds totally unchanged, with all their harmonics. In 1988 and 1989, SR&D issued three more modules - extractions and developments from the Sustainor: the Guitar Compressor, the Distortion Generator and the Smart Gate. While the circuit inside the Sustainor is fairly limited in scope (clear the noise generated by the compressor before the distortion stage), the rack-format Smart Gate was widely expended and is an outstanding general purpose noise-reductor, that can handle any situation. Inside the Module Before describing how the Smart Gate works, let's take a look at what a classic noise gate does. These basic circuits are based on a comparator that turns the signal on or off, above or under a given threshold. The end of the long notes are of course cut, and you must tweak the threshold every time you change sound. The Smart Gate is an extrapolation of the "adapted filtering" principle. Basically, this principle says that the noise is minimal when: Applying this principle in conformance with its original mathematical definition is complex (that's what the Hush does), but since we are dealing with instrument audio signals, the problem can be simplified: That's how Tom Scholz came to the concept of a variable filter that would always let the low frequencies (below 1300Hz) go through, and that would open or close above 1300Hz, depending on the actual input signal. Such a filter is very easy to build: a capacitor, a resistor and a FET can do the job. The complexity of the Smart Gate circuit is not here: we need additional circuits that will detect the presence of high-frequencies, to open immediately the filter every time a new note appears. Then we need another circuit that will control the release time: the filter must be closed proportionnaly to the note decay, so that the gates closes slowly without cutting the end of the notes. That's what you have in the first Smart-Gate, as described in Tom Scholz's patent US 4,809,337. This circuit, after several modifications and improvements, corresponds to the Smart Gate of the Rockman Sustainor. The rack-version of the Smart-Gate is an extension of this circuit. The 1300Hz filter can be set to 1000Hz (Hiss mode), 500Hz (Mid-Hiss mode) or even 20Hz (Full-band mode). Note that in full-band mode, the Smart Gate clears not only the breathing noise in the high frequencies, but also the hum noise that can be present in the low-frequencies. You can at least play with single-coil pick-ups without this unpleasant rumble noise! Collectibility and conclusion The original Rockman Smart-Gate is very rare (less than 2000 items!) and accordingly expensive. For those who cannot find one, Bob Cedro has re-created the Smart-gate in a stompbox format, with CMS components, for MXR: all the reviews confirm that this re-issue is as good as the original. Copyright Rockman.fr 2008
Grief is a normal response to a loss in one's life. Losses include, but are not limited to, the deaths of family and friends, breakups and separations, moving away from home or graduating from college. Grief reactions are common after the loss of anything or anyone whom you valued. The grieving process can be less painful if you try to understand that loss and grief is a natural part of life. Believe that you can cope with tragic happenings. Let your experience be a psychological growth process that will help you to deal with future stressful events. Reactions to Loss Common first reactions to a loss, particularly an unexpected loss, are feelings of disbelief or emotional numbness. A grieving person may feel that the upsetting news could not be true and that his/her life seems somehow unreal. This reaction often allows a grieving person the time to begin to make sense of a painful situation. This denial will gradually diminish as you begin to express and share your feelings about death and dying with other students or friends. Anger is also a quite common grief reaction, as a person may feel that they did not deserve to experience the pain that accompanies their grief. Such anger is often a reaction to the feeling of powerlessness that a grieving person may experience. During this stage the most common question asked is "why me?" You are angry at what you perceive to be the unfairness of death and you may project and displace your anger unto others. When given some social support and respect, you will eventually become less angry and able to move into the next stage of grieving. or the lost person. You may find yourself feeling guilty for things you did or didn't do prior to the loss. Forgive yourself. Accept your humanness. Many students try to bargain with some sort of deity. Some try to bargain and offer to give up an enjoyable part of their lives in exchange for the return of health or the lost person. As you go through changes in your social life because of the loss, you may feel lonely and afraid. The more you are able to reach out to others and make new friends, the more this feeling will lessen. Acceptance does not mean happiness. Instead you accept and deal with the reality of the situation. Eventually you will reach a point where remembering will be less painful and you can begin to look ahead to the future and more good times. You may at first experience a sense of great loss. Mood fluctuations and feelings of isolation and withdrawal may follow. It takes time for you, the grieving student, to gradually return to your old self and become socially involved in what's going on around you. Others who grieve may question their ability to cope and begin to fell panicky if they feel overwhelmed. Physical symptoms such as feelings of nausea, headaches and colds may be the result of stress caused by the loss, but these symptoms should still be reported to a physician for a more thorough evaluation. How to Help Someone Who is Grieving - Be a good listener. - Try to listen carefully and show interest in what a person in grief tells you so that he/she feels better understood. - Show that you care. - Share your feelings and talk about any similar experience you may have had. - Avoid using the phrase "I know just how you feel." - Use an appropriate, caring conversational tone of voice. - Talk openly and honestly about the situation unless the student does not want to. - Realize the uniqueness of a person's grief and that different losses affect people differently. - While you may feel comfortable about leaving home, another person may see this event as a time of great loss. - Try to be patient and understand a situation different than your own. - A person's grief reactions may also be influenced by other factors in their life, including their gender, culture and life circumstances. - People who already feel emotionally vulnerable will have a more difficult time dealing with loss. - Don't try to talk a person out of their grief with statements such as "you must be strong" or "look how much you have." - These types of statement often leave a grieving person feeling ashamed or thinking that they shouldn't be grieving. What they need is a supportive person to listen to them. - Be supportive but do not attempt to give encouragement and reassurance when a student is in the depressed stage of grieving. It will not be helpful. - Encourage a person facing loss and grief to care for him/herself. They may be neglecting their physical needs. You may also want to encourage them to postpone major decisions, since grief can often cloud a person's ability to see things clearly. - If symptoms of depression are very severe or persistent and the grieving student is not coping with day to day activities, encourage that student to get professional help. The Grieving Process College students all fear death yet they all believe that they will live forever. Death, however, will enter our lives at some point. Students therefore need to learn how to live with death, dying and grief. Why Fear Death? - The premature interruption of life activities. - Effects of death upon family members, classmates and friends. - The fear of death without dignity, for example, being kept alive by a machine. - The fear of nothingness after death.
Will Computer Science Go Beyond The English Language Into Arabic? A conceptual digital art project links computing programming to the Arabic language with a surprising point of view. During his time at Eyebeam Art+Technology Center, Ramsey Nasser developed a conceptual art project addressing the difficulty and impossibility of coding in a non-Latin alphabet system. To convey his message, he turned to his native tongue, Arabic. The end result is a program that is an digital artwork that subtly reveals how non-English speakers need to adapt to the foundations that have been laid out for programmers in the past 60 years. Ramsey titled his work “قلب” or Qalb, which means “heart”. Watch the video below to watch Nasser Ramsey demonstrate the output of his creative endeavor. Nasser seems to be concerned about the role of human culture in coding. By presenting a code that is written entirely with Arabic letters, he exposes the biases underlying programming and computer science at large. This puts the spotlight on the pedagogical biases that govern how code is taught in academic and educational settings without trying to argue for an alternative system. Software engineering is fostered in the United States. If we’re going to push for coding literacy, if we’re going to push to teach code around the world, then we have to be aware of what their cultural biases are and what it means for someone that doesn’t share that background. Driving this point home, he develops his point of view in an interview with Hyperstage, an robust Arabic site covering technology. Ramsey acknowledges previous attempts to create a coding language in Arabic and their shortcomings. What distinguishes قلب his work from previous attempts is the fact that it is a conceptual art project, not intended for everyday use. In this interview, Ramsey asserts that what brings all such programming projects together is their love for text and language. His project embraces traditional programming algorithms from the history of computer science and treats them with the same amount of respect and cultural sensitivity that Arabs treat their own poetry, calligraphy, and typefaces. This conveys a unique underlying link between the traditional practices of computer scientists and regular users of Arabic.
While not specifically a PBL/inquiry project, I found this article on Edutopia’s site about middle school students to be very uplifting. It makes me wonder what other types of things our kids can do to uplift each other. When you consider a good number of our students never hear a positive thing from their peers, it seems like taking a little time out of test prep to enhance the lives of others is well worth it. Enjoy: Looking to get your feet wet in PBL with some projects that have already been packaged for you? Suzie Boss shares several that might interest you in her article on Edutopia, “Good to Go Projects for 2014.” While this video is specific to PBL or inquiry based learning, it is all about learning….differently. Know that it takes a special teacher thinking outside of the box to help every last child. You can be that special teacher.
15 Facts about Johannesburg, the City of Gold Johannesburg is the metropolis of South Africa and the economic heart of the country. Johannesburg dominates the Witwatersrand, or Rand, the world's richest gold-mining area. Sometimes known by its Zulu name, Igoli ("City of Gold"), Johannesburg is the capital of Gauteng province, formerly part of Transvaal. It has a population of 3,225,810 (2001 census). 1. The largest city in South Africa, Johannesburg is one of the world's few major cities not located on a river or harbor. 2. After the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, a village was established on the site of Johannesburg within the year. As the gold boom developed, the settlement grew at a phenomenal rate, reaching a population of 100,000 by the beginning of the 20th century. In 1928 it was made a city. 3. Johannesburg is situated on the High Veld plateau, on the southern slope of the Witwatersrand, a watershed ridge between the Limpopo and Vaal river systems. With an elevation of 5,751 feet (1,753 meters), the city enjoys an attractive climate. 4. The average daily temperature in Johannesburg is 59.9° F (15.5° C), with an annual range of 17.8° F (9.9° C). Johannesburg receives an average of nine hours of sunshine a day and just over 30 inches (750 mm) of rainfall a year. 5. The central part of Johannesburg is laid out in a rather severe gridiron plan. The area around Eloff Street constitutes the main shopping and entertainment district. The city center has a beautiful public library, a prestigious art gallery, several museums of interest, and an active civic theater. To the north is the zoological garden and to the east the internationally important astronomical observatory. In addition, there are many facilities for sports events and recreational activities. 6. Johannesburg has two universities. The University of the Witwatersrand provides instruction for English-speaking students, and Rand Afrikaans University serves those students who speak Afrikaans. The Technikon Witwatersrand specializes in business and engineering. Among the city's cultural institutions are the Johannesburg Art Gallery and Museum Africa. 7. During apartheid Johannesburg complied with the government's policy on racial separation, maintaining separate residential areas for the four major elements of the metropolitan population -whites, blacks, Coloureds, and Asians. Empty buffer zones separated white and nonwhite areas. 8. The whites (16%) -including most of the foreign born, of German, Dutch, Swiss, or other European origin- speak English or Afrikaans. Most are Christians of various denominations, but there is a significant minority of Jews. The black population (73%) contains representatives of all the major black ethnic groups in South Africa, speaking Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Pedi, and many other languages. A majority of the blacks speak English or Afrikaans as well, and belong to Christian churches. The Coloureds (6%), of mixed race, speak English, Afrikaans, or both, and generally are Christians. The Asians (4%) derive mainly from the Indian subcontinent but also include Chinese. Various languages and religions are represented in this group. 9. As Johannesburg developed and blacks migrated to the area looking for work, shantytowns grew up around the urban core. Under the apartheid system these were replaced with black townships, which generally were planned communities developed with government funds to house the increasing number of blacks. Private ownership was permitted, but most units were under subsidized rental agreements. Frequently, the provision of residential, educational, medical, and recreational facilities did not keep pace with the growth of population, thus engendering widespread frustration and contributing to occasional violence. 10. The best-known black residential area was Soweto (South-Western Townships), which was 15 miles (25 km) southwest of central Johannesburg. By the 1990s it housed about 1,000,000 people, who occupied either single-family units or dormitory-like quarters for bachelors as well as for married men whose families lived elsewhere. Nearly half of the residential structures consisted of a single room. 11. After the 1940s the major production of gold shifted from the original mining areas to the far west Rand, Klerksdorp, and the Free State. Johannesburg continued to grow because of the intense concentration of manufacturing industries in the Witwatersrand. 12. The city lies midway between iron and steel centers and adjacent to the best farming belt in South Africa. Besides metallurgy and food processing, the Johannesburg area has important machinery, electrical, chemical, textile, construction, and printing industries. 13. Johannesburg is the hub of the South African business world. Major banks and business corporations are headquartered in the city or maintain offices there. The Johannesburg stock exchange is the only one in the country. The city is also the headquarters of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Newspapers and periodicals in several languages are published in Johannesburg, and there is a flourishing book publishing industry. 14. Johannesburg is the center of South Africa's transportation systems. Roads and railroads radiate from the city in every direction, and Johannesburg International Airport just outside the city is the country's major port of entry. 15. In the early 1990s the laws restricting the flow of migrants into the city and enforcing the racial segregation of residential areas were scrapped. In 2000 the surrounding municipalities were incorporated into the "unicity" of Johannesburg. De facto residential segregation persisted, however, although the population of the inner city shifted from predominantly white to black. The flow of migrants into the city quickened from rural South Africa, from neighboring countries, and increasingly from more distant parts of the continent. As the economy opened once again to the outside world and competition increased, many local corporations laid off workers to reduce their production costs, worsening an already serious unemployment problem.
The New Testament is a product of the Christian Church. The first Christians did not have a New Testament, nor does the New Testament itself depict any disciple, apostle or lay believer writing any new Christian scripture. The New Testament, then, is concretly a church document, written mostly in post-Apostolic times and selected and canonized much later. Once the Church had condensed and preserved its new sacred documents from a much vaster body of literature, Christian interpretation of these new texts began. These interpretations varied according to the differing theologies, christologies and soteriologies of the exegetes that were doing the interpreting. The Hellenistic “Church Fathers” supplied their own interpretations and commentaries, as did itinerant teachers, holy hermits, saints… until the monarchical episcopate – the network of bishops – assayed to set its own interpretations as final and universally binding. But since these importantly historically-positioned clergymen did not agree among themselves about interpretation (or christology) – and thus were keeping the Empire spiritually divided – ultimately the emperor Constantine put an end to their frenetic squabbling by forcing them to hammer out binding doctrines in a series of “committee meetings” (the Church Councils). So the Protestant-ish suggestion that Jesus, returning today, would obviously ally himself most closely with any church that teaches the biblical truth about him is not very helpful, since all churches, past and present, claim to teach exactly that truth. Nor can a solution be derived simply by a devout, prayerful reading of the New Testament, since that very document is the Church’s product, and reading of it ought to be informed relative to the Church’s motivations, as far as those can be reconstructed. This methodology flows naturally from the critical biblical principle which insists that all scriptures must be read informed by the probable conflicts, biases, and social realities of the communities that originally birthed those texts. The significant fact here is that the New Testament did not create the Church; rather, the Church produced the New Testament. The solution, if any, is to be found in a critical analysis of the New Testament and a careful, attentive reading of the New Testament period, from Maccabean times, through the fall of the second Temple, to the accession of Theodosius to the imperial throne. In the Church’s infancy – especially during its earliest Jewish-sectarian and early “Pauline” period – many differing views of Jesus existed, and only after much political ferment did a “New,” specifically Christian scripture, emerge as a second “word of God”. Prior to that time, the Church’s only scriptural text was the Jewish Torah and the Prophets. This early situation was far removed from the Protestant-fundamentalist stereotype of an original Church guided sola sciptura by a specifically Christian scripture: that very early Church would not produce and sanction its “new scripture” for many years after the death of the last Apostle. Until that time, Jewish scripture sufficed for Jews and for Jesus and his Jewish and Gentile followers.
Let's begin with the social contract theory -- or rather social contract theories, because there are several variations on the same theme. This is going to take a while to explain, so let me introduce a definition of "social contract theory" to give you an idea of what I'm going to introduce: A social contract theory of the state is any theory which says that the existence of the state is morally justified by some sort of agreement, often called a "social contract," that is said hold among the residents of a particular geographical area over which the state has authority. Sometimes this theory is called contractarianism. In order to explain what the social contract theory (or contractarianism) says, I'm going to have to explain what this "agreement" among residents of an area is supposed to amount to -- that is, I'm going to have to explain to you what a social contract is supposed to be. But before I do that, it will be useful to explain first why this contract is supposed to be necessary at all. The 17th-century English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, is famous for presenting a sort of useful fiction in political philosophy, called the state of nature. The state of nature is, basically, the condition we all would be in if government did not exist. The way it's sometimes presented, it's the condition before the rule of law comes into being. Some have thought, I suppose, that there was a time before any government, any official monopoly on the initiation of the use of force, came into being. I think that what we know about the social behavior of indigenous peoples in undeveloped countries shows that that might be wrong in point of historical fact. It is very rare, indeed, that a group of people lacks anything like a government at all, even if the "government" consists only of tribal elders. That's why I say the state of nature is a "useful fiction." Hobbes -- and others -- invites us to consider what the state of nature would be like. There are, of course, different views about the matter, but Hobbes view is perhaps the most famous. He thought that the state of nature, the condition of having no government, would in effect be the war of all against all. We would all be fighting amongst ourselves for scarce resources, grabbing whatever we can. "The life of man," Hobbes said, would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Sounds pretty miserable. To make things worse, people in the state of nature, according to Hobbes, could not even correctly appeal to any sort of higher justice. There would be no justice at all, Hobbes thought -- because without law, and an institution to enforce law, there would be no such thing as justice. A mother could murder her child and that would be perfectly just. Why? Because there would be no law forbidding such a thing. So Hobbes thought that, in order to have justice, there be a law. If there is no actual law against murder, then murder is not unjust. Now, you may disagree with Hobbes about how bad a state of nature might be; but in any case I think we can agree that it wouldn't be a walk in the park. Basically, what we're talking about here is anarchy. I think it's not too clear what life would be like in such a state; but I do think it's pretty clear it wouldn't be very nice. Now to be sure, there are some people -- only some of the people who call themselves "anarchists" -- who think that the state of nature would definitely be better than any situation where there is a government. But the vast majority of people, including most of you I would be willing to predict, would say that the state of nature would be very nasty and brutish indeed, just as Hobbes said. Think of it like this: What if you couldn't call the police when you're being burglarized or threatened by someone? What if criminals had only you to fear when they came to take your stuff? Then they might simply band together into gangs, a few of them against one of you, and you'd be at their mercy. Yep, that's how I think it would be: the weak constantly at the mercy of roving bands of thugs. "Now wait just a second," you might say. "If the thugs join forces in order to take my stuff, then what's to say I wouldn't join forces with other peaceful, right-respecting people, to stop them from taking my stuff? We would all agree to protect each other; if one of us is attacked, then the others will defend. All for one and one for all." Well, you might do that. You might form a sort of defensive league. But what if a gang sees this happening and gets more recruits, and consequently totally outnumbers and overpowers your defensive league? "Well then," you might reply, "in that case, I'd try to get more people for the defensive league. We would all agree to defend each other, or at least to buy guns and supplies for people who will protect us. Perhaps my league would band together with other peaceful, rights-respecting leagues. In the end, surely there are more peaceful, rights-respecting people on earth than there are criminally-minded types. So we'll able to defend ourselves from them." Now that's kind of interesting, because it's not clear that we're talking the state of nature anymore. If you do indeed successfully recruit enough people for your defensive league, and otherwise band together like-minded people who agree to protect each other from criminals, then your defensive league has become a government. Maybe not the sort complex, enormous government the United States now has, with a budget of over $1 trillion a year, but a government nonetheless. This line of thinking is at the heart of the social contract theory. The dangers of the state of nature are great; and so we all agree to give up some of our freedomliberty in exchange for the promise of protection by others. That agreement is what makes the government's monopoly on the initiation of force morally legitimate. In other words, it's our agreement that gives government agents the right to reserve certain kinds of power for themselves; they are, ultimately, not just government agents, but our agents. They govern by the consent of the governed. You've heard that before -- well, social contract theory is where that catchphrase comes from. So what exactly does this "agreement" amount to, anyway? Do social contract theorists actually say that we have, in fact, agreed to give up some of our liberties so that the government can exist? If I did in fact agree to this at some point, as an adult citizen of the United States, then where is my signature, or my oath? I am not aware of ever having made an oath of citizenship. I guess I recited the Pledge of Allegiance many times as a child; but I'm not sure that counts. What Hobbes said isn't that there is an actual agreement that any of us actually have made. It's a hypothetical agreement. Now what does that mean -- "hypothetical" agreement? As I understand it, a hypothetical agreement to establish a state is an agreement that I would make, if I were living in a state of nature, and someone made an offer to set up a government in that situation. To say that I would agree to the establishment of a government in the state of nature is not to say that I have agreed, at any time, to the establishment of the actual government that actually exists. As far as Hobbes is concerned, in the end, that's irrelevant. What gives the state the right to exist is the fact that I would agree to establish it, and to give up the liberty I would have, in the state of nature, to initiate force. And of course the reason I'd agree to this is that it would be greatly to my advantage. I'd much rather sleep peacefully, thinking that criminals are not easily going to be able to harm me and take my stuff. So, sure -- I'd agree to the establishment of a government. Well if so, then I am party to a hypothetical agreement, which is called a "social contract." I do agree to give up the liberty to initiate force, and in exchange for that I expect to receive protection from the government; and I do have this hypothetical agreement because I would agree to an offer to establish a government, if I found myself in the state of nature. That's basically what Hobbes said. John Locke, another Englishman who wrote about fifty years after Hobbes, disagreed with Hobbes about the social contract. For one thing, he didn't think the state of nature would be as bad as Hobbes envisioned. That's a point we needn't dwell on though. Locke also didn't think that the social contract was a hypothetical agreement; he thought it was an actual agreement. We actually have agreed to follow the laws of a government if we were born and raised, and come into adulthood in the country over which the government has authority. This is all the more the case if we take any action, such as voting or paying taxes, that requires us to acknowledge that the government is in place. So for Locke, it's an actual social contract that we have; not an ordinary contract of the sort that one signs, of course, but a binding agreement nonetheless. And it is that actual binding agreement, which we show we have when we vote for example, that gives the government its right the monopoly of the initiation of force. In fact, Socrates, the first major philosopher in Western philosophy, believed in this very principle so strongly that he was willing to die for it. He thought that he had an agreement with the city of Athens to follow its laws; so if the city of Athens sentenced him to death, he thought he had a strict moral obligation to carry out his sentence and die; he thought it was absolutely forbidden that he escape, even though everyone expected him to. And the reason he thought so is that he thought he had that explicit agreement with the city of Athens. And you thought philosophy didn't have any practical applications! So there is a very brief introduction to the social contract theory. There are other versions too, like those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and, within the last thirty years, the American John Rawls. But it's not like the social contract theory doesn't have its problems and challenges. I'm only going to mention two. First, there's the problem of the people who don't want to make the agreement, or who wouldn't even in the state of nature -- the problem of dissenters, if you will. Say we're in the state of nature and someone comes knocking on my door and says, "We've got this great deal going, all you have to do is sign on the dotted line, promise not to attack anyone, and we will protect you from thieves and other criminals." Well, what if I close the door, saying that I'm not interested? Is Hobbes really saying that everyone would, in the state of nature, sign on to the establishment of a government? I mean, would they? If Hobbes is saying that, he's really quite na´ve! Lots of people just don't know what's good for them. So suppose that I wouldn't agree to the establishment of a government, in the state of nature. "I will take care of myself, thank you very much, and you and your government can go jump off a cliff" -- that's what I'd say when the offer is made. Then here's the problem: Do I have any obligation not to initiate force, according to the social contract theorist? Apparently not. Because the only thing that obligates me to give up my liberty to initiate force is that agreement. If I don't make it, or I wouldn't make it, then it looks like I'm still perfectly free to aggressively assert my will over other people, if I so desire. I have no agreement, so I would not recognize any government as being legitimate. And as far as I'm concerned, any government that tries to control me is, in fact, illegitimate. I never agreed, and never would agree, to give up any of my liberties to it. Now, how can social contract theorist reply to this? It's a common objection, and it's rather difficult to answer. One thing that makes it particularly difficult is that the social contract theorist has to appeal to something else, in order to explain why dissenters are morally obligated to give up their freedom to initiate force. Surely, if I start a cult and move out to Montana and say I owe no allegiance to the United States, just about everyone here, I think, would say that I do indeed owe allegiance to the United States. No matter what I say. Even if deny that I owe any allegiance -- even if I explicitly deny having any sort of social contract with the United States at all. So, if you do want to say that I owe allegiance to the United States, then it's not a contract, real or imaginary, that's binding on me; it must be something else. The social contract theory, by itself, doesn't say what else. Here's a second problem for the social contract theory. What if we start a dandy little government, but then it gets out of hand. It grows larger and ever more powerful, and more and more authoritarian, until it is arresting and executing people merely for openly disagreeing with government policies, and becomes an all-out totalitarian state. This has, of course, happened all too many times throughout the course of human history; and it almost certainly will happen again, if not in the United States, then in some other country that we now regard as relatively civilized and moral. So, naturally, even if we do have, at present, an actual or hypothetical agreement with our country, there may come a time when we will want to dissolve the agreement. So one problem, which is a practical problem, is when we should dissolve the agreement with a government; when we may legitimately declare that we are not morally bound to do what the government says. If the United States government were to become a totally vicious totalitarian dictatorship -- not something that can be expected to happen anytime soon, but it could eventually -- then at what point would you be morally justified in defying the government? That's one problem but it's not the objection to social contractarianism. After all, philosophers like Locke are very well aware that in some situations we may want to break ties with a government; in fact, Locke's theory on that subject was followed by American revolutionaries in breaking ties with the English government. The problem for social contractarianism, however, comes in attempting to state the justification of breaking ties with a government. Surely, we would be justified in defying some governments that might arise. That seems clearly true. The question now is why we would be so justified -- what would justify us. All that the social contract theory says is that, if we are party to a social contract, then we're morally bound to give up our liberty to initiate force, and the government that is given that same liberty is legitimate. That's all the social contract theory says; so by itself, it doesn't give us any clear grounds on which to dissolve a social contract. And for that matter, why don't we ask what sort of grounds justified you in agreeing to the social contract in the first place? Why was that agreement something that, morally, you ought to participate in? Surely you should participate in a social contract under some circumstances -- if you think it's very likely that the government will be to everyone's benefit, for example. If that's the reason, we're getting close to a totally different justification of the state: consequentialist justifications. So let's look at that next.
I own their previous Civil War Desk Reference publication—it’s a truly fabulous book! To mark the sesquicentennial of the bloodiest conflict on American soil, the nation’s library, in collaboration with Little, Brown and Company, has published The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of the Civil War by Margaret E. Wagner, with an introduction by historian Gary W. Gallagher. Drawn from rare source material in the unparalleled Civil War collections of the world’s largest library, The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of the Civil War is an authoritative and engaging chronological narrative of the conflict that raged across the United States from 1861-1865. Quotes from figures—both well-known and unsung—provide testaments to the war’s broad scope and complexity, and to the determination and valor that characterized the people on both sides of the conflict. Among its panoply of illustrations—including some materials rarely seen and never- before published—readers will encounter manuscripts in Lincoln’s own hand, onsite drawings made by a Civil War combat artist, maps, color lithographs, political cartoons, posters, period photographs, and much more. Illustrations and text together reveal dimensions of this pivotal conflict not covered in standard Civil War histories. The 240-page, hardcover volume, with more than 350 color illustrations, is available for $35 in bookstores nationwide and at the Library of Congress Shop, Washington, D.C., 20540-4985. Credit-card orders are taken at (888) 682-3557, or shop on the Internet at www.loc.gov/shop/. NOTE: Also available in print from Amazon.com ($21.72) and BarnesandNoble.com ($22.29); or as a Kindle ebook ($16.99) or Nook ebook ($16.99) from those same sources.
Today, August 28th, 2013, is the 50th Anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech known as “I Have a Dream” delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on this day in 1963. For educational purposes, here is a link to the archived text: http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf While we honor Dr. King and all those who struggled and continue to struggle for equality and justice, you might also think today about the following: What dreams do you have? For yourself? For our society? What are your goals and aspirations? Please note: While text of the full speech appears to fall under “fair use” for reproduction, my research has shown that there remain copyright considerations for other media.
Did a larger percentage of Minnesota high school students graduate on time in 2013 because of improved performance in the classroom, or simply because previously required tests were scrapped? Last week, the Minnesota Department of Education reported that 79.5 percent of the state’s high school students graduated on time in 2013. By MDE’s calculations, that’s the highest grad rate since 72 percent earned diplomas in 2003. The latest grad figures also showed across-the-board improvements among white students and students of color — even though minority teens still lagged their white counterparts substantially. Improvements are certainly welcome when the top challenge in K-12 education is narrowing the achievement gap between groups of students. But it’s important to note that some of those gains — especially the increases in the last year — were helped along by changes in high school graduation requirements. In 2012, Minnesota teens were required to pass Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) tests in reading and writing to graduate. However, last year the Legislature dropped the requirement. That change alone boosted the rates, according to several school district representatives and advocates of GRAD. But state education leaders said they were encouraged by the data because students of color made significant gains year over year. Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius attributes the improvement to policies and investment in education carried out by Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration and by the Legislature, as well as “the incredible work being done each and every day by Minnesota’s educators.” The graduation data, Cassellius said, show that the state goal of narrowing achievement disparities between white students and students of color by half in three years is “doable.’’ Minnesota’s grad rate increase is consistent with national trends. According to a 2013 report by Harvard University economists, during the first 70 years of the 20th century, U.S. teen graduation rates rose from about 6 percent to about 80 percent, and that consistent expansion of more educated workers pushed economic growth for decades. But between 1970 and the late 1990s, those rates stagnated, with overall numbers dipping below 75 percent — and much lower for lower-income students of color. Yet in the early 2000s, the grad rates started climbing again. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly 79 percent of high-schoolers now graduate within four years nationwide. Harvard researcher Richard Murnane has said it’s tricky to fully explain the ups and downs of high school graduation rates. He speculates that some high school students leave schools when graduation standards are raised. It’s also possible that the recent grad rate improvements could have been fueled by the additional focus placed on math and reading skills because of tests required under the No Child Left Behind federal rules. And the recession could have prompted more students to complete high school rather than hunt for jobs. Without more research over a longer period, there’s no clear answer to the question posed at the beginning of this editorial. While it’s good to see more students graduating, it’s imperative that their diplomas mean something. States and schools must not allow students to graduate if they have not mastered basic skills. Lowering standards does a disservice to students and to society when young people leave high school without the skills they need for entry-level jobs or to pursue some form of higher education. Minnesota state education leaders say they have improved not only graduation rates, but standards and academic rigor. They say a new strategy of testing to determine where students need academic help — then eventually using an ACT-type test toward the end of high school — will result in more students graduating and going on to college or some other postsecondary training. They should be held to that promise. If the upward trend in grad rates continues, combined with narrowing disparities and producing better-prepared students, then the strategy will be successful.
In many countries around the world, including India, teaching is worryingly treated as a second-class profession. Why is this so worrying? Because our teachers are our leaders, those who inspire and engage our children and instil in them not just knowledge to pass a test, but also values and attitudes which can guide them for the rest of their lives. When teaching is not viewed to have the value it deserves, we risk losing our talented minds to the confines of traditional professions and limited career choices. In reality, the classroom is where the foundation stone of our future society is laid. Great teachers inspire their learners to discover more and to achieve -- not just in tests and examinations, but in life. The 2014 UNESCO Global Monitoring Report--Education For All, highlighted the need in India for "trained, motivated [teachers who] enjoy teaching" to make sure learners are meeting basic standards. This is key: great teachers are the ones who inspire their learners to discover more and to achieve -- not just in tests and examinations, but in life. Excellent exam results can be the fuel to power young minds to achieve further and they can be the springboard for learners to discover more -- but they are certainly not the end in the learning journey. A brilliant teacher uses these benchmarks to encourage a wider world view by giving learners global examples or perspectives, or using pedagogies and assessment techniques that develop learners' cognitive, social and emotional skills. They use their own professional development to keep in step with changing practice that they then apply in the classroom. Most of all they never forget that teachers should be confident in their teaching skills; responsible for themselves and their learners; reflective as learners themselves; innovative and equipped for future challenges; engaged intellectually and ready to make a difference. Good teaching stretches, challenges and pushes learners to discover more. And motivated learners become the leaders of our society. On the occasion of Teachers' Day in India, we celebrate and congratulate all teachers who are putting their best foot forward to help shape our young learners' thoughts and ideas, guiding them on their learning journeys to discover and achieve, while never forgetting that they themselves are lifelong learners.
Like many states looking to cope with budgetary deficits, New York is possibly facing a $15 billion deficit for 2009-2010. To counteract this, the state is hoping to expand its Refundable Container Act (Bottle Bill) to help generate extra revenue. Being called the “Bigger Better Bottle Bill,” the expansion would look to include bottles used for noncarbonated and nonalcoholic beverages, such as water, sports drinks and juice. According to the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), more than 90 billion bottles and cans have been returned and recycled since the law was enacted in 1982. Additionally, more than six million tons of plastic, glass and metal have been kept out of landfills and incinerators. Advocates for a Bigger Better Bottle Bill also note that expanded recycling would encourage less litter and broken glass in streets, parks, playgrounds and beaches, therefore making them safer, cleaner and more attractive. One reason for the expansion is growth in the bottled beverage industry over the past few decades, since non-carbonated beverages like bottled water, iced teas and sports drinks weren’t as popular when the original law was drafted. But today, “more than three billion non-carbonated beverage bottles and cans end up in the trash or polluting our state’s rivers, beaches and neighborhoods each year because they don’t have a deposit,” according to NYPIRG. Some also say the new bill would put more money in New York’s pocket, with some estimating the expanded bill could exceed $218 million annually, a large portion of which would go into the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, according to an article in the New York Times. The Times also reports that the measure would “add as many as five billion more cans and bottles to the nine billion that now carry the nickel deposit.” Previously the measure has not made it past the state Senate, although it will be up for review again this year, as the deadline for public comment recently passed March 1.
In 1787, the original states, except Rhode Island, collectively appointed 70 men to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. In all 55 attended, and 39 signed the Constitution. The Constitution’s framers worked to develop a document that would provide a stronger central government than the Articles of Confederation but that would also preserve tenets of independence and individual rights espoused by other fundamental documents like the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence. The framers drew heavily upon Athenian and English political philosophy to find the right balance. The Constitution was adopted Sept. 17, 1787, by the unanimous consent of the states present in the convention appointed pursuant to the resolution of the Congress of the confederation, of the February 21, 1787, and was ratified by the conventions of the several states, as follows: By convention of Delaware, Dec. 7, 1787; Pennsylvania, Dec. 12, 1787; New Jersey, Dec. 18, 1787; Georgia, Jan. 2, 1788; Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1788; Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia, June 26, 1788; New York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina, Nov. 21, 1789; Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. The first ten of the amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were proposed at the first session of the First Congress of the United States, Sept. 25, 1789; and were finally ratified by the constitutional number of states Dec. 15, 1791. The eleventh amendment was proposed at the first session of the Third Congress, March 5, 1794, and was declared in a message from the president of the United States to both houses of Congress, dated Jan. 8, 1798, to have been adopted by the constitutional number of states. The twelfth amendment was proposed at the first session of the Eighth Congress, Dec. 12, 1803, and was adopted by the constitutional number of states in 1804, according to a public notice thereof by the secretary of state, dated Sept. 25, 1804.
Women who experience recurring miscarriages do not need to receive treatments aimed at controlling the level of natural killer cells in their wombs, say researchers based on findings of a recent study . Researchers say natural killer cells are normally found in the uterus and increase significantly in number during early pregnancy. However, specialists are not sure why these cells exist or what their function is during pregnancy and till date women who appear to have high levels of the cells are being offered treatments with steroids or immune suppressant drugs to bring their natural killer cell levels under control. At present none of the existing treatments have been licensed for use in reproductive medicine, and all are associated with potentially dangerous risks for the mother and her child and neither does any research exist to show they have any benefit on the outcome of pregnancy. In conclusion researchers say , understanding the function of uterine natural killer cells is certainly a major challenge in human reproduction, however researchers say until more is known about their role in normal pregnancy, there is no evidence of any benefit in offering natural killer cell testing to women with recurrent miscarriage or infertility.
Expenses due at the end of a period that are not paid such as wages, interest or property taxes. The process of paying off a debt over a period of time. A mortgage is amortized by periodically paying off part of the initial amount. A liquid asset is cash, or any asset that can be quickly converted to cash without impacting the price. The most common liquid assets include most stocks, money market instruments and government bonds. Inventory and accounts receivable are also considered liquid assets. Equipment used to manufacture a product, provide a service, or used to sell, store or deliver merchandise. Such equipment will not be sold in the normal course of business, but will be used and worn out. Land and buildings are also capital assets. A method used to determine the point at which the business will neither make a profit nor incur a loss. The break-even point is expressed in one of two ways: either the total dollars of revenue exactly offset by total expenses (fixed or variable), or in total units of production. When it is expressed in units of production, the cost of production exactly equals the income from the sale of those units. An objective written review of your business to identify areas of weakness and strength, pinpoint needs, and begin planning how you can best achieve your business goals. The actual movement of cash within a business: cash inflow minus cash outflow. Cash flow is used to designate the reported net income of a corporation plus bookkeeping deductions that are not actually paid out in cash. Those deductions include: amounts charged off for depreciation, depletion, amortization, and extraordinary charges to reserves. Cash flow offers a better indication of the ability of a firm to meet its obligations and pay dividends than net income. A service designed to help you get the most out of your business’s cash resources. Beginning with a plan of your cash needs, it can help you manage collection, disbursement, control and investment of your cash. An artificial legal entity created by government grant and endowed with certain powers. A corporation is a voluntary organization of individuals or legal entities legally bound together to form a business enterprise. Cash or other items that will normally be turned into cash within one year, and assets that will be used up in the operations of a firm within one year. Examples of current assets include cash, accounts receivable and inventory. Amounts owed that will ordinarily be paid by a firm within one year. Current liabilities include accounts payable, wages payable, taxes payable, the current portion of long-term debt, other short-term bank debt, and interest and dividends payable. Current Ratio = Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities. Current ratio is also called liquidity ratio. It is used to determine a company’s ability to pay short-term obligations. Debt Capital Financing Money borrowed with the intention of paying it back plus interest. Banks provide only this type of financing. Debt Service Coverage Ratio Debt Service Coverage Ratio = Net Profit plus Depreciation plus Amortization plus Interest Expense divided by Current Portion of Existing plus Proposed Debt. Lenders use debt service coverage ratio to get a picture of the borrower’s financial situation. A ratio of your business’s total liabilities to its net worth. This tells the creditor how much debt your firm has in relation to your equity in the business. The higher this number gets, the more debt is in your business. Deferred Prepaid Expenses Deferred prepaid expenses are paid in advance then expend over a period of time, including insurance premiums, interest expense, promotional material, office supplies. Depreciation is a method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life. Businesses depreciate long-term assets for both tax and accounting purposes. The most important causes of depreciation are wear and tear, the effect of the elements, and gradual obsolescence which makes it unprofitable to continue using some assets until they have been exhausted. A disbursement of profits to the owners of your business, usually in the form of cash. This is an after-tax expense of the business. An individual who assumes the risk and reward of a new business venture. Entrepreneurs raise the necessary money, assemble the factors of production, and organize an operation to exploit opportunity. Entrepreneurs are often seen as innovators who recognize opportunities to introduce a new product, process, or an improved organization. The monetary value of a property or business which exceeds the claims and/or liens against it. Equity Capital Financing Money given to your business in return for part ownership of your business. Banks do not ordinarily provide this type of financing. Equity capital financing is not paid back. A written commitment by an individual or authorized legal entity to pay back a loan in the event the borrower is unable to do so. Guarantees can be unlimited (the full amount of the loan) or limited to a specific amount. Hypothecation is the practice of a borrower pledging an asset as collateral for a loan, while retaining ownership of the asset and enjoying the benefits of it. A common example is a mortgage. The borrower lives in the home while the bank retains the right to seize the home if the borrower is unable to service the debt. A way to finance equipment, fixtures or buildings. It is a type of financing for the full amount of the financed asset and eliminates the need for a business to put a large sum of cash into the purchase. There is no standard way to lease. You can lease with or without maintenance, by the month, year, or several years, and with or without the option to purchase. The relationship of other people’s money (debt) in relation to your own investment (equity) in your business. This is measured by the debt-to-worth ratio. A term used to describe the solvency of a business. Liquidity has special reference to how quickly assets can be converted into cash without a loss. Also called cash position. If a firm’s current assets cannot be converted into cash to meet current liabilities, the firm is said to be illiquid. These are liabilities (expenses) which will not mature (come due) within the next year. The overall responsibility for planning your business’s goals and objectives and assuring that these plans are carried out. The number of people and their total spending (actual or potential) for your product line within the geographic limits of your distribution ability. The percentage of your sales compared to the total amount of sales for all your competitors for a particular product line. The net worth of a business is the total assets less the total amounts owed to creditors (total liabilities) at a given moment of time. Net worth is shown on the balance sheet as owner’s equity. The net worth of an individual is determined by deducting the amount of all of his personal liabilities from the total value of his personal assets. A legal relationship created by the voluntary association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners of a business for profit. A type of business organization in which two or more persons agree on the amount of their contributions (capital and effort) and on the distribution of profits. A projection or estimate of future results from present actions. A pro-forma financial statement shows how the actual operations of the business will turn out if certain assumptions are realized. Profit = Total revenue – Total expenses. Profit is the financial benefit realized when the selling price exceeds the costs and expenses incurred in making the sale. Also, the reward to the entrepreneur for the risks he assumed in the establishment, operation, and management of a given enterprise or undertaking. Short-term credit extended by your business to customers for goods or services purchased. When businesses allow their customers to be invoiced, the invoices due are receivables. As a business asset, receivables usually rank second only to cash in liquid value. When sales are on a cash basis only, a business would not have receivables as an asset on its balance sheet. Banks may frequently request an Aging of Receivables, which is simply a list of accounts receivable according to the length of time they have been outstanding. This shows which accounts are being paid in a timely manner, and may reveal any difficulty in collecting long overdue receivables. It is an important indication of potential cash flow problems. Sole Proprietorship or Proprietorship A type of business organization in which one individual owns the business. Legally, the owner is the business and personal assets are typically exposed to liabilities of the business. S-Corporation (Subchapter S) A corporation which has elected (by unanimous consent of its shareholders) under Subchapter S of the IRS code not to pay any corporate tax on its income. The corporation retains the benefits of incorporation but is taxed as a partnership. Shareholders pay taxes on the income through their personal tax returns, even though it is not distributed. They are also entitled to deduct operating losses in some instances. The acquisition of one company by another company. The most likely potential customers for a product or service. Target markets are determined by socioeconomic, demographic, and/or interest characteristics. Credit extended by a supplier to you for goods purchased. It is the most used form of short-term credit, especially among small businesses. Your suppliers give you terms (30 days, 90 days, etc.) and if you pay within this specified period, you get the use of their money at no-interest cost. Some suppliers offer discounts to pay early. Working Capital, Net Current assets less current liabilities. When current assets are in excess of current liabilities, the assets are available for carrying on business operations.
If you don’t have a good story then any project is typically doomed from the get go. No sense putting in months of modeling work for a scene that will never be used. To understand what will need to be created before the camera though one needs to develop a storyboard. To know what needs to be in the storyboard we have to look at the script and to have a script we need a story that is worth telling. That is why we start at, Good animations / stories start out with good solid story concepts. No sense working on a dragon model for 14 months when your story doesn’t have a single shot with a dragon in it. Yet time and again 3d hobbyist modelers work at modeling objects to learn techniques as demonstrated by others. Quite often though, these object/models have nothing to do with the story that hobbyist so dearly wish to communicate and are very rarely used or modified as such. But which object to focus on? In order to speed up the overall process one needs to have a clear story concept before modeling to capture the essence of the object/character and its little nuances, such as a minor rigging so that an animator can move an eyebrow. When doing research on a character Pinterest can be a great asset where you can collect and note hundreds of reference pictures on a single board or see what other people have collected. These boards instantly communicate underlying ideas and help aid the focus of a story. ONENOTE is another free app. that can be used when collecting various thoughts. Whenever a new novelist starts writing a book it is always a good idea to start out by mocking up the back cover of the book. This form of ‘aspect summary’ needs to clearly communicate in seconds what the entire story is about. And as such helps the writer by clarifying the objective. Good stories have drama – and drama is conflict. The seven main types of drama are - Man vs. Nature - Man vs. Man - Man vs. Environment - Man vs. machines/technology - Man vs. the supernatural - Man vs. self - Man vs. god/religion Once we have a good story to tell, then we’ve got to get it set in print or as a file so that others can see it. Scripts and Screenplays are nothing more than novels with specific formating so that actors and directors can see who is saying what, and know what is being seen. For this part of the process you can use any word process like MS Word, but the formatting can get tedious. Enter in CELTX, another FREE semi-online software app. With this program you can do both scripts and storyboards along with a whole boatload of other features. While some of the more advanced features do require purchase of the program, the basic free version is more than enough for anyone starting out on their first feature film. Another screen writer is TRELBY For those that would rather tuff it out on a wordprocessor or typewriter here are some of the basics of formatting: Use Character Development Sheet, Character Database and Character Development Book Characters and Sets List Script: 1 page = 1 minute of film time approx. Font: Courier 12 Speech: Indent 2 spaces Characters: Indent 3 spaces + Bold Ext or Int: External or Internal notes general type of scene location – no camera angle or detail crap. KEEP IT SIMPLE! (Major Parts of Script) 1. # of characters 2. Locations (Small in numbers) 3. Beginning (Initial Character Intro.) 6. 2nd Complication After writing the story, sharing with others, removing what is boring or slow you are now ready to start sketching out 3×5 cards of the scenes/shots. You can do this in a bunch of different ways. Some people just stick with the 3×5 cards. Others like to do art sketches digitally. In either case, you will at some point have to scan in the picture scenes in order to do an Animatic which is a really rough slide show with voice over to get the feel of what a movie would be like. Once again Celtx can do the job. Tip: Change shots every 8 to 10 seconds. Shots should almost never be longer!
A new German-Ukrainian project is meant to initiate research and development cooperation in sustainable environmental technologies. The main activities will be the establishment of a network in research and development of sustainable environmental technologies and training activities for young scientists and for staff of science parks, technology transfer centers and SMEs. Project duration: 1 June 2011 - 31 May 2013 The project aims at expanding German-Ukrainian cooperation in climate protection and nature conservation in the context of the international climate change initiative of the German Federal Environment Ministry. In June 2009, the German‐Ukrainian Environmental Commission explored ways of using the financial instruments of the Kyoto Protocol for cooperation in climate protection projects. Furthermore, Germany will support Ukraine in the approach to EU environmental standards and the implementation of EU partnership projects. The process is intended to support the project by In 2009 an agreement on future cooperation in technology transfer between the Technology‐Park of the National Technical University of Kiev and the University of Kassel was signed. The cooperation between the East‐West Science Center of the University of Kassel and the science and technology park "Kyivska Politekhnika" should include the following activities: In addition, the aim is the deliberate inclusion of scientists from the Ukraine in scientific events organized in Germany. Each year, 10 visiting scientists from Ukraine are invited to attend events in Germany and hosted by OWWZ. German partners in the project include the Competence Network Decentralised Energy Technologies, deENet eV, theChemical Cluster in Bavaria and Jade University of Appied Sciences, Oldenburg. The initiative is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. Source and further information: Dr. Gabriele Gorzka East‐West Science Center University of Kassel phone: +49 561 804 3609 fax: +49 0561 804 3792
Aloe vera, like most succulents, is a low-maintenance plant. It has few requirements: water, sun and well-drained soil. And because it has so few needs, and is largely disease and pest resistant, it is easy to pinpoint the source of any problems that it may have. If your aloe vera pant has turned yellow, it is telling you that it is being watered improperly. Treat the problem by following a strict watering schedule to avoid over- or under-watering your aloe vera. Once irrigated properly, the color will return to your aloe vera's leaves. Measure the water that you give your potted aloe vera. In general, it should be watered once every few weeks with two cups of water. But you should test the moisture level of the soil every week to gauge when to water. If the top few inches of the soil is moist, hold off on watering the plant for another week and then check again. If it is dry before your scheduled watering--which may happen if the aloe is set outside in high temperatures--do not wait to water it. Change your aloe vera's pot. Aloe vera does best in a shallow pot, equipped with drainage holes and wide enough to accommodate the width of its roots. Water in shallow pots drains more readily, which is ideal for aloe plants. Check your potted aloe vera's soil. Unlike most houseplants, aloe vera cannot survive in potting soil which retains too much water. Your aloe vera should be planted in a shallow pot with drainage holes filled with a 1-inch layer of small rocks, followed by a commercial succulent or cactus potting soil. This well-draining soil will keep your aloe vera's roots from standing in water, which leads to yellowing and eventually root rot.
Color additives have long been a part of human culture. Archaeologists date cosmetic colors as far back as 5000 B.C. Ancient Egyptian writings tell of drug colorants, and historians say food colors likely emerged around 1500 B.C. Through the years, color additives typically came from substances found in nature, such as turmeric, paprika and saffron. But as the 20th century approached, new kinds of colors appeared that offered marketers wider coloring possibilities. These colors, many whipped up in the chemist's lab, also created a range of safety problems. In the late 1800s, some manufacturers colored products with potentially poisonous mineral- and metal-based compounds. Toxic chemicals tinted certain candies and pickles, while other color additives contained arsenic or similar poisons. Historical records show that injuries, even deaths, resulted from tainted colorants. Food producers also deceived customers by employing color additives to mask poor product quality or spoiled stock. By the turn of the century, unmonitored color additives had spread through the marketplace in all sorts of popular foods, including ketchup, mustard, jellies, and wine. Sellers at the time offered more than 80 artificial coloring agents, some intended for dyeing textiles, not foods. Many color additives had never been tested for toxicity or other adverse effects. As the 1900s began, the bulk of chemically synthesized colors were derived from aniline, a petroleum product that in pure form is toxic. Originally, these were dubbed "coal-tar" colors because the starting materials were obtained from bituminous coal. (These formulations still are used today--albeit safely--for most certifiable color Though colors from plant, animal and mineral sources--at one time the only coloring agents available--remained in use early in this century, manufacturers had strong economic incentives to phase them out. Chemically synthesized colors simply were easier to produce, less expensive, and superior in coloring properties. Only tiny amounts were needed. They blended nicely and didn't impart unwanted flavors to foods. But as their use grew, so did safety concerns. In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act. This marked the first of several laws allowing the federal government to scrutinize and control additives use. The act covered only food coloring. It was not until passage of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 that FDA's mandate included the full range of color designations consumers still can read on product packages: "FD&C" (permitted in food, drugs and cosmetic); "D&C" (for use in drugs and cosmetics) and "Ext. D&C" (colors for external-use drug and cosmetics). Public hearings and regulations following the 1938 law gave colors the numbers that separate their hues. These letter and number combinations--FD&C Blue No. 1 or D&C Red No. 17, for example--make it easy to distinguish colors used in food, drugs or cosmetics from dyes made for textiles and other uses. Only FDA certified color additives can carry these special designations. The law also created a listing of color "lakes." These water-insoluble forms of certain approved colors are used in coated tablets, cookie fillings, candies, and other products in which color bleeding could make a mess or otherwise Though the 1938 law did much to bring color use under strict control, nagging questions lingered about tolerance levels for color additives. One incident in the 1950s, in which scores of children contracted diarrhea from Halloween candy and popcorn colored with large amounts of FD&C Orange No. 1, led FDA to retest food colors. As a result, in 1960, the 1938 law was amended to broaden FDA's scope and allow the agency to set limits on how much color could be safely added to products. FDA also instituted a pre-marketing approval process, which requires color producers to ensure, before marketing, that products are safe and properly labeled. Should safety questions arise later, colors can be reexamined. The 1960 measures put color additives already on the market into a "provisional" listing. This allowed continued use of the colors pending FDA's conclusions on safety. From the original 1960 catalog of about 200 provisionally listed colors, which included straight colors and lakes, only lakes of some colors remain on the provisional list. Industry withdrew or FDA banned many, while the rest became permanently listed and are still used. Some of these colors, derived from coal or petroleum sources, are subject to certification and carry the F,D, or C prefix. Others, exempt from certification, are pigments and colors derived from plant, animal and mineral sources. They are found in a myriad of products--from the caramel that tints cola drinks to the orange annatto that gives color to cheese. FDA certified over 11.5 million pounds of color additives last fiscal year. Of all those colors straight dye FD&C Red No. 40 is by far the most popular. Manufacturers use this orange-red color in all sorts of gelatins, beverages, dairy products and condiments. FDA certified more than 3 million pounds of the dye in fiscal year 1992--almost a million pounds more than the runner-up, FD&C Yellow No. 5.
Today’s launch of a robotic Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station was totally successful. But the first-ever live 360-degree video stream of a rocket launch? Not so much. The good news is that more than 7,600 pounds of supplies and experiments are now on their way to the station aboard Orbital ATK’s cylindrical transport ship, which is named the S.S. John Glenn in honor of the late space pioneer and senator. Among the payloads are more than three dozen nanosatellites and a new habitat for growing plants in the station’s weightless conditions, plus experiments to facilitate growing cell cultures and test anti-cancer drugs that activate the body’s own immune system. There’s also the latest in a series of experiments to study how things burn up in space.
Lisinopril is a commonly prescribed angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. Although it is routinely given to patients with high blood pressure, it is also given to kidney patients without hypertension as a preventive measure. Understanding the connection between lisinopril and kidney function explains much about the benefits of this treatment. Blood Pressure Regulation Regulation of blood pressure is important for everyone, but especially for kidney patients. Kidneys are almost entirely composed of vascular tissue. The tiny filters known as glomeruli form the largest portion of this tissue. Since glomeruli are nothing more than tiny capillaries, they can be easily destroyed by elevated blood pressure. Even in the absence of any other kidney disease, hypertension alone can destroy kidneys so it can be especially dangerous for patients whose kidneys are already compromised. Since lisinopril lowers blood pressure, it can play an important role in prolonging kidney function. The benefits of lisinopril go beyond just maintaining blood pressure. Lisinopril is an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. Research has shown that ACE inhibitors have a kidney-protective effect that goes beyond the ability to control blood pressure. A 2001 study published in the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation examined the effect of lisinopril on kidney patients. Excess protein in the urine, or proteinuria, was reduced by 24 percent among patients who took lisinopril, and only 10 percent in the group that controlled blood pressure with drugs other than ACE inhibitors. These results have been repeatedly duplicated. The American Association of Family Practitioners says that lisinopril, when compared to other anti-hypertensive drugs, provides the best protection against the progression of kidney disease. It is not clear how ACE inhibitors in general---and lisinopril in particular---protect the kidneys. In her review article for the American Association of Family Practitioners, Catherine S. Snively M.D. echoes the widely-held opinion that the kidney-protective benefits of ACE inhibitors are related to their ability to decrease urine protein. Reduction of urine protein is important because kidney patients often have elevated urine protein. Normally, kidneys prevent proteins from spilling into the urine. Unfortunately, this is not always true for kidney patients. Since proteins are such large molecules and glomeruli are such fine filters, the glomeruli can be damaged when proteins pass through them. Since ACE inhibitors lower urine protein, they are thought to prolong kidney function. Effects on Creatinine and Potassium The most notable side effect experience by patients using lisinopril is a mild increase in serum creatinine. Since serum creatinine is a marker for kidney disease, patients mistakenly believe their kidney function is worsening. This side effect goes away when the drug is stopped. Patients also may experience changes in their potassium levels. The American Association of Family Practitioners reports that mild increases have been observed. Given that elevated potassium levels can cause serious cardiac problems, it is important to monitor potassium after starting lisinopril, especially for patients whose kidney disease is so severe that potassium regulation is already a problem. Other Side Effects Lisinopril is generally well-tolerated. Cough, diarrhea, dizziness, headache and tiredness do occur in a small number of people. While serious side effects are very rare, Drugs.com cautions that a doctor should be consulted immediately if a patient experiences chest pain, darkly colored urine, diminished urination, trouble swallowing, changes in heartbeat, stomach pain and yellowing of eyes or skin. Signs of allergic reaction should be reported immediately and include trouble breathing, rash and swelling of the face, lips, tongue and throat. Emergency medical care should be sought for symptoms of allergic reaction.
Reblogged from: via Understanding Emotions in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, emotions and physical health are intimately connected. Sadness, nervous tension and anger, worry, fear, and overwork are each associated with a particular organ in the body. For example, irritability and inappropriate anger can affect the liver and result in menstrual pain, headache, redness of the face and eyes, dizziness and dry mouth. A diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine is highly individualized. Once an organ system is identified, the unique symptoms of the patient determine the practitioner’s treatment approach. Using the liver again as an example, breast distension, menstrual pain, and irritability during menses are treated with certain herbs and acupuncture points, and migraines headaches, dizziness, and inappropriate anger with redness of the face point to a different type of liver pattern and is treated in a different way. What does the liver have to do with migraines? Organ systems in the traditional Asian sense may include the Western medical-physiological function, but are also part of a holistic body system. The liver, for example, ensures that energy and blood flow smoothly throughout the body. It also regulates bile secretion, stores blood, and is connected with the tendons, nails, and eyes. By understanding these connections, we can see how an eye disorder such as conjunctivitis might be due to an imbalance in the liver, or excess menstrual flow may be due to dysfunction in the liver’s blood-storing ability. Besides emotions, other factors such as dietary, environmental, lifestyle, and hereditary factors also contribute to the development of imbalances. Emotions – worry, dwelling or focusing too much on a particular topic, excessive mental work Spleen Function – Food digestion and nutrient absorption. Helps in the formation of blood and energy. Keeps blood in the blood vessels. Connected with muscles, mouth, and lips. Involved in thinking, studying, and memory. Symptoms of Spleen Imbalance – Tired, loss of appetite, mucus discharge, poor digestion, abdominal distension, loose stools or diarrhea. Weak muscles, pale lips. Bruising, excess menstrual blood flow, and other bleeding disorders. Emotions – grief, sadness, detached. Lung Function – Respiration. Forms energy from air, and helps to distribute it throughout the body. Works with the kidney to regulate water metabolism. Important in the immune system and resistance to viruses and bacteria. Regulates sweat glands and body hair, and provides moisture to the skin. Symptoms of Lung Imbalance – Shortness of breath and shallow breathing, sweating, fatigue, cough, frequent cold and flu, allergies, asthma, and other lung conditions. Dry skin. Depression and crying. Emotions – anger, resentment, frustration, irritability, bitterness, “flying off the handle”. Liver Function – Involved in the smooth flow of energy and blood throughout the body. Regulates bile secretion, stores blood, and is connected with the tendons, nails, and eyes. Symptoms of Liver Imbalance – breast distension, menstrual pain, headache, irritability, inappropriate anger, dizziness, dry, red eyes and other eye conditions, tendonitis. Emotions – lack of enthusiasm and vitality, mental restlessness, depression, insomnia, despair. Heart Function – Regulates the heart and blood vessels. Responsible for even and regular pulse. Influences vitality and spirit. Connected with the tongue, complexion, and arteries. Symptoms of Heart Imbalance – Insomnia, heart palpitations and irregular heart beat, excessive dreaming, poor long-term memory, psychological disorders. Emotions – fearful, weak willpower, insecure, aloof, isolated. Kidney Function – Key organ for sustaining life. Responsible for reproduction, growth and development, and maturation. Involved with lungs in water metabolism and respiration. Connected with bones, teeth, ears, and head hair. Symptoms of Kidney Imbalance – Frequent urination, urinary incontinence, night sweats, dry mouth, poor short-term memory, low back pain, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, and other ear conditions. Premature grey hair, hair loss, and osteoporosis. Kaptchuk TJ. The Web That Has No Weaver. Chicago: Congdon and Weed, Inc., 1983. Tierra M, Tierra L. Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine Volume 1: Diagnosis and Treatment. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press, 1998.
Edexcel International GCSE and Certificate French Endorsed by Edexcel for both the International GCSE French and the Level 1/2 Certificate in French A grammar-led approach with extensive exam preparation that will help develop independent, culturally aware students of French. - Develop students' ability to use French effectively - Stretch and challenge students to achieve their best grades - Ensure the progression required for further study at A-level or equivalent - Provide insight and encourage a positive attitude towards other cultures This book is written to the latest Edexcel specification by experienced teachers. Extensive use of French reflects the style of the exams and, with specific exam advice and practice, it helps to build all the skills needed for success. Topics on Francophone cultures are integrated throughout to ensure students gain the cultural awareness that is at the heart of this qualification. The book provides up-to-date content following a clear sequencing of topics designed specifically for teaching French at this level. It is designed to develop spontaneous, confident linguists who are able to progress to further study of French. Vocabulary available online at Vocab Express, an interactive learning application. Visit www.vocabexpress.co.uk/hodder for more information. Accompanying resources: - Teacher Guide + Audio CD (ISBN 9781444181067) includes all recordings and transcripts together with detailed guidance, editable vocabulary lists, cultural PowerPoints and interactive activities - Grammar Workbook (ISBN 9781444181074)
\|Spherical Rotation-The Battey-Pratt and Racey Electron\| \|There have been many theories that have treated elementary particles as vortices, a piece of space or ether that is rotating. These compliment cosmologies with a rotating hierarchy. Moons rotate about planets, planets rotate about stars, stars rotate about galaxies, galaxies rotate about galaxy clusters, and the clustera rotate about superclusters, until finally the whole universe is rotating. If the rotation is a simple rotation about an axis (cylindrical rotation) then wh have a problem. Somewhere there has to be a discontinuity in space. But if the axis initially undergoes an 180 degree (or integral multiple thereof) rotation perpendicular to the final axis of continuous rotation or spin, we have a three dimensional vortex with some interesting properties. Battey-Pratt and Racey have shown that this type of vortex, or spherical rotation, explains the group properties of electrons and positrons (it satisfies the conditions ofSU(2)) and it also explains special relativity (the Lorentzian interpretation with a preferred reference frame). In conjunction with the leptonic theory of matter, it provides a mechanism for particle creation and the mass of these particles wouls be dependent on the rate of their final spin. After the particles are created their rotation rates would reach equilibrium with the particles within their ken, much as eddies in stable turbulence reach an equilibrium with each other. As they interacted with older particles, they would gain mass. Since the mass of the universe is structured in clusters, the mass of the particle would increase in quantum jumps, explaing redshift quantization. Older particles would very slowly lose mass as the number of new particles in their ken increases, decreasing the gravitational attraction between them. This and particle creation would explain earth expansion. As the number of particles in an astronomical body would increase, and as the spin of those particles increases, so would the angular momentum as measured in new particle masses, solving the rotation rate/earth expansion paradox. E.P.Battey-Pratt; T.J.Racey, 1980. Geometric model for fundamental particles. International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 19:437-475. Martin Kokus, 1996. Spherical Rotation, particles and cosmology. Astrophysics and Space Science 244:353-356. \|Spherical rotation-the curved axies represent the original rotation\| \|Websites covering spherical rotation.\| \|Tom Bearden's site\| \|Comments and Suggestions\| \|Name:\|\|Martin Kokus/spherical rotation\|
Using data from the 2011 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, this study looks at the continuance and changes of jobs for women, change types and change characteristics in the future according to category. Overall, no major changes could be seen in job types for wage earners, sole business owners, unpaid domestic laborers and special type workers. However, differences in job change could be seen when the characteristics of employment form and demographic economics are considered. Among wage earners, irregular/parttime workers had a higher possibility of changes in jobs than regular/full-time workers. Nonpaid workers showed differences according to age and educational attainment level. Those in the 20s and 30s with educational attainment of university level and above showed shifts from wage earning jobs to wage earning jobs, while those in their 40s with educational attainment of high school level showed changes between self-employment and special type worker jobs. Those in their 50s and 60s with middle school-level education showed noticeable changes in domestic unpaid work. Female employment shows existence of segmentation in these ways, and there is a connection with employment instability. In addition, it can be said that there is a link between female employment and life cycle, and it shows an overall declining tendency.
Contact Us \| How to play \| Tournament / Teaching day \| Go is a simple game with only a few rules that you'll be able to pick up in a few minutes. But just like chess, once you know the rules you'll spend a lifetime getting to know the ramifications and how to play effectively. The board consists of a grid of 19x19 intersections, although it is sometimes played on smaller boards of 9x9 or 13x13 especially when teaching beginners. You will also need two sets of visually distinct "stones", one for each player. The board is normally made of wood with black lines to mark the grid, and players normally have black and white stones. However, it works just as well if you draw a board on paper and play with silver and bronze coins. The Rules of Go Adapted from Wikipedia's article Rules of Go. - The board is empty at the outset of the game. - Black makes the first move, after which he and White alternate. - A move consists of placing one stone of one's own color on an empty intersection on the board. - A player may pass at any time. - A stone or solidly connected group of stones of one color is captured and removed from the board when all the intersections directly adjacent to it are occupied by the enemy. Capture of the enemy takes precedence over self-capture. - Self-capture is illegal. - Repeating a former board position is illegal. - Two consecutive passes end the game. - A player's territory consists of all the points he has either occupied or surrounded. - The player with more territory wins.
Do research 24/7 These databases allow you to do research in magazine and newspaper articles covering a wide range of subjects. You can find the fulltext for many major Canadian newspapers, and current and back issues of over 1,000 magazines. Many of our databases are available through the library's web site 24/7, whether from the library, home, school or work. PLEASE NOTE: You will now need your 14-digit library card number AND your 4 digit PIN in order to access many of our online resources. . History, Biography and Genealogy - Gale Virtual Reference Library Online full text encyclopedias covering world history, including US and European countries, ancient and modern civilizations, individual wars, and biographies Stream or download music, movies, and TV shows directly to your computer or mobile device. You can also view Hoopla videos using Chromecast. Hoopla also contains e-books, e-audiobooks and comics. These can be read online if using a desktop or laptop computer, or they can be downloaded for offline reading to a mobile device. Limit of 8 "borrows" per month including any combination of books, music albums, episodes of TV shows, or movies. Infotrac Religion and Philosophy Full text of over 200 magazines and academic journals covering, religion, philosophy, and the related areas of archaeology and anthropology Kids - Gale Virtual Reference Library Online full text encyclopedias to help students with their research and homework assignments Kids eReading Room - Libraries on the Go The Kids eReading Room includes ebooks and audiobooks (both fiction and nonfiction) for elementary and middle school students, including early readers, chapter books, YA/Teen novels. Libraries on the Go is powered by OverDrive. Kids InfoBits is a database developed especially for beginning researchers in Kindergarten through Grade 5. This uses a popular search method for children, which includes moving from a broad subject to a narrower topic using the subject-based topic tree. The curriculum-related, age appropriate, full-text content covers geography, current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more Law - Gale Virtual Reference Library Online full text encyclopedia covering world governments and citizen's rights and responsibilities Journal articles from law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals, and international legal journals, with a mainly American focus Libraries on the Go Full text of popular and best selling ebooks (both fiction and nonfiction), which can be read on your mobile device, or downloaded to your home computer, and transferred to an ereader. Libraries on the Go is powered by OverDrive. Libraries on the Go - Pour Enfants La salle de lecture électronique comprend des livres électroniques et des livres audio (à la fois fiction et non-fiction) pour les élèves des écoles primaires et secondaires, y compris les premiers lecteurs, les livres de chapitre, les romans YA / Teen. Les bibliothèques en déplacement sont alimentées par OverDrive.
Planetary surfaces in art--grade 5 As a cross-curricular project with grade 5, we are exploring using NASA images of planetary surfaces from our solar system as inspiration for abstract pastel drawings. Visit the website entitled "Art and the Cosmic Connection" to view videos of artists showing various pastel techniques, as well as the NASA photos that we used. Elements of art such as line, color, shape, value, and texture are all explored in this lesson. Lines on planets or asteroids show tectonic activity or wind or liquid flow, while shapes can show impact craters or volcanic activity. Surface textures and dark and light values are created using color and shading. emphasize planetary features, such as these beautiful craters.
Biodiversity of meiofauna in the intertidal khe nhan mudflat, can gio mangrove forest, vietnam with special emphasis on free living nematodes - Cite this article as: - Xuan, Q.N., Vanreusel, A., Thanh, N.V. et al. Ocean Sci. J. (2007) 42: 135. doi:10.1007/BF03020918 The ecological aspect of meiofaunal communities in Can Gio mangrove forest, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam has not been investigated before. The composition, distribution, density and biodiversity of meiofaunal communities were studied along an intertidal transect at the Khe Nhan mudflat. Each time, three replicate samples were collected in four stations along a transect following the water line from low tide level up to the mangrove forest edge. In total, 18 meiofaunal taxa were found with the dominant taxa belonging to Nematoda, Copepoda, Sarcomastigophora and Polychaeta. The densities of meiofauna ranged from 1156 inds/10 cm2 to 2082 inds/10 cm2. The increase in densities from the mangrove forest edge towards the low water line was significant. Along the mudflat transect, the biodiversity (expressed by different indices) was relatively high at different taxonomic levels but did not vary significantly along the mudflat except for taxa richness. Eighty nematode genera belonging to 24 families with Comesomatidae having the highest abundance 33.8 % were found.Theristus andNeochromadora decreased in densities from the lower water line towards the mangrove forest edge, whileParacomesoma andHopperia are typical and more abundant at the middle of the mudflat.Halalaimus increased from high on the mudflat to the low water line.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 The Allies in Bavaria The Eagle's Nest today. It's possible, but improbable, that James and Henry Lee could have parachuted into southwestern Bavaria, as they do in the second act of Valhalla - but only because after pitched battles at Nuremberg and Munich, the prize in Bavaria was in the southeast, not the southwest - in particular, Hitler's famed mountain retreat outside Berchtesgaden. This complex, on the Obersalzberg mountainside, included his home, the Berghof, and above it, on the utmost crag, the famed Kehlsteinhaus, or Eagle's Nest (above), which was built for him by the Nazi Party on the occasion of his 50th birthday. Many believed that Berchtesgaden would be chosen by the collapsing German government as the site of its last stand (indeed, Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring was headquartered there, demanding that Hitler cede him leadership of the country). Eisenhower was so convinced this would be the Nazi endgame that once the Allies reached the Elbe, just 75 miles from Berlin, he shifted the American strategic focus from capturing the capital to conquering Bavaria, and sent the weight of American forces south, allowing the Soviets to take Berlin, which profoundly affected the balance of postwar power. As it happened, of course, Hitler had decided to remain in his Berlin bunker; no serious plans had been made for a retreat to Bavaria. Instead, he called for the destruction of all German industry and transport, in an imagined debacle much like the climax of Wagner's Götterdämmerung; indeed, the Berlin Philarmonic chose Brünnhilde's immolation scene from that opera as their final performance before fleeing the city. But Hitler's commands went unheeded. After learning Soviet tanks were rolling down the streets of Berlin, he committed suicide on April 30, 1945. The US 3rd Infantry Division reached Berchtesgaden on May 4, and the 101st Airborne Division parachuted in on May 5; together they easily secured the area. Above, a US soldier approaches the ruins of the Berghof, which had been bombed by the RAF; the Kehlsteinhaus, taken the next day, was largely unharmed, and operates now as a restaurant.
Much progress has been made in transport safety since the early 2000s: the amount of people suffering serious injuries or dying as the result of accidents has fallen by 54%. Yet this should not lead to complacency: statistics for 2015 indicated that this downward rate was slowing. A new Research Results Pack from CORDIS, the European Commission's Community Research and Development Information Service, profiles six EU-funded research and innovation projects that should help boost that trend in the future. Those featured cover a broad range of safety-related subjects, ranging from measures designed to protect vulnerable road users (VRUs) - pedestrians and cyclists - to safer vehicles and vessels. With VRUs accounting for 68% of road deaths in urban areas, safety measures are crucial. The VRUITS project piloted 10 road safety innovations based around Intelligent Transport Systems. One of the trialled systems alerted cyclists and drivers of potential collisions and was able to detect 80% of oncoming cyclists. Following analysis, all systems were shown to improve VRU safety and/or mobility and comfort, whilst seven would justify the cost of implementation. The SEAHORSE project demonstrated that it is possible to transfer safety and resilience measures between different forms of transport. Resilience solutions initially developed in aeronautics were applied in the maritime sector. For instance, a departure and pre-arrival checklist - based on Airbus's principles and format - was introduced on various large ships. Altogether, solutions were implemented on over 150 vessels. To read more about the case studies, visit cordis.europa.eu
A biologists wanted to a buy a copy of the book “The Making of a Fly”. Except couldn’t afford it, since the book was way over priced. Two stores were offering the book as new. But both were using algorithms to set their prices. One had an algorithm set to 0.9983 lower than the competitors price, while the other store had set the book to be 1.270589 higher. So what happened was one store would algorithmically increase the price of the book, then the other store would also increase their price but stay lower. Since this all happaned automatically, the prices kept increasing until it reached millions. That is until one of the stores noticed and dropped the price back to $106.23. It’s really interesting to see algorithms in action. Although no one really knows why one store set an algorithm of more than 1.0 as most buyers look for the lowest price not the highest. I could have offered to sell the book for $1. Both stores would automatically adjust prices to $0.99 and $1.27 accordingly. Remove my book, buy the book for a dollar.[Source]
One morning a few years ago, on a forested slope 6,200 feet above sea level in southwestern Tanzania, a team of wildlife researchers was tracking down reports about a strange primate. The scientists suspected that the animal, known to local hunters as kipunji, would turn out to be imaginary. Then someone yelled “Kipunji!” and everyone turned to gawk at what biologist Tim Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society described afterward as “the most bizarre monkey I had ever seen.” It was about three feet tall, with a thick fur coat and brownish-gray hair fanned out around its black muzzle like a Victorian gentleman’s cheek whiskers. “Bloody hell!” said Davenport. “That’s got to be a new species.” It was of course astonishing for a large primate to be discovered in the 21st century in a heavily populated corner of East Africa, where human beings have been kicking around for as long as we have been human. (Scientists now know it as Rungwecebus kipunji—the monkey from around Mount Rungwe called kipunji—and think about 1,100 of the animals survive there.) But the truth is that big, colorful, even spectacular, new species seem to be turning up everywhere these days. We are living in what some naturalists have dubbed “a new age of discovery.” The number of species being found today “compares favorably with any time since the mid-1700s”—that is, since the beginning of scientific classification—according to Michael Donoghue of Yale University and William Alverson of Chicago’s Field Museum. These new species, they write, may be weird enough to induce the same “sense of awe, amusement, and even befuddlement that remarkable new organisms inspired during the last great age of discovery” from the 15th through the 19th centuries. Conventional wisdom says such discoveries should not be happening now. But conventional wisdom always acts as if everything worth knowing is already known and as if all the good stuff has long since been discovered. The great French anatomist Georges Cuvier thought so as early as 1812, discounting the likelihood of “discovering new species of the larger quadrupeds” in the modern world. Then explorers discovered the gorilla, the okapi, the pygmy hippo, the giant panda and the Komodo dragon, among many others. Nature, the scientific journal, pointed out in 1993 that although one might expect newfound species to be limited to “obscure microbes and insects,” scientists in Vietnam had just discovered a bovine. Then others discovered a striped rabbit in the Mekong Delta and a gaudy Indonesian fish that swims by bouncing haphazardly off the sea bottom. Such novelties will turn up for years to come. Scientists estimate the total number of plant and animal species in the world at 10 million to 50 million—but they have so far described only about 1.9 million. (The standard definition of a species is a population of organisms that breed together over time and stay separate from other populations.) Even within our own class, mammals, roughly 300 new species have been discovered in the first decade of this century—mostly rodents, but also marsupials, a beaked whale and a slew of primates. Researchers recently estimated that the total mammal species count will rise from about 5,500 now to 7,500 by mid-century. “And 10,000 wouldn’t be a stretch,” says Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, who has discovered roughly 100 new species. Why now? New roads and rapid deforestation are opening up habitats once too remote to explore. Researchers sometimes discover new species just as hunting, farming and other pressures are pushing them to extinction. In addition, helicopters, satellite mapping, submersibles, deep-sea cameras and other modern tools help scientists methodically search understudied areas—including spots where wars or political barriers once kept them out. A heightened sense of urgency about the threat of extinction has also encouraged international cooperation, sometimes on a global scale. For instance, the ten-year-long, 80-plus-nation Census of Marine Life will have discovered thousands of previously undescribed species—from a yeti crab to a giant spiny lobster—by the time it wraps up later this year. Most future discoveries, says ornithologist Bruce Beehler of Conservation International, will probably come from remote areas with lots of variation in habitat—for instance, where a mountain range meets a river basin. In such terrain populations of organisms tend to get separated from one another and develop adaptations to survive in their new territory. Beehler says to expect discoveries from the eastern slope of the Andes in South America, the Congo basin in West Africa and the eastern Himalayas in Asia. On a 2005 helicopter expedition in New Guinea, he and Helgen discovered an entire “lost world” of new species deep in the Foja Mountains; after two return visits, the team has cataloged more than 70 new species, including a type of wallaby and a gecko. They now have their eyes on another mountainous area of western New Guinea they call “the Bird’s Neck.” They just need to figure out how to get there. But new species also turn up in less exotic places—a slender salamander 30 miles from Los Angeles, or a new genus of tree that grows up to 130 feet tall two hours from Sydney, Australia. And Helgen notes that two out of three new mammal species are discovered in museum collection cabinets. That’s partly because genetic analysis is revealing “cryptic species,” creatures that look alike to us but not to each other. For instance, scientists now believe that giraffes, currently classified as a single species, really belong to six or more species, some of which might not have bred together in the wild for more than a million years. Likewise, researchers recently took a closer look at a bat that ranges across much of South America and found genetic evidence suggesting that some identical-looking bats are different species. Such genetic differences can open the eyes of field biologists to previously unsuspected traits. “Maybe it’s scent, a sound, a pheromone, something that doesn’t get preserved in a museum,” says Elizabeth Clare of the University of Guelph in Ontario, a co-author of the bat study. Why should we care? If you’ve seen one look-alike bat, or rat, or parasitic wasp, haven’t you seen them all? In fact, our own lives sometimes depend on recognizing the subtle differences. For instance, South American night monkeys of the genus Aotus used to be regarded as a single species. Then a primatologist found that they really belong to nine separate species that differ in their susceptibility to malaria. That mattered because scientists relied on Aotus as a laboratory animal for malaria studies—and did not realize they could be getting bogus results, and putting human lives in peril, by inadvertently testing malaria treatments on a species that might not be vulnerable to the disease in the first place. But what really drives scientists to the far ends of the earth in search of new species is something far less pragmatic. Visiting New Caledonia as a young man, the evolutionist and ant taxonomist E. O. Wilson realized that “not just the ants but everything I saw, every species of plant and animal, was new to me.” Years later, the memory made him confess: “I am a neophile, an inordinate lover of the new, of diversity for its own sake.” His greatest desire was to live in a place “teeming with new life forms,” wrote Wilson, now 81. All he wanted was “not years but centuries of time” to take its measure. Richard Conniff’s The Species Seekers will be out this fall.
There’s nothing better than home-grown strawberries. If you’ve never grown your own, you won’t believe the difference in taste between home-grown strawberries and those purchased in the store. Home-grown berries are sweeter, and they are red on the inside, not white as store-bought berries often are. You can pick your berries at the peak of ripeness. Growing berries in containers is fine, but I’ve never had too much success with this, possibly because pots tend to dry out quickly and need to be watered daily to achieve much success. So: how to start a strawberry patch? Plan Your Patch Make sure you plan for an adequate space for your patch. My first strawberry patch consisted of 50 strawberry plants planted in two rows, each about 20 feet long. Be sure to choose a spot with well-drained soil, in a location that gets plenty of sun. Since so many critters enjoy strawberries, you may also want to choose a location that may be less hospitable to these animals. Choosing Strawberry Varieties Your next decision is what type of strawberries to buy. You can research various varieties of strawberries to choose one that meets your needs best. The most popular choice are classified as June-Bearing. These berries produce fruit for about 3 weeks around June each year. typically, June-bearers produce the largest berries. Some popular June varieties include Honeoye, Jewel, and Surecrop. Everbearing varieties don’t produce all year as you might suspect from the name, but usually produce a spring harvest, and another in late summer. Tribute and Seascape are varieties that are often purchased. Day-neutral strawberry plants produce fruit when the temperatures are between 35 and 85 degrees, and unlike the other varieties, they will bear fruit the first year planted. The downside to day-neutral berries is that they are smaller than either everbearing or June-bearing varieties. Where to Buy Strawberry Plants You have several options for buying the plants for your strawberry patch. You can mail-order your plants or buy them in a store, and they also come in two forms. Bare Root Plants are available both in stores and online, and they look like just that: bare roots. In fact, you may think they’re dead when you open them up. For best results, soak these plants for a few hours before planting them, in the spring after frost danger has passed. The plants should green up within a week or two of planting. Strawberry Starts look more alive than bare root plants, and the tradeoff is that they’re usually more expensive. However, they’re green from the start. Planting a Strawberry Patch Be sure to leave room between plants in your strawberry patch, because the plants will put out “runners” which will form additional plants. During your first season, don’t harvest June-bearing varieties, but let the plants put all their energy into sending out runners so you’ll have plenty of plants to produce berries in subsequent years. Arrange the runners as they appear, so that they are evenly spaced around the original plant. Keep the patch weeded as well, so that weeds don’t choke out your plants. The extra work you put in that first year will be worth it when you’re rewarded with a delicious crop of strawberries in years two and beyond. If you grow strawberries — particularly in Indiana — what varieties have worked best for you?
We usually do our best to hide our sweating, but chemicals in perspirations can offer important clues about our health. Importantly, levels of sodium, potassium, glucose, and lactate, along with pH and rate of sweat can offer vital clues about underlying health conditions. Researchers at Stanford University have now adapted wearable technology to diagnose cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening condition that affects more than 70,000 people worldwide. Cystic fibrosis is one of the most well-recognized genetic conditions that leads to an elevated production of chloride ions in patients. As a consequence, large amounts of thick mucus builds up in the lungs and other vital organs, which compromises respiration. The primary way doctors diagnose cystic fibrosis today is through a 70-year old technology - the sweat test. The assessment requires patients to be hooked to electrodes that stimulate and collect sweat from the skin. Stanford researchers say the sweat test is impractical for young children who are unreasonably expected to keep still during the 30 minute duration of the test. Furthermore, they noted that results from this test can take days to analyze and diagnose, extending the stress for patients and families. Taking advantage of flexible sensors and microprocessors, Stanford researchers designed a system that adheres to the skin, stimulates sweat production, and analyzes the molecular content of the sweat in real-time. Patients with higher levels of chloride ions trigger a higher electrical voltage on the sensor, thereby providing a means to diagnose cystic fibrosis without the inconvenience of a traditional sweat test. "This is a huge step forward," said Carlos Milla, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford, and one of the study’s co-authors. At the end of the day, what the team is most excited about has to do with a broader application of the wearable technology in healthcare and precision medicine. Just like how glucose monitors allowed diabetic patients to be more informed and take charge of their condition at home, the team sees the same potential for their wearable technology. For example, with this wearable device, patients and doctors can know very quickly if a drug is having the desired effect. "CF drugs work on only a fraction of patients," said Sam Emaminejad, the study’s lead author. "Just imagine if you use the wearable sweat sensor with people in clinical drug investigations; we could get a much better insight into how their chloride ions go up and down in response to a drug." The sweat-based device can also be modified to other conditions, such as diabetes, and other biochemical imbalances. “Sweat is hugely amenable to wearable applications and a rich source of information," said Ronald Davis, the study’s senior investigator. In the long run, Davis hopes wearable health devices can improve the understanding of our individual health. Such devices would eliminate the guesswork, simply because we’re just not that great at interpreting our own body signals. "For example, if I could sense that I'm coming down with a viral infection and my alarm goes off and says, 'You're coming down with a virus infection,' I should go home and not decide I'll push through it. It's not about me, it's about all of my colleagues,” said Davis. "If you could block a pandemic, it might even just die out." Additional source: MNT
Why you should care Because this badass biologist believes genetics is as crucial to fighting wildlife trafficking as high-speed chases and street-market raids. Juliana Machado Ferreira stalks her prey through a São Paulo street market. Her green eyes are keen, her movements catlike, her posse a group of undercover police officers. The men they’ve been tracking suddenly break into a run. Machado Ferreira lunges. She pounces on one of the men, sending him crashing. An officer handcuffs the other. Unzipped, the bags reveal wooden crates crammed with birds of every color — brilliant turquoise, dewy green, jet black — and cardboard boxes crawling with turtles and lizards. When you see [seized] animals and look in their eyes, you cannot not do anything. — Juliana Machado Ferreira Machado Ferreira goes all out, CSI-like, to fight wildlife trafficking. Officially, she runs Freeland Brasil, an anti-trafficking advocacy organization, but she’s also teamed up with law enforcement on stakeouts and raids of houses suspected to hold exotic birds. She works with lawmakers to put some real bite in anti-trafficking laws. And to pinpoint where to release rescued birds, she has a more high-tech scheme up her sleeve: using genetic markers to identify their geographic origin — where they’re best adapted to live — so they can thrive in the wild. “When you see [seized] animals and look in their eyes, you cannot not do anything,” says Machado Ferreira. It’s not just compassion, she says: Poaching can disrupt the delicate balance that all species — including humans — need to thrive. “Our water sources and agriculture depend on a healthy ecosystem,” she says. She’s up against a lot. The illegal wildlife trade is a booming business estimated to generate $20 billion a year, often tied to terrorist groups like al-Shabaab, and increasingly lucrative for smugglers all over. Last year, more than 30,000 elephants were slaughtered in Africa for their ivory; traffickers poach 38 million animals every year in Brazil alone. Machado Ferreira focuses on birds, which traffickers smuggle in anything available: medicine tubes, hair curlers, hubcaps. Lax laws make it next to impossible to punish traffickers. Environmental groups suggest killing rescued, non-threatened birds. And then there are cultural norms: Keeping parrots and other local fauna is an old tradition in Brazil, where some locals refer to their pets as xerimbabos: “something beloved.” Machado Ferreira speaks via Skype from her São Paulo home, where she lives with her husband and their 6-month-old daughter. Chestnut-haired, with eyes the color of palm leaves, the 34-year-old grew up in a suburb of São Paulo, where she often played barefoot with her pet hens, dogs and cats. “I always loved animals,” she says. She turned vegetarian six years ago. She brandished her fieldwork machete, responding coolly, ‘The little girl has company.’ As an undergraduate at the University of São Paulo, she dreamed of working in the field, like Jacques Cousteau or Jane Goodall. Genetics did not appeal. But her senior year, a friend encouraged her to check out the university’s Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology and Vertebrate Conservation. Researchers there use DNA sequencing for conservation efforts — to ensure the genetic diversity that species need to survive, for example. “I fell in love with the work,” she said. “I saw that genetics could be used toward conservation, not just an end in itself.” She began her Ph.D. research at the lab soon afterward. “Birds make up the very, very vast majority of illegal wildlife trade in Brazil,” Machado Ferreira says. Birds accounted for 24 of the 30 species most commonly confiscated by the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency from 2005 to 2009. They include the green-winged saltator and saffron finch — species with vibrant plumage and/or melodic songs. Around the same time, she met Marcelo Rocha, president of the anti-trafficking organization SOS Fauna. Rocha opened her eyes to the illegal pet trade with video footage of SOS Fauna workers confiscating thousands of exotic birds. “I knew if I didn’t do anything, I’d feel restless,” Machado Ferreira recalls. So she volunteered with SOS Fauna, seizing trucks after high-speed chases, raiding homes, confiscating birds and interrogating traffickers. Sometimes local residents would snicker, “Look at the little girl helping the police,” at which point the 5-foot-8, broad-shouldered former swimmer brandished her fieldwork machete, responding coolly, “The little girl has company.” Rocha describes Machado Ferreira as “very passionate … and extremely stubborn. She feels she must be involved and go beyond what is expected.” During one raid aimed to confiscate illegal birds, she came upon a locked door. “Eyes sparkling,” she gave the door a swift, hard kick, says Rocha. “To this day, we joke that she is a ‘foot on the door’ type of person.” Species adapt to their environments in a process known as natural selection. For example, birds in cooler habitats have a better chance of surviving and passing on their traits if they have a thick, insulating layer of down. Rescue equals success, right? Not quite. Many birds go to rehabilitation centers to learn survival skills before their release. Non-threatened species are a different story. The Brazilian Ornithological Society recommends euthanizing them because, it says, scientists don’t know where to release them. Setting them free in the wrong habitat gives them a poor chance of survival. It’s a perverse catch-22 for Machado Ferreira: Let the birds be trafficked or let them be euthanized. That policy would kill 26,000 birds a year in São Paulo alone, she says. Instead, she argues that it’s enough to ensure that released birds are healthy and sociable, and that they’re released to the right place. That last one is trickier than it might sound, as birds of the same species might express different traits depending on their environment. Birds that live in cool climates might have a thicker layer of insulating down than those that live in hot, humid habitats, for example. Which is why Machado Ferreira has identified genetic markers for four oft-trafficked species that could trace rescued birds to the population where they most likely originated. The markers aren’t used yet, but “they will be used in the near future,” she says. She is looking to establish markers for 10 more species; she also wants to develop a paternity test that would detect whether breeders are legally breeding birds in captivity or poaching them. She can get overwhelmed. “The population is against you, and the legislation doesn’t help you,” she says. In a field that measures success by number of papers published, researchers tell her she belongs behind a lab bench, not wasting her time raiding markets and visiting schools. But she grits her teeth, stubborn as usual. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t do a thing. I think about biodiversity and the animals. I try to do what’s within my reach.” Even within distance of a swift kick.
SMART Document Camera - SDC 330 Use your SMART Document Camera to project real-time images of three dimensional objects on your SMART Board. From there, capture still images, annotate over a live image, or manipulate the object to view it from multiple perspectives. While most teachers typically use the camera for demonstrations, investigations, or text projections, some teachers even use their document camera, in combination with their green audio cable, to display and view images and video for the whole class from student iPads. There are many resources out there available to teachers, but there's no substitute for simply learning by doing. If after doing a little experimenting and research using the resources below, you'd like some one on one help, don't hesitate to contact Lori Ramsey (Elementary) or Eric Folks (Secondary). We are always willing to simply sit in the back of your classroom and be there in case issues arise!
What subject headings are assigned to books on sociology or that have a sociological slant to a topic? There are a number of Library of Congress subject headings and subdivisions used to bring out the sociological aspects of topics. First, the subject heading “Sociology” is available. This heading is used for books on sociology as a branch of learning. The heading may be divided geographically for works on this branch of learning in a specific place. Example: Title: Sociology in Europe : a new science emerges. Sociology – Europe Works on the social conditions of particular regions, countries, cities, etc., are entered under the name of the place subdivided by “Social conditions.” - Title: Spain , change and modernization. - Spain – Social conditions The subdivision “Sociological aspects” can be used under types of institutions for works on the impact of the inherent nature of the institution in question on group interaction within the institution and vice versa. This subdivision is also established under a number of topics, for example: - Authorship – Sociological aspects - Crime – Sociological aspects - Dance – Sociological aspects - Economics – Sociological aspects - Women – Sociological aspects There are also a number of headings of the type “[Topic] and society” or “[Topic] and sociology.” For example: - Art and society - Communism and society - Literature and society - Religion and sociology Finally, the most widely used sociological subject heading is actually a subdivision. The subject subdivision “Social aspects” can be used as a subdivision under topical headings for works on the effect of the item, activity, discipline, etc., and society on each other. This subdivision does not need to be established under each topic (as “Sociological aspects” does) so it is used much more freely in most library catalogs. - Title: Drug abuse and society. - Drug abuse – Social aspects
Nanoscale Science and Nanotechnology affects our lives in many different ways. As a result of participating in this program, students will be able to: 1. Understand how small something is at the nanoscale 2. See how a material’s properties behave differently when at the nanoscale 3. Understand that things on the nanoscale can be found all around in nature 4. Explore how scientists create new technologies to transport and produce clean and renewable energies 5. Understand that nanotechnology has benefits and risks that affect our lives in many ways Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
The one-ton rover drilled into a rock last month and collected a sample that contained essential ingredients for life on Earth, including hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, according to NASA. Scientists believe those same elements would have provided a habitable environment for life on the Red Planet billions of years ago. "We have found a habitable environment that is so benign and supportive of life, that if you would have been on the planet, you would have been able to drink [the water]," said Caltech scientist John Grotzinger, who leads to mission's science team. The previous Mars mission, which sent twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity to the planet, found evidence of water. Curiosity has fulfilled its goal of finding a habitable environment on Mars early on in the mission, and the rock it has analyzed appears to have soil that is chemically neutral, said Grotzinger. "This rock, quite frankly, looks like a typical thing we'd see on Earth." The rover is not capable of detecting life on the Red Planet, NASA says, only clues that could suggest that the planet was once habitable. Curiosity has been exploring an area on the Red Planet called Yellowknife Bay. The rover bored into its first rock, named "John Klein" after a former JPL project manager who died in 2011, in February. It then used its on-board chemistry set to analyze powder from inside the rock, which showed the historic results. John Grunsfeld, head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said scientists can now say Mars once supported a habitable environment. He congratulated the whole Curiosity team at a press conference from NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. "I know it's been years of hard work to get that far," he said. "This has just been an incredible adventure." Curiosity will complete some science activities through the end of the month, but the rover will be mostly out of commission in April, when Mars and Earth are on opposite sides of the sun and communication is difficult. Scientists plan to complete a second drill experiment in May. Then, the rover will begin the trek to Mt. Sharp, a three-mile-high mountain that is the main science target of the two-year mission. Curiosity landed in a region on Mars called Gale Crater on Aug. 5. The Curiosity mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge. "I think what we can do now, with the issue of habitability in the bag, is we can take a more systematic search for brighter carbon signal," said Grotzinger. "We're really excited to get started on this now." -- Tiffany Kelly, Times Community News
Q1 : If the two vertices of a triangle are (3,-1) and (-2,3) and its orthocentre is the origin, find the coordinates of the third vertex. Q2 : Find the length of perpendicular drawn from (2,-1) on the line 3x+4y=12. Q3 : Deduce the length of the perpendicular for the point (x1,y1) on the line ax+by+c=0. Given that (0,-c/b) is on Y-axis while (-c/a,0) is on x-axis. (Hint : using area of triangle to obtain the result). Prizes : The person who can get the answers correctly in the fastest of time will win a variety of red packets.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the first human-documented supernova was observed by ancient Chinese astronomers, who witnessed a bright "guest star" lighting up the night sky in 185 AD. A couple of millennia later, scientists have proposed various explanations for what gave rise to the supernova remnant RCW 86, but now a team of astrophysicists think they've pinned it down: the supernova was caused by one half of an exploding binary star system, which blasted its stellar partner with a flood of heavy elements, including calcium. In a previous study, researcher Vasilii Gvaramadze from Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia had hypothesised that the pear-shaped appearance of RCW 86 (seen below) might be due to a supernova explosion near the edge of a 'bubble' blown by the wind of a moving massive star – what's called a stellar wind bubble. Using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, he was able to detect a candidate neutron star, called [GV2003] N, which was thought to be the neutron star remaining after the supernova that produced RCW 86. Supernovae can occur when a star runs out of its nuclear fuel towards the end of its life – as this happens, the star starts to consume its own core, leading to a huge explosion when the core collapses, and resulting in either a supermassive black hole or a neutron star. In this case, it was thought that the supernova produced the neutron star [GV2003] N, but there was only one problem. Neutron stars are supposed to be very dim, but readings taken in 2010 showed that the star at the position of [GV2003] N was in fact very bright. "In order to determine the nature of the optical star at the position of [GV2003] N, we obtained its images using [the] 7-channel optical/near-infrared imager GROND at the 2.2-metre telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO)," says Gvaramadze. The observations introduced another puzzle. While the light shone by the star indicated it was a G-type star like our Sun, it also seemed to produce too many X-rays for a G-type. The logical conclusion? We weren't looking at one star, after all. "[S]ince the X-ray luminosity of the G star should be significantly less than [w]hat was measured for [GV2003] N, we have come to a conclusion that it is a binary system composed of a neutron star (visible in X-rays as [GV2003] N) and a G star, visible in optical wavelengths," says Gvaramadze. This means the supernova could have been a dramatic stage in the evolution of this binary system, in which one of the stars exploded in a supernova event, polluting its companion with a range of heavy elements – and leaving its atmosphere with six times as much calcium as it should otherwise have. To verify their hypothesis, the team checked observation data taken with the ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. The measurements confirmed [GV2003] N's was a binary system, with the two stars orbiting one another about once per month. The researchers acknowledge that there's still a lot we don't know about this star system, but it gives us a great opportunity to find out more about these rare calcium-rich supernovae – about which little is currently understood by scientists. To that end, Gvaramadze and his team intend to continue studying [GV2003] N, to see what else we can learn about it. "We are going to determine orbital parameters of the binary system, estimate the initial and final masses of the supernova progenitor, and the kick velocity obtained by the neutron star at birth," says Gvaramadze. "Moreover, we are also going to measure abundances of additional elements in the G star atmosphere. The obtained information could be crucially important for understanding the nature of the calcium-rich supernovae." The findings are reported in Nature Astronomy.
A Spanish woman living with her family in a fort on the northern frontier of New Spain tells of her terrifying experience during the Second Battle of Tucson. On May 1, 1782, hundreds of Apaches attack the lightly-guarded Presidio San Agustin de Tucson. The civilians and soldiers of the Tucson Presidio are nearly wiped out. Today, you can visit the partially restored Presidio San Agustin del Tucson near the Tucson Museum of Art in Downtown Tucson. For more information on the Apaches and the history surrounding the Apache Wars, see our page on the Local History of the Apaches.
Water Treatment Process Plant Flow & Treatment The Lima Water Treatment Plant receives raw water from five above ground reservoirs. To the west of Lima, water from the Auglaize River is used to fill the 4.9 billion gallon Bresler Lake Reservoir and the new 5.4 billion gallon Williams Reservoir. On the east side, a complex consisting of Ferguson, Metzger Lake and Lost Creek Reservoirs is filled from the Ottawa River. The total storage capacity of the east side complex is approximately 4.0 billion gallons. The water flows into a 2.5 million gallon primary treatment basin, where clarification and softening chemicals can be added. Water flows from the primary treatment basin into two secondary basins (1.3 million gallons each). Additional softening and clarification chemicals can be added at this stage if needed. Clarified and softened water leaves the secondary basins and flows to a 40,000 gallon chamber where carbon dioxide is added to stabilize the water. When leaving this stabilization basin, a polyphosphate is added to provide additional water stability. Water continues through the plant to a bank of ten rapid sand filters. Here, water is filtered through a combination of anthracite coal, sand, and a mixture of support gravel. The filters remove any remaining suspended matter present in the water. Water leaving the sand filters may then be passed through four granular activated carbon filters to further improve the water quality. The water is then chlorinated, fluoridated, and a second polyphosphate is added to enhance water stability in the distribution system. The water then flows into clear wells for storage until needed in the distribution system. Water is pumped from the clear wells using four electric pumps and one diesel driven pump (in case of power failure) to meet the city's water needs. Plant operators monitor and control the system using a programmable logic controller (PLC) based computer system. PLCs are also used to control and monitor the reservoir systems. At the Water Supply and Treatment Laboratory our water supply and finished water are tested to assure that we can meet State and Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. New treatment and testing methods are also researched to prepare for future water quality regulations. If you have a concern about your water quality, you may call our laboratory. We will be glad to answer your questions and discuss your problem. To protect you from waterborne diseases, a small amount of chlorine is added to your water at the water plant. According to EPA regulations, a minimum of 0.2 mg/L of chlorine must be present in our distribution system. If you wish to decrease the amount of chlorine in your water (for fish tanks or to refrigerate for drinking) you can fill a clean container, leave it slightly uncovered, and allow it to stand overnight. The chlorine will dissipate. You can speed up the procedure by warming the water in a pan. Cloudy or milky looking water is usually caused by dissolved air bubbles coming out of the water and is harmless. The air bubbles can be caused by pressure changes, temperature changes, water that is too hot (above 140F) and faucet aerators. If the cloudiness is caused by air bubbles, it will clear in a minute or two from the bottom of the container upwards. Rusty water or yellow water occurs when rust deposits are stirred up by an extreme change in water flow in water pipes and main lines. Changes in water flow can be caused when a water line breaks or when hydrants are flushed or used to fight fires. Rusty water will generally clear up within 2-3 hours after the line is repaired or hydrants closed. When your water is rusty, it can stain your laundry. If clothes do get stained, keep them moist; obtain a rust remover at the grocery or hardware store and follow the directions on the package. Try not to run your hot water faucet if rust is present since this will draw rusty water into your hot water tank. All public water suppliers are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide information about lead in drinking water. Currently, the Lima water treatment process reduces the possibility of lead contamination from residential plumbing. There is no lead in the water coming from our treatment plant.
The quickly developing population, expanding urban areas, and overwhelming surge, because of fast industrialization and urbanization has prompted the requirement for convenient and cheap methods of public transport, particularly in metropolitan cities. A very much arranged Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for example, the Metro Rail frames the line of life of the cosmopolitan urban areas which have a population in a large number of crores Metro trains are turning into a popular method of travel in the ongoing occasions. It is a professional advancement activity since it targets making transport effectively accessible to the majority. Accessibility of such vehicle frameworks cut down on the weight of the street traffic by lessening the density of traffic. Basic used technology behind the metro rail Centralized automatic train control (CATC) comprising automatic train operation (CATO), automatic train protection (ATP) & automatic train signaling (ATS) systems are the basic techniques that are used in the metro rail. Between the passengers and the driver, intercoms are provided for emergency communication in each coach. Also, there are LCD display systems and route maps in every coach. The main prosperity of metro rail The Metro Rails which are utilized as a mass journey are naturally amicable than the other facilities of public transport. Private vehicles transmit about twice as many harmful gases and other unstable natural gases that are destructive to the earth. The Metro has been effective in diminishing the number of cars on the road and thus it decreases the contamination brought about by individual vehicles. In addition, it has helped in lessening the traffic issues and congestion in various metro urban areas fundamentally. The metro has prompted the business and monetary improvement of the nation by producing various employments. Plus, the metro stations and passageways offer a business open door for various players. A large portion of the business houses inclines toward setting up their workplaces close to the metro. This builds the network and lessens the powerful travel time for their representatives, in a roundabout way prompting improved efficiency. Since the lines utilized for passing on these trains are committed and separate from customary vehicular traffic. This does not remove land from the customary traffic and utilizes the ethereal space. Metro trains are exceptionally structured trains to keep running at higher speeds and are basically exorbitant. For people who worth speed and time over cost, this is a decent option on the grounds that in the cutting edge urban areas, going in the solace of your own vehicle can be horribly irritating and tedious, given the roads turned parking lots. Enjoy superior quality and comfort Metro trains, not at all like different modes, for example, trams or local trains have a superior quality of cleanliness, comfort and ambiance making it all the more engaging the people who need to keep away from public transport in view of it being decrepit, awkward and packed. The expense of metro train tickets is adequately high to keep up its quality kept up. Simultaneously, it isn’t reasonable to one and all in this way making the utilization particular and along these lines keeping away from groups. Cristina Blackwell is very fond of metro rail; he loves to go for a trip by metro very often.
By W3p3No3lLed. Printable Actvities For Kids. At Thursday, November 07th 2019, 02:20:32 AM. Children can work with simple numbers worksheets from quite an early age and you will have greater success in getting them to work on the worksheets if you combine that learning work with something practical, or at least something they enjoy doing. For example, if you are using a simple addition and subtraction worksheet with your child, draw or type up another sheet of with squares and numbers printed onto them. Instead of writing the answers to the questions on the worksheet you can get your child to cut and paste the required numbers for the answers from from the second worksheet onto the first. What are math worksheets and what are they used for? These are math forms that are used by parents and teachers alike to help the young kids learn basic math such as subtraction, addition, multiplication and division. This tool is very important and if you have a small kid and you do not have a worksheet, then its time you got yourself one or created one for your kid. There are a number of sites over the internet that offer free worksheets that are download-able and printable for use by parents and teachers at home or at school.If you cannot purchase a math work sheet because you think you may not have time to, then you can create on using your home computer and customize it for your kid. Doing this is easy. All you need is Microsoft word application in your computer to achieve this. Just open the word application in your computer and start a new document. Ensure that the new document you are about to create is based on a template. Then, ensure that your internet connection is on before you can search the term "math worksheet" from the internet. You will get templates of all kinds for your worksheet. Choose the one you want and then download. You can find worksheets for a wide range of courses--almost any course you want to teach your children. These include spelling, writing, English, history, math, music, geography, and others. They are also available for nearly all grade levels. There are printable middle school, high school, elementary school, and even pre-school worksheets. There are other sources for worksheets also. You can find many public schools and private schools which will provide free worksheets for you if you buy textbooks from the school. Or you can usually find textbooks and workbooks at the public library, where you can also copy any worksheets that you want to use. So what kinds of worksheets should you get? Anything where you feel that your child needs further drill. We often have this notion that worksheets are just for math. This, of course, is not true. While they are excellent tools for reviewing math facts such as the multiplication tables and division facts, they are just as useful for reviewing parts of speech or the states in the union.
ICP-MS is an analytical technique suitable for the determination of nearly 70% of the elements in the periodic table at concentrations below 1 ng/g. It is widely used in many scientific disciplines, particularly environmental science, geology, and biology. ICP-MS is used to analyze gases, liquids, and, when introduced as slurries or particles ablated by a laser beam, as solids. Sample material reaching the plasma is desolvated, vaporized, atomized, and ionized. Ions enter the mass spectrometer where they are focused, then separated based on their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio, before being counted, usually with an electron multiplier (<106 cps) or sometimes a faraday cup (~106 to ~109 cps) detector. There are a number of quality books, publications, and websites on ICP-MS, a few of which are recommended below (and references therein). In addition, the “plasmachem” listserv is useful to learn about the practical aspects of analyzing samples by ICP-MS from those actively using the technique. It also allows you to post questions to your colleagues. More information on the listserv, and how to sign up, can be found at: http://listserv.syr.edu/archives/plasmachem-l.html. Instrument manufacturer websites are also good places to acquire basic knowledge on ICP-MS and acquire application notes. - Robert Thomas, “Practical Guide to ICP-MS (A Tutorial for Beginners)”, 2nd edition, 2008, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl - Ling KL, Jarvis KE, “Quadrupole ICP-MS: Introduction to Instrumentation, Measurement Techniques and Analytical Capabilities”, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, Vol. 33, No. 4, 445-467
Writer Nick Hunt travelled to Scotland’s Cairngorms in search of a once permanent presence that’s becoming another marker of a new transience: enduring snows that serve as scraps of deep of time, now endangered on our warming island. 710 words: estimated reading time 3 minutes Garbh Coire Mòr in the Cairngorms is home to two of Scotland’s longest-lying snow patches: Sphinx and Pinnacles (named after nearby climbing routes). They normally endure year-round in this remote, high corrie. But things are not normal any more. In recent years they have melted before the end of the summer, bellwethers of a wider change. In the last week of September I went to find what was left of them. An Arctic outpost After catching the sleeper train to Aviemore and walking for around ten miles up the rugged post-glacial valley of the Lairig Ghru, I arrived at the foot of Braeriach in the early afternoon. Cloud hung low over the mountain but in the hollow of Garbh Coire Mòr it lifted for a minute or two, just enough time to give me a glimpse of two pale eyes. As I approached, leaving the path to walk over a boggy weave of blaeberry, moss and reindeer lichen – the tundra landscape that turns the Cairngorms into an exclave of the Arctic – the shapes of the snow patches became more apparent. It was difficult to guess their size. The final climb was a scramble up wet, sliding scree. First I went to Sphinx, the smaller, slightly higher patch. Up close its snow wasn’t smooth, or even particularly white, but blushed pink with the run-off of the mountain’s reddish soil and stained black with darker grime, hairy with pine needles. Its surface was pitted and eroded from ablating and refreezing. It hardly looked like snow at all but a lump of spoiled meat. Pinnacles was bigger, perhaps eighteen metres long and a metre tall, though underneath it had lifted off the rock and appeared to be almost floating. I’d brought my ice axe with the idea of attempting a traverse, but I didn’t think it would hold my weight. Besides, it seemed disrespectful. I laid the axe on top for scale and simply sat for an hour or two in the snow’s company. I put my bottle underneath to catch its dripping water. I felt reluctant to leave its side, as if I was keeping company with a stranger, terminally ill. I didn’t want to leave it alone. But at last I had to. When Sphinx first disappeared in 1933, the Scottish Mountaineering Club declared the event to be so unusual that it was ‘unlikely to happen again’. But it did: in 1953, 1959, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017 and 2018. In the words of Iain Cameron, a dedicated ‘snow patcher’ who studies these icy anomalies, Sphinx was ‘critically endangered’ in the week I went to find it. For a while it looked like 2019 would be the first time in recorded history that it had disappeared for three years in a row. But it has been lucky. Early October snow prolonged its lifespan slightly, and a recent heavier snowfall has buried it in white again. Against all odds, it looks safe for this winter. But, in the new normal of runaway global heating, no one knows what the coming years will bring. It is easy to understand the appeal of these unlikely snows. They are not only scraps of winter but scraps of history, of deep time. Obvious symbols of endurance, of bloodyminded obstinacy, they are also thermometers that self-destruct as our island warms. When their last crystals have dripped away, the national thaw will be complete and Britain will be entirely free of snow in summer. Bare. At last it started getting dim, so I turned back down the mountain. The smudged eyes watched me go as the heavy cloud drew in again. When I looked back from further down the slope they were gone. Find out more With thanks to Iain Cameron, who co-authored Cool Britannia with Adam Watson (Paragon Publishing, 2010) and who photographs, measures and writes about snows on Britain’s hills. Find him on Twitter at @theiaincameron.
Saripadiya Nimesh D Dr. D. Y. Patil college of pharmacy, Akurdi, Pune-411044 Since ancient times, plants, especially herbs have been used for their medicinal properties by us humans. This practice of using plants for their medicinal property gave rise to the science of Ayurveda. These herbs not only have medicinal value but are also used as dietary supplements. Today such supplements are widely accepted and used by people all over the world. There are various types of dietary supplements available in the market today. However, this formulation is innovative and unique. It is a dietary supplement which is suitable for all ages (except infants) and especially palatable for children. It can be taken anytime and is also rich in vitamins and minerals. It is a herbal extrudate made up of different herbs. The herbs were selected on the basis of availability which includes spinach, turmeric, ginger, liquorice etc. The extrudates contain equal amounts of herbs. A moist mixture is prepared using suitable vehicle (water). The moist mixture upon passing through an extruder forms extrudates which are then dried and packed. The extrudates were studied for their physico-chemical properties. And hence, the results were interpreted accordingly which were found to be significant. Keyword: Vitamins, liquorice, turmeric, ginger
NASA satellite data can be used for a variety of applications, including air quality forecasting, smoke and fire detection, and PM2.5 monitoring. This training covered the access and use of NASA resources for decision-making activities related to air quality. A presentation on relevant data products, as well as the online tools used to acquire and visualize aerosol and trace gas data, were followed by an air quality case study. Participants had the opportunity to use available data portals and visualization tools to identify, track, and measure air quality events of their choosing. By the end of this training, attendees were able to: Air quality professionals and decision makers from local, state, and federal agencies, NGOS, and the private sector. All participants must be located in India. Satellite Imagery Access, Interpretation, and Tools for Dust, Smoke, and Pollution Fundamentals of Satellite Remote Sensing Satellite Data Products, Levels, and Formats Exploring and Ordering Level 3 Satellite Data with the Giovanni Web Tool Download Level 2 Aerosol Products Satellite Aerosol Products, Evaluation, Applications, and Limitations Conversion of Satellite Aerosol Measurements to PM2.5 Air Quality (Excel exercise) Theoretical Basis for Converting Satellite Observations to Ground-Level PM2.5 Concentrations Satellite Based Characterization of Emissions Satellite Remote Sensing of Trace Gases (NO2, SO2, CO) Trace Gases Data Access, Tools and Analysis Real Time Analysis of Product & Information Dissemination (RAPID) Based Satellite Products Visualization
(Natural News) Coffee is a much-loved drink, but not everyone likes the palpitations that come along with it. In the course of its long history, chemists have devised multiple methods to decaffeinate, or remove caffeine from, coffee beans, ensuring that coffee-lovers will still be able to get a good night’s sleep. The history of decaf coffee The story of decaffeinated coffee began with a visit between friends in Germany. On October 3, 1819, Friedlib Ferdinand Runge, a chemist, paid a visit to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the creator of Faust. The writer gave his friend a box of coffee beans he got from Greece and asked him to experiment on it. He wanted to find out why the coffee beans kept him awake at night. After two years, von Goethe got his answer – Runge had identified the culprit to be caffeine. It would be almost a century later that decaffeinated coffee was discovered. In 1905, Ludwig Roselius, a former coffee bean roaster, was believed to have received a cargo of coffee beans soaked in seawater. Instead of tossing them out as damaged goods, Roselius and his colleagues considered this as an opportunity. After a series of experiments, they discovered that using benzene – a chemical found in paint strippers and aftershave – as a solvent could remove the caffeine. They patented this process, and Roselius founded the Kaffee Handels-Aktiengesellschaft or Kaffee Hag, a company that exported decaffeinated coffee across Europe and then to the U.S. after World War I. However, with benzene being a toxic chemical, using it posed a number of health concerns. It was later replaced by ethyl acetate or methylene chloride. This was called the “direct method.” As ethyl acetate could be extracted from fruits and vegetables, people thought it was a healthier option. But ethyl acetate was also used in a variety of industrial and household products, including paint, cigarettes, and nail polish remover – and so exposure to high amounts of the chemical also posed health risks. In another controversy, it was found that large amounts of methylene chloride, a chemical that is also present in paint and other household products, could damage the central nervous system. An “indirect method,” also known as the “water method,” was then devised. Unroasted coffee beans were first soaked in water, then treated with ethyl acetate or methylene chloride. Afterward, they were soaked back in water. This treatment was believed to let the coffee beans absorb the essential oils once more. The decaffeination process generally followed these procedures until 1967 when another method was developed – incidentally, in Germany once again. In the Max Plank Institute, Chemist Kurt Zosel was doing Coal Research with supercritical carbon dioxide. He found out that pumping heated and highly pressurized gas through moistened coffee beans separated the caffeine from them. Moreover, the crude caffeine from this process could be salvaged and used in other beverages, such as sodas and energy drinks. This method is still widely used today. Zosel patented the “charcoal method” in 1970, but at the same time, another process was being developed in Switzerland. The Swiss Water Process comprised of soaking the unroasted coffee beans in water first. This allowed the soluble components of the coffee beans to transfer to the water. Using carbon, the caffeine was also removed, producing an uncaffeinated liquid called “green coffee extract.” A new batch of green coffee beans were then soaked in this liquid. As the beans and the liquid sought equilibrium, the caffeine from the new batch will transfer to the uncaffeinated liquid, thus making decaffeinated coffee beans. From these methods, it becomes apparent that the production of caffeine-free coffee has come a long way. The health benefits of decaf coffee Coffee is known to have numerous health benefits, which include preventing diabetes and heart disease and maintaining the digestive and nervous systems. The presence of caffeine also boosts the body as a central nervous system stimulant, which is why a lot of people drink it in the morning to perk up their minds. So why decaffeinate coffee in the first place? As with other food and drink, there is a healthy limit to consuming caffeine. It is important to be aware of how much caffeine content the coffee has. The safe amount of caffeine to consume each day is 400 milligrams (mg). A cup of coffee contains about 50 to 400 mg, depending on the kind of coffee. Too much caffeine can lead to dizziness, insomnia, and even an upset stomach. Decaffeinated coffee still contains the healthy properties and substances that regular coffee has. Decaffeinated coffee beans still have cafestol, which improves the production of bile and is said to contain anti-inflammatory properties. They do lose some antioxidants in the process, but only about 15 percent. They also contain small amounts of nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B3. In the following list of health benefits, it is important to note that the studies from which they were based were observational. The decaffeinated coffee did not necessarily cause the effects, but are simply linked to them. - Reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes – Decaf coffee has high antioxidant levels, which protect cells from diabetes, and chlorogenic acid, which helps regulate blood glucose levels. - Prevents certain cancers – Studies have shown that drinking decaf coffee may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and breast cancer among female drinkers. - Improves symptoms of heart problems – The absence of caffeine makes it less likely for drinkers to experience health conditions commonly associated with it, such as palpitations, heart attacks and and strokes. - Prevents age-related mental decline – Consuming decaf coffee may protect the neurons in the brain and help prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Not everyone drinks just one cup of coffee a day; some go for three, even five cups. The tolerance to caffeine varies among consumers. There are also others who simply want to enjoy a cup of coffee without experiencing its boosting effects. For such individuals, decaffeinated coffee is a viable option.
[B]y outrospection I mean the idea of discovering who you are and what to do with your life by stepping outside yourself, discovering the lives of other people, other civilisations. And the ultimate art form for the age of outrospection is empathy… Empathy isn’t just something that that expands your moral universe, empathy is something that can make you a more creative thinker, improve your relationships, can create the human bonds that make life worth living. But more than that empathy is also about social change, radical social change…And I think empathy is the way to revolutionize our own philosophies of life, to become more outrospective, and to create the revolution of human relationships that I think we so desperately need. In Krznaric’s treatment of the subject, empathy is more than just a “nice, soft, fluffy concept”. It becomes a powerful mechanism for understanding the world around us. It may also inform the idea of physical, affective, and mental feeling as the basis of cognition. In addition to this reframing of empathy itself, it is interesting how Krznaric discusses empathy in terms of our ability to relate to people in faraway places or in distant generations. This is perhaps another version of “number numbness” or the difficulty humans have with processing large quantities, of say, space and time. The underlying problem is most likely a consequence of the cognitive limitations on what we have perceived, what we have words to describe, and what we can imagine. The interplay of these dimensions affects the quality of the sense of meaning they effect as a conceptual representation. So the idea that experiential activities like “empathy museums” are key in human development is not restricted to empathy, but apply to behavioral change as learning more broadly. Roman Krznaric (RSA) \| Outrospection
It is important to learn letter first. The children must need to know how to write letters in printable form. After that, they can be taught how to write cursive. Writing cursives is not as easy as writing letters in printable form. There are many kinds of worksheets made for the teaching help. The colored pages highly appeal the children. The worksheets are also teaching the best ways about reading and writing the text. This also makes the children to catch up the sound of letters and they can easily produce the writing of characters in their later times. The worksheets are designed according to age groups and teachers try to find out the best means to produce the options suitable to children.
Raising children can sometimes feel like a constant battle. You’re trying to make sure they’re doing their homework. You want to make sure they eat their vegetables. You’re teaching them to be kind to others. Let’s face it: taking care of your child requires constant care and vigilance to make sure they make the right decisions. With so much teaching and training going on during the day, it’s easy to forget that kids need to brush their teeth before bed. Even though it’s tempting for children to skip this nightly ritual, it’s vital to instruct children that brushing teeth after dinner or before bed is a necessary habit to build. But, why is it so important? To Remove Food Particles That Have Accumulated Your child likely hasn’t brushed their teeth since before they left for school (don’t forget, they should be brushing for two minutes, twice a day!). Since then, they’ve had lunch, dinner, and countless snacks. This means that they’ve likely had food particles embed themselves into their teeth and gums. Without brushing them away at night at night, these particles can cause long-term problems, like inflammation, infection, and halitosis. To Avoid The Buildup Of Plaque When your child doesn’t brush before bed, they allow the bacteria, sugars, and food remnants to fester in their mouth overnight. This residue can become plaque, which is the film that develops on your teeth when they aren’t cleaned properly. Over time, plaque can harden and become tartar, which can only be cleaned with tools found at the dentist’s office. The more your child forgets to brush at night, the more tartar buildup will accumulate. This whole process starts from simply neglecting to brush teeth after dinner or before bed. Because Your Mouth Isn’t Producing Much Saliva Did you know that your mouth doesn’t produce saliva at the same rate as it does when you are awake? As your body rests, most of the functions of the body rest as well, including the creation of saliva. During the day, saliva naturally washes away a great deal of the bacteria that attempts to cause havoc with your child’s teeth and gums. At night, your body loses this vital defense, which makes brushing teeth before bed a necessity. Children’s Dentistry Can Help Your Child At Children’s Dentistry of Greater Las Vegas, we can help you assist your child in building a lifelong habit of good oral care. Along with daily brushing and flossing, make sure you’re scheduling your child’s dental cleanings every six months. Together, we can help make sure your child has a beautiful, long-lasting smile! Children’s Dentistry has 10 convenient locations in the Las Vegas area, which means there’s always an office close by. We’re even open on Saturday! All of our offices accept most forms of dental insurance, including Medicaid. Still have questions? Give us a call at (702) 832-0508 or send us a message.
“Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” is a wonderful radio show airing on National Public Radio every Saturday. The show has special guests each week and asks them questions about current events. Like other quiz shows such as Jeopardy et al there is a pause between the question and the answer. Anyone who has listened to these shows may recognize that pause, or wait time (Stahl, 1995), between the question and the answer, can be suspenseful or even anxious. Have you ever thought about why there is so much emotional charge as you scramble for the answer before the contestant answers? The answer is fear. Fear is an emotion that does strange things to the thinking process. It slows it down and even distorts it. Fear changes the physiology of the human. It drains blood from the frontal lobes and critical thinking areas of the brain, rushing the red liquid to the large muscle groups of the arms, chest and legs ready for flight or fight. But what are you afraid of? Making a mistake and looking foolish? Running out of time and feeling dull or witless? In the class room students are asked questions all day. According to Mary Bud Rowe the average wait time given for a student is between one and one point five seconds (Stahl, 1995). After 1.5 seconds a teacher normally sends the child cues of impatience or simply moves on. This brief interlude has devastating consequences for the confidence of the student and more often than not, undermines the classroom atmosphere. In other words the classroom becomes a climate of fear. Fear to participate in the learning process. The student is afraid of being judged and will often respond defensively by saying “I don’t know” or “IDK”. The IDK refrain is one of the most demoralizing expressions used in modern classrooms. Rarely is IDK used with sincerity by students. Instead IDK is used in a passive-aggressive way to defend the student from humiliation. This humiliation can be the result of beliefs such as “I can’t do this”, “This teacher picks on me” or “I never get the right answer.” These beliefs are built up over time because children are not given the space (wait time) to digest questions, reflect upon the solutions. Nor are they often given radical encouragement (Williams and Wegeriff, p9) when their answer does not satisfy the teacher. Modern educator evaluation stresses the importance of extended wait time as a measurable teaching variable. Believe it or not, this simple act produces significant and profound changes in the classroom, including: · The length of student responses increases 400 to 800 percent. · The number of unsolicited but appropriate responses increases. · Failure to respond decreases. · Student confidence increases. · Students ask more questions. · Student achievement increases significantly. Many teachers will be criticized for their lack of wait time. Unfortunately wait time is not a skill taught very well to new teachers or introduced skillfully into the classroom by most teachers. Introducing and using wait time skillfully requires a teacher getting comfortable with silence. For a teacher to get comfortable with silence requires two movements. One is to become aware of how uncomfortable our culture is with silence and secondly, to learn and practice silence as a skill. Stahl, Robert J. Using “Think Time” and “Wait Time” Skillfully in the Class. ERIC Clearing House for Social Studies, Bloomington, Indianapolis . http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/think.htm (Accessed January, 2014). “Wait time” was a phrase introduced to describe a teaching variable by Mary Budd Rowe in 1972. Williams, Steve and Wegerif, Rupert. Radical Encouragement. Creating Cultures for Learning. Imaginative Minds Limited. Birmingham, England. 2006. (According to the authors “All successful attempts at enabling people tom learn better…depend on effective encouragement.”) Fredericks, Anthony D. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Teacher .Alpha Books © 2005. New York, NY. https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-methods/new-teacher/48446.html (Accessed January, 2014). Recently I shared my research paper The Phenomenology of Silence with a professor from Montclair State University. She was intrigued with how I use silence in the classroom and saw correlations with her own research on how to help children learn more effectively through interruptions. She asked me to write more about how I use it in the classroom. As a young math teacher at Oak Flats High School in NSW Australia in the 1980s, I threw all of my energy into teaching. My philosophy was to make it fun and use humor as a tool to keep my students motivated. I used silence as a punitive measure to control the noise level in the room. While I could run silent classes the tension was unpleasant. That was before I went through a hellish personal tragedy. I quit teaching and traveled to India, Bali and Europe. During this extended leave from teaching I studied meditation and mindfulness practices along with austere spiritual practices from several different traditions. Twenty years of soul searching finally brought me to Berkshire County in Massachusetts. I began teaching again. Coming back into the third-millennium classroom in 2006 was a shock. The pressure on teachers and kids had increased exponentially since Oak Flats. Everybody was plugged in, wired for sound and pulled in a million directions at once: top-down initiatives like No Child Left Behind, adversarial policies like zero tolerance, and warp-speed social lives buzzing in their brains. Not the ideal setting for sharing the joys of higher mathematics. In my initial years I was assigned a notoriously challenging group of freshmen students. The wisdom at the time was to assign the math phobic teens ten periods of math per week instead of the standard five periods. Because these students had weak number skills and hated math they felt tortured. The students were furious and blamed me for their inhuman schedule. Their resentment forced me to contemplate my future in education. The questions I contemplated included: From this reflection I came up with a system of principles I called C.O.R.E. (cf. CORE Principles) and the use of silence. Within weeks the students were more engaged, respectful and happier. It was a pedagogical miracle. Over the next four years I introduced my techniques to all my classes. The momentum built and built until other teachers started to notice. I was asked to speak with new teachers and veteran staffs alike about what I was achieving in the classroom through these unorthodox methodologies. One day I introduced my methodologies to my senior class. Several of the students had spent their freshman year with me and eyed me suspiciously. They remembered their tortured first year with me. One student who had been surly and resentful as a freshman looked at me with an expressionless face throughout the lesson. We had not had the friendliest relationship over the years. He had been suspended for twelve months for arson and bullying. He had earned a terrible reputation around the school. At the end of our lesson that September morning he lingered at the door after everyone had left. He turned to me and said, “This is the first thing that has ever made sense to me at school.” He turned and left my room. Goosebumps ran up my arms and tears came to my eyes as I sat down speechless. This story and others reflect in many ways the miracle of silence in the classroom. My students start to come alive, become natural and express more respect. Surprisingly students with ADD and even Aspergers' Syndrome have expressed a love for the respite silence brings them in their busy school day. Out of this is born an atmosphere of safety, tolerance and respect for themselves and each other. A joy for the teacher! I begin every lesson with silence and stillness. I was recently invited into a Math Teacher’s classes to lead her students in meditation. The teacher has been working with me over several months and has introduced a ritual of silence and stillness at the beginning of her classes. While her classes appreciate the still time before their lesson they had requested I do a repeat visit with a longer meditation. During the day I led about sixty students in total. In the last group of the day the students bounded into the room, obviously ready for their Christmas break. As it was the last period before their break two students were asked to leave the room to complete missed tests. I began the meditation asking the students what they remembered from our previous session. I then talked briefly about how strongly we are affected by compulsions to be always busy and doing something. They agreed this was the case and were looking forward to managing their compulsions. We dimmed the lights and began. I led a fifteen meditation encouraging them to be still and silent. I encouraged the students to notice any compulsions as they arise, and instead of doing something relax their body and watch their breath instead. After the meditation the class was very still and silent. The two girls who had been outside crept in and sat down without disturbing the silence in the room. I asked the class who had felt compulsions to move their hands, scratch, tap or look around? Most of the class raised their hands. I noticed one student at the front of the room who looked very calm "How was it?" She said it was torture. “What is your name?” I asked. She said Nancy. I asked the rest of the group "Who else had the same experience as Nancy?" About 2/3rds of the group raised their hands. I asked the class "What normally happens in a group of teenagers who are feeling tortured?" A boy called out "It's chaos!" I asked "How is it possible so many of you are feeling tortured and yet the class is so still and silent?" No answer. I turned to one of the girls who had entered the room at the end of the meditation. I asked her why she had sat down so quietly. She said because it was so peaceful she did not want to disturb the room. Nancy whirled around in surprise and blurted “I didn’t even hear you come into the room!” I left the group with one final question to ponder: “How is it that so many of you felt tortured on the inside, yet when someone comes in the room they felt you were calm and peaceful?” Despite the torturous experience the group applauded and beamed at me as the bell rang. I looked at their teacher who was smiling and lit up like a Christmas tree. For further information on my work with teachers, parents and students write me or go to my website. How many new teachers arrive into the profession to find they were not prepared for the relationships with their students in the classroom? If data is any gauge many! Over fifty percent of new teachers leave the profession within five years. A growing concern and major reason is they feel students are unmotivated, disrespectful and even threatening. Indeed when one reads the Education Evaluation Guide from the Massachusetts Department of Education teacher metrics include such core issues as creating a safe environment, respecting differences and quality work. But how do you, as a teaching professional, create these qualities in your classroom? When I began teaching in the United States in 2006 I was shocked at how my unmotivated and disrespectful my students were toward me. I had taught for ten years in Australia from 1976 to 1986 but I felt there was a general decline in work ethics and tolerance with young people. It seemed more students were suffering from malaise and discontent with school and perhaps life. It was at this point, two years into my second teaching career I decided to explore the question how can I capture the hearts and minds of my students? From my reflection and research I came up with two powerful methodologies that transformed my experience and reinvigorated my pedagogical practice. I presented a paper at the Oxford Round Table in August 2013 on the methodology of silence called “The Phenomenology of Silence: Educing Learning and Creativity in the Classroom” (click here). This blog explains how and why my second methodology works. It was designed out of a need for me to feel respected and happy as a teacher. The two together have made me not only happier but my students and in some cases my colleagues who have adopted similar versions of what I have introduced. WHAT IS C.O.R.E.? C.O.R.E. is an acronym to help students and teachers remain focused on how to create developmental and dynamic independence and co-operation in the classroom. It is a way to address behavior in students, but more importantly it is a model for building personal attributes that will enhance a student’s ability to learn and succeed both in and out of the classroom. Each teacher will have their own priorities for what they deem optimal classroom management. In such a case I suggest you create a set of class principles that suit you. C = Communication with Care O = Organization for Optimization R = Respect builds Relationships E = Effort in Everything When you define C.O.R.E. for your students, you are actually allowing them to become acquainted with you and your expectations. Each one of us as teachers approaches our classes in a unique way and students have many different teachers. Take a few minutes to contemplate: What behaviors in students do I most struggle with? What qualities in my students do I most appreciate? Identifying the behaviors that are supportive or adverse to classroom harmony and development is the first critical step in the process of creating a meaningful framework for effective classroom management. C.O.R.E represents the student attributes that, in my observation, generate the greatest harmony and development to my classroom. Cultivation of these qualities does not happen overnight. Only through consistent reminders over time, with clear consequences, can students understand how powerful these living skills are. C.O.R.E. represents principles to live by, not rules to follow. Principles have greater flexibility and allow for differences. For example if Scott, a very dedicated student starts handing in poor quality homework then he is compromising his “effort” ethic. However if Sally, who rarely does homework, starts handing in work, even if it is minimal, she is making progress with her “effort” and is graded accordingly within the C.O.R.E. rubric. In other words not all progress looks the same for each student. This can be very subtle and is one reason I have my students grade themselves. Having class principles is also a way to speak about classroom behaviors in an impersonal way to your students. It avoids the feeling of blaming, accusing or judging someone as bad in any given situation. Principles allow you, as a teacher, to refer to standards that work in developing independence and co-operation within a group. For many years I belonged to a spiritual cult. At the beginning, I had a euphoric sense of independence. But with time, that was followed by an experience of "group mind" - namely, I was influenced too much by the beliefs of the leader and those around me. The pressures of living in this situation led to a fragmented sense of identity. After fifteen years in this cult, I began teaching again in 2006. I started to reconnect with the world I had left. I desperately sought agency to function independently once again. It has taken years to recover from this extreme experience, but it has left me with a heightened sensitivity to entering into any collective situation. While it was a bumpy re-entry I soon noticed familiar symptoms in my students and in many cases, their parents. I was witnessing the cyber cult, up close and personal. Gaming, Facebook, texting and general inter-netting was now a way of being. My students exuded self confidence, fast access to knowledge and endless friends at their finger tips. It was a virtual world that left me, their teacher, an outsider to their lives. Over the next seven years of teaching, I was spellbound as I watched my teenage students, as their minds developed, spend countless hours looking at a screen. They were being seduced into a cyber universe. This cyber reality often offers time-saving ways to navigate the complexity of life as well as giving one an entire social life. It leads you to believe that you are in charge of your own life, that a student does not need adult guidance, direction or leadership. This is what I think of as A.I. (artificial independence). It's being offered at a dizzying rate of form and function. Technology has given us: unending virtual entertainment, short-hand language, access to thousands of superficial friends and a place to escape to so we don't have to engage in real-world intimacy. The cyber world blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, allowing us to adopt distorted ideas of ourselves and our abilities, live sedentary unhealthy lifestyles and harbor symptoms of addiction, mental instability and even post-traumatic stress syndrome. Unfortunately parents and teachers like myself, have also jumped onto the cyber band wagon. It relieves us of our struggle to face each other through conversation and encounter. It is far easier to bury ourselves in our i-Phones while the kids focus on theirs! The cyber world functions as a cheap baby sitter. But at what cost? What kind of independence are our children gaining from this cyber universe? True human agency is found and cultivated within. Original thought arises from reflection, introspection and often takes place away from outer stimulus. Like cults, the cyber world's influence has to be made conscious. We're all drawn into this virtual world, but at what cost? Roberts, Kevin. Cyber Junkie: Escape the Gaming and Internet Trap. Hazelden, Center City, Minnesota. 2010 Carroll, Lawrence. The Phenomenology of Silence: Educing Learning and Creativity in the Classroom. August, 2013, Oxford Round Table, Merton College https://www.academia.edu/5287098/The_Phenomenology_of_Silence_Educing_Learning_and_Creativity_in_the_Classroom (Accessed December 3, 2013.) Click here for more information on life coaching Click here for products and services I visited my old school recently to give a pro-bono class on managing toxic stress. While I was waiting in the student personnel office a senior student popped by and lit up when he saw me. He said “Mr Carroll, you’ll never believe what happened to me!” I said “What happened?” He said I was at the community college last week to do an orientation. The staff their issued each of us with a dot to stick on our wrist. She said it was to measure our stress levels. I put it on and it turned black. The three colors black, red and green represent levels of stress: · Black (most stressful) · Red (Beware you are moving into stress) · Green (you are in a good place) He continued “I remembered what you taught us. I found a quiet corner, sat down for five minutes and practiced the techniques. I went up and asked for another dot. I put it on and it turned to green! I couldn’t believe it was that simple!” He broke into a smile and said thank you as he gave me a hug. My students walk in from busy bustling hallways. Their loud voices and exaggerated swaggering entrances reveal they still think they are in the halls. Their furtive glances seek someone to avoid, torment or bond with. It is three minutes since the bell sounded. They only have four minutes to transition from one class to their next. They have to fight their way through crowded hallways to a different teacher with different rules who teaches a completely different subject. Everything seems so fragmented and compartmentalized. This brief transition is like a river cascading over a waterfall. Students, teachers and police officers pour into chaotic hallways – over a thousand people moving at the same time! I call this the squeeze. In these four minutes I need to recover from any leftover emotional charge from my last class, erase the board, greet students in the hallway, organize my desk, monitor and assess students state of mental and emotional health, remind some about outstanding work, listen sympathetically to excuses for missed or avoided homework or simply be present for unexpected surprises ranging from tears to dramas to pleasant greetings. The bell sounds. The squeeze is over. I walk down the stairs of my college style classroom and gaze peripherally at my students scanning for anything that feels out of place, different or jarring. I stop at my desk, slowly turn around and gaze up at my students silently. I lean against the desk semi seated, close my eyes and remain silent for three minutes. My students do the same. At the end of three minutes I look around and see most students motionless with eyes closed. Most look angelic. A few have heads down on desks. Some are gazing back at me. I ask the first question for the day: “Who would rather be home right now?” About two-thirds of the class raises their hands. Their faces break into smiles. They are ready for math. Their minds are clearer, they feel better and most of all there is love and trust in the classroom. For more understanding of my work in the classroom and how meditation unclogs the mental chatter and frees emotional stress click here. Click here for Services and products. The ground of my pedagogical approach lies in silence and reflection. Silence and reflection slow down the thinking process. 'Thinking' takes time: thinking through time is punctuated by moments of generative silence and imagination. When thinking slows, awareness of our perceptual and cognitive experience (metacognition) emerges. This is foundational to critical thinking, inquiry and learning. (Senge, 2000, 69.) Essential to higher order thinking, metacognition provides a pathway to learning agency. Interestingly, student agency, when activated, brings the teacher and student closer together.They find themselves engaging naturally in a mutual experience of authentic inquiry. Senge, Peter; Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. Doubleday, Random House Inc., New York, 2000. John Dewey, who is arguably the greatest contributor to the modern education system, wrote that orderly experience leads to integration whilst disorderly experience creates a divided personality, and in extreme cases insanity. It is rare for an educator to disagree with Dewey’s logic. Students often complain about the irrelevance of their curriculum and rarely make connections between different subject areas. Fragmentation of their experience is confusing and leads them to often conclude that knowledge learned at school is non-sensical and irrelevant to their lives. Similarly teachers are often introduced to new theories, expectations and assessments that are disorderly and not clearly connected to their past and future experiences. Educational assessment is being introduced rapidly throughout the US with very little, if any training for teachers on observation and feedback techniques. While the goal is for educators at all levels to grow their pedagogical effectiveness the major unit of transformation – beliefs and assumptions – need skillful and careful coaching techniques in order to create a safe and trusting climate to surface them. The term feedback can be intimidating. It implies only looking back at an event that has happened and mainly focusing on what was wrong (the problem) that needs fixing. Perhaps Winston Churchill’s solution focused saying: “We must focus more on the goal than on the problem, more on the solution than on the cause. We must move forward, not look back.” Hence many coaches now coin the phrase feed-forward as a powerful intrinsic practice of inspiration that ignites passion and forges affinity in peer led coaching. I have designed workshops to cultivate observation and feedback (and forward) skills so that educators can forge collegial affinity as they surface their beliefs and assumptions with each other in order to become more effective educators. The skills learned are effective tools for a teacher to use in his or her classes and even in personal relationships. CONTACT ME FOR FURTHER DETAILS “What just happened?” I wondered as I came home from my first day at school in September 2006. I was reeling and disoriented. It was my first day teaching again after a twenty-year break. Coming back into the third-millennium classroom in 2006 was a shock, like returning to one's once-bucolic hometown and finding it choked and bustling. Pressure on teachers and kids had increased exponentially. Everybody was plugged in, wired for sound, and pulled in a million directions at once: top-down initiatives like No Child Left Behind, adversarial policies like zero tolerance, and warp-speed social lives buzzing in their brains. Not the ideal setting for sharing the joys of higher mathematics. Over the next four years of teaching I started to get clearer about the nature of the changes in students since I left in 1985. I found that modern students: In contemplating these differences I developed a range of methods in the classroom to reach out to this generation. The resources I developed were born out of my observations, reflecting my teaching practices and simple discussions on accountability, choices, and consequences with my students. Students were delighted to discover that these tools could help them navigate the confusion in the classroom, manage stress as well as discover their inner resources. Now I am sharing my work with educators throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. During the summer I presented a paper to the Oxford Round Table, Oxford University in England on the teaching practices I have developed. Should you see value in my work and methodologies I encourage you to forward my blogs and website to educators, parents and students. Change can start from the smallest action. For more information about my coaching, talks and workshops email me today. I took a life coaching course in 2010. I had already been doing life coaching to help people improve fitness, lose weight and maintain healthy diets for about 3 years prior to that. Only when I did the course did I see how powerful a tool life coaching is for teaching. Coaching is a nuanced approach to helping people. It is not a replacement to therapy but can be therapeutic. It is not counseling but can reveal tremendous insight and direction for someone. It is not consultancy but the client can feel confident in making dramatic changes in their life and succeeding. The secret to Coaching’s success is that it is a co-creative process designed by both the coach and the client. This is why it works. It is not imposed on the client and this is why the client feels confidence early on in the process. A skilled coach grows with the client. It is a beautiful process. It opened the door to empowering my students by asking the right questions at the right time without imposing my agenda on them. Students who would normally not take any academic risks in the classroom felt empowered to try. My students soon became unafraid to make mistakes. In fact they knew mistakes were helping them learn! It was a marvelous break through from the crippling fear of failure paradigm they carry with them. But there were many other issues for teens: intense pressure from parents to get good grades, sexual orientation, bullying, poverty levels, parental abuse and more. Coaching and meditation created more compassion in me than I could bear at times. I remember breaking down and crying at dinner one night as I was describing to my wife and friends how much kids need help. Schools are under a lot of pressure to prove themselves according to data. From a teachers point of view this can feel like a barren desert devoid of the rich opportunities that don’t necessarily show up on the data radar. One of the greatest compliments I received this year was from a shy girl who struggled with geometry. She said at the end of the year I was the perfect teacher and a role model for her. She expressed so much gratitude for being shown how to meditate and manage her stress. You never know what you do or say as a teacher that makes a difference to your kids. It really is something to never forget as a teacher. "Coaching with you has widened my horizons of what I thought was possible and I now have a clearer view of my options and possibilities." MJ - Massachusetts The modern teenager finds him or herself in a strange new world that no one could have predicted even a decade ago. The millennial teen is growing up in a world where the parent and role model has been largely replaced by the new phenomena of technology pre-occupation. Between cell phones, i-Pads, i-Pods, games and unlimited internet access, the average modern teen spends around 8 hours per day (according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation Study) being bombarded by music, information, images, texts and entertainment. Often this is compounded because of a teen's facility to multi-task, so they are actually absorbing up to 11 or 12 hours worth of electronic stimulus daily! Studies are beginning to emerge that link online exposure time to alarming rises in chronic teenage disorders. These include: · Hearing damage · A.D.D. & A.D.H.D. · Chronic fatigue Other disturbing correlations include the following: students who spend more time on their electronic equipment score lower grades, tend to be more irritable, struggle to access higher order thinking skills and have limited social skills. My own observations in the high school classroom add to this: teens today tend to have a reduced tolerance to stress and struggle to focus for extended periods of time. Unfortunately many teens live lifestyles which are so busy that they undervalue rest, introspection and recovery, three essential components for a healthy and successful lifestyle. Teenagers often under value the wisdom and hierarchy of adults and instead surround themselves with entertainment and endless stimulus from their electronic devices. Parents, teachers and other professionals are struggling to manage this exponential change. The popular convention is to treat the symptoms of these teenage “diseases” by using medication and therapy, rather than going to the source. It is rare to find people or groups who can guide teens to foster self reliant and real solutions. These solutions mean lifestyle changes which take time and discipline in a caring transaction between the teen and the role model adult. Through my work in the classroom and in my teen life coaching I have introduced teenagers to meditation, integrated brain techniques and moral contemplations which have helped them manage stress, improve grades and in some cases transform their worldviews. Working at this level opens up possibilities for teens to manage complex and overwhelming situations they currently face. Find out more. Bridging the Virtual Gap: The Challenge for 21st Century Teenagers Are you challenged by modern day teens? OR are you a teen YOURSELF? In either case, you will probably recognize something of your experience in the following story: Sixteen year-old Leah and her mother are sitting at the dinner table. Each is reading her emails on hand-held devices. Every time an email arrives it announces itself by pings and pops that punctuate the silence. The blue light from the screen lights up the whites of their eyes giving them an eerie glow as they fervently read scraps of gossip from the latest sender. The mother looks up. Her eyes squint into a frown as she blurts a question in a commanding tone, “Leah can you do the dishes? It’s your turn and you have missed the last three times.” No reply. Leah’s head is fixated on her iphone, her fingers furiously texting. Her earphones complete her isolation as they block out all sound under eight-five decibels. She is perfectly unreachable. Almost. Only physical contact can break the spell of her impermeable shield from reality. She's in a virtual empire where she reigns supreme. Her mother taps her on the shoulder to gain her attention. “Fuck, don’t molest me, you retard” Leah snaps at her mother. “Wait till I tell my therapist you hit me again!” Leah's mother’s mind races, fearing that her daughter will do something irrational. Inside of ten seconds Leah places her iphone in front of her mother’s face, snapping a photo and then uploading it to Facebook with the words “My mother sucks! She hit me again.” The mother’s photo has been instantly sent to 1500 “friends.” Her simple request has suddenly evaporated into an emotional maelstrom made public. Perplexed, the mother stares helplessly at this strange creature, her daughter, and sighs. I am guessing that many of you who know or work with teenagers, or indeed are teenagers yourself, may recognize some of the familiar issues in this scenario. In my fifteen years working with teens as a High School Teacher and Life Coach I often encounter over one hundred students a day, many in various situations like Leah's. I have witnessed social changes that have required me to consider deeply the challenges teens face and where they are at. Several key issues I've identified in trying to help teens include: a difficulty to communicate their needs non-violently; over-dependence on virtual relationships; poor health; and a confused morality which includes their inability to take responsibility. Teenagers today have been armed with a variety of reasons for their issues, from ADHD to obesity to anger management issues. These are often used as excuses for not having to take responsibility for their behaviors and actions. Not only that, but doctors, behaviorists and various professional studies point to quick fixes such as medication as convenient solutions over more painstaking, slow but real and effective routes to deal with complex social issues. Common sense is often belittled or even lost altogether. As a Life Coach and a cutting-edge High School educator my mission is to empower and help teenagers tap their creative spirit to become healthy and robust leaders and pioneers of the twenty-first century. To do this I am bridging a gap between two worlds. The first world is the virtual one where teens (and now parents and teachers) are absorbed into electronic social connections and entertainment, often at the expense of deeper relationships with others. The second world is real where communication and relationship come first, and the consequences a teen’s actions have on themselves and those around them become apparent. The results are powerful. I encourage teens to: Reclaiming the real is the first step to a saner future, don't you think? I have been meditating for twenty five years. It is a ritual as important to me as sleeping and eating the right food. One metaphor to describe meditation is to imagine you are looking at birds flitting between tree branches. Birds can be all shapes and sizes doing all sorts of things. Similarly your thoughts may be troubling, neutral or pleasant. When you let something that is troubling you be like another bird in the tree —neither good nor bad—you allow yourself to become free from the intense emotions surrounding that thought. Approaching thoughts this way is very freeing. In the process you can be more objective about the thoughts in your own mind. You will also find yourself making different choices, especially when you are restless or upset. Most teachers would agree that stress and anxiety are a major cause preventing creativity and learning in the classroom. So one day I decided to introduce my students to meditation. I tried it out with my ninth, tenth and twelfth graders. I asked my students to come into the room, take their books out and simply sit there quietly. They had this time to themselves. Time to arrive and relax. I told them scientific studies have shown that sitting still and doing nothing is good for clearer thinking, improving attention deficit disorders and managing stress. I emphasized that for this to work they could not interfere with any other student in the process. They were thrilled. After some experimentation, it soon became obvious that five minutes was too long for some students - especially those with ADHD, ADD. I felt torn as I did not want some students to be disadvantaged by meditation. We persisted over the next few months. I called our meditation time Sink and Think Meditation Snacks. Since I introduced Sink and Think™ , my students looked forward to meditating and appreciated quiet time. Most surprising of all, those students who struggled with ADD and ADHD, loved it most . I noticed subtle shifts in my students after a short time.There was more respect between them, they listened more intently and they began engaging more in the lesson. The students themselves described their experiences as: “there's less chaos in this class”; “I feel peaceful as I enter your room”; “I am not overwhelmed when I start to work”; “I am curious what the lesson will be”; “I took 3 seconds off my personal best by meditating before the swim meet”… and the list goes on. Sink and Think™, has been a transformative classroom experience. It has impacted both me and my students, revealing the intrinsic value that silence brings. Respect, care, curiosity, creativity, self-confidence and self-management are just a few. Perhaps the most remarkable thing I have noticed is that students who suffer from ADHD become calmer and more attentive throughout the lesson. If you would like more information about how silence affects learning contact me here. Please share this blog with someone who needs to hear good news. What do I mean by organic teaching? I mean teaching that responds to the living breathing souls in the classrooms - the students. It is an authentic and natural teaching that the teacher dares to bring into the classroom. Organic teaching requires a teacher to be awake, alert and empathic. The kind of teaching a student remembers for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately organic teaching has become a rare event in schools. The business of schooling is more than ever interested in exam results. The single pointed focus on exam results is arguably the greatest misrepresentation of a teacher's effectiveness and a student's intelligence. So what could organic teaching look, sound and feel like? It takes me back to a hot, muggy day in 2012 when I was teaching. What do you do as a teacher when the temperature is a muggy 90 degrees outside and your lethargic students have just eaten lunch? I peruse my room. Students are slumped over their desks barely able to stay awake. My carefully planned lesson seems strangely alien in this atmosphere of reluctance. The vision of students struggling enthusiastically to solve challenging problems is fading as I take in the panorama of sleepy minds and bodies in front of me. An overwhelming wave of futility washes over me. I gaze around the room desperately looking for a natural opening. Unfortunately, there is a force field of inertia so thick that, I feel like I am talking through wet cement. My words fall on deaf ears and wooden desks. I stop and wait quietly. Several students prop open one eye to make sure I am still there. My natural opening just arose. I turn my back silently on my students and write a quote on the board: "I think, therefore I am." Then I write the question "What would happen to space if the co-ordinate (3,6) went missing?" Gently, ever so gently, I state: “Today is our last Wednesday together and it is NOT a coincidence that we should be doing THIS question on the board.” Three or four heads pop up and stare vacantly at the question. There is more silence, until one student mumbles, “What’s the coincidence?” His jet black eyes are hidden under long bangs. “Aah” I think, “he’s awake!” Two more heads pop up like prairie dogs looking for predators. I answer quietly and slowly: “I haven’t worked that part out yet”? More voices contribute unexpectedly throwing out unlikely conjectures. “Well one co-ordinate has a 3 and Wednesday is the third day of the week!” says one student at the back of the room, beaming with satisfaction. Another chimes in that “the combination of co-ordinates (3,6) adds to 9 which is the number of letters in Wednesday”. Suddenly over half the bodies in the hot, muggy, depressive room are awake and squawking like chicks in a nest. “Where is this enthusiasm coming from?” I wonder. My mission is to awaken the rest of the class to wonder and want to explore with me. Raising my voice I ask “Do you realize how lucky you are to have a classroom ? In some countries, students walk 10 miles to school to stand or sit under a tree. No books, no shelter, and a long walk home.” There is a stirring. I feel like a preacher on a pulpit as I rhetorically declare and ask “Do you realize less than two percent of the entire planet’s population know what a Cartesian Number Plane is and even fewer understand how to create graphs?” Heads are popping up curiously. “Do you know that if the co-ordinate (3,6) was missing you would not be able to have video games?” Only two heads remain down. "How come?" says one student. Unexpectedly a student blurts out "Because computer pixels are co-ordinates on a number plane. We are making progress. “There is still time” I think to myself, “we will get through this”. I savor the moment. “Do you realize co-ordinate number planes are only 300 years old?” I ask in an excited tone. “Hurrr?” mumbles someone. “Yes!” I claim exuberantly. “Descartes thought this out while he was eating eggs at a restaurant in Paris. He wrote it down on his napkin! He was so excited he forgot to tip the waitress. Can you imagine how she felt, while one of the greatest moments in mathematical history was unfolding?” Everyone is awake, alert and curious! One blurts out "I thought the Mayans already knew this?" I was reaching them now. I had them! “No” I said delightedly at his wonderful input, “the Mayans invented zero! But without zero the number plane would be meaningless.” I ask the same student "What is the significance of zero in the Cartesian number plane?" With the Mayans and Descartes at my side I am surfing the interest and learning with my students. We complete the problem with relish. The rest of the lesson unfolds as we learn and practice the distance formula. There is a buzz in the room and as students work together I am delighted to hear their conversations and imaginations alive and well. The students are alive with that peculiar energy that appears from nowhere. I ponder the lesson's aftermath in my hot, muggy room, wondering "What are the special ingredients that make it possible for students and the teacher to mysteriously come together?" If you enjoyed this post please forward it to a friend. Click to set custom HTML How do you feel about your education? Do you find some teachers “have it” and others don’t? Most importantly have you ever asked yourself "How do I learn best?" Answering this question alone may reveal why some teachers light you up and others shut you down. The ancient Greek maxim "Know Thyself" still applies today. Because once you know yourself you will know what you need in order to learn. You see, every student has very particular needs in order to learn. That includes you. Let's start with the obvious. You have eyes, ears, mouth and a body. These are your major learning organs which determine your dominant learning style. In other words how you like to learn best. They are called: To believe that the above learning styles are the only way you learn would be inaccurate. You learn through all three modalities at the same time. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to learn if you sat through an entire lesson with your eyes closed, or your ears blocked or sitting absolutely still? There are other ways that might help you to know yourself and learn. Ask yourself "How important is it for me to learn by:" Once you have asked yourself these questions start to notice which teachers include these qualities in their lessons and how it affects you. Ask your friends which teachers they like and why. Lastly ask yourself what could my teacher do differently that would make me a happier student? Think about how and when you can ask your teacher so the teacher realizes you are serious about how much this would help you learn better. Don't express it as a complaint or ultimatum. This never works and most likely will create more discomfort between you and your teacher. I suggest you practice this with a good friend, your coach, a parent or someone you trust first. For more information to help you know your learning styles I recommend you read “Quantum Learning: Unleashing the Genius in You” or my blogs (see below). You can also hire a Teen Coach to help you understand your learning styles. Good luck and pass this blog not your parents, friends and teachers. Other BLOG Posts by Lawrence Carroll LAWRENCE CARROLL EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT & LIFE COACH "Lawrence Carroll's workshop on personal stress management, which he conducted with my Columbia Grad School class was a huge success." Neal Pilson, Columbia University, Former President, CBS Sports
“How do you measure social change?” As a consultant, I am often asked this question when I evaluate programmes or campaigns that are meant to produce some sort of social progress in the global South. I guess the underlying dilemma is about whether we can quantify qualitative changes, such as better dialogue between aid donors and civil society organisations. Is there a way to measure quality with numbers? Participatory statistics provides an answer. Recently promoted by researcher Jeremy Holland in his Who Counts? The Power of Participatory Statistics (2014), the idea of using numbers to describe complex social interactions builds on two key elements. First, you complement official stats – usually produced by a government agency in a given country – with data gathered from a broader group of relevant people. In development co-operation programmes, this group could be a local community or a network of women’s associations, for example. Adopting a participatory approach allows you to answer data requests from different angles, making the overall picture more accurate and granular. That’s the case of a sustainability project in Suriname, in the Amazon, where indigenous groups use participatory GIS technology to map their land. The locally generated data is then compared with the official information provided by the government and used by these groups to claim their rights to land and natural resources. Second, you use a wider set of tools than usual to generate more reliable data. Participatory statistics brings together methodologies that have been around for decades, such as ranking, scoring, social mapping and estimating. Through these methodologies it is easier to analyse the social dynamics around a certain programme, even on a massive scale. For example, by 2010 thousands of community groups across Rwanda had ranked wealthy and poor households in 14,837 villages by visualising them on cloth maps based on six agreed categories. The result was an unprecedented trove of information, which Rwanda’s Ministry of Health used to better understand who should receive free health care services and who should pay for insurance. Over and over again, the evidence gathered through participatory statistics has dispelled several misconceptions about this approach – that it is primarily based on perceptions; that it engages people with little or no numeracy skills; that it is simplistic. Quite to the contrary, engaging a broader statistics community, particularly at local level, has led to discover that most community members consulted have developed their own ways of calculating things. Even those who are illiterate may use visual or tactile tools to enumerate, like seeds and beans. As a consequence, it is now possible to generate whole sets of specific data that would otherwise escape researchers. Also, engaging communities in validating data helps reduce margins of error or even the unintended bias of the researcher who carries out the study. In the context of social change, what’s more important is to look at what happens when communities actively participate in statistical studies concerning them. Once people are recognised as analysts in their own right, with tools and knowledge of their own, they gain confidence in their ability to interpret the data about their community. They feel more capable of identifying challenges and solutions. And they are more likely to translate this awareness into action. A brilliant example is the self-evaluation carried out by members of a donor-funded social movement project in Bangladesh about a decade ago. By sorting through more than 8,000 statements made by movement members about their ability to bring about change, it was possible to detect behaviour patterns and measure the level of members’ economic, social, political and personal empowerment. The process itself was empowering, particularly for women and girls, as it led movement members to continuously ask themselves how they could improve things on multiple levels. To use a trendy term these days, participatory statistics is deeply transformational in nature, with the potential to alter the complex web of power relations in development co-operation projects for the better. As Holland says, using participatory methods to produce reliable numbers is also an effective way to generate both a qualitative and quantitative description of social change. I am not aware of participatory numbers being used to complement the official statistics measuring progress on the UN Global Goals but I certainly hope it is the case. Do you know? Photo credit: FAO/Olivier Asselin
This course presents how children and youth can be impacted by climate change, how their resilience can be strengthened, and how they can act to address this challenge. It consists of a module divided into five sections and takes around 2 hours to complete. A short quiz at the end allows you to test your knowledge. Once completed with at least 70% of correct answers, you will receive a certificate of completion. You have a maximum of three attempts. This module is available as PDF and PowerPoint presentation for offline study or training purposes. The module also includes links to other UN resources on climate change, which provides a gateway to more in-depth and specific information. If you encounter any difficulty or if you have any questions, please consult our help page.
From the November-December 2019 issue of News & Letters Global Climate Strike Chicago—On the first day of the third Global Climate Strike, Sept. 20, thousands of people, mostly teenagers, marched to the Loop and rallied. Across the world, four million people participated—the biggest climate action ever. newsandletters.org was one of 7,371 websites that observed the Digital Climate Strike. The events, 5,800 actions in 163 countries, continued with 2.7 million more people in various places for a week, before and after the UN’s Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23, culminating in a Sept. 27 Earth General Strike. YOUTH TAKE THE LEAD Hearing the chants dominated by children’s voices was quite moving. So was seeing so many very young people coming out in all seriousness to call for a drastic social transformation to save their future and the future of humanity from the climate and extinction catastrophe. We are already living through its early stages, and it will grow much worse if business as usual is allowed to steamroll on. As we rallied, six named tropical cyclones were swirling in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific—tying a modern record. One, Hurricane Humberto, had brushed the Bahamas a week earlier—complicating its recovery from the disaster wrought by Hurricane Dorian—and then subjected Bermuda to hurricane-force winds. Another, Tropical Storm Imelda, dumped more than 40 inches of rain on parts of Texas, causing catastrophic flooding, much of it in places flooded by Hurricane Harvey two years ago; Imelda and Harvey both broke rainfall records. More and more intense hurricanes and cyclone-caused flooding can be expected with global warming. This was no trick of brilliant scheduling for the climate strike, since every week brings a new climate disaster, according to a recent UN report. The difficulties in store for the movement are shown by the fact that in China, the country where the largest amount of greenhouse gases is currently being emitted, no strike was allowed to happen. That is not for lack of concern by the youth, as in 16-year-old Howey Ou’s solitary climate strike in Guilin earlier this year until the police forced her to stop. The Communist Party tightly controls information, portraying leader Xi Jinping as constructing an “ecological civilization” and making the country a climate leader, while stamping out reports of pollution and the effects of the continuing massive burning of coal and construction of more coal-fired power plants abroad. The government has even set up its own “China Youth Climate Action Network,” whose line is that youth need to “work with” the government rather than protest. CAPITALIST LIE ON CLIMATE CHANGE The difficulties are seen as well in the West. Countries like the U.S.—which has emitted the greatest amount of greenhouse gases cumulatively—Australia and Brazil are controlled by entrenched capitalist minorities that undermine science, spread lies, and double down on deforestation and fossil fuel production, export and consumption, while slashing environmental regulations. Canada and European countries with greener images talk a good game while pushing production and use of coal and tar sands oil. That is why the youth are saying, we don’t want to hear you talk about climate. We want to see real action. Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate strike pioneer Greta Thunberg told the U.S. Congress: “Please save your praise. We don’t want it. Don’t invite us here to just tell us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it. We don’t want to be heard. We want the science to be heard.” At the same time, there is a great stirring of ideas around what deep social problems have prevented real action from happening, and what kind of social transformation is needed to set humanity on a new track. That stirring of ideas has been intensified by the massive activity and the questions the youth have been raising. Both the mass activities and the ferment of ideas will continue to grow. Climate strikers speak Chicago—I’m here because I’m thinking about all of humanity. We don’t need to destroy people’s lands and force them to become climate refugees, although we should welcome them with open arms and stand up against racism or xenophobia. Some places are already uninhabitable. It scares me. It’s happening now. I am just amazed that people choose profit over human lives. I need to stand up for my future. I want to feel comfortable having a family and being assured that they will live on a safe earth. I’ve never done anything like this. There’s something sublime about it. It’s powerful. I’ve known about the climate strike and Greta Thunberg for six months or so, from seeing the news. It’s really exciting. The community here is great. And so many people. I hear that millions and millions of people are striking. Chicago—I’m here because I care deeply about the environment and I try to do my part. I thought it was not only a good thing, not only something I wanted to do, but a responsibility to be here. I’m 29 years old. I started learning about global warming around 2000. Later, I was struck by Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. I remember learning about the destruction of rainforests and the polar ice cap melting. What really tugged at my heartstrings were the animals dying due to global warming. What really gets me is the humanitarian crisis of people and animals. We share this earth. I think we should all put this together in a more habitable way. I remember that iconic image of the polar bear so happy and drinking a coke. Seeing documentaries about polar bears swimming with nowhere to get out of the water, dying, felt like a metaphor for my innocent worldview being disillusioned or deferred. Chicago—I feel called to action because I’m a younger person, and I’ll be feeling the effects more than the older people who attempt to stop mitigation efforts. Last year, I did a majority of my projects on climate change efforts and climate change effects from large industries, such as the hotel industry, which is a very big contributor to domestic landfills and other pollution. It intensifies as my interest grows, and I’m ready to do something about it. I am 18. I don’t do as much as I could. I don’t have a whole lot of freedom in terms of my time and scheduling. I use the least amount of plastic I can. I haven’t used straws for a year. I was about 16 when I started being active. Obviously, in the last two years, there’s been a whole lot more coverage, which is why there’s way more people here than before. Estimations that we achieve a point of no return by 2045 or 2050, are concerning a lot of Generation Z people. We are unable to grasp the full gravity, because we’re young and we have other stuff that we’re trying to deal with as growing people in America. Everyone is starting to feel a lot more unified. This is a central issue. It makes me happy that there are so many people. People are going to stop and hear the message and take it to heart. There are all these people that are not only doing it for each other, like everyone here at the rally, but also for people who are going to be reporting on this that will also get the message that everyone wants conveyed I’m from Chicago, Logan Square. I’m doing a project on changing perceptions and behaviors regarding climate change and mitigation efforts that people can do, hoping to try and change some people who are indifferent to this issue because it’s going to affect us all immediately. If people are indifferent to it, it might already be too late. Detroit—Detroit’s Climate Strike was really cool and inspiring. About 700 people, mostly young, rallied and marched in downtown Detroit. All the speeches were by young people, mostly people of color. They are angry; they understand that life will not be the same in the future. I went because I feel it is important to support the young people. They are listening to Greta Thunberg who inspires them and brings tears to our eyes. I talked to an organizer from a left party who was dismayed that the speakers, some as young as seven years old, were not following the agenda. I told him, “When you were their age, you didn’t follow the agenda either.” San Francisco—On Sept. 20, the day of the Global Climate Strike, thousands of people, young and old, marched three miles from the Federal Building over to Market Street, pausing in front of Exxon and Bank of America and other locations to call out corporations. Hundreds of high school and college students led off the march, with a youth marching band playing “Which Side Are You On,” and contingents of even younger pre-teen and primary school students along with union members and climate activists of all ages, including a large group of grandmothers. Marchers carried signs proclaiming: “The Sea Level Is Rising—So Are We”; “Make Earth Cool Again”; “SkolStrejk För Klimatet,” in Swedish to honor Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who had initiated the school strike movement (see “Greta Thunberg: No One Is Too Small”, N&L November-December 2019, p. 8); “There’s No Planet B”; and, quoting Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” Discussions during the march centered on what could slow or reverse climate change, with the young people leading the movement critical of dead ends like the carbon tax and other panaceas that capitalists might feel they could live with.
The rapidly changing Arctic provides excellent opportunities for investigating primary succession on freshly deglaciated areas. Research on the Gåsbreen foreland (S Spitsbergen) traced the succession of particular groups of organisms and species, particularly lichens and bryophytes, and determined the effect of selected abiotic factors on this succession. Fieldwork in 2008, employed a continuous linear transect of phytosociological relevés (1 m2) along the foreland. Data analysis allowed to distinguish five different succession stages and three types of colonisers. Canonical correspondence analysis and a permutation test showed that distance from the front of the glacier and fine grain material in the substrate mostly influenced the distribution and abundance of vegetation, and the steepness of the moraine hills affected the colonisation process, mainly in the older part of the marginal zone. The aim of this study was to identify a suitable lichen species for the long−term monitoring of heavy−metal atmospheric pollution in Svalbard. Cladonia and Cetraria s.l. species that have been widely used until now for assessing heavy−metal deposition in the Arctic are in decline over extensive areas of Svalbard, mainly due to climate change and over−grazing by reindeer. Cetrariella delisei , rarely used for biomonitoring, is still common and widespread in this area. Levels of Cr, Ni, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd and Mn were measured in three lichen species: Cetrariella delisei , Cladonia uncialis , Flavocetraria nivalis and in a moss Racomitrium lanuginosum from Sørkapp Land, South Spitsbergen. The results imply that Cetrariella delisei can be safely compared to Cladonia uncialis for identifying the levels of heavy metals, but direct comparison between Cetrariella delisei and other species studied is more difficult owing to differences in levels of heavy metals even in samples from the same site. This paper refers to lichen biota growing on driftwood in the Kaffi ø yra Plain (NW Spitsbergen, Svalbard). The presented list of 25 lichenized fungi includes both the eurytopic, accidental, typical, and stenotopic species. Taxa that belong to the last two groups can be considered as lignicolous. This study confirms the existence of a specific group of lichen species, for which the driftwood is a main substrate in the Arctic. Additionally, five lichen species new for the whole Svalbard were recorded, namely: Candelariella coralliza , Elixia flexella , Lecanora saligna , Lecidea plebeja , and Xylographa sibirica . Long term changes (46 years) in the a bundance of pygoscelid penguins breeding populations and nests distribution in the Lions Rump (King George Island) colony were investigated in three time intervals, according to previously published two censuses and one original study conducted in 2010. At that time a detailed colony map based on the GIS system was made. Results of this study showed different trends for each investigated species. In the last three decades Adélie penguin breeding populations showed strong declining tendencies (69.61%). In contrast, the population of gentoo penguins represents the reverse trend, increasing 171.85% over the same period. Observed changes in both penguin population sizes are reflected in the different spatial and geographic distribution of their nests. The population changes observed at the Lions Rump colony are consistent with the relevant pygoscelid penguin tendencies in the western Antarctic Peninsula region. Breeding penguin population dynamics at Lions Rump area with a minimal disturbance by human activity may well illustrate a natural response of those birds to environmental changes in the Antarctic. This study investigated leaf mesophyll cells of Caryophyllaceae plants growing in polar regions – Cerastium alpinum and Silene involucrata from the Hornsund region of Spitsbergen island (Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic), and Colobanthus quitensis from the Admiralty Bay region on King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctic). Ultra− structural changes were analyzed in mesophyll protoplasts of plants growing in natural Arctic and Antarctic habitats and plants grown in a greenhouse, including plants exposed to short−term cold stress under se mi−controlled conditions. Cell organelles of plants growing in natural polar habitats and greenhouse−grown plants were characterized by significant morphological plasticity. Chloroplasts of plants studied in this work formed variously shaped protrusions and invaginations that visibly increased the contact area between adjacent cell compartments and reduced the distance between organelles. S. involucrata plants grown under greenhouse conditions, tested by us in this wor k, were characterized by highly dynamic cell nuclei with single or multiple invaginations of the nuclear membrane and the presence of channels and cisternae filled with cytoplasm and organelles. Crystalline inclusion proteins were observed in the cell nuclei of C. quitensis between nuclear membranes and in the direct proximity of heterochromatin. Our study revealed significant conformational dynamics of organelles, manifested by variations in the optical density of matrices, membranes and envelopes, in particular in C. quitensis , which could suggest that the analyzed Caryophyllaceae taxa are well adapted to severe climate and changing conditions in polar regions.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a group of behavioural symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. It can affect people of all levels of intelligence and all walks of life. Welcome to the Psychiatry-UK ADHD service. We have a large number of ADHD specialist psychiatrists working in our organisation, for children, for adolescents – and for adults. You do not need a GP referral if you are not seeking NHS funding. (Find out more getting NHS funding here) Organising an online ADHD assessment couldn’t be simpler – you can talk to our team on 033 1024 1980 or book online. - ADHD in Children & Adolescents - What is ADHD? - 3 Recognised Sub-types of ADHD - Common Perceptions and Misunderstandings about ADHD - ADHD Treatment (First Steps) - Getting a diagnosis through Psychiatry-UK - ADHD Treatment Costs (approx) - ADHD Support Services - NHS Funding of our ADHD Support services - Supplying ADHD support services to Psychiatry-UK LLP - Further Reading - Useful Videos - Patient Feedback What is ADHD? ADHD stands for Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder. It is a neuro-developmental condition, so it develops as your brain develops, in childhood. It is often associated with (co-morbid with, as doctors put it), other neurodevelopmental conditions such as dyspraxia, dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome and what are generally called autistic spectrum disorders. These co-morbidities can easily mask or counteract some of the more obvious symptoms of ADHD, and an experienced psychiatrist will be well aware of this. In adults, ADHD is also commonly co-morbid with other common mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, where the underlying ADHD has been masked for years by the associated problems that it has resulted in. A truly shocking statistic is that around 40% of those in prison reach the threshold for diagnosis of adult ADHD and most adults with undiagnosed ADHD will have developed and often sought help for other social problems and mental health conditions. 3 Recognised Sub-types of ADHD 1. Hyperactive – Normally associated with impulsive behaviour and that commonly perceived lack of control in children that has allowed some to dismiss the diagnosis as just bad behaviour and the result of poor parenting. The hyperactive behaviour tends to become more easily controlled as a child goes through adolescence – and to become a more generalised restlessness and or irritability. This is perhaps why there used to be a belief that ADHD was only found in children. In the last 20 years we have understood that this is not really true. 2. Inattentive – Which is now more commonly known as ADD. Where sufferers mainly experience difficulties staying focused and attending to daily, mundane tasks without being distracted, perhaps moving from one activity to another or becoming bored quickly. In children this is often missed as the resulting behaviour – daydreaming, inattentiveness, underachievement, can be dismissed as laziness or even praised as imaginative but unfulfilled potential. 2. Combined – As the name suggests, where there is a combination of inattention and hyperactivity. In most cases, this is probably the best description of most people with ADHD as they really have a spectrum of types of behaviour, any of which, on their own, could be regarded as quite “normal”, but which when part of a larger picture, lead to a diagnosis of ADHD. Common Perceptions and Misunderstandings about ADHD That common perception of ADHD; of badly behaved little boys being disruptive in class, is a huge element of the stereotypical prejudice in how many parents and teachers react to a diagnosis or even a suggestion that a diagnosis should be considered for their child. The familiar perception is of the most visible sign of ADHD which is at its most florid in young boys. Young girls (and older ones), can also have ADHD but are less likely to be diagnosed, both because they show less hyperactivity and because the present statistics show that ADHD is more prevalent among boys by a factor or about 2 or 3 to 1 – (though this may be partly due to these historic prejudices.) This common (mis)understanding of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder often leads to treatment of the condition with stimulants which are chemically similar to some recreational drugs – and which can have adverse effects on those without the condition. It is important to note that they do not give the sort of “rush” that those who use stimulants recreationally desire. In fact, the medication has positive effects for over 80% of those with ADHD who try them. They are not addictive, whereas those with untreated ADHD are highly vulnerable, as they become adults, to succumbing to addiction – often by using illegal drugs to self-medicate. The research evidence is that medicating for ADHD actually reduces substance abuse. ADHD Treatment (First Steps) If you think your child – or you – have got ADHD, the first step to getting treatment is to receive a diagnosis from a specialist doctor, this is generally a psychiatrist with considerable experience of working in the field of neurodevelopmental conditions. Though it is now understood that ADHD is a lifelong condition, it is not necessarily such a terrible diagnosis to have – 80% of those with ADHD will react positively to medication and, with better understanding of the condition, can easily learn to manage the difficulties that they would otherwise face. Only with such a diagnosis can these most suitable medications be accessed. For many with ADHD these medications are highly effective but, as they are stimulants, to get them prescribed you need to have a special type of prescription that your GP will only give you if they know a specialist psychiatrist has made a formal diagnosis of ADHD. Getting a diagnosis through Psychiatry-UK If you live in an area where there is no specialist ADHD service, or where the delay in receiving an appointment from the local service is likely to be more than one year, we would be happy to work with you and your GP to seek funding from your local CCG for us to provide you with a diagnosis. If you or one of your children have a diagnosis of ADHD, you may also wish to take advantage of our the specialist support services for children and adults with ADHD that we can help you access and for which you should be NHS funding with the support of your GP. The benefit of funding our services yourself is that we can start helping you tomorrow – but you do have to pay for it. As well as being convenient, we believe that we are the cheapest private ADHD diagnostic and treatment service in the UK. However, we want to make sure that you do not find that there are any surprises in the cost of getting treatment – as there is more to it than just getting a diagnosis. First Step – Diagnosis If you are an adult who is here because you think you have ADHD, all you will probably want to do is get on with having that consultation and getting that diagnosis. That’s what it is like to have ADHD! So, press the button, fill in the form, for the initial consultation, and make an appointment. If you are here to arrange for a consultation for your child, the process is slightly more complicated – most of the medications for ADHD are these controlled drugs and this is a child to whom we may be prescribing them – so we have to be very sure. The first stage is for us to send out some ratings scales for you, your child, and one of the teachers at your child’s school to fill in and return to us before we do the assessment on your son or daughter. When you send back the ratings scales the specialist assess them. Then there will be the consultation which will be longer than for an adult, perhaps 90 minutes. Whether for a child or an adult you can start the process within a few days. You will have a diagnosis within a week of us receiving the information that we need from you and, if the diagnosis is confirmed and you want to proceed, you will be able to start on the medication immediately. As the diagnosis for a child or adolescent involves input from teachers as well as you, the parent(s), it does take slightly longer than for an adult, but using our system, it can still be done in a few weeks rather than months – and that is so important when a child’s ability to get an education is so dependent on their ability to concentrate in class. After Diagnosis – Medication If the consultant diagnoses you or your child as having ADHD, and you want to try the medication, you will then go through the process of titration – when the psychiatrist and you correspond by email for a few weeks to work out the correct level of medication, and then you will also have a second, short interview with the psychiatrist before he or she writes to your GP and hands over prescribing to them. There will be one variable cost: We will be providing you with private prescriptions for the medication which are sent by recorded delivery. We charge £25 for each prescription and a pharmacy will charge you around £70 for the first line of treatment – which is normally methylphenidate or atomoxetine. If you are unlucky and these don’t agree with you or are ineffective you may then have to try other medications such as dexamphetamine and lisdexamfetamine which can cost up to £150 for the medication. Once your GP has agreed to take over prescribing, you will receive a monthly NHS prescription from them. We would expect them to ask you or your child to receive an annual check up from us as well. ADHD Treatment Costs (approx) \|Diagnostic Assessment and Report\|\|Private Prescription\|\|Titration\|\|Medication\|\|Review\| While you are titrating onto medication, you will be have weekly progress correspondence with your consultant by email. The cost of one month’s supply of medication can vary depending on what form and dose is recommended, but you will have to pay for this at the pharmacy counter if you have a private prescription from us. Titration fees shown above include the initial prescription charge. **Although we will aim to complete your assessment in the initial one hour appointment, sometimes it will take longer to allow a full exploration of your symptoms and history in order to make an accurate diagnosis. You can help the consultant by completing all paperwork and questionnaires that you are sent in advance, and by being clear what questions you want to be answered during the appointment. Additional time spent with the psychiatrist is charged at £180 for every further 30 minutes or part thereof. ADHD Support Services Medications help most adults and children to start to manage their ADHD, but all the research shows that medications are just the starting point for effective treatment. Any family who has a member – or members – with ADHD, needs to receive some specialist coaching. Families with one or more ADHD children are often unaware that their family dynamics can be hugely improved by getting some individual and family coaching. To start with, that coaching is usually about improving organisation and time management as outcomes for kids with ADHD are much improved when they do such specialist individual – work. However, ADHD is a lifetime condition – and it is very common for such preliminary work to result in an understanding of wider needs within the family – and sometimes a recognition that the adults are the ones who need to do much more to help themselves. The fact is, if you are an adult and you have ADHD, you will probably be having other mental health issues. If you are depressed, or having problems with drugs and alcohol, or finding that your relationship is failing, you need help – and the help you need has to be from an ADHD specialist or it will not be effective. There is no point in receiving a course of CBT or undertaking a drug counselling course if the underlying issue of your ADHD isn’t at the centre of the treatment. Adults with ADHD usually underestimate the extent of their own ADHD-related impairments and are likely to under report their symptoms. We would always recommend that those who have a diagnosis of ADHD then receive some specialist coaching and we refer many of our patients on for things like specialist relationship counselling, and both child and adult individual and family coaching with experienced professionals who can then introduce you to useful apps or tools to manage some of the typical problems that are associated with ADHD. Even those who are uncomfortable with a life on medication can learn to manage their little ways a bit better. NHS Funding of our ADHD Support services NHS funding is definitely available for the online therapy services that we offer if you have an ADHD diagnosis from us – as long as your GP supports your application for funding. If you want us to do so, we will help you to approach your GP surgery to discuss this with them. We can provide your GP with a priced, bespoke, medically overseen, multidisciplinary approach to helping you to manage your ADHD online over the following 12 month period so they can then apply to your local CCG to fund. Supplying ADHD support services to Psychiatry-UK LLP If you are an existing supplier of specialist coaching or therapy services for those with ADHD who would like to be considered for addition to the panel of online service providers to whom we refer our patients, please complete this form to arrange an appointment to discuss this with us. In the close future we intend to provide further details and links to other services and facilities. In the meantime, if you are now seeking some further information and would like to read further, these books are all on our bookshelves and recommended: - More Attention, Less Deficit (Tuckman) - The ADHD Effect on Marriage or The Couple’s Guide to Thriving with ADHD (Orlov) - Driven to Distraction (Hallowell and Ratey) - ADD Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life (Kohlberg / Nadeau) - Women with Attention Deficit Disorder (Solden)
36) A freeway has 10,000 vehicles per hour passing a house 200 m away. Each car emits an average of 1.5 g/mi of NOx, and winds are blowing at 2 m/s across the freeway towards the house. Estimate the NOx concentration at the house on a clear summer day near noon (assuming that NOx is chemical stable).© BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com October 9, 2019, 6:30 pm ad1c9bdddf Due to the continuous nature of the release, we will have a plume. The equation that governs the ground concentration directly downwind of a release is <C>(x,0,0)= Qm/πσyσz x exp [-1/2 (Hr/σz)^2] Where σy and σz ... Estimation of NOx concentration given emission volume and wind speed.
Text: Proverbs 25.21-22 It’s not enough to sit back and trust God to “get even” when we’ve been wronged. The radical nature of following Jesus requires we go significantly further: we’re to actually help them. “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Proverbs 25.21). Compassion, not revenge, should characterize us. Our goal through compassion is repentance: treating our enemy kindly may cause him to repent. In doing so, we model exactly what God did for us through Jesus, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2.4)? Discuss with your small group a list of things you can do to show compassion in the face of wrongdoing. If there’s someone who’s currently your “enemy,” select one from the list, do it this week, and then report back to your group.
Cell Surface Marker Cluster of differentiation (CD) molecules are markers on the cell surface, as recognized by specific sets of antibodies, used to identify the cell type, stage of differentiation and activity of a cell. CD117 is an important cell surface marker used to identify certain types of hematopoietic (blood) progenitors in the bone marrow. To be specific, hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), multipotent progenitors (MPP), and common myeloid progenitors (CMP) express high levels of CD117. Common lymphoid progenitors (CLP) expresses low surface levels of CD117. CD117 also identifies the earliest thymocyte progenitors in the thymus. To be specific, early T lineage progenitors (ETP/DN1) and DN2 thymocytes express high levels of c-Kit. It is also a marker for mouse prostate stem cells. In addition, mast cells, melanocytes in the skin, and interstitial cells of Cajal in the digestive tract express CD117. Read more about this topic: CD117 ... The field's surface, originally composed of AstroTurf, contained many gaps and uneven patches ... Baseball players also complained about the surface ... It was much harder than other AstroTurf surfaces, and the shock of running on it often caused back pain ... ... The Roman surface or Steiner surface (so called because Jakob Steiner was in Rome when he thought of it) is a self-intersecting mapping of the real projective plane into three-dimensional space, with an ... latitude (φ), gives parametric equations for the Roman surface as follows x = r2 cos θ cos φ sin φ y = r2 sin θ cos φ sin φ z = r2 cos θ sin θ cos2 φ ... triple point, and each of the xy-, yz-, and xz-planes are tangential to the surface there ... ... as the boundary of a cube, are among the first surfaces encountered in geometry ... It is also possible to define smooth surfaces, in which each point has a neighborhood diffeomorphic to some open set in E² ... This elaboration allows calculus to be applied to surfaces to prove many results ... ... Cluster of differentiation (CD) molecules are markers on the cell surface, as recognized by specific sets of antibodies, used to identify the cell type, stage of differentiation and activity of ... CD135 is an important cell surface marker used to identify certain types of hematopoietic (blood) progenitors in the bone marrow ... progenitors (MPP) and common lymphoid progenitors (CLP) express high surface levels of CD135 ... Famous quotes containing the words marker, cell and/or surface: “Personal change, growth, development, identity formationthese tasks that once were thought to belong to childhood and adolescence alone now are recognized as part of adult life as well. Gone is the belief that adulthood is, or ought to be, a time of internal peace and comfort, that growing pains belong only to the young; gone the belief that these are marker eventsa job, a mate, a childthrough which we will pass into a life of relative ease.” —Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century) “It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) “If the man who paints only the tree, or flower, or other surface he sees before him were an artist, the king of artists would be the photographer. It is for the artist to do something beyond this: in portrait painting to put on canvas something more than the face the model wears for that one day; to paint the man, in short, as well as his features.” —James Mcneill Whistler (18341903)
How Well Do You Really Know Your Artificial Sweeteners? If you have an insatiable sweet tooth, you're in luck. At any given grocery store, there are aisles stocked with sweeteners, both natural and artificial. Some of them claim to be low fat while others are zero calorie - but what does it all mean? Here's a breakdown of what you're stirring into your coffee every day. "Sucralose can intensify your coffee more than sugar can." One of the most popular artificial sweeteners, sucralose can intensify your coffee more than sugar can. In fact, the National Institutes of Health noted that it's 600 times sweeter than table sugar, so go easy when dumping it into your drink. Over the course of 20 years, it went through rigorous testing before it could be approved for consumption. Today, it's commonly added to food and drink for dietary purposes. Made up of amino acids, aspartic acid, phenylalanine and a small amount of methanol, aspartame is another popular artificial sweetener. It combines substances that are naturally present in a variety of foods and forms an ingredient that's about 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Once aspartame breaks down in the body, it's then absorbed into the blood. It's the preferred sweetener for 200 million people worldwide and is included in more than 6,000 products. Depending on which brand of saccharin you choose, the sweetener could be anywhere from 200 - 600 times sweeter than sugar. It's been a popular choice since its creation more than 100 years ago and is included in many different foods and drinks. Although it was controversial when it was first developed, it's since gone through rigorous testing and is now deemed safe for consumption across 100 countries worldwide. But, beware - it's not for use in baking or cooking, and it can have a bitter taste that you might find unpleasant. Test it out in small amounts before potentially having to throw away a perfectly good cup of coffee. With no calories, chemicals or carbohydrates, stevia originated in South America and parts of Central America. Unlike other sweeteners, stevia is made from a specific plant that naturally produces the substance. It's great choice for those looking to instantly sweeten their coffee or tea without the spikes in glucose. You can find the substance in powder or liquid form, and if you're trying to be fancy, you can even find it in leaf form.
Chapter 2: Epithelium Epithelium is further characterized by several physical features. These include : - The number of layers of cells: an epithelium with only one layer is referred to as simple. When there are more than one layer, the epithelium is referred to as stratified. A confusing exception to this is pseudostratified epithelium which appears to be more than one cell thick since the nuclei lie at different heights within the cell, but all cells are in contact with the basement membrane. - Shape of cells at free surface: Shapes of epithelial cells include squamous (flattened), cuboidal and columnar. - Function of the epithelium - Surface modifications (if present): Surface modifications include cilia and microvilli. Their presence often depend on the requirements of the tissue location where the epithelial cell resides.
President Thomas Jefferson held presidential office for two consecutive terms from 1801-1809. A "Renaissance Man" as many would say, Jefferson was a statesman, philosopher, scientist, architect, and lawyer. Ironically, Jefferson was a slaveholder as well. As the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the Statute for Religious Freedom, Jefferson is remembered as a great president, and for all of his great achievements and successful contributions to our country. He was a founder of the Democratic Party, and became one of the leading American architects of his time and designed the Virginia Capitol, the University of Virginia, and his own home, Monticello. Jefferson had a good-humored nature and was multi-lingual. He spoke French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin, but also studied some 40 American-Indian languages. The death of his wife and five of his six children left Jefferson with a deep sense of loneliness, and caused him to mourn. . President Andrew Jackson held office from 1829 - 1837. Jackson had little formal schooling and was orphaned at age 14, and later moved to Tennessee frontier and became a successful lawyer, land speculator, and planter, living on his estate, The Hermitage. Jackson was a general in the War of 1812, and was nicknamed "Old Hickory" because of his toughness. Like Jefferson, Jackson was also a founder of the Democratic Party. During Jackson's presidency, he disapproved of many actions by Congress. Jackson portrayed himself as a "man of the people", which won the support of many. (This group later became known as the Democratic Party.). Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia in 1743. In 1760, when he was 16, he entered the College of William and Mary. In 1776 Thomas Jefferson was appointed to draft a formal Declaration of Independence (which officially declared the United States independent from Britain). At the young age of 33 Jefferson became chair of the committee and did most of the actual writing.
This nonfiction title by a German-Egyptian academic examines stereotypes throughout the history of the prophet Muhammad. The main theme of the book is a representation of the life of Mohammed and the emergence of Islam. Osama bin Laden’s actions, as well as the crimes of Islamist terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State, are also attributed to Muhammad’s willingness to spread Islam through violent subjugation and partial physical liquidation of people of other faiths. Hamed Abdel-Samad, the author, is born near Cairo in 1972. He worked for UNESCO, at the Institute for Islamic Culture at the University of Erfurt, and at the Institute for Jewish History and Culture at the University of Munich. Abdel-Samad is a member of the German Islam Conference and, according to his publisher, is “considered to be one of the most renowned Islam intellectuals in the German-speaking world”. The book was first published in German (Mohamed. Eine Abrechnung) by the German publishing house Droemer Verlag in October 2015. Publishers from the Persian network of the Alliance have translated and co-published the book in Farsi in 2018 : Forough Publishing and Pouya Publishing (Germany), Khavaran Publishing (France) and Pegah Publishing (Canada). 2018 - 250 pages - 13 X 20,5 cm - ISBN : 978-3-943147-63-6
Calla lilies are the quintessential bouquet flower. The bulbs of this African flower are usually described as exotic, sensual, and suggestive and have graced the vases at countless weddings and are used in bouquets around the world. It's easy to see why these graceful and elegant flowers are easy to love. What Kind of Flower Are They? As with any plant in such high demand, there are many varieties of the basic plant. They have been bred for size and shape and even color. Calla lilies—not actual lilies at all—are aroids which means they come from the arum family of plants or Araceae. What distinguishes this family is that their flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence or a cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. It is a rhizomatous plant, meaning it has a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks. It is a perennial plant, which in the right growing conditions after it dies off after summer, can grow back year after year from its root system. Calla lilies like dappled sunlight or even light shade, along with high temperatures, high humidity, lots of fertilizer, and ample water during the growing season followed by a cooler and drier dormant period during the late fall and early winter. If you have a glasshouse, or better yet, a hydroponics set-up, you can grow beautiful calla lilies. Even if you don't, you can keep the plants going for at least one growing season. - Light: The plants prefer bright, indirect light during the growing season. The plants dislike direct sunlight. - Water: Keep potted and blooming plants constantly moist. As the blooms fall, reduce watering until all the flowers are gone; then let the leaves wither and die as the plant dries out. Give it a brief resting period, then repot it in late winter into fresh soil and begin watering again to encourage new sprouts. - Temperature: Keep the temperature on the warm side (up to 80 F) during growth and blooming. During the dormant period, cool it down to 50 F. - Soil: The best substrate for it is a loose, well-drained potting mix. - Fertilizer: Fertilize it during the growing season with liquid fertilizer or controlled-release fertilizer according to the label instructions. Stop fertilizer during dormancy. Calla lilies can be propagated from the old rhizomes by division. Outside, over time, plants will form large clumps that can be easily divided into smaller units. However, calla lilies are only viable outside in USDA zones 10 or 11 (which is basically places that rarely have freezing temperatures like southern California, southern Florida, and Hawaii), so most Americans growing calla lilies will be growing pot-bound specimens. Unfortunately, while rhizome division is still possible with indoor specimens, over time the plants will begin to lose vigor, and their flowers will never regain their original strength. So unless you are very attached to propagation, it's probably a good idea to discard expended plants and buy new ones. Repotting should be done in the mid-winter after the plant has gone into its dormant phase and rested in a cool place in its spent soil. To repot, remove the rhizome from the old pot and place into the fresh soil (smooth side down) in a slightly larger pot. Begin watering immediately to encourage new growth. The basic calla lily is a Zantedeschia hybrid. The most common variety features a yellow spadix (which is a long middle spike) surrounded by a white spathe, or a large sheath enclosing it. Recent breeding efforts, however, have introduced flowers with deep red spathes, or even mixed or speckled specimens. The typical calla lily will grow to a height of 36 inches outdoors, but shorter hybrids have been produced with Z. rehmanii that stay about 12 inches tall and are perfect for desktops. Calla lilies are such beautiful plants; it's hard not to splurge on one occasionally. - While they are growing and blooming, keep them adequately fertilized and watered, misting the plant every so often to keep the ambient humidity high. - Plants that are exposed to direct sunlight will develop damaged flowers, so watch out for leaf tip burn or discolorations. - They are susceptible to aphids (plant lice). - If you want to keep your plant after the bloom is finished, snip off the flowers and the fading leaves, only slowly reducing water, until the plant totally fails. - Although it can be fun to rejuvenate a plant from the rhizome, it will never achieve the same bloom, so it might be wiser to think of calla lilies like phalaenopsis orchids, which are somewhat disposable after the bloom is finished.
One in four patients with secondary breast cancer had to visit their GP on three or more occasions before they got a firm diagnosis, a survey has warned. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with around 55,000 new cases every year. In the UK alone, 35,000 people are living with an incurable form of the disease. Breast Cancer Now said that it was “unacceptable” that some people whose cancer had spread were not getting early access to treatments which could alleviate symptoms and improve their quality of life. “For too long now, the worrying perception that everyone survives breast cancer has masked the heartbreaking reality for 11,500 families in the UK that lose someone they love each year,” the charity said. What are the symptoms of secondary breast cancer? - Unexpected weight loss or loss of appetite - Severe or continuing headaches - Altered vision or speech - Feeling sick most of the time - Breathlessness or a dry cough - Loss of balance or weakness or numbness of the limbs - Any lumps or swelling under the arm, breastbone or collarbone - Pain in the bones (e.g. back, hips or ribs) that doesn’t get better with pain relief and may be worse at night Breast Cancer Now’s survey of 2,100 people in the UK with secondary breast cancer found that just 13 per cent were told of the symptoms to look out for if their cancer spread. Four in ten said they felt their symptoms had not been taken seriously before they were diagnosed and almost one in ten had to see their GP at least five times before they received a diagnosis. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now said: “It’s completely unacceptable that thousands of women may be experiencing avoidable delays in being diagnosed with the return and spread of their breast cancer. There is unfortunately no surviving a diagnosis of secondary breast cancer, and significant delays in patients getting the treatment and support they need can have a devastating impact.” Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, from the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and our teams are working flat out to do the very best we can for all our patients. “We understand the importance of timely cancer diagnosis and are highly trained to identify possible symptoms of cancer and its recurrence.” Stokes-Lampard called for GPs to have better access to the right diagnostic tools and training to use them. This month is breast cancer awareness month. To find out more about Breast Cancer Now, the work they do and how you can get involved this October, click here. BBC News. (2019). ‘Unacceptable’ delays in diagnosing secondary breast cancer. Accessible: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49999404. Last Accessed: 16 October 2019. Donnelly, L – Telegraph. (2019). Quarter of women with incurable breast cancer sees GP at least three times before diagnosis. Accessible: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/10/quarter-women-incurable-breast-cancer-sees-gp-least-three-times/. Last Accessed: 16 October 2019.
Safety Awareness is like almost everything else we do . . . it is learned, not instinctive. We aren’t born with awareness for safety concerns. We learn through various means. Some learn by doing, others by watching and some by reading. Others learn by their mistakes or the mistakes of others, which is one of the most important reasons near miss reporting is so imperative. Below are some good examples of behaviors that suggest you have good safety awareness: - Before you begin a job, you consider how to do it more safely. - You make sure you know how and when to use personal protective equipment. - As you work, you check you position to reduce strain on your body. - While you are working, you become aware of any changes in the area - people coming or going, jobs beginning or ending. - You start talking with others about safety. Monitor yourself today and see if you've got go Posted January 19, 2017 Return to Blog
This experiment explains the fundamental principles of image formation with a CT algorithm. A test object is used to create an attenuation tomogram and a time-of-flight tomogram followed by a discussion of the respective differences. - Ideal system for education: affordable compared to industrial system to demonstrate ultrasound-CT in a very comprehensible way - With the same system mechanical scanning of an object can be performed, e.g. to create a B-scan image - Creation of several attenuation and time-of-flight tomograms - Variation of the device parameters - Discussion of the differences What you can learn about - Ultrasonic echography (A-scan)
In the Classroom Kids need a safe and comfortable environment to learn to the best of their capabilities. This means they have to feel safe in their school and be able to positively interact with their teachers and classmates. By doing the following, parents and other adults can help make sure children have a positive school experience. Talk to your children about their day. Sometimes children won’t tell you right away if they are having problems at school. Ask your children if they see anyone bullied, if they are bullied, or if anything else makes them feel uncomfortable. Look for warning signs, such as a sudden drop in grades, loss of friends, or torn clothing. Teach children to resolve problems without fighting. Explain that fighting could lead to them getting hurt, hurting someone else, or earning a reputation as a bully. Talk to them about other ways they can work out a problem, such as talking it out, walking away, sticking with friends, or telling a trusted adult. Keep an eye on your children’s Internet use. Many elementary schools have computers with Internet access. Ask your children’s school if students are monitored when they use the Internet or if there is a blocking device installed to prevent children from finding explicit websites. Talk to your children about what they do online – what sites they visit, who they email, and who they chat with. Let them know that they can talk to you if anything they see online makes them uncomfortable, whether it’s an explicit website or a classmate bullying them or someone else through email, chat, or websites. Ask about the safety and emergency plans for your children’s school. How are local police involved? How are students and parents involved? What emergencies have been considered and planned for? These are important not only for your child’s safety, but it will also give you a sense of comfort and calmness.
Based in discussions with consultants, academics, and business leaders, the consulting firm of McKinsey & Co has proposed the Seven-S Model for successful strategy implementation. McKinsey’s consultants found that neglecting any one of seven key factors could make the effort to change a slow, painful and even doomed process. Each of these factors is equally important and interacts with all other factors. Any number of circumstances may dictate which of the factors will be the driving force in the execution of any particular strategy. Structure: The Seven–S model adds a contemporary perspective to the problem of organizational structure. The McKinsey consultants point out that in today’s complex and ever changing environment a successful organization may make temporary structural changes to cope with specific strategic tasks without abandoning basic structural divisions throughout the organization. Strategy: The Seven-S model emphasizes that, in practice, the development of strategies poses less of a problem than their execution. Systems: This category consists of all the formal and informal procedures that allow the organization to function, including capital budgeting, training and accounting systems. Systems can overpower expressed strategies. Thus, a consumer goods manufacturer might find it impossible to implement a new portfolio strategy if its management information system is not adjusted to produce the necessary cost data by segment, because there would be no way to compare the different segments of the business. Style: ‘Style’ refers not to personality, but to the pattern of substantive and symbolic actions undertaken by top managers. It communicates priorities more clearly than words alone, and may profoundly influence performance. For example, consultants have found that even oil and mineral exploration efforts, surely matters of operational skills ands luck more than strategy, benefit from top management attention. Exploration is more successful in companies whose top managers spend more of their own and the board’s time participating in exploration activities, articulate better reasons for exploration, recruit more people with exploration experience, fund exploration more consistently, and have exploration managers report to higher organizational levels Staff: Successful organizations view people as valuable resources who should be carefully nurtured, developed, guarded, and allocated. Top managers devote time and energy to planning the progress and participation of existing managers, and use job assignment policies to actively foster the development of new managers. Similarly, new hires are given jobs in the mainstream of the organization, whether that be marketing or new product innovation. Talented individuals area assigned mentors put I to fast track programs exposed to top management, and rapidly moved into positions of real responsibility. Skills: The term skills refer to those activities organizations do best and for which they are known. For examples, Du Pont is known for research, Procter &Gamble for product management, ITT for financial controls, and Hewlett-Packard for innovation and quality. Strategic changes may require organizations to add one or more new skills. Strategic initiatives that require the dismantling or revisiting of an old skill even more difficult implemented problem. Super-ordinate Goals: This refers top guiding concepts, values, and aspirations that unite an organization in some common purpose. Super-ordinate goals are often captured in a mission statement, but they are also be phrased as a simple slogan, such as ‘new products’ at 3M. Super-ordinate goals have deep meaning within the organization. They provide a sense of purpose and certain stability as other, more superficial characteristics of the organization change.
See a list of Latin American Studies Programs by Clicking Here! What is Latin American Studies? Latin American Studies is an multi-disciplinary area of study focused on Latin American history, art, culture, economics, and politics. University degrees in Latin American studies were curated to provide unique insights and appreciation for the rich history of Latin America and people that shaped those countries. Intensive research projects and case studies are created by professors to explore various aspect of life in Latin American cultures. Domains of study in Latin America include an array of sociology, athletics, art, religion, literature, psychology, travel, and behavioral patters. Top Latin American Degrees For students that qualify for a Latin American language and literature degree, you may have the ability to earn a degree via different learning modalities. In other words, you may be given the opportunity to earn your degree fully online or partially online as provided by the college or university. College degrees can be earned exclusively online giving students the flexibility to simply connect to an approved school learning portal and complete a set of the required coursework as your schedule permits. Hybrid learning models may also be available for you to consider. The hybrid learning model blends the best of classroom and distance learning modalities providing both high tech and high touch connectivity. Next, students will need to select a degree level after determining the best type of learning model. The degree levels available for students in a Latin American Studies program will typically span the gambit. In other words, you may have the opportunity to earn undergraduate degrees such as an Associate of Arts (AA) or a Bachelor of Arts (BA). Qualifying students may consider graduate degree programs to extend the breadth and depth of knowledge in Latin Studies. These degrees typically are conferred as a Master of Arts (MA) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Classes in Latin Studies Major Each degree pathway will require a student to successfully complete a unique set of courses. For example, a student on an Associate of Arts (AA) track will take general education classes such as sociology, economics, creative writing, English composition, and communications plus core classes. Meanwhile, a graduate student will be tasked to complete a focused set of upper-level classes requiring the completion of lower-level classes in addition to a thesis project or dissertation. Thesis projects along with the dissertations are board-approved projects intended to extend the body of knowledge in the Latin American Studies domain. The array of classes found in a Latin American program may vary from school to school. However, a set of common courses will be found in most degree programs. Core classes may include the following types of classes in Latin Studies: - Anthropological Studies in Latin America - The history of Latin America - Globalization & Economic Changes - Modern Latin Studies - Contemporary Latin American Literature & Language - Urbanism in Latin Countries - Latin American Poetry - Latin American History & Cultural Studies - Introduction to Latin American Culture - Methods and Theories of Latin American Art - Social & Cultural Changes in Latin America - Economic Analysis of Latin Countries - Latin American Music and Art Employment Information & Latin Careers Graduate and undergraduates earning Latin American degrees will possess targeted knowledge Latin cultures. This knowledge can be leveraged to pursue careers in teaching, history, cultural research, curriculum design, journalist, or author. In terms of job growth, associated careers such as teaching and authors are set to exceed the national average. College professors are expected to grow at a 13% clip while authors will grow at 9% in the coming decade. Growing sectors in a growing economy will translate to new jobs and career mobility for qualified professionals. Additional Resources for Latin Studies Students The expansive history of Latin America affords students, teachers, and practitioners the ability to specialize in an area of study or generalize in your degree. In either case, you may find the following organizations a boon to your career. Each provides unique resources and networking opportunities to enrich your knowledge and understanding of Latin studies.
From 2010 to 2014, the Central American coffee bean suffered from a disease that rocked the economies of the region. Exports declined by 55 percent. From 2012 to 2013 some 374,000 jobs were lost—17 percent of the labor force. Roya, or coffee rust threatened the livelihoods of nearly 2 million. Coffee rust is a fungal disease that covers the leaves and prevents photosynthesis, slowly constricting plants’ ability to process sunlight, reducing bean yield and eventually starving the plant to death. The warmer, wetter conditions wrought by climate change creates a better ecosystem for the fungus to grow. Its impact on Central American economies is significant as coffee exports are the region’s largest source of foreign income and coffee supports a vast supply chain, in turn supporting dozens of adjacent industries. To tackle the coffee rust plague, DAI partnered with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, a regional leader in agricultural research, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal was to help people linked with the coffee value chain make better decisions about their farms and businesses by providing live climate data collected from the region. At the regional level, there are different tools that provide solutions to improve coffee-growing conditions, but none of them was designed with farmers in mind. In Guatemala, DAI opted to create a new tool—Coffee Cloud—using a fully human-centered design (HCD) approach. Coffee Cloud enables coffee growers to run offline crop tests in the field, based on methods approved by the regional agriculture ministries, and receive immediate recommendations on how to combat the rust based on the level of contagion and current weather conditions. The app tracks the levels of the disease in the crop and shows behavioral graphs. Using that data, the analysts send regional recommendations and specific interventions to avoid nationwide spread of the rust, which remains a constant threat. Thinking Regionally, Working Locally From the beginning of the design process, we focused on engaging regional coffee-promotion institutions such as PROMECAFE, national institutions such as ANACAFE in Guatemala, ICAFE in Costa Rica, and IHCAFE in Honduras, as well as cooperatives, associations, and producers. Given the variety of actors involved, the same recipe wouldn’t work for everyone. To fix the needs of this mix of actors, we worked hard to consider the regional implications of the process. We wanted to ensure we were meeting the needs of each individual partner institution and promote ownership over the process and product. We observed that Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica might derive the greatest economic benefit from the project, so we prioritized these countries. The app was built to be an intuitive and simple solution. Applying HCD at the Institutional Level The diversity of actors and their requirements made it difficult for us to quickly develop and implement a tool that could meet the requirements of everyone. So, we approached the challenge through the framework of design thinking, including inviting users to attend our interaction design workshops. These workshops resulted in the following insights: - Collecting data that’s granular enough to be useful for an individual farmer is a challenge. That’s why we made the farmers themselves the data collectors. In short, we crowdsourced it. - Farmers’ access to smartphones has always been a big issue, but in our workshops, eight out of 10 farmers had a smartphone. In Guatemala, there are nearly two phones per person and penetration is increasing. - Coffee rust can kill a crop in less than eight days. A timely response to allow for remedial action was a must. A timely response may motivate users to use appropriate products to minimize the disease’s impact. - The tool must be scalable. In addition to the coffee rust calculation, five other features were added: agrochemicals dosage calculator, ojo de gallo (a fungus scientifically called mycena citricolor) test, harvest calculator, weather, and communication module. - We used open source data and programming languages as well as cloud servers to ensure that we didn’t add additional costs after USAID support ends. - In Guatemala alone, there are more than 20 spoken languages. We had to build an intuitive and user-friendly tool not dependent on sophisticated Spanish so that less-educated farmers can also use it. The Result: Adoption Picking Up As a result of close engagement throughout the design process, Coffee Cloud was adopted by the Guatemalan and Costa Rican National Coffee Institutes. It currently has more than 1,200 users in Guatemala and around 800 in Costa Rica. All of these users collect and share coffee data via mobile and also receive feedback through it. ANACAFE in Guatemala added Coffee Cloud to its biannual sustainability strategy, providing more than $200,000 for its sustainability and improvement. The goal is to scale the project to more than 5,000 users over the next year. In Costa Rica, the Coffee Institute took the project and adapted it to its needs. The institute decided to use Coffee Cloud as the user interface of its national information database. Coffee Cloud has become a project that other countries can also adopt. Owing to the benefits attached to it, other development projects and local organizations are recommending such adoption throughout the region.
Published on 17.01.18 in Vol 6, No 1 (2018): January The Impact of mHealth Interventions: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews Background: Mobile phone usage has been rapidly increasing worldwide. mHealth could efficiently deliver high-quality health care, but the evidence supporting its current effectiveness is still mixed. Objective: We performed a systematic review of systematic reviews to assess the impact or effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) interventions in different health conditions and in the processes of health care service delivery. Methods: We used a common search strategy of five major scientific databases, restricting the search by publication date, language, and parameters in methodology and content. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist. Results: The searches resulted in a total of 10,689 articles. Of these, 23 systematic reviews (371 studies; more than 79,665 patients) were included. Seventeen reviews included studies performed in low- and middle-income countries. The studies used diverse mHealth interventions, most frequently text messaging (short message service, SMS) applied to different purposes (reminder, alert, education, motivation, prevention). Ten reviews were rated as low quality (AMSTAR score 0-4), seven were rated as moderate quality (AMSTAR score 5-8), and six were categorized as high quality (AMSTAR score 9-11). A beneficial impact of mHealth was observed in chronic disease management, showing improvement in symptoms and peak flow variability in asthma patients, reducing hospitalizations and improving forced expiratory volume in 1 second; improving chronic pulmonary diseases symptoms; improving heart failure symptoms, reducing deaths and hospitalization; improving glycemic control in diabetes patients; improving blood pressure in hypertensive patients; and reducing weight in overweight and obese patients. Studies also showed a positive impact of SMS reminders in improving attendance rates, with a similar impact to phone call reminders at reduced cost, and improved adherence to tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus therapy in some scenarios, with evidence of decrease of viral load. Conclusions: Although mHealth is growing in popularity, the evidence for efficacy is still limited. In general, the methodological quality of the studies included in the systematic reviews is low. For some fields, its impact is not evident, the results are mixed, or no long-term studies exist. Exceptions include the moderate quality evidence of improvement in asthma patients, attendance rates, and increased smoking abstinence rates. Most studies were performed in high-income countries, implying that mHealth is still at an early stage of development in low-income countries. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2018;6(1):e23 Mobile phone usage has been rapidly increasing worldwide [, ]. In many high-income countries, mobile phone subscriptions exceed the population, and in many low- and middle-income countries, this number is expanding faster than other infrastructures [ ]. Mobile technology’s mobility, instantaneous access, and direct communication allow for faster transfer of health information, which in turn supports medical and public health practices. These characteristics define mobile health (mHealth). mHealth could transform the worldwide delivery of health services, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This includes simple apps and complex technologies including voice, text messaging (short message service, SMS), multimedia message service, Bluetooth technology, and others [ ]. mHealth is increasingly being used (1) for patient communication, monitoring, and education, (2) to reduce the burden of diseases linked with poverty, (3) to improve access to health services, clinical diagnosis, and treatment adherence, and (4) for chronic disease management [- ]. It is commonly stated that mHealth effectively improves the quality of care and that it can quickly be adapted on a large scale and at low cost, but evidence regarding its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is still lacking in different areas. As the evidence in this field is consistently growing, many systematic reviews have already been performed. A thorough review of available evidence is essential to guide clinical and health policy decisions. Consequently, complex reviews, which may assess multiple interventions, different or distinct populations, and different outcomes may adequately support health policy decision making in this context . Therefore, the objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of systematic reviews that assessed the effectiveness of mHealth interventions in different health conditions and in the processes of health care service delivery, in order to investigate for which areas there is evidence and which areas still require further studies. This study is a systematic review of systematic reviews and is part of a series of four reviews that assessed the impact to telehealth strategies in different health conditions and in health care service delivery. The study was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and the methodological considerations when using existing systematic reviews . Search Strategy and Inclusion Criteria A literature search was performed using MEDLINE (accessed by PubMed), IEEE Xplore Digital Library, Cochrane (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Methodology Register, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS), and Indice Bibliográfico Español de Ciencias de la Salud (IBECS) in November 2015. Cochrane, LILACS, and IBECS were assessed by Virtual Health Library (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde). The search was restricted to studies in humans, publication date (from January 1, 2000, up to the search data), and publication language (English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese). We used a common search strategy and allocated relevant studies to their respective reviews before assessing their risk of bias and extracting data. The search strategies for each database are given in. All studies were included in the software StArt (State of the Art through Systematic Review) [ ]. In this software, different combinations of the terms “systematic” and “review” identified systematic reviews by title or abstract. An additional search using the same terms and parameters was performed in February 2016. The new search was more specific to make assessment manageable and was supplemented by a manual search of reference lists . Systematic reviews covering the effectiveness or cost-benefit analysis of eHealth interventions were included. Exclusion criteria were (1) studies about feasibility, user acceptance, or usability, (2) studies that assessed “perceived benefits,” and (3) nonsystematic reviews. Initial screening was based on titles and abstracts, and articles were independently evaluated. Abstracts lacking information were retrieved for full-text evaluation. Subsequently, 2 investigators independently evaluated full-text articles and determined eligibility. Authorship, journal, or years were not blinded. Data Extraction and Quality Assessment Five investigators conducted data extraction following standardized criteria, and results were reviewed by 2 senior researchers. The following data were extracted: journal, publication year, databases searched, time period, setting/scenario, theme/specialty, objective, intervention type, number of studies, total number and countries of patients, study design, whether a review of systematic reviews or meta-analysis was performed, outcomes, main results, lessons and barriers for implementation, and main limitations. For cost analysis, the type and the perspective (ie, patient, health care provider, and/or society) were also extracted. Studies were evaluated using the Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist for assessing methodological quality . A flow diagram of literature search and study selection results is shown in. The database first search resulted in 10,106 articles, the updated search resulted in 572 articles, and 11 studies were found from additional sources. After exclusion of duplicates, 625 articles were screened and 537 were excluded. Full text of 88 eligible articles was reviewed. Out of these, 62 were excluded for not meeting the criteria relating to study type, intervention, or outcome. Three studies [ , , ] were excluded for being included in a systematic review of systematic reviews that was included in this manuscript, to avoid duplication. The 23 studies remaining were included in this systematic review. Descriptive Analysis of the Systematic Reviews General Characteristics of Reviewed Papers The 23 systematic reviews included () were published between 2009 and 2016 in 16 journals. The systematic reviews involved 371 studies. After verifying the sample size of each study, we found that at least 79,665 participants were included. In these reviews, systematic literature searches were performed from 1950 to April 2015 (see ). Of the reviews, 17 included studies that were performed in low- and middle-income countries, 13 included studies in multiple settings, 6 specified particular settings, and 2 did not describe the setting. mHealth modalities described were mainly apps for chronic diseases, but also for disease management, treatment adherence, and changes in health behavior. Nine studies performed a meta-analysis [- ]. The main objective of the reviews was to analyze the impact or effectiveness of mHealth interventions on chronic and noncommunicable diseases. Other focuses were to analyze mHealth in supporting chronic diseases management, health behavior change, attendance at appointments, disease and rehabilitation management, and the use of mHealth strategies by health workers. Different devices were used, including mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, MP3, phone plus app, medical device connected to phone by cord or wirelessly, and many others. The most frequent intervention was SMS for reminders, education, motivation, or prevention. Sensors and point-of-care diagnosis, data collection, provider-provider communication, patient-provider communication, decision support, client education, provider work planning, training, protocol-based treatment, voicemail, videos, immediate physician feedback from a central location, cloud-based interactive voice response, disease management calls, disease monitoring, automated email to clinicians, treatment adherence, and phone counseling were also used. These interventions were performed for smoking cessation, to increase physical activity, chronic disease management, chemotherapy-related symptoms monitoring, sexual health behavior safety, alcohol consumption reduction, medication adherence, appointment attendance, stress management and anxiety reduction, vaccination timeliness, prenatal support, reduction in emergency referrals or adverse events, health information access, cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills, patient satisfaction, and social functioning. Hall et al categorized 12 common applications: (1) client education and behavior change, (2) sensors and point-of-care diagnostics, (3) registries and vital events tracking, (4) data collection and reporting, (5) electronic health records, (6) electronic decision support: information, protocols, algorithms, checklists, (7) provider-provider communication: user groups and consultation, (8) provider work planning, (9) provider training and education, (10) human resource management, (11) supply chain management, and (12) financial transactions and incentives. Multiple interventions were used on significantly varied targets, and the duration of follow-up varied from a few minutes to up to 24 months. The control group care was not clear in some reviews [, , ], but others were very specific. The primary outcomes assessed were clinical outcomes (eg, frequency of hypoglycemic events, symptoms, deaths), surrogate outcomes (eg, glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c], blood pressure, lipid profile, cardiovascular disease risk profiles, lung function tests results, nebulizer use, weight, body mass index [BMI]), behavioral or lifestyle changes (eg, sexual behavior, smoking cessation, increase in physical activity), and processes of care (eg, attendance rates, compliance with medication taking, data management, communication performance, time to diagnosis, time to treatment, changes in professionals’ workload). The secondary outcomes were cost, patient satisfaction, and potential harms and adverse effects. Quality of Included Studies shows the results of the quality assessment of the 23 systematic reviews. Ten were rated low quality (AMSTAR score 0-4), seven moderate quality (score 5-8), and six were high quality (score 9-11). Regarding bias risk assessment, 10 reviews did not explicitly report on study quality assessment. Two specified that the risk of bias was mostly either low or unclear . Free et al [ , ] related that only 4 trials were at low risk of bias in all areas. All studies included in Car et al [ ] had high risk of bias. Baron et al used the McMaster University quality assessment tool and reported that the overall quality was poor . Fanning et al used the Guide to Community Preventative Services data extraction form and reported that 7 studies were rated “fair” and 4 were “good” [ ]. Three reviews [ ] used the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions [ ] reporting varying methodological quality, with some providing insufficient information. Two reviews reported adequate sequence generation for randomization . De Jongh et al [ ] reported adequate sequence generation in 3 of 4 and that none of the included studies were clear if the allocation was concealed. A potential for bias occurred from the apparent lack of blinding of outcome assessors. In Vodopivec-Jamsek et al [ ], allocation concealment was considered adequate in 2 studies and unclear in 2 studies. Only one study reported on blinding of personnel collecting and analyzing samples. No mention is made of blinding of outcome assessors or researchers, which could have introduced bias. Incomplete data analysis methods varied, with analysis and reporting based on intention-to-treat analysis and on only participants who completed the study, which could influence generalizability of the findings. Substantial heterogeneity was detected across analyses; however, a post hoc decision to conduct the main analysis using a random-effects model resulted in no difference in the interpretation of findings. Bacigalupo et al also used Cochrane guidance [ ], reporting that 4 of 7 studies presented low risk of bias. The only studies in which Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology [ ] was used were those published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [ , , , , ]. The reviews show a variety of results, as expected, for using different devices and different mHealth interventions on different populations. The most widely used and successful intervention was SMS addressed to chronic disease patients. Positive impact was reported on clinical outcomes, adherence to treatment and care, health behavior changes, disease management, attendance rates, and others. However, some reviews showed conflicting results, with no significant differences between intervention and control groups. Positive impact has been demonstrated with moderate-quality evidence that text messaging interventions showed greater improvements in the pooled symptom score (mean difference 0.36, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.17) compared with the control group . Very low-quality evidence (GRADE Very Low) showed the following: increased office visits in the SMS group, whereas increased hospital admissions for the control group [ ]; a reduction in hospitalizations and better symptom control using home spirometry transmission to physicians via SMS and telephone counseling [ ]; increased unscheduled visits to the emergency department and hospitalizations using mobile phone-based interactive self-care software plus management feedback on pulmonary function [ ]; and improvements in cough and nighttime symptoms and decreased daily doses of medication using peak flow and symptoms monitoring via SMS [ ]. Exercise capacity in cardiac rehabilitation improved a 6-minute walk test from 524-637 meters (P=.009) in monitored exercise training assisted by a mobile phone app. In an 8-week, nonrandomized clinical trial, there was 17.6% (SD 16.1) improvement in mobile (n=30) versus 11.5% (SD 35.9) in control group (n=32) (P>.05) . Congestive Heart Failure Mobile technology counseling led to fewer symptom complaints in congestive heart failure subjects . There was relative risk reduction (20%) of death or hospitalization and better quality of life with nurse telephone intervention and cardiologist support [ ]. Chronic Lung Diseases An SMS program improved cough symptoms and sleep quality . Mobile phones recorded respiratory symptoms during exercise training that increased walking distance [ ]. No statistically significant effects were demonstrated on chemotherapy-related toxicity symptoms when patients used a mobile phone app to report symptoms and receive self-care advice . Educational group sessions for diabetic women via SMS showed positive effects on sleep, positive actions, and coping . There was moderate-quality evidence that text messaging intervention led to greater improvements in peak flow variability (mean difference -11.12, 95% CI -19.56 to -2.68) compared with the control group. No significant differences existed between groups in impact on forced vital capacity or forced expiratory flow in 1 second (GRADE Moderate) . Forced expiratory flow in 1 second improved after 4 months of home spirometry transmission to physicians via SMS and telephone counseling . Using mobile phone-based, interactive self-care software plus management feedback on pulmonary function showed evidence of improvement in pulmonary function and health-related quality of life and decreased unscheduled visits to emergency departments and hospitalizations, plus an increase in the proportion of participants who received leukotriene inhibitors [ ]. Improvement in at least 1 risk factor (relative risk [RR] 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.7) in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that assessed the impact of lifestyle counseling, mobile intervention, devices for home monitoring plus SMS messaging of recommendations, compared to lifestyle counseling alone. The mHealth group was more likely to achieve goals for blood pressure (BP) (62.1% vs 42.9%), HbA1c (86.4% vs 54.2%), and BMI (0.37 kg/m2decrease vs 0.38 increase). No significant differences in smoking cessation, cholesterol, or medication adherence . Chronic Lung Diseases Three RCTs showed nonsignificant results in lung function parameters . Educational program via SMS for self-management improved HbA1c, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and microalbuminuria . Cloud-based interactive voice response calls and automated email for clinicians reduced HbA1c [ ]. SMS promoting medication adherence reduced fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour, postprandial glucose [ ]. SMS with tailored instructions on diabetes mellitus care to adolescents and elderly patients improved HbA1c [ ]. Diabetes self-management intervention reduced HbA1c [ ]. Diabetes education and advice via mobile phone and SMS significantly reduced HbA1c [ ]. A mobile phone-based, home glucose monitoring program study decreased HbA1c from 13.2% to 10.5% after 3-6 months [ ]. Text messaging improved HbA1c, with positive results in 6 of 8 studies [ ]. Daily glucose readings were transmitted via mobile phone to a physician who made adjustments plus clinic appointment [ ]. The results were mixed on the impact of mobile telemonitoring supporting diabetes management and feedback on HbA1c but were more consistently positive for studies in type 2 diabetes. Ten of the 13 studies in type 2 diabetes and 4 of 7 studies on type 1 diabetes found mHealth led to HbA1c improvement . Studies without health care professional feedback led to HbA1c improvement, suggesting professional feedback might not be necessary [ ] However, one study showed reduced benefit: educational group sessions for diabetic women via SMS showed higher diastolic blood pressure (+7 mmHg) and less spiritual hope at 6 months, and frequent texters had higher BMI and more sedentary time Text messages to maintain contact, monitor, and respond to medication issues in patients on antiretrovirals statistically significantly reduced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load by improving adherence . Improvement in BP has been demonstrated with SMS or voice mail and immediate physician feedback ; SMS enabling interactive monitoring, where the provider sets reminders for patients, collects data, and schedules visits [ ]; and electronic salt sensor and mobile sensor [ ]. However, other reviews showed no benefit. Two trials showed no statistically significant reduction in BP . Groups that did or did not receive alerts and reminders had nearly equal percentages of patients with controlled BP at follow-up [ ]. Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Disease Significant improvements were shown with automatic sphygmomanometer, blood glucose and lipid meter, and mobile phone . Moderate-quality evidence of short-term weight loss in overweight and obese adults with BMI of 25-39.9 using mHealth structured program was shown . Mobile phone personalized advice and motivation observed a significant improvement in percent of body fat lost; however, BMI and systolic and diastolic BP were unchanged [ ]. Behavioral or Lifestyle Changes Seven of 14 trials reported statistically significant benefits on self-reported physical activity outcomes, but no statistically significant change was demonstrated on trials using SMS to reduce calorie intake and increase physical activity or for trials targeting physical activity only, diet only, or diet and physical activity . Positive results have been demonstrated with moderate-quality evidence that mobile phone-based cessation interventions increased abstinence rates at 26 weeks (RR 1.67 95% CI 1.46-1.90, 12 RCTs in high income countries, 11,885 participants, GRADE Moderate). Six studies verified quitting biochemically at 6 months (RR 1.83 95% CI 1.54-2.19) . SMS-based smoking cessation interventions doubled biochemically verified smoking cessation at 6 months [ ]. One study showed statistically significant benefits on behavior change . Processes of Care Pregnant women connecting to their health care provider through bidirectional mobile phone messaging were more likely to have skilled birth attendants . A consistent improvement on attendance rates has been demonstrated. Text message reminders improved the rate of attendance at health care appointments compared with no reminders (RR 1.10; 95% CI 1.03-1.17) (7 studies, 5841 participants, GRADE Moderate) . They had a similar impact to phone call reminders (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95-1.02) (3 studies, 2509 participants, GRADE Moderate). Text messages plus postal reminders improved attendance rates at appointments compared to postal reminders (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.02-1.19) (1 study, 291 participants, GRADE Low) [ ]. In a limited study, Shetty et al compared the effect of one SMS reminder sent to type 2 diabetes patients every third day for 1 year. Although there was no significant reduction in the mean HbA1c values in either group, the percentage of patients with HbA1c<8% decreased significantly in the SMS group. Free et al [ ] included one study assessing SMS reminders on attendance for vaccination at different time points (as different studies). The relative risk was 1.19 (95% CI 1.15-1.23), but there was significant heterogeneity (I2=99.7%, P<.001) [ ]. In 8 studies Free et al [ ] observed that the pooled effect on appointment attendance using text message reminders versus no reminder was RR 1.06 (95% CI 1.05-1.07) [ ]. There was no effect on the number of cancelled appointments (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.89-1.30), and no difference in attendance using SMS reminders versus other reminders (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.94-1.02) [ ]. Hall et al assessed 6 studies in low- and middle-income countries. The studies showed mHealth interventions to be beneficial, except a pilot study in rural Swaziland [ ]. Mahmud et al [ ] trained community health workers to use mobile phones for reporting on patient adherence, send appointments reminders, and answer physician queries. This evaluation was based on a retrospective observational study, with the possibility of recall bias. Data Collection and Health Care Team Communication Studies that included data collection as a primary mHealth function demonstrated that mobile phones effectively collect and report data, transfer patient-relevant information, and reduce the need for face-to-face communication . There is a reduction in communication delays and improvement on data collection and reporting [ ]. One trial reported a statistically significant improvement in nurse/surgeon communication using mobile phones [ ]. Adherence to Treatment mHealth strategies are beneficial to increase adherence to treatment in diabetes patients: SMS to increase adherence to prescriptions in type 2 diabetes , electronic blister packs with SMS communication [ ], and insulin adherence among type 1 diabetes patients who received tailored text messages with goal-specific prompts [ ]. Compliance with medication taking among memory-impaired, HIV-positive patients significantly increased compared to those without impairment. Hepatitis A and B dose vaccination schedules also increased among international travelers with reminders sent to mobile phones . Hall et al reported improved adherence to tuberculosis treatment by using text messages and adherence to HIV therapy, with evidence of reduction of viral load , although the authors did not perform quality assessment. The authors commented that a risk-benefit analysis that assessed mHealth reminders to improve tuberculosis medication adherence showed increased mortality and disability-adjusted life years compared to directly observed treatments, and that an RCT in China observed no benefit with voice calls. They also reported limited evidence of contraceptive knowledge improvement with the use of an SMS education scheme; risk reduction of contracting dengue fever, but no significant improvement over alternative schemes; antenatal care improvement, with increases in using skilled birth attendants and women with 4 antenatal visits; and improved vaccination rates in rural Kenya [ ]. Hamine et al observed in 2 studies that text messaging tailored to counteract negative beliefs about asthma and education was associated with improved adherence to medication . Hall et al mentioned studies showing improvement of diagnostic rates of dermatological conditions with mobile teledermatology . However, two trials using mobile phones to transmit photos to offsite clinicians reported significant reductions in correct diagnoses compared to an onsite specialist [ ]. One trial reported reduction in quality of electrocardiography (ECG) transmitted via mobile phone to an ECG transmitted by fax, but with no effects on ECG interpretation [ ]. Krishna et al [ ] showed that fewer days to diagnosis and treatment were reported among those who were notified of test results via text messages. The following studies assessed costs, with evidence of reduction when compared to control groups. SMS reminders were more cost-effective than telephone and were equally efficacious . SMS was found to be 35% and 45% less expensive, respectively, per attendance through reductions in research assistants’ work hours and in telecommunications costs. SMS reminders were less expensive than mobile phone reminders [ , ]. The relative cost of the text message per attendance was 55% and 65% of the cost of phone call reminders [ ]. There was a reduction in patient burden to transportation time and costs in African countries [ ]. The cost of text-based support per 1000 enrolled smokers was GB 278 per quitter, but when future health service costs were included, text-based support was considered a cost-saver [ ]. The individual studies did not assess this outcome. Potential Harms and Adverse Effects Only 3 reviews assessed this outcome [, , ]. Vodopivec-Jamsek et al [ ] reported one study where mobile phone messaging was used to support smoking cessation and that messaging did not have any impact on rates of pain in the thumb or finger joints (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.74-1.59), or car crash rates (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.58-1.35) at 26 weeks follow-up. The current evidence shows benefits of mHealth in chronic disease management, improving symptoms and peak flow variability in asthma patients and chronic pulmonary diseases symptoms; heart failure symptoms, reducing deaths and hospitalization and improving quality of life; glycemic control in diabetes patients; and improving BP in hypertensive patients. SMS reminders improved attendance rates at reduced costs and improved adherence to tuberculosis and HIV therapy in some scenarios, with evidence of decrease of viral load. Mobile devices may improve patient-provider communication, facilitating assistance in disease management. It may increase the likelihood of delivering health interventions to hard-to-reach populations. Whittaker et al listed advantages of using mobile interventions: convenience, ease, cost-effectiveness, scalability, personalization, and “the ability to send time-sensitive messages with an ‘always on’ device.” Hamine et al [ ] observed that mHealth tools can impact patients who are less inclined to engage with traditional health services. Aranda-Jan et al [ ] reported that governments may benefit from increased support of patient management and increased direct communication in rural areas. Health workers may receive support through professional networks and can prioritize efforts and increase their role in active case detection using disease surveillance systems. Baron et al [ ] assessed studies involving data transferring for diabetes management and suggested that recording and tracking of data might increase patients’ motivation to self-manage. The most popular mHealth intervention was behavior change interventions using text messaging. The low cost and low broadband requirements facilitate the spread of applications, even in low-income countries. Different uses of motivation have also been described as a tool to be used in mHealth interventions in some of the systematic reviews analyzed. These are mainly focused on patient motivation in different contexts on chronic diseases , communicable diseases [ ], physical activity [ , , ], and empowerment in the use of services [ ]. Two reviews [, ] reported lessons learned: patient needs must be met, training and support provided, users engaged in the development and implementation of the tools, and consideration of patient age and education level. Usage might improve with user-centered design, engagement strategies, and feedback to the users. This study provides a thorough review of available evidence on effectiveness of mHealth interventions in different health conditions and in the processes of health care service delivery, so it useful to guide clinical and health policy decisions. However, there are some limitations of the studies that need to be addressed. Studies assessing mHealth interventions usually do not include the assessment of risks, consumer satisfaction, and acceptability of the intervention . None reported studies assessing security and confidentiality. Chen et al [ ] noted that mobile phone numbers frequently change in China, reducing certainty the message was delivered to the correct recipient. This was not assessed elsewhere. Particularly in low-income countries where mobile phones are frequently shared, these are important confidentiality issues that must be taken into account when designing interventions [ ]. De Jongh et al [ ] warned of inaccurate data input, misinterpretation of the information, and difficulties in reading due to vision or literacy problems and remarked that text messaging cannot capture verbal and nonverbal cues. Norwell suggested that doctors agree on vocabulary to minimize the risk of patients’ misunderstanding the message [ ]. Risks associated with mobile phone messaging in general may apply, such as car accidents [ ]. Other drawbacks related to mHealth initiatives were reported by Hamine et al Some patients’ concerns included dependence on professional supervision, unnecessary medicalization, fear of technology failure, and difficulty in understanding and using the technology. Provider concerns related to data review and response times, increased clinical workload and workflow, record maintenance, and concerns about supervision and technology dependence. Aranda-Jan et al [ ] reported difficulties in monitoring text message content, data underreporting, and the possibility of biased responses from participants. Two reviews cite availability and poor connectivity as barriers . Most identified the main limitation as the small number of RCT studies, patients enrolled, and the low-to-moderate quality of evidence. Researchers should validate their pilot study findings through follow-up studies with adequate research designs and appropriate controls [ ]. Aranda-Jan et al [ ] mention that claimed benefits are unclear and long-term results uncertain. Also, only 2 reviews assessed funding [ ]. This is important to identifying conflicts of interest. To improve the suboptimal reporting and standardize Web-based and mobile health interventions, the CONSORT-EHEALTH was developed, a checklist that is an extension of the CONSORT statement [ ]. Costs have not been routinely assessed. Such costs may be dependent on the nature of the intervention and the size and characteristics of the target group . More attention to cost implications seems warranted [ ]. Additionally, future studies should compare effects in different contexts [ ]. Although mHealth is growing in popularity, the evidence for efficacy is still limited. Positive results were reported for chronic disease management, improving chronic pulmonary diseases symptoms and heart failure symptoms, reducing deaths and hospitalization and improving quality of life, and improving glycemic control in diabetes patients and BP in hypertensive patients. SMS reminders improved attendance rates and improved adherence to tuberculosis and HIV therapy in some scenarios. However, in general the methodological quality of the studies included in the systematic reviews is low. For some fields, its impact is not evident or is mixed. Exceptions are the moderate improvement in asthma patients, attendance rates, and smoking cessation rates. The authors thank the team that worked on the systematic review: Renato Minelli Figueira, Gustavo Moreira Alkmim, Maria Clara Noman de Alencar, Nayara Dornela Quintino, Elsy Dumit-Bechara, Francesc Saigí-Rubió, Francisco Becerra-Posada, Edward Talbott Kelley and the undergratuate students Edson Alexandre Silva Carvalho, Fernanda Cotrim Stefanelli, Gabriel Almeida Silqueira Rocha, Grace Kelly Matos e Silva, Marcelo Henriques de Camargos, Thales Matheus Mendonça Santos, Thiago Adriano de Deus Queiroz Santos. DNO and MD are staff members of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and are solely responsible for the views expressed in the paper, which does not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the PAHO/WHO. DNO, MBMA, and ALR conceptualized the study and designed the review. MSM and JAQO designed the search strategies with input from DNO, MBMA, and ALR. MBMA and ALR randomly checked the accuracy of extracted data. MSM and JAQO wrote the first draft of the review paper. MBMA, MD, ALR, and DNO contributed to the final draft of this manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Conflicts of Interest Multimedia Appendix 1 Search methods and strategy.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 23KB Multimedia Appendix 2 Descriptive summary of the 23 systematic reviews included in mHealth review.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 172KB Multimedia Appendix 3 Quality assessment ratings of systematic reviews included in mHealth review.PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 76KB - Carter A, Liddle J, Hall W, Chenery H. Mobile Phones in Research and Treatment: Ethical Guidelines and Future Directions. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2015 Oct 16;3(4):e95 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline] - Donner J. Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature. The Information Society 2008 May 06;24(3):140-159. [CrossRef] - World Health Organization. New horizons for health through mobile technologies. 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J Med Internet Res 2011 Dec 31;13(4):e126 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline] \|AMSTAR: Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews\| \|BP: blood pressure\| \|BMI: body mass index\| \|CONSORT: Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials\| \|GRADE: Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation\| \|HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin\| \|IBECS: Indice Bibliográfico Español de Ciencias de la Salud\| \|LILACS: Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde\| \|mHealth: mobile health\| \|PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses\| \|RCT: randomized controlled trial\| \|RR: relative risk\| \|SD: standard deviation\| \|SMS: short message service\| Edited by G Eysenbach; submitted 30.08.17; peer-reviewed by W Curioso, A Benis; comments to author 26.09.17; revised version received 21.11.17; accepted 08.12.17; published 17.01.18 ©Milena Soriano Marcolino, João Antonio Queiroz Oliveira, Marcelo D'Agostino, Antonio Luiz Ribeiro, Maria Beatriz Moreira Alkmim, David Novillo-Ortiz. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 17.01.2018. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mhealth and uhealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
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