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View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.) System for rapid writing that uses symbols or abbreviations for letters, words, or phrases. Employed since Greek and Roman times, shorthand has been used in England since the 16th century. Popular modern systems include Pitman, Gregg, and Speedwriting. Many are phonetic and call for writing words as they sound (e.g., in the Pitman system, deal, may, and knife are written del, ma, and nif). Shorthand has been used in reporting proceedings of legislative bodies and courts and in taking dictated business correspondence. Variants of SHORTHAND shorthand or stenography This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on shorthand, visit Britannica.com.

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Chech·nya geographical name \chech-ˈnyä, ˈchech-nyə\\chi-ˈchen\ republic SE Russia in Europe on N slopes of Caucasus Mountains ∗ Grozny area 4750 square miles (12,302 square kilometers), pop 1,103,686 — Chechen adjective or noun Rhymes with CHECHNYA , fa la , faux pas , foie gras Chechnya (Concise Encyclopedia) Republic, southwestern Russia. Part of the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic of the former U.S.S.R., it became a republic within Russia in 1992, as did Ingushetia. It is populated mainly by Chechens, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group. Chechnya's demand for independence from Russia in 1992 led to an invasion by Russian troops in 1994. Fighting led to severe devastation of the area, and a series of cease-fires were negotiated and violated. A provisional peace treaty was signed in May 1997. Russian troops withdrew but returned in 1999, and heavy fighting resumed. In 2003 a new constitution was approved that devolved greater powers to the Chechen government but kept the republic in the Russian Federation. In 2009 Russia announced the end of its counterinsurgency operations in Chechnya. The capital, Grozny, is an oil centre with pipelines to the Caspian and Black seas. Learn More About CHECHNYA Seen & Heard What made you want to look up Chechnya? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

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Her rise to power was facilitated by her influential friends. The moderator's role is to facilitate the discussion by asking appropriate questions. The strength of the inner identities that black women forged and nurtured during slavery facilitated the transition to freedom. —Darlene Clark Hine, Lure and Loathing, 1993 What physical events might have facilitated the evolution of macroscopic animals? —Andrew H. Knoll, Scientific American, October 1991 Nothing so facilitates writing as actually having something to say, yet the conditions under which, and the tools with which, writing is done can contribute to facility—or to difficulty. —Joseph Epstein, The Middle of My Tether, 1983

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Scientists turn ordinary heart cells into cardiac pacemakers Ailing hearts may be whipped into shape by the injection of a genetically-modified virus. Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 11:19 AM What if an injection to the heart could fix the erratic and failing heartbeats that often result in cardiac arrest? Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute are one step closer to making it a reality. The heartbeat originates in the sinoatrial node (SAN) of the heart's right upper chamber, which is where pacemaker cells congregate. It is these rhythm-keeping pacemaker cells (often called SAN cells) that produce electrical activity that passes to other heart cells in a measured pattern to create regular muscle contractions. But when faced with age and disease, these cells can go amiss, leading to erratic heartbeats and serious complications. At this point, electronic pacemakers are often employed. Of the heart's 10 billion cells, fewer than 10,000 are pacemaker cells; they’re a valuable commodity. The new research, to be published in Nature Biotechnology and now available on the journal's website, revolves around a single gene known as Tbx18, a gene that plays a role in pacemaker cell formation during normal development in an embryo. The Cedars-Sinai researchers deployed a virus engineered to carry a Tbx18 gene to the region to directly reprogram regular heart muscle cells into pacemaker cells. The new cells became exact replicas of the pacemaker cells, both in lab cell reprogramming and in guinea pig studies. "Although we and others have created primitive biological pacemakers before, this study is the first to show that a single gene can direct the conversion of heart muscle cells to genuine pacemaker cells. The new cells generated electrical impulses spontaneously and were indistinguishable from native pacemaker cells," said Hee Cheol Cho, PhD a Heart Institute research scientist. For his work on biological pacemaker technology, Cho recently won the Louis N. and Arnold M. Katz Basic Research Prize, the prestigious young investigator award of the American Heart Association. If more research confirms the findings and safety studies support the work, the researchers said they believe the procedure might be a viable alternative to electronic pacemakers. "Electronic devices are limited to their finite battery life, requiring battery changes,” Cho told the BBC. "Complications such as displacement, breakage, entanglement of the leads are not uncommon and could be catastrophic, the incidence of devices with bacterial infection keeps going up and, for pediatric patients, the device does not 'grow' with the patients.” "All these problems could be solved by a biological pacemaker," he says. Related heart stories on MNN:

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One of the most notable elements of fall is the foliage of trees. You see it all over: the foliage turning hues of reds, oranges and yellows, and the countless number of leaves that fall and blanket the ground. Have you ever wondered why leaves change colors and fall? The answer can be found in three different chemicals involved in producing leaf color and a leaf's cellular structure. The green color of leaves is produced by chlorophyll. During the spring and summer, chlorophyll is constantly being produced. In the fall, as the nights grow longer, less chlorophyll is produced, unmasking yellows. Yellows are always present in the leaves, but they become unmasked when the production of chlorophyll ceases. These yellow pigments are carotenoids and can be found within the leaves of birch, beech, aspen, poplar and black maple trees. Carotenoids protect the leaves from the byproducts of photosynthesis. , which produce the reds and oranges, found on oak, hickories, dogwood and sugar maple are produced when the tree becomes dormant. Red pigments protect leaves from the sun, enabling the tree additional time to absorb the leave nutrients. Leaves respond to the shortening of the day and the decline in sunlight. The veins that carry fluid into the leaf begin to clog as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. When this cellular separation is complete, the leaf is ready to fall. Fallen leaves are not wasted. They decompose and fill the soil with nutrients and become food for soil organisms. They are a vital part of the forest ecosystem. Go out for a walk in the woods — and bring your camera — to enjoy this colorful season.

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14 March 2011 Scientists from Monash University have uncovered a new understanding of how male puberty begins. The key to their findings lies with a protein known as SMAD3 and the rate at which it is produced. Researchers, Associate Professor Kate Loveland and Dr Catherine Itman from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences have discovered through laboratory testing that half as much SMAD3 protein results in faster maturation than the norm, and an inability to create SMAD3 results in abnormal responses to testosterone. “SMAD3 is a protein that translates signals from the environment outside the cell to the nucleus, where it switches genes on or off,” Dr Itman said. “We have been investigating how SMAD3 influences the growth of testis cells and their ability to respond to testosterone". Puberty begins when the body starts to produce large amounts of the hormone testosterone. Early, or precocious, puberty involves the onset of puberty before eight years of age and affects around 1 in 10,000 boys. On the other hand, puberty is delayed when testis cells cannot respond normally to testosterone. Altered timing of puberty has implications in adulthood, with precocious puberty linked to reduced adult height and delayed puberty associated with reduced bone density. Testosterone acts through specialized cells in the testis called Sertoli cells. Before puberty, Sertoli cells multiply, allowing the testis to grow. At puberty, Sertoli cells must stop growing so they can support sperm precursor cells to develop into sperm. Professor Loveland, Dr Itman and their colleagues have been investigating how Sertoli cells switch from a multiplying state, making the testis big enough to make sperm, to a mature state that sustains sperm production. “We have discovered that this is not an "on-off" switch. Rather, it is the amount of the SMAD3 protein in the Sertoli cell that is different in the immature, multiplying Sertoli cell compared to the mature, adult cell". The research identified that it is the amount of SMAD3 present that controls Sertoli cell activity prior to, or after, puberty. When SMAD3 levels are reduced, sperm develop earlier. When SMAD3 is absent, Sertoli cells take longer to respond to testosterone. Previous research on puberty suggests that pubertal development is delayed in boys exposed to endocrine disrupting compounds, chemicals which impair cell responses to hormones. These chemicals are widely used in industry and in the manufacture of everyday items, such as plastics, cosmetics, paints and detergents. Dr Itman is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Project Grant to investigate how these hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment affect the growth and maturation of Sertoli cells around puberty, including changes to SMAD3 levels and activity. “We hope that through our research, we will inform decisions about the influence of chemicals in our environment on the timing of puberty in boys and on the fertility of adult men” Dr Itman said. The findings were published in the international biomedical journal Endocrinology and can be downloaded at: http://endo.endojournals.org/cgi/rapidpdf/en.2010-1453v1

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Let's face it, used batteries are kind of a pain. Disposable alkaline batteries can leak battery acid if put in the trash. Rechargeable batteries contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium, cobalt and nickel, which are definitely not good for the environment. All household batteries have been banned from landfills in California since 2006. But according to Waste Age, less than 5percent of used batteries are recycled through local government household hazardous waste programs. And that's because battery recycling seems so difficult to so many of us. I had a question recently posed to me by a friend of a friend who lives in Pacific Grove. He wanted to recycle used batteries but didn't want to drive all the way to Marina to drop them off at the hazardous household waste facility at the Monterey Regional Waste Management District. My first thought was to tell him to recycle those batteries with recycling pickup by Waste Management Inc. However, lo and behold, WM has different recycling programs for different areas of the county. In North County, where I live, we are allowed to recycle batteries by placing them in a plastic bag and taping the bag to the outside of the recycling cart. Not so in Pacific Grove. However, there are other ways for Pagrovians to avoid the long drive to Marina. If you go to Earth911.com, you can find recycling sites for all kinds of things, including batteries. Simply click on "Recycling Search," then type either "alkaline batteries" or "rechargeable batteries" into the search window, and your ZIP code into the adjacent search window. Earth911 then comes up with a list of where to recycle your batteries. In Pacific Grove, there are quite a few battery-recycling stations, including City Hall, the city's Corporation Yard and the fire station. There is another alternative, a battery mail-in program through Waste Management. You buy a battery mailer for $19.95 through the website www.wm.com, mail in your batteries and you're done. It looks like the box can hold a fair number of batteries, so it's not a bad idea. And it looks like better alternatives are coming soon. Recently Rayovac, Panasonic, Duracell and Energizer committed to a nationwide program to improve the recycling of household batteries, according to an Earth911 article. These four companies have launched the nonprofit Corporation for Battery Recycling to study the problem. With the help of MIT, CBR is researching the most effective ways to collect, transport and ship used batteries to recyclers. The hope is to create a recycling system that will pay for itself by finding ways to extract heavy metals and other valuable materials out of old batteries to be reused in making new ones. And this system would include all batteries, rechargeable as well as alkaline, making it much easier for all of us who want to recycle them. It's a plan that could have some power behind it. Do you have questions or comments about sustainable living in Monterey County? Send them to Kathryn McKenzie at email@example.com. Follow Living Green on Twitter for daily tips, twitter.com/livinggreen2.

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Rural author Wendell Berry once wrote of the farmer, "He has seen the light lie down in the dung heap and rise again in the corn." These words have sharply clarified for me the agricultural lifecycle—or even better, light cycle. Plants convert solar energy into food for animals (ourselves included), Then the wastes from those animals, along with dead plant and animal bodies, "lie down in the dung heap," are composted, and "rise again in the corn." This cycle of light is the central reason that making compost and using it is such an important link in organic food production: It returns solar energy to the soil. In this context, such common compost ingredients as onion skins, hair trimmings, eggshells, vegetable parings, and even burnt toast are no longer seen as garbage, but as sunlight on the move from one form to another. By making use of such substances, composting enables us to have large amounts of "dung" for our gardens without necessarily passing most of the ingredients through an animal first. It also greatly speeds up the earth's own soil-building processes to achieve results in months instead of centuries. The benefits of using compost are so great that it's no exaggeration to call it the key to soil fertility. The end product of composting is humus, the broken-down organic matter that is the basis of soil life. In a single teaspoon of fertile soil, there are billions of microorganisms that perform numerous functions. They change nutrients into a form your plants can use, provide an ongoing flow of that food, and bind earthen particles into small aggregates, helping to build a friable soil. Other composting benefits: Controlled pH. Acid or alkaline soil can lock up many nutrients, making them unavailable to plants. The regular addition of compost balances the soil, helping to bring it to the crop-favoring pH range of between 6.5 and 7.5. Heat absorption. Finished compost helps darken most soils, allowing for better absorption of heat from sunlight—which can actually extend your spring and fall growing seasons. Drainage, water retention, and aeration: The more air it gets, the quicker it cooks. Drainage, water retention, and aeration. Imagine the life of a root, ever tunneling in search or water and food. In clayish soil, roots have trouble making headway, so they become shallow and can't reach the food and water reserves deeper down. Their oxygen supply is also easily cut off in the tightly packed soil. Sandy soil causes a different problem; it's like a long stretch of good road with no place to get food and water. Nutrients and moisture simply percolate down out of reach. So we want it all—good drainage, good water retention (even though the two sound almost contradictory), and openness to incorporate air. Again, humus is the cure-all. It opens up packed soils and binds together loose ones. Acting like a sponge, humus helps hold moisture, food, and air so plants can have access to all of them at will. Nutrient retention. Chemical fertilizers provide quick-fix doses of three major nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Since such garden additives are highly water-soluble, plants can take them up quickly—but they can also be easily washed away by rain or irrigation. In fact, it's estimated that from 25 to 85% of the chemical nitrogen applied to soil and 15 to 20% of the phosphorus and potassium are lost to leaching. Humus holds those water-soluble nutrients inside itself, keeping them safe from run-off and releasing them slowly to plants. (Even better, the soil microorganisms in humus release nutrients more slowly during cool weather when crops are growing most slowly and more quickly during warm weather when plants are growing most actively.) Free-choice feeding. The way in which roots and humus directly interact is probably the most fascinating argument that I know of for the use of compost. It's a miraculous process whereby plants choose their own diet. You may have seen the words cation exchange on a soil test. Cations are positively charged molecules of different minerals like ammonium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Since opposites attract, the negatively charged molecules of humus (and, to a lesser extent, clay as well) attract and hold the positive cations. When a searching root comes along, surrounded by positive hydrogen ions, it strikes up a friendly exchange with the humus (or clay) molecules: The root trades its hydrogen ions for the nutrient ions of its choice. Thus humus allows plants to choose what nutrients they need. And more. Compost also helps control nematodes and soil diseases, attracts soil building earthworms, helps plants produce their own growth stimulators, helps fix heavy metals and other toxins in the soil (instead of letting them be absorbed by the crops), adds trace minerals to the soil, and makes plants hardier and more resistant to insects and diseases. It can even be used as a healing poultice on tree wounds! Finally, compost can be made virtually without cost at home, by mimicking the earth's recycling system. Chemical fertilizers, on the other hand, cost money and use nonrenewable fossil fuels (both as ingredients and in transporting and manufacturing). Step #1: Choosing a site Well, are you convinced? I hope so, because composting really is the backbone of good horticulture. If you are ready to start your own pile of black soil magic, the first concern is location—where you'll build your compost pile. Consider these suggestions: 1. Try to locate your pile near your garden. A wheelbarrow loaded with compost is heavy. 2. If you're going to be adding some compost-building ingredients by vehicle, try to build your pile in a spot you can drive to. 3. Wetting the pile will be a lot easier if it's near a water source. 4. A good deciduous shade tree near the pile can provide some shelter from heavy thunderstorms and excessively hot summer sun; it can also let warmth-boosting fall and winter sunlight through. It'll even provide leaf material! However, evergreens (which have acidic needles), walnuts (which exude a toxin through their roots), and eucalyptuses (which have resinous leaves) are not good choices. Step #2: Building a bin You'll need something to put your ingredients in; actually, a straight-sided pile can be constructed with no bin or supports, and is a perfectly acceptable way to compost. But it takes time to shape a freestanding pile; being able to toss the makings into a container can really speed the process along. In addition, if your neighbors are close they may voice aesthetic objections to a freestanding pile of decomposing materials. In that case, you can compost incognito by using an attractive homemade or commercial bin. Privacy fencing (plant or wire) might also help shut out easily offended eyes. The creative scrounger will find that numerous materials make good bins—boards, poles, screen, wire, old pallets, concrete blocks, snow fencing, and hay bales all will serve well. At the other end of the spectrum are the fancier $70 to $200 commercial composters you can buy through garden supply catalogs. Somewhere between total scrounging and total spending are the two composters we designed at MOTHER EARTH NEWS. (Our Compost Box Construction Diagram has assembly details.) The "quickie" version is a mobile pen made of hogwire panels. This low-cost model allows you to make a pile and then easily move the pen when you want to start a new pile or turn the old one. The "uptown" model is meant to be more aesthetically acceptable, yet still entirely practical. Although you could build it with just one bin (the design is basically modular), you'll do better if you build more than one enclosure so you can turn compost from one bin to the other. Better still, build a three-bin version so you can turn two half-decomposed "side" piles into the middle bin to finish cooking! Any pile, freestanding or contained, should be at least 3' X 3' X 3' to insure sufficient mass for the composting process. I find 4' X 5' X 5' ones even better. The bottom of the pile should be exposed to the earth, and the top should be covered with black plastic or a waterproof tarp to protect it from rain and drying sun. Contained piles should also have enough open spaces on the sides for good air circulation. Step #3: What goes in So many types of organic matter can be composted that it's easier to list what shouldn't be put in a compost pile. Here's a partial list of what not to use: Cat feces. While almost every other kind of animal manure makes an excellent compost ingredient, cat feces can contain a parasite (Toxoplasma gondii) or roundworm (Toxocara cati). Either of these organisms can spread serious disease to pregnant women, unborn babies, and children. Grease and fat. OK in small amounts, but too much will clog up the composting process. Coal, coal ashes, and barbecue briquettes. These have overly high amounts of iron and sulfur (and who knows what else in the briquettes). Diseased plant matter. Actually, you can place diseased plants in the center of a compost pile that will be prepared in the hot method—where temperatures reach a pathogen-killing 140°F. Otherwise, burn them before composting. Polyester, plastics, and other synthetics. They just don't rot. Urban floor sweepings. In high-traffic areas, these can contain as much as 500 parts per million of lead. Food preserved with BHT. Research has shown that even very small amounts of this antioxidant can alter plant growth profoundly. Overly bulky or hard material. Cornstalks, sunflower stalks, nutshells, sticks thicker than a pencil, large bones, and oyster and clam shells should be shredded or pulverized before composting. If you can't do that, put them in a long-range pile of their own. Sludge. Commercially reprocessed is an increasingly popular soil amendment and is almost certainly pathogen-free, but I'm concerned about the heavy metals and insecticides it may contain. And what are good compost makings? Well, for starters, how about these: Plant residues (preferably nonsprayed), such as kitchen and garden wastes, weeds, grass clippings, leaves (go light on those from eucalyptuses, walnuts, and evergreens), straw, hay, hedge clippings, seaweed, aquatic plants, and green manure crops. Commercial wastes, such as buckwheat hulls, rice hulls, molasses-making residue, spent hops, fruit processing wastes, commercial fishing scraps, lake dredgings, sawdust, feathers, wood ashes (in moderation), utility-company tree trimmings, and vegetable or dairy wastes from grocery stores. Home wastes, like eggshells, hair, wool scraps, etc. Manures from horses, fowl, cows, pigs, sheep, etc. These are even better if they're mixed with straw (i.e., used stall bedding). Step #4: Recipe for success Once you've assembled lots of appropriate organic matter from the "compost pile shopping list" above, you're just about ready to start cooking. The funny thing is, though, there is no one way to make compost. Indeed, there are almost as many methods as there are experts to advocate them. It's like baking bread: There are thousands of different recipes, but all of them have in common some basic practices and vital main ingredients. Se before you build that long-awaited heap, let's quickly review the six essentials of successful composting: Nitrogen: For a compost to cook properly and to have maximum value for plants, it needs nitrogen, the element that promotes leaf growth. Good sources of N are pig, chicken, sheep, horse, and cow manure (ranked in descending amounts of nitrogen); fresh green plant wastes; and blood, bone, cottonseed, hoof, horn, and alfalfa meals (readily available from garden-supply centers, but somewhat costly). Carbon. The vast bulk of any compost pile should be carbonaceous material: dried leaves, hay, straw, partially dried garden gleanings, shredded stalks—almost any dried organic matter. This is the key humus building material and the substance that binds nitrogen (an otherwise ephemeral element) into the compost. Air. Although organic matter can decay anaerobically (without oxygen), it will do so more quickly, will retain more nutrient value, and for that matter cook with much less stink if it composts aerobically (with oxygen). To provide good airflow to a pile, you should, if possible, place thick, hollow material like cornstalks and sunflower stalks at the bottom of a pile. Also, be sure that any compost bins or pens have perforated sides. Once the pile is built, you can try poking holes in numerous places with poles or branches to increase aeration—although I've never noticed that this technique made much difference. You can try using a "compost aerator," a pole with a flap like a toggle bolt that opens up when you pull it up out of your pile (available from garden-supply companies). I've never used one myself. Or you can just break down and use the age-old method of adding oxygen to a pile by turning it. Periodically, take a garden fork and turn the pile—upside down and inside out—on an adjacent spot. Water. A compost pile needs moisture to cure. However, too much water will drown out the air and stop the process. The ideal heap, then, is damp but not soggy. Mass. As pointed out earlier, a compost pile needs to have at least a cubic yard of bulk to heat up properly. And up to a point, the bigger the better; a pile can hardly be too long or wide, but one that is too tall (say over five feet high) may mash down and squeeze out air. Beneficial microorganisms. These are the guys who actually do all the work. You can buy beneficial bacteria packets to inoculate your compost, but these little fellows are pretty much everywhere and will thrive if you give them an environment they like. One simple way to inoculate your piles for free is to occasionally sprinkle some good garden soil—or compost from a previous pile—on the one you're constructing. Step #5: Layering Now that you know the six essential ingredients of a good compost pile, you need to know how to combine them. The basic technique is simply to alternate layers of nitrogenous and carbonaceous materials. If your pile is all carbon or all nitrogen, your bacteria's diet will be too far out of whack for them to do their job. The ideal carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is about 25 to 1, but you'd need all sorts of time and charts to figure out how to achieve that precise ratio out of the materials you may have on hand. It's easier—and perfectly effective—to just take some ingredients from the carbon list and some from the nitrogen list and layer them, experimenting with proportions until you find what works for you. In a nutshell, then: 1) Lay down some stalky material, preferably on bare soil you have forked up some to allow easier passage for bacteria and earthworms. 2) Fork on a layer of carbonaceous material. 3) Fork on a layer of nitrogenous matter. Each layer—N or C—should be about 2" to 8" thick. And fluff it up as you add it to promote airflow. 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you've finished building your pile. Sprinkle on a spadeful or two of soil or cured compost occasionally, and if your materials seem dry, spray on some water periodically as you work. 5) Cover the pile with a waterproof tarp to protect it. I mentioned that you'll have to experiment to find the best ratio of materials. One of my "old reliable" combinations, if you'd like to try it, is alternating in a 5-5-2 pattern: a 5" layer of green matter, a 5" layer of dry matter, and a 2" layer of manure. But, contrary to some opinions, good compost piles can be made with all vegetative matter and no manure. Just make sure you have enough nitrogen (here's where something like blood meal or human urine is invaluable). Step #6: Check your progress If all goes well, in about four or five days the interior of your compost pile should have heated up. Indeed, before long a hand poked inside the heap will get uncomfortably hot. If that happens, congratulations! Your compost is cooking! If your pile doesn't heat up, something's wrong. First check to see if the pile is too wet or too dry. If it's too soggy, turn it, adding more dry material as you do. If it's too dry, wet it. Assuming the pile is properly moistened and isn't too compressed for good air circulation, your problem is that the compost mixture needs more nitrogen. So turn the pile, adding more nitrogenous matter. Step #7: Turning compost There's one last step to making compost: turning the pile. Here you have some choices. If you want to get your compost quickly, you'll turn the pile every time it's most intense heat (104° to 170°F) starts to drop—about every three to five days. That will add more oxygen and kick up the process. Keep that up and you should have finished compost in two months or less. If all the ingredients have been finely shredded, thinly layered, and turned every three days, it's even possible to make usable compost in two weeks! If you want your compost in a medium amount of time, turn the pile approximately six weeks after you make it and again six weeks later. Your humus should be ready four to six months after you started it. And if you're long on patience and short on turning time, just leave the mound alone. Such a slow pile should be ready to use after a year (or even a little longer). Time is not the only consideration here—there are raging debates about whether "quick" or "slow" compost is better. Since quick-cured piles get well above the pathogen-killing temperature of 140°F, they're the way to go if you want to compost diseased materials (or kill weed seeds). On the other hand, slow-pile advocates claim that cold-cured compost (which cooks at around 100°F) retains more nutrients. So relax, dig in, and don't be afraid to experiment. Whichever way you decide to compost, you'll be making the best soil builder your garden could have. You'll also be participating in the light cycle that connects all life on this planet—plant, animal, and even human. As Leandre Poisson has pointed out, we ourselves are "light's ultimate art." Any Way You Stack It... The great thing about organic decomposition is that it's always ready to start without you. However, if you want to be assured of consistently composted material on a regular basis, you'll need to take the matter into your own hands and provide a setting in which the breakdown process can occur under the best conditions and with your supervision. Fortunately, compost doesn't ask much in the way of accommodations, so depending on how much you're willing to spend, your bin can be as unassuming as a simple wire enclosure or as fancy as the covered "post-and-beam" model. If you're short on time and not ready to spend much money on a composter, "quickie" versions such as the one in our Compost Box Construction Diagram are right up your alley. It'll take about $40 and less than two hours to put together, and it's made of a 16'-long, 1/4"-wire stock panel hacksawed into 48" X 52" sections and clipped together at the corners with quick-connecting chain links. To ease the chore of filling it up, one of the wire sections can be cut in two, halfway up its 4' height, and similarly linked at the horizontal split to make a hinged flap that you can secure at the top with a couple of snap hooks. Since the panel's wire openings are 2" X 8" at the bottom and increase to 6" X 8" toward the top, it's necessary to line the walls with cage fencing (or some other product with openings no larger than 2" X 4"). This inner grid can be secured to the outer with baling wire or leftover strands from the trimmed-down panels. To put the lid on the kettle, just invest a couple of bucks in a 5' X 7' polyethylene tarp and some S hooks or rope to keep the heavy rain off your working pile. Then when it comes time to start a new heap, simply open one corner of the enclosure, remove it, and set it up at a different location. The "uptown" model shown in our diagram costs considerably more—perhaps as much as $200, depending on where you get your materials—and is nothing less than a weekend project. In return for this investment, though, you'll get a sturdy and attractive compost crib that's been specifically designed for ease of use. Our version has two bins, although it could be built as a single or a triple, depending on your compost rotation schedule. Its front doors hinge both down and outward, the ventilated partition between the bins can be lowered in stages, and the front center-posts fold down against the ground. Fully opened, with the framed covers flipped back on their supports, each stall is surprisingly accessible for routine turning. The diagram indicates the number and placement of hinges, fasteners, hooks, and other hardware. The front 4 X 4 posts should be sunk 2' into the ground if possible, leaving 5' exposed at the front and 4' at the rear. All posts are centered about 54" apart. The wall panels are 2 X 4s notched at the ends to make bolted together half-lap joints; they're secured to the posts with 40d spikes driven into the wood and bent to form slip-out hook-and-eye fasteners. Cut sections of dog-pen wire are stapled to the frames. The tarp covers are framed in 2 X 2s, which are half lap-jointed like the wall panels. Each lid has two support ribs that are lapped and bolted in place. Wooden struts fastened to the cover frames hold them up or support them when they're flipped back, but normally they're just tied to looped spikes fastened to the centerposts. If you take the time to build either version now, you should have a ready supply of valuable organic material available by next spring. Earthy Compost Books The Rodale Guide to Composting by Jerry Minnich, Marjorie Hunt, and the editors of Organic Gardening Magazine; $17.95 postpaid from Rodale Press (An updated edition will be published in January 1992.) Let It Rot (Updated and Revised Edition), by Stu Campbell, $8.95 from Storey Communications.

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Girolamo Tessari called Girolamo Dal Santo - inv. 1581 The scene is set in a broad landscape. In the middle, the founder of the Benedictine order, Saint Benedict of Norcia, with a long beard and crosier, is presenting another monk of the confraternity, recently held to be the person who commissioned the painting, to the Virgin enthroned. The two side scenes in the middle distance show, on the left, Saint Jerome in the desert in front of the crucifix and, on the right, Saint Benedict throwing himself naked among the wilderness in order to vanquish the temptations of the flesh. In the foreground, two rabbits at the feet of the Virgin symbolise the triumph of chastity over lust. The iconographic elements indicate that the work was made for the Benedictine order and confirm the hypothesis that it might have been commissioned by the monastery of Santa Giustina in Padua, which underwent refurbishment between the end of the 15th and the middle of the 16th century. Painted in about 1521, the work was attributed for a long time alternatively to Romanino or to Moretto, two artists from Brescia. It reveals similarities in colour choices with the first and in figure shading with the second. It also recalls Venetian artists, from Giorgione to Titian, in the setting of the scene, and northern artists in the burst of light, that colours the horizon. Girolamo Tessari, called “Del Santo” after the district in Padua in which he lived for many years, worked exclusively in his native town. The attribution of this work to Tessari was accepted only in the 1920s thanks to stylistic affinities with other works in Padua that were certainly painted by him.

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Scientists in the United States have recovered human stem cells from cloned human embryos, in what is a world first. They have described it as a “significant step forward” in medicine. Scientists have been trying to obtain stem cells from cloned human embryos for more than a decade, without success. It’s understood that in previous attempts, the embryos stopped developing before producing the cells. Stem cells are able to turn into any cell of the body, and scientists have long held an interest in using them to create transplant tissue for treating conditions like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and blindness. But since transplants run the risk of rejection, scientists instead decided to create tissue that used the patient’s own DNA through cloning. The technique, described in the journal Cell by researchers from Oregon State University, involves transplanting an individual’s DNA into an egg which itself has been stripped of all genetic material. “A thorough examination of the stem cells derived through this technique demonstrated their ability to convert just like normal embryonic stem cells, into several different types, including nerve cells, liver cells and heart cells,” said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, senior scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Mitalipov said that because the reprogrammed cells use the patient’s genetic material, there was no concern about transplant rejection. The technique, a variation of a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer, was used to produce Dolly the cloned sheep in 1996. Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned. “While there is much work to be done in developing safe and effective stem cell treatments, we believe this is a significant step forward in developing the cells that could be used in regenerative medicine,” Mitalipov said. He added that human cells in the study appeared even more fragile than those of monkey cells having undergone the same technique, which has so far not successfully produced any monkey clones. This means it is unlikely the method could be used to create human clones, said Mitalipov. “While nuclear transfer breakthroughs often lead to a public discussion about the ethics of human cloning, this is not our focus, nor do we believe our findings might be used by others to advance the possibility of human reproductive cloning,” he said. jr/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)

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Though the origin of Flag Day dates back to the late 19th century, its inspiration takes us further back to 1777. On June 14th of that year, in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress passed a resolution specifying that the flag carry 13 stripes and 13 stars. The colors would represent hardiness and valor (red), purity and innocence (white), and vigilance, perseverance and justice (blue). The concept of a specific day to annually recognize the American Flag came 108 years later. In 1885, a Fredonia, Wisconsin schoolteacher, B.J. Cigrand, arranged for the students in his school district to observe the resolution on June 14th as ‘Flag Birthday’. In 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned similar festivities for his school’s students. In 1893, Philadelphia became the first city to celebrate Flag Day, and in the following year, New York was the first state to observe June 14th. After decades of expanding community observances, President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day on May 30, 1916. Still many communities did not celebrate Flag Day. It wasn’t until 1949, when President Harry Truman signed into an Act of Congress that National Flag Day be observed every June 14th. The Unites States Flag Code, as adopted by Congress, states “The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.” This is why we should give the flag our full respect. Flag Day is celebrated on June 14.

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Real Change in the Torah The most effective and enduring changes create justice for all members of society. Reprinted with permission from The Torah: A Women's Commentary, edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss (New York: URJ Press and Women of Reform Judaism, 2008). The last parashah in the book of Numbers ends with a second story about the five daughters of Zelophehad--Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. The first story, in Numbers 27, shows how the sisters demanded and received a promise--from God, no less--that they will inherit their family's ancestral land (since their father died without leaving a son). Here in parashat Mas'ei, the daughters' male relatives challenge the women's inheritance right in order to protect ownership of tribal land. Moses responds al pi Adonai--"at God's bidding" (36:5), by amending the new law. The change requires women who inherit ancestral land to marry into a family of their father's tribe (36:6), thereby limiting these women's choice of spouses, but keeping the property within the tribe. The parashah and the book end by confirming that the sisters did marry accordingly. This sequel in Numbers 36 appears to be a setback after the daughters' startling triumph in parashat Pinchas (Numbers 27), where they won significant inheritance rights for themselves and for their "sisters" in the future. The five sisters in particular, and Israelite women in general, walk away from parashat Mas'ei with less than they had before. As some scholars observe, when the sisters marry their first cousins, they essentially hand over their inheritance to the same men who would otherwise have inherited the land had the women never stood up for themselves (Hara E. Person, "Masa'ei: Boundaries and Limits," in The Women's Torah Commentary, 200, p. 327; and Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, 1990, p. 298). Moreover, in giving up some of their gains for the sake of larger familial and communal needs, they seem to perpetuate the all-too-familiar situation of women foregoing their own needs for the sake of others in the family. Nevertheless, while the decree in this parashah certainly is a step back from the full rights given to the daughters previously, it is not a full retreat; they still end up with more than they had in the first place. To begin with, the sisters marry from a position of strength, not dependency. What would have happened to the sisters had they not stepped forward to ask for their inheritance? Given the frequency with which the Torah reminds us of our societal obligation to care for widows and orphans, we can guess what might have happened to Zelophehad's daughters had they remained landless. Furthermore, the daughters' actions and triumph eliminate a whole category of dependent orphans (the girls and women who until then did not inherit). Did you like this article? MyJewishLearning is a not-for-profit organization.

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|YOUNG CHILDREN | May 2014| |Art Play: Stories of Engaging Families, Inspiring Learning, and Exploring Motion| |by M. Susan McWilliams, Ashley Brailsford Vaughns, Anne O'Hara, Loretta S. Novotny, and Theodora Jo Kyle| Collage is the ultimate playful technique . . . . When you put it all together, you create something new. It is really about trial and error . . . about trying things and making mistakes. It’s about forgiving yourself when you make mistakes, and playfulness lets you do that. —Hanoch Piven, “Living in a Playful Collage” Hanoch Piven, an internationally known collage-caricature artist, visited Omaha, Nebraska, to conduct arts-based workshops for families, teachers, and children. The workshops were organized by the Omaha Family Literacy Partnership (OFLP). The partnership promotes literacy learning among children and their families through community activities such as author and illustrator visits, family book celebrations, storytelling events, book distributions, and puppet shows. The OFLP invited Piven, an author and illustrator of children’s books, because of his connection to literacy. Playful explorations with objects is his method of creating art, and this method was the focus of the workshops. The weeklong project engaged more than 2,000 children, teachers, and family members at a number of locations: a children’s museum, a nonprofit center for immigrant families, the University of Nebraska Omaha, a public library branch, and local schools that serve pre-K through grade 6 children from families with low incomes. Its success was due in part to the excitement of the teachers, families, and community partners. Success was also contingent on thorough preparation and, of course, on the talent, energy, and communication skills of the visiting artist. The project focused on literacy, with the theme of play's strong presence in art creation running through the workshops. One result was that participating educators gained a newfound respect for playful art explorations as a strategy for developing literacy learning. Overall, the surprise discovery was that the artwork itself was not the most important outcome of the events. Instead, the true value of the experience was in the interactions and stories that flowed from the playful exploration of materials and process of creating. Three educators tell their stories in this article . . . . Continue reading About the Authors M. Susan McWilliams, PhD, is an associate professor of teacher education at the University of Nebraska Omaha and director of the Omaha Family Literacy Partnership. firstname.lastname@example.org Ashley Brailsford Vaughns, PhD, is an assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Nebraska Omaha. email@example.com Anne O'Hara is the director of the Learning Community Center of South Omaha. firstname.lastname@example.org Loretta S. Novotny is a Head Start teacher at Wakonda Elementary for the Omaha Public Schools. Theodora Jo Kyle, BS, is a migrant and refugee pre-K teacher with Omaha Public Schools.

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Behind the buzz and beyond the hype: Our Nanowerk-exclusive feature articles Posted: Mar 23, 2012 Compelling evidence for silicene - the silicon analogue to graphene (Nanowerk Spotlight) The fascination with two-dimensional (2D) materials that has started with graphene has spurred researchers to look for other 2D structures like for instance metal carbides and nitrides (see our Nanowerk Spotlight"Graphene was only the beginning; now MAX phases get two-dimensional as well"). One particularly interesting analogue to graphene would be 2D silicon – silicene – because it could be synthesized and processed using mature semiconductor techniques, and more easily integrated into existing electronics than graphene is currently. However, silicene does not seem to exist in nature nor is there any solid phase of silicon similar to graphite. Nevertheless, silicene has been predicted by theory as early as 1994 (see paper in Physical Review B: "Theoretical possibility of stage corrugation in Si and Ge analogs of graphite") and, with the explosive research going into graphene, there has been growing interest in this field over the past few years. The issue with theoretical calculations is that they calculate the total energy of a system like silicene and thus predict whether it is energetically stable or not. What theory cannot predict is whether such a material can also occur naturally or be formed in in the lab. "As a matter of fact, silicene has not been observed in nature nor is there any solid phase of silicon similar to graphite," Dr. Patrick Vogt, a researcher in the Experimental Nanophysics and Photonics group at Technical University of Berlin, tells Nanowerk. "As a consequence, pure 2D silicene layers cannot be generated by exfoliation methods as in the case of graphene and more sophisticated methods have to be considered for the growth of silicene." In recent work (see accepted paper in Physical Review Letters: "Silicene: Compelling Experimental Evidence for Graphenelike Two-Dimensional Silicon"), though, Vogt and his collaborators Guy LeLay from CNRS-CINaM in Marseille, Paola DePadova from CNR-ISM in Rome, and colleagues from their groups as well as from the Synchrotron SOLEIL in Saint Aubin, have presented the first clear evidence for the synthesis and thus the existence of silicene – a two-dimensional material, with a honeycomb-like arrangement of silicon atoms. STM image of a 2D Si-layer on Ag(111). Clearly visible is the honeycomb-like structure. (Image: Dr. Vogt, TU Berlin) "The most important motivation for our work was to demonstrate the existence of silicene by growing it on templates that do not react with the silicon atoms, such as Ag(111) surfaces," explains Vogt. "In the literature, there has been only one publication ("Epitaxial growth of a silicene sheet") before which claims the synthesis of silicene on Ag(111) based on STM measurements only. We explain in our manuscript why we are convinced that these results only refer to measurements of a clean Ag(111) surface. This is not the first time in research that STM measurements are misleading in order to find an atomic structural model. Furthermore, the pure Ag(111) surface can sometimes appear as a honeycomb structure due to an electronic effect caused by the STM tip." In this respect it was extremely important for the research team to be clear about what they could consider to be a proof for the existence of silicene. They concluded that this proof can only be found if they could show that the silicene layer formed on top of the silver surface shows a 2D growth mode; has the structural and chemical aspects expected for silicene; has a reasonable Si-Si distance between neighboring atoms in the layer; has an electronic dispersion resembling that of relativistic Dirac fermions; shows a Fermi velocity expected for such a 2D system; and, finally, is energetically stable. Such an ambitious task can only be achieved by combining several experimental and theoretical techniques. In their paper, the scientists provide compelling evidences, from both structural and electronic properties, for the synthesis of epitaxial silicene sheets on a silver (111) substrate, through the combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in conjunction with calculations based on density functional theory. Vogt points out that the synthesis of silicene opens up interesting perspectives since silicene – with nontrivial electronic structure and a much larger spin-orbit coupling of 1.55 meV than in graphene – is predicted to exhibit a quantum spin Hall-effect in an accessible temperature regime. "At the same time silicene also shows important advantages with respect to graphene, for example as it can easier be combined with silicon-based electronics and logic devices," he says. One of the main challenges for the near future is to grow silicene on other materials than metals, e.g. semiconductors or insulators. This would allow to directly access properties such as the conductance and give researchers a first idea on the possibilities for technological applications. "At the same time, we will also focus on the separation of the silicon from the substrate to obtain it as a free-standing system," says Vogt. "Another important aspect will be to look for other 2D material systems such as germanene, the graphene/silicene analogous for germanium and for combined or multi-layer 2D systems." This work was financially supported within the project 2D-NANOLATTICES of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program within the 7th framework program for research of the European Commission and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant number VO1261/3-1.

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Three 300-pound main parachutes gently lower a mockup Orion capsule to the ground during a test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on Dec. 20. The test verified that the parachute design for the spacecraft – which will take humans farther than they've ever been before and return them to Earth at greater speeds than ever before – will work in the event of one of the capsule's two drogue parachutes malfunctions. Image Credit: NASA Page Last Updated: July 28th, 2013 Page Editor: NASA Administrator

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Millions of people across the Northeast, where many communities have yet to recover from Superstorm Sandy, now find themselves bracing for a blizzard on Friday. "From my end, technically speaking, blizzards are not what they used to be," joked Paul Knight, a senior climatologist as Penn State. "When I was a kid it was quarter-mile visibility, sustained winds of 35 mph and the temperature 20 degrees or less." Although the scientific definition still holds, Knight says people use the term much more casually these days. Originally, the word blizzard referred to a shot from a musket or cannon — but it was first used to describe a storm in the 1870s by an Iowa newspaper. The record of blizzards (or lesser storms) across the Northeast goes all the way back to 1888, when more than 3 feet hit some parts of New York and New Jersey. Among the highlights since: Halloween 2011 – Halloween was postponed a week across much of Connecticut, as a freak storm hit the region. But the problem wasn't so much the snow, of which there was plenty, as it was the ice that glazed roads and power lines, leaving thousands without electricity for more than a week. Boxing Day 2010 – The day after Christmas saw two feet of snow bury New York City. Then Mayor Mike Bloomberg got buried by the press after snow removal took far too long. In fact, the city's response was so bad that even hizzoner admitted they blew it. Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse – The nation's capital got pounded by so much snow during the first week of February 2010 that even President Barack Obama was calling it "Snowmageddon." Ironically, the storm shut down the government just as a global warming bill was trying to get through Congress. This was one of three huge storms to hit the nation in that single month. April Fool's Day Blizzard of '97 – Rain, sleet and snow fell from Maryland to Maine, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and as much as three feet of snow to shovel. Blizzard of 1996 – From Jan. 6 to 8, New York City got 20 to 30 inches of snow, Providence got 24 inches, Boston and Hartford got 18, parts of New England saw up to 33 and President Bill Clinton shut down the government. The storm killed more than 150, and damages totaled more than $1 billion. Blizzard of '78 – This one shut down the state of Connecticut for three days, as 2 feet of snow and whipping winds made for massive snowdrifts and impassable roads. Massachusetts and Rhode Islands experienced record 24-hour snowfalls, there were nearly 100 deaths and damages totaled nearly $2 billion. Great Blizzard of 1947 – Probably the whitest Christmas in New York City's history. By the time the snow had stopped, there were more than 26 inches in Central Park. Cars and buses were stranded, the subway was at a halt and 77 people had died. Blizzard of 1888 – This was back in the days when a storm could really catch you off-guard. The forecast for March 11, 1888, called for "cloudy followed by light rain and clearing," geese were already heading north and Walt Whitman had written a poem about the first flower of spring. And then parts of New York and New Jersey got 40 inches of snow, while Connecticut and Massachusetts got 50. But while historic storms hit from Halloween to April Fool's Day, they definitely cluster around a time when two factors make blizzards most apt to happen. "February, at least centered around February, is blizzard season," explains Knight. "The reason for that is that the chilly air in the northern reaches of North America has kind of maxed out at this point, and if there's going to be a time for it to come south, it's going to be late January or February," he explains. "The second thing is the temperature contrast between the water and the cold air over the land is almost at a maximum now. That then leads to the potential for storms, because storms are totally driven by temperature contrast." As bad as some of these recent storms have been, Knight notes that it's important to realize that they're really not so out of line with past snowfalls. "We've just gotten used to (warmer winters). It's so human: We adapt to the very pleasant weather of last winter and say, 'Well, this is the way it should be,' or 'This is what we think the new norm is,'" says Knight. "Insofar as the shift in climate is going to make the winters notably milder, then when we get a more normal winter, which is what we're having, we will perceive it as being worse than they really is. But this is really not that bad." And no matter how bad things do get this weekend, overall this will have been another mild winter, Knight says. "Given the amount of warmth we've had, when you incorporate December, January and now at least the first half of February, there's no way we're gonna get temperatures for that three-month period to average below normal anywhere in the Northeast," he said.

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The quake that rattled Chile Saturday landed in the record books as the fifth-biggest quake ever measured, an 8.8-magnitude monster that ripped through the South American country and killed some 700 people in the coastal nation. It came just six weeks after another quake shook Haiti, ravaging the impoverished region and leaving 220,000 dead in its wake -- even though it was nearly 500 times weaker than its Chilean counterpart. As crews continue to dig bodies from the rubble in both Chile and Haiti, experts wonder: Why was one nation devastated, and the other relatively spared? - The simple answer: money, Richard Stearns writes for the Seattle Times. Over half of the Haitian population lives on less than $1 a day, Stearns writes, and only half over the age of 15 can read, while in Chile, the average citizen earns $15,000 annually and the literacy rate is greater than 95 percent. "Most of the deaths would have been prevented -- if Haiti hadn't been so very poor," Stearns writes. - The greater abundance of wealth in Chile means more buildings were structurally sound and able to withstand the quake, scientist Colin Stark writes for CNN. Poverty is "what ultimately kills most people during an earthquake" because it determines how strong buildings are built: and when nations are cash-strapped like Haiti, "it means the choice between building robustly or building cheaply is not a choice at all," he writes. - Chile also had in place pre-quake a "working democracy" that was able to internally disperse resources to deal with the quake immediately and to fight for victims' safety, Anne Applebaum writes for the Washington Post. "The recovery process that follows a disaster is always deeply political," she writes. "Despite a stronger earthquake and more damaging aftershocks, Chile will return to normal faster than Haiti. Luck has nothing to do with it." - A mixture of luck and luxury saved Chile from Haiti's fate, according to the Wall Street Journal's editorial staff. The quake's touchdown point -- away from populated areas -- as well as access to free-market fringe benefits like modern health care, technology and education made the nation more equipped to handle a natural disaster, according to the editorial staff: "Chileans have prepared well for the big one." - Ultimately, Chile was spared the devastating losses of Haiti because of its status as a first-world, economicaly developed nation, Gilbert Mercier writes for the News Junkie Post. The difference between the nations' respective quake recoveries is a "humanely despicable injustice" that can be attributed to Chile's "modern and adequate infrastructure" and solid government: "It is difficult not to be shocked, and quite frankly revolted by the incredible disparity between the consequences, in terms of life and death, of two similar events," he writes.

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ARE YOU READY FOR GLOBAL COOLING? May 24, 2010 It's not exactly Copenhagen or Kyoto, but the 700 scientists attending the fourth International Conference on Climate Change, sponsored by the Heartland Institute, had some chilling news of their own, says Investor's Business Daily (IBD). "Global warming is over -- at least for a few decades," Don Easterbrook, emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, told the gathering. "However, the bad news is that global cooling is even more harmful to humans than global warming, and a cause for greater concern." According to Easterbrook: - Rather than global warming at a rate of about 1 (degree) Fahrenheit per decade, records of past natural cycles indicate there may be global cooling for the first few decades of the 21st century to about 2030. - These natural cycles have been occurring since the discovery of fire and mankind's first carbon emissions, long before the invention of the wheel and the SUV. Easterbrook and the other scientists reported on sudden and natural climate fluctuations documented in the geologic record, all before 1945. Two big climate changes occurred in the past 15,000 years, and another 60 smaller changes in the last 5,000 years. Another presenter, James M. Taylor, an environmental policy expert and a fellow at the Heartland Institute, said that global cooling is happening now. He pointed to data provided by the Rutgers University Global Snow Lab showing snow records from the last 10 years exceeding the records set in the 1960s and 1970s. Based on new analysis of ice cores from Greenland to Antarctica, global temperatures rose and fell from 9 to 15 degrees in a single century or less, a natural phenomenon Easterbrook called "astonishing." Source: Editorial, "Are You Ready For Global Cooling?" Investor's Business Daily, May 21, 2010. Browse more articles on Environment Issues

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Virginia researchers have successfully used a new tool on a patient with a vision-stealing disorder. They implanted a telescope in the eye to treat macular degeneration. According to ScienceDaily, doctors at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center used a telescope implant to provide central vision to a patient suffering from end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The National Eye Institute says AMD is the leading cause of vision loss among older adults. There are two types: dry and wet macular degeneration. The dry form sometimes progresses into the more serious wet AMD. Most AMD develops slowly and destroys the macula in the center of the eye. While patients don't lose all their sight, many eventually experience a significant loss of central vision in one or both eyes. Over time, it becomes harder to drive, write, do most close work, or read. AMD.org estimates that as many as 15 million Americans have AMD. Around 200,000 patients receive an AMD diagnosis each year. A majority have dry macular degeneration, the far more common form. It has three stages -- early, intermediate, and advanced -- and occurs when cells in the macula sensitive to light start breaking down. Patients can eventually experience blurring or a "blob" in their central vision. Experts consider the wet form advanced AMD. It develops when blood vessels under the macula leak blood and fluid. Damage can quickly occur. The surgeon who implanted the telescope was William H. Benson, M.D. A cornea specialist, he also chairs the Department of Ophthalmology at the VCU School of Medicine. The implant is smaller than a pea. It utilizes micro-optical technology to enlarge objects that a sufferer with advanced AMD could not see. The device projects images onto a healthy part of the retina. The patient is able to see them as if they appeared in the central vision field. Like many people with AMD, I didn't know I had any symptoms when I received my diagnosis. Two doctors had noted that I had the dry form in medical records, but had never told me. Only when I saw one of them two years later for another problem was AMD mentioned. There is no medication to reverse the effects of dry AMD. However, I quickly started on a supplement recommended by my ophthalmologist to help slow any loss of vision. Five years later, I have an exam every six months to detect changes in the macula in both eyes. Hopefully, I will never reach the most advanced stage of AMD. If I had this condition in only one eye, it would be easier to imagine surgery for an implant if it were affordable. Perhaps I'm a bit squeamish or haven't lost enough vision, but the idea of implanting a telescope to treat macular degeneration feels uncomfortably unnatural.source

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In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day. It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab. In the case of Kaiba Gionfriddo, doctors didn't have a moment to spare. Because of a birth defect, the little Ohio boy's airway kept collapsing, causing his breathing to stop and often his heart, too. Doctors in Michigan had been researching artificial airway splints but had not implanted one in a patient yet. In a single day, they "printed out" 100 tiny tubes, using computer-guided lasers to stack and fuse thin layers of plastic instead of paper and ink to form various shapes and sizes. The next day, with special permission from the Food and Drug Administration, they implanted one of these tubes in Kaiba, the first time this has been done. Suddenly, a baby that doctors had said would probably not leave the hospital alive could breathe normally for the first time. He was 3 months old when the operation was done last year and is nearly 19 months old now. He is about to have his tracheotomy tube removed; it was placed when he was a couple months old and needed a breathing machine. And he has not had a single breathing crisis since coming home a year ago.more

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernacke called for stronger regulation to avoid future asset bubbles, such as the housing bubble that precipitated the international financial crisis (the Great Recession) in an Atlanta speech. The Chairman appears to miss the fact that regulation itself was a principal cause of the Great Recession. The culprit, however, was not financial regulation, but rather land use regulation, which drove house prices so high in highly regulated markets. When households that could not afford their mortgages defaulted, the losses were far too intense for the mortgage industry to sustain, and thus the Great Recession. This is not to ignore the role of Congress and others, which fueled more liberal mortgage credit, and created the excess and credit-unworthy additional demand for home ownership. This higher demand, however, was only a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for creating the bubble, which when burst, precipitated the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In many markets, there was relatively little increase in house prices relative to incomes, as prices remained at or below the historic Median Multiple (median house price divided by median household income) standard of 3.0. In other markets, however, prices reached from 5 to 11 times incomes. Already, a new bubble may be on the way to developing. Even after the huge losses, house prices in California were only beginning to return to sustainable historic levels (3.0 Median Multiple). Since bottoming out, however, prices in California have risen 20%, at an annualized rate greater than that of any bubble year. Perhaps the first principle of regulation is understanding what to regulate. In the case of the housing bubble, it was land use regulations themselves that needed to be regulated. To avoid future housing bubbles, no more effective action could be taken than to repeal the restrictive land use regulations, without which the last bubble would have been, at most, only slight compared to the destructive reality that ensued.

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By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD There has been a lot of debate regarding the effectiveness of breast cancer screening in the UK. It is being reviewed yet again. The NHS says screening saves lives, but other researchers have argued that it may cause more harm than good. The national cancer director for England, Prof Mike Richards, announced in the British Medical Journal that he will lead a review. He said he was taking the “current controversy very seriously”. There have been studies that show that screening programmes for a range of cancers help doctors make a diagnosis sooner. But they also run the risk of false positives, diagnosing someone with cancer when they are healthy. Screening was introduced for breast cancer in 1988 in the UK and now offers tests to women, over the age of 50, every three years. In 2002, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer estimated that screening reduced deaths from breast cancer by about 35%. The NHS says 1,400 lives are saved through screening in England alone. However, the evidence has been questioned. A review of clinical trials involving a total of 600,000 women concluded it was “not clear whether screening does more good than harm”. It said that for every 2,000 women screened in a 10-year period: one life would be saved, 10 healthy women would have unnecessary treatment and at least 200 women would face psychological distress for many months because of false positive results. The authors of that research labeled the NHS Breast Screening Programme's advice “seriously misleading”. “Should the independent review conclude that the balance of harms outweighs the benefits of breast screening, I will have no hesitation in referring the findings to the UK National Screening Committee and then ministers. You also have my assurance that I am fully committed to the public being given information in a format that they find acceptable and understandable and that enables them to make truly informed choices,” wrote Richards in a letter to the BMJ. Prof Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, welcomed the review, “The NHS Breast Screening Programme has always been based on the best and latest evidence. Where new information has suggested them, a number of changes have been made to the Programme, for example extending the screening age range and using digital mammography.” The director of health information at the charity, Sara Hiom, said, “Women need more accurate, evidence-based and clear information to be able to make an informed choice about breast screening. The decision whether to be screened is a personal one, but that decision should be made with all of the potential harms and benefits fully explained.” Breakthrough Breast Cancer's chief executive Chris Askew said, “Breast screening is vital as it can detect breast cancer at the earliest possible stages when no other symptoms are obvious. The earlier breast cancer is picked up the better for the one in eight women who are diagnosed every year with this disease, as treatment options are more likely to be less aggressive and have successful outcomes.” In the meantime, the Department of Health insisted, “Our advice has not changed - we urge all women to go for breast screening when invited. The best available evidence shows that screening saves lives by detecting cancers earlier than they would otherwise have been.” The review will be led jointly by Prof Richards and Cancer Research UK.

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GPM Pediatrics doctor offers safety tips on tick bites Published on June 4, 2014 at 4:20 AM Dr. Michael Gabriel of GPM Pediatrics responds to an article published on Ozarksfirst.com on May 23rd that gives advice on tick bites and urges people to be cautious during the summer. The article titled, "Health Officials Urge Caution During Tick Season," says that ticks locate humans off of their body heat. Reducing the risk of ticks locating you can be done by using insecticide and wearing proper attire. People walking on trails or through brush during the summer are most susceptible to tick bites so it is important to be aware at all times. In addition, it is important to monitor tick bites after being bitten. Tick bites can lead to Lyme disease or become infected if not treated. Sometimes, people can contract serious illnesses in relation to the tick bite, but don't associate the symptoms with the bite. "Rashes, vomiting, and general cold-like symptoms are found in more severe cases, but diseases are rare with tick bites. However, medical experts say anxious parents are very common." Dr. Michael Gabriel of GPM Pediatrics, a Staten Island pediatric center, says that it is better to be over-cautious than under-cautious. "Tick bites can be severe if they are not caught right away. It's important to check your kids for tick bites after any outdoor activity in the summer," Gabriel states. "Removing the tick is not the end of treatment. The bite must be monitored for a couple of weeks afterward. I would suggest you visit your local pediatrician to clear your child of any diseases." Dr. Gabriel suggests parents take preventative actions to ensure that their child does not get bit. "Many people do not know that you can use insecticides to repel ticks. They use it for mosquitos, but insecticide can throw off the heat sensors on ticks," Gabriel explains. "Wearing proper clothing can be an even better approach. However, you have to be cautious of heat exhaustion, especially in children. Parents should find the method that is most appropriate for them and their families. If you or your child is bit by a tick, contact your local pediatricians office and get it checked out."

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Volcanoes protected species from ice age - From: AAP - March 11, 2014 VOLCANOES are more often associated destruction, but new evidence shows they might be the reason some animals and plants survived past ice ages. Steam and heat from volcanoes and hot rocks appear to keep species at a more comfortable temperature under the ice, allowing them to outlive those far away from such heat sources. "Volcanic steam can melt large ice caves under the glaciers, and it can be tens of degrees warmer in there than outside," Dr Ceridwen Fraser from the Australian National University said in a statement. "Caves and warm steam fields would have been great places for species to hang out during ice ages." Antarctica has at least 16 volcanoes which have been active since the last ice age 20,000 years ago. The findings go a long way to explain how some species survived and continue to evolve even when the planet was covered in glaciers, says the international team of researchers, led by Dr Fraser and the Australian Antarctic Division's Dr Aleks Terauds. The team studied tens of thousands of records of common Antarctic species of mosses, lichens and bugs, collected over decades by hundreds of researchers. About 60 per cent of Antarctic invertebrate species are found nowhere else in the world and must have been there for millions of years, says Professor Peter Convey from the British Antarctic Survey. "How they survived past ice ages ... has long puzzled scientists," Professor Convey said. The findings will help scientists understand how species respond to climate change and will certainly aid with conservation efforts in Antarctica, Professor Steven Chown from Monash University said. "Knowing where the hotspots of diversity are will help us to protect them as human-induced environmental changes continue to affect Antarctica," he said.

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Another Earth may be orbiting the star next door, and we could detect its presence within a few years, a new study argues. A telescope trained permanently on Alpha Centauri should be able to pick up the slight stellar wobbles induced by a small, rocky, Earth-like planet. Alpha Centauri lies just over 4 light years away and is the closest star system to the Sun. It appears to be a triple system, with two Sun-like stars orbiting each other relatively closely (about 23 times the Earth-Sun distance). The two stars have high concentrations of heavy elements, which is characteristic of stars that are born surrounded by dusty, planet-forming discs. Previous computer simulations suggested terrestrial planets probably formed around one or both stars. That is borne out by the work of Javiera Guedes at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), US, and colleagues, who have gone a step further and worked out how to detect such planets. "If our understanding of terrestrial planet formation is at all correct, then there should definitely be terrestrial planets orbiting both members of the Alpha Centauri binary pair," team member Greg Laughlin of UCSC told New Scientist. What's more, any such planets might boast the conditions thought to be necessary to support life. In the team's simulations of planet formation around the smaller star, Alpha Centauri B, an Earth-like world often coalesced in or near the star's habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. Finding these planets could be time-consuming, but it does not require any new techniques, they say. They suggest using the "radial velocity" method, which looks for spectral signs that a star is wobbling due to gravitational tugs from an orbiting planet. The method has discovered most of the 228 known exoplanets. But until now, it has turned up only giant Jupiter-like planets, which produce relatively large wobbles in their host stars. "Our aim is to find rocky planets by muscling up the same technique that has been so successful in finding more massive planets," says team member Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University in California, US. Laughlin realised that Alpha Centauri B was an exceptionally good target for this method, in part because it is a calm star. The atmospheres of most stars of its type churn more violently, which would obscure the slight movement caused by orbiting Earth-like planets. And because it is so near to Earth, Alpha Centauri B is very bright. That means astronomers can rapidly capture a precise spectrum of its light, which is ideal for measuring small Doppler shifts due to terrestrial planets. Even so, the researchers think they will need several years of data to smooth out random noise in their observations to be able to spot the faint signal of another Earth. That's because a terrestrial planet would cause Alpha Centauri B to wobble at speeds of only about 10 centimetres per second. Laughlin and his team will start to monitor Alpha Centauri in May, using a 1.5-metre telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. As well as searching for planets, their observations will be used to analyse the stars' natural oscillations, which could reveal details about their internal structures. Not all astronomers are convinced by the simulations that Alpha Centauri should host terrestrial planets. "I tend to be sceptical of planet-formation models," says Sara Seager of MIT in Cambridge, US, who did not take part in the study. But Seager is impressed with the second part of the paper, demonstrating that these planets should be detectable. "It is tremendously exciting that we can search for an Earth cousin in a habitable zone of a nearby star with current technology," she told New Scientist. Astrobiology - Learn more in our out-of-this-world special report. Journal reference: Astrophysical Journal (forthcoming) If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Video: Magnetic eruption An unusually complex magnetic eruption on the sun has flung a large cloud of electrically charged particles towards Earth. When the cloud hits, which could be anytime now, it could spark aurorae in the skies around the poles and pose a threat to satellites – though probably not a particularly severe one. On 1 August, a small solar flare erupted above sunspot 1092. It would not have raised many eyebrows, except that a large filament of cool gas stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere also chose that moment to explode into space. Despite being separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometres, the two events may be linked. Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into the filament. "These are two distinct phenomena but they are obviously related," says Len Culhane, a solar physicist at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London. Filaments are gigantic tubes of magnetism that fill up with solar gas and hang in the atmosphere of the sun. This particular one spanned 50 times the diameter of our planet before it burst. It then spilled its contents into space, producing a cloud of electrically charged particles known as a coronal mass ejection. When the cloud hits our planet, as will happen any day now, satellites could be affected. A gust of solar particles in April may have been responsible for putting Intelsat's Galaxy 15 permanently out of action. In the grand scheme of solar things, this is not a big eruption. The sun is currently rousing from an unusually extended period of quiet. "If the solar activity continues to rise, then in three to four years this will be seen as a comparatively normal event," says Culhane. If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Safety is freedom from harm or the danger of harm, it is also the percautions people take to prevent accidents. Many people cite safety and being a victim of crime as major concerns. Follow the links below to keep you as well as your family safe. Safety at Home Did you know that about one-third of all accidental injuries occur in the home? Avoid unnecessary injuries by observing a few simple safety rules. - Never use a chair, table, or boxes to reach high objects; use a ladder. Store heavy items on lower shelves and lighther items higher up to avoid awkard climbing and reaching. - Prevent cuts by keeping knives in a knife rack and sweeping up broken glass as soon as possible. Never pick up glass splinters with your bare hands. - Avoid burns and scalds when cooking by turning pot handles toward the back of the stove. - Install nonslip strips and handrails to prevent falls in the bathtub. - Keep medicines locked up and out of the reach of children. - Install a smoke alarm to help insure safety in case of fire. - If you have firearms in your home, keep them unloaded and lock them in a rack or cabinet. Ammunition should be locked in a separate place. - If you have a swimming pool, guard it with a fence and a locked gate, the pool should be drained when not in use. Safety at School Do you have school age chidren? Remind them of possible risks at school. While state and local laws require schools to provide clearly marked exits, fire escapes, and first-aid equipment, it remains the responsibility of the student to avoid accidents. Encourage your child to: - Walk not run in corridors and on stairs. - In the classroom keep feet out of the aisles and never throw items such as pencils, pens or paper clips at other students as this could cause eye injury. - If you participate in sporting events make sure you follow the safety precautions for that sport; for example if you play football be sure to wear the proper protective equipment. Safety Away From Home While your away from home (shopping, walking, driving or vacationing) guard against becoming a victim of a crime by following these safety tips. - Don't shop or conduct bank business on the 1st or 15th of the month when many government checks and paychecks are issued. Talk with your bank about setting up a direct deposit account. - Avoid carrying large sums of money, jewelry or valuables while you're out. - Leave important papers such as birth certificates and medical records at home. - Walk confidently and behave in an alert and self-assured manner and be aware of your surroundings at all times. - Be cautious when approached by strangers. - Avoid getting into an elevator with a stranger but if you must stand near the control panel. - When traveling use credit cards instead of cash and always travel with a companion. - Keep your distance from drivers who stop to ask for directions by remaining a few feet away from the vehicle. - Keep your car doors locked while driving. - Don't leave keys or other valuables in an unattended automobile. - Don't leave packages in your car where they will be visible to thieves. Hide them, lock them in the trunk or take them home. - If you become lost while driving or walking, get to the nearest public place and ask for directions. - Never leave small children unattended in your vehicle, not even for a minute. - Park your car or walk only in well-lit, populated areas. Avoid dark, deserted areas. - Don't stop at isolated cash machines or pay phones(you should own a cell phone) where you could become a carjacking victim. - Have your car keys in hand before approaching your vehicle, it is a good idea to place a whistle on your keychain for use in case of an emergency. - Check your surroundings before venturing into parking lots are other unfamiliar areas. Other Crime Prevention Resources National Crime Prevention Council's brochure featuring "McGruff the Dog" with information on staying safe at home, outside, and at work. Information includes tips for kids and senior citizens. Self defense courses Want to take a class in self defense? The Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement has a directory of instructors. Search by country and then state. Avoiding fire and carbon monoxide dangers at home Sources of these dangers and prevention tips. Avoiding vehicle fires Statistics and tips on preventing vehicle fires. List of common childhood accidents, how to prevent them and even what to do if they happen. Sources: World Book Encyclopedia and Sheriff's Office, Broward County, FL

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Nature Bulletin No. 11 April 21, 1945 Forest Preserve District of Cook County Clayton F. Smith, President Roberts Mann, Superintendent of Conservation On February 17, a forest preserve ranger and his son saw a snow white crow among a flock of black ones in the Elk Grove preserve, From time to time, for two or three years, people have been seeing this albino bird in that neighborhood. They say it seems tamer than the others and spends a good deal of time alone. During the past winter several flocks of crows had their "roosts" in various forest preserves. In March these flocks broke up into pairs which have built nests and are laying eggs. There will be from 3 to 5 eggs in each nest, rarely more. The incubation period for the eggs is 17 or 18 days. The young spend about 3 weeks in the nest. Oray one brood is raised per year. The crow has a bad reputation, but biologists who have spent their lives studying its habits say that his good points outweigh his bad points. Roughly 70% of his diet is vegetable matter, including waste grain. Approximately 20%, consists of insects -- particularly grubs and grasshoppers. The crow also helps the farmer by eating many field mice. He serves as a scavenger by eating the carcasses of dead animals, such as the rabbits, skunks and opossums killed on the highways. The crow is bold but wary, and very smart. He has a reputation as a thief and a rascal. But no proof can be shown that he is a serious menace to song birds, upland game birds, waterfowl or agricultural To return to the Nature Bulletins Click Here! Update: June 2012

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There are lots of ways to make money: You can earn it, find it, counterfeit it, steal it. Or, if you’re Satoshi Nakamoto, a preternaturally talented computer coder, you can invent it. That’s what he did on the evening of January 3, 2009, when he pressed a button on his keyboard and created a new currency called bitcoin. It was all bit and no coin. There was no paper, copper, or silver—just thirty-one thousand lines of code and an announcement on the Internet. Nakamoto, who claimed to be a thirty-six-year-old Japanese man, said he had spent more than a year writing the software, driven in part by anger over the recent financial crisis. He wanted to create a currency that was impervious to unpredictable monetary policies as well as to the predations of bankers and politicians. Nakamoto’s invention was controlled entirely by software, which would release a total of twenty-one million bitcoins, almost all of them over the next twenty years. Every ten minutes or so, coins would be distributed through a process that resembled a lottery. Miners—people seeking the coins—would play the lottery again and again; the fastest computer would win the most money. Interest in Nakamoto’s invention built steadily. More and more people dedicated their computers to the lottery, and forty-four exchanges popped up, allowing anyone with bitcoins to trade them for official currencies like dollars or euros. Creative computer engineers could mine for bitcoins; anyone could buy them. At first, a single bitcoin was valued at less than a penny. But merchants gradually began to accept bitcoins, and at the end of 2010 their value began to appreciate rapidly. By June of 2011, a bitcoin was worth more than twenty-nine dollars. Market gyrations followed, and by September the exchange rate had fallen to five dollars. Still, with more than seven million bitcoins in circulation, Nakamoto had created thirty-five million dollars of value. And yet Nakamoto himself was a cipher. Before the début of bitcoin, there was no record of any coder with that name. He used an e-mail address and a Web site that were untraceable. In 2009 and 2010, he wrote hundreds of posts in flawless English, and though he invited other software developers to help him improve the code, and corresponded with them, he never revealed a personal detail. Then, in April, 2011, he sent a note to a developer saying that he had “moved on to other things.” He has not been heard from since. When Nakamoto disappeared, hundreds of people posted theories about his identity and whereabouts. Some wanted to know if he could be trusted. Might he have created the currency in order to hoard coins and cash out? “We can effectively think of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ as being on top of a Ponzi scheme,” George Ou, a blogger and technology commentator, wrote. It appeared, though, that Nakamoto was motivated by politics, not crime. He had introduced the currency just a few months after the collapse of the global banking sector, and published a five-hundred-word essay about traditional fiat, or government-backed, currencies. “The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work,” he wrote. “The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve.” Banks, however, do much more than lend money to overzealous homebuyers. They also, for example, monitor payments so that no one can spend the same dollar twice. Cash is immune to this problem: you can’t give two people the same bill. But with digital currency there is the danger that someone can spend the same money any number of times. Nakamoto solved this problem using innovative cryptography. The bitcoin software encrypts each transaction—the sender and the receiver are identified only by a string of numbers—but a public record of every coin’s movement is published across the entire network. Buyers and sellers remain anonymous, but everyone can see that a coin has moved from A to B, and Nakamoto’s code can prevent A from spending the coin a second time. Nakamoto’s software would allow people to send money directly to each other, without an intermediary, and no outside party could create more bitcoins. Central banks and governments played no role. If Nakamoto ran the world, he would have just fired Ben Bernanke, closed the European Central Bank, and shut down Western Union. “Everything is based on crypto proof instead of trust,” Nakamoto wrote in his 2009 essay. Bitcoin, however, was doomed if the code was unreliable. Earlier this year, Dan Kaminsky, a leading Internet-security researcher, investigated the currency and was sure he would find major weaknesses. Kaminsky is famous among hackers for discovering, in 2008, a fundamental flaw in the Internet which would have allowed a skilled coder to take over any Web site or even to shut down the Internet. Kaminsky alerted the Department of Homeland Security and executives at Microsoft and Cisco to the problem and worked with them to patch it. He is one of the most adept practitioners of “penetration testing,” the art of compromising the security of computer systems at the behest of owners who want to know their vulnerabilities. Bitcoin, he felt, was an easy target. “When I first looked at the code, I was sure I was going to be able to break it,” Kaminsky said, noting that the programming style was dense and inscrutable. “The way the whole thing was formatted was insane. Only the most paranoid, painstaking coder in the world could avoid making mistakes.” Kaminsky lives in Seattle, but, while visiting family in San Francisco in July, he retreated to the basement of his mother’s house to work on his bitcoin attacks. In a windowless room jammed with computers, Kaminsky paced around talking to himself, trying to build a mental picture of the bitcoin network. He quickly identified nine ways to compromise the system and scoured Nakamoto’s code for an insertion point for his first attack. But when he found the right spot, there was a message waiting for him. “Attack Removed,” it said. The same thing happened over and over, infuriating Kaminsky. “I came up with beautiful bugs,” he said. “But every time I went after the code there was a line that addressed the problem.” He was like a burglar who was certain that he could break into a bank by digging a tunnel, drilling through a wall, or climbing down a vent, and on each attempt he discovered a freshly poured cement barrier with a sign telling him to go home. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kaminsky said, still in awe. Kaminsky ticked off the skills Nakamoto would need to pull it off. “He’s a world-class programmer, with a deep understanding of the C++ programming language,” he said. “He understands economics, cryptography, and peer-to-peer networking.” “Either there’s a team of people who worked on this,” Kaminsky said, “or this guy is a genius.” Kaminsky wasn’t alone in this assessment. Soon after creating the currency, Nakamoto posted a nine-page technical paper describing how bitcoin would function. That document included three references to the work of Stuart Haber, a researcher at H.P. Labs, in Princeton. Haber is a director of the International Association for Cryptologic Research and knew all about bitcoin. “Whoever did this had a deep understanding of cryptography,” Haber said when I called. “They’ve read the academic papers, they have a keen intelligence, and they’re combining the concepts in a genuinely new way.” Haber noted that the community of cryptographers is very small: about three hundred people a year attend the most important conference, the annual gathering in Santa Barbara. In all likelihood, Nakamoto belonged to this insular world. If I wanted to find him, the Crypto 2011 conference would be the place to start. “Here we go, team!” a cheerleader shouted before two burly guys heaved her into the air. It was a foggy Monday morning in mid-August, and dozens of college cheerleaders had gathered on the athletic fields of the University of California at Santa Barbara for a three-day training camp. Their hollering could be heard on the steps of a nearby lecture hall, where a group of bleary-eyed cryptographers, dressed in shorts and rumpled T-shirts, muttered about symmetric-key ciphers over steaming cups of coffee. This was Crypto 2011, and the list of attendees included representatives from the National Security Agency, the U.S. military, and an assortment of foreign governments. Cryptographers are little known outside this hermetic community, but our digital safety depends on them. They write the algorithms that conceal bank files, military plans, and your e-mail. I approached Phillip Rogaway, the conference’s program chair. He is a friendly, diminutive man who is a professor of cryptography at the University of California at Davis and who has also taught at Chiang Mai University, in Thailand. He bowed when he shook my hand, and I explained that I was trying to learn more about what it would take to create bitcoin. “The people who know how to do that are here,” Rogaway said. “It’s likely I either know the person or know their work.” He offered to introduce me to some of the attendees. Nakamoto had good reason to hide: people who experiment with currency tend to end up in trouble. In 1998, a Hawaiian resident named Bernard von NotHaus began fabricating silver and gold coins that he dubbed Liberty Dollars. Nine years later, the U.S. government charged NotHaus with “conspiracy against the United States.” He was found guilty and is awaiting sentencing. “It is a violation of federal law for individuals . . . to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States,” the F.B.I. announced at the end of the trial. Online currencies aren’t exempt. In 2007, the federal government filed charges against e-Gold, a company that sold a digital currency redeemable for gold. The government argued that the project enabled money laundering and child pornography, since users did not have to provide thorough identification. The company’s owners were found guilty of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and the C.E.O. was sentenced to months of house arrest. The company was effectively shut down. Nakamoto seemed to be doing the same things as these other currency developers who ran afoul of authorities. He was competing with the dollar and he insured the anonymity of users, which made bitcoin attractive for criminals. This winter, a Web site was launched called Silk Road, which allowed users to buy and sell heroin, LSD, and marijuana as long as they paid in bitcoin. Still, Lewis Solomon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University Law School, who has written about alternative currencies, argues that creating bitcoin might be legal. “Bitcoin is in a gray area, in part because we don’t know whether it should be treated as a currency, a commodity like gold, or possibly even a security,” he says. Gray areas, however, are dangerous, which may be why Nakamoto constructed bitcoin in secret. It may also explain why he built the code with the same peer-to-peer technology that facilitates the exchange of pirated movies and music: users connect with each other instead of with a central server. There is no company in control, no office to raid, and nobody to arrest. Today, bitcoins can be used online to purchase beef jerky and socks made from alpaca wool. Some computer retailers accept them, and you can use them to buy falafel from a restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. In late August, I learned that bitcoins could also get me a room at a Howard Johnson hotel in Fullerton, California, ten minutes from Disneyland. I booked a reservation for my four-year-old daughter and me and received an e-mail from the hotel requesting a payment of 10.305 bitcoins. By this time, it would have been pointless for me to play the bitcoin lottery, which is set up so that the difficulty of winning increases the more people play it. When bitcoin launched, my laptop would have had a reasonable chance of winning from time to time. Now, however, the computing power dedicated to playing the bitcoin lottery exceeds that of the world’s most powerful supercomputer. So I set up an account with Mt. Gox, the leading bitcoin exchange, and transferred a hundred and twenty dollars. A few days later, I bought 10.305 bitcoins with the press of a button and just as easily sent them to the Howard Johnson. It was a simple transaction that masked a complex calculus. In 1971, Richard Nixon announced that U.S. dollars could no longer be redeemed for gold. Ever since, the value of the dollar has been based on our faith in it. We trust that dollars will be valuable tomorrow, so we accept payment in dollars today. Bitcoin is similar: you have to trust that the system won’t get hacked, and that Nakamoto won’t suddenly emerge to somehow plunder it all. Once you believe in it, the actual cost of a bitcoin—five dollars or thirty?—depends on factors such as how many merchants are using it, how many might use it in the future, and whether or not governments ban it. My daughter and I arrived at the Howard Johnson on a hot Friday afternoon and were met in the lobby by Jefferson Kim, the hotel’s cherubic twenty-eight-year-old general manager. “You’re the first person who’s ever paid in bitcoin,” he said, shaking my hand enthusiastically. Kim explained that he had started mining bitcoins two months earlier. He liked that the currency was governed by a set of logical rules, rather than the mysterious machinations of the Federal Reserve. A dollar today, he pointed out, buys you what a nickel bought a century ago, largely because so much money has been printed. And, he asked, why trust a currency backed by a government that is fourteen trillion dollars in debt? Kim had also figured that bitcoin mining would be a way to make up the twelve hundred dollars he’d spent on a high-performance gaming computer. So far, he’d made only four hundred dollars, but it was fun to be a pioneer. He wanted bitcoin to succeed, and in order for that to happen businesses needed to start accepting it. The truth is that most people don’t spend the bitcoins they buy; they hoard them, hoping that they will appreciate. Businesses are afraid to accept them, because they’re new and weird—and because the value can fluctuate wildly. (Kim immediately exchanged the bitcoins I sent him for dollars to avoid just that risk.) Still, the currency is young and has several attributes that appeal to merchants. Robert Schwarz, the owner of a computer-repair business in Klamath Falls, Oregon, began selling computers for bitcoin to sidestep steep credit-card fees, which he estimates cost him three per cent on every transaction. “One bank called me saying they had the lowest fees,” Schwarz said. “I said, ‘No, you don’t. Bitcoin does.’ ” Because bitcoin transfers can’t be reversed, merchants also don’t have to deal with credit-card charge-backs from dissatisfied customers. Like cash, it’s gone once you part with it. At the Howard Johnson, Kim led us to the check-in counter. The lobby featured imitation-crystal chandeliers, ornately framed oil paintings of Venice, and, inexplicably, a pair of faux elephant tusks painted gold. Kim explained that he hadn’t told his mother, who owned the place, that her hotel was accepting bitcoins: “It would be too hard to explain what a bitcoin is.” He said he had activated the tracking program on his mother’s Droid, and she was currently about six miles away. Today, at least, there was no danger of her finding out about her hotel’s financial innovation. The receptionist handed me a room card, and Kim shook my hand. “So just enjoy your stay,” he said. Nakamoto’s extensive online postings have some distinctive characteristics. First of all, there is the flawless English. Over the course of two years, he dashed off about eighty thousand words—the approximate length of a novel—and made only a few typos. He covered topics ranging from the theories of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises to the history of commodity markets. Perhaps most interestingly, when he created the first fifty bitcoins, now known as the “genesis block,” he permanently embedded a brief line of text into the data: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This is a reference to a Times of London article that indicated that the British government had failed to stimulate the economy. Nakamoto appeared to be saying that it was time to try something new. The text, hidden amid a jumble of code, was a sort of digital battle cry. It also indicated that Nakamoto read a British newspaper. He used British spelling (“favour,” “colour,” “grey,” “modernised”) and at one point described something as being “bloody hard.” An apartment was a “flat,” math was “maths,” and his comments tended to appear after normal business hours ended in the United Kingdom. In an initial post announcing bitcoin, he employed American-style spelling. But after that a British style appeared to flow naturally. I had this in mind when I started to attend the lectures at the Crypto 2011 conference, including ones with titles such as “Leftover Hash Lemma, Revisited” and “Time-Lock Puzzles in the Random Oracle Model.” In the back of a darkened auditorium, I stared at the attendee list. A Frenchman onstage was talking about testing the security of encryption systems. The most effective method, he said, is to attack the system and see if it fails. I ran my finger past dozens of names and addresses, circling residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were nine. I soon discovered that six were from the University of Bristol, and they were all together at one of the conference’s cocktail parties. They were happy to chat but entirely dismissive of bitcoin, and none had worked with peer-to-peer technology. “It’s not at all interesting to us,” one of them said. The two other cryptographers from Britain had no history with large software projects. Then I started looking into a man named Michael Clear. Clear was a young graduate student in cryptography at Trinity College in Dublin. Many of the other research students at Trinity posted profile pictures and phone numbers, but Clear’s page just had an e-mail address. A Web search turned up three interesting details. In 2008, Clear was named the top computer-science undergraduate at Trinity. The next year, he was hired by Allied Irish Banks to improve its currency-trading software, and he co-authored an academic paper on peer-to-peer technology. The paper employed British spelling. Clear was well versed in economics, cryptography, and peer-to-peer networks. I e-mailed him, and we agreed to meet the next morning on the steps outside the lecture hall. Shortly after the appointed time, a long-haired, square-jawed young man in a beige sweater walked up to me, looking like an early-Zeppelin Robert Plant. With a pronounced brogue, he introduced himself. “I like to keep a low profile,” he said. “I’m curious to know how you found me.” I told him I had read about his work for Allied Irish, as well as his paper on peer-to-peer technology, and was interested because I was researching bitcoin. I said that his work gave him a unique insight into the subject. He was wearing rectangular Armani glasses and squinted so much I couldn’t see his eyes. “My area of focus right now is fully homomorphic encryption,” he said. “I haven’t been following bitcoin lately.” He responded calmly to my questions. He was twenty-three years old and studied theoretical cryptography by himself in Dublin—there weren’t any other cryptographers at Trinity. But he had been programming computers since he was ten and he could code in a variety of languages, including C++, the language of bitcoin. Given that he was working in the banking industry during tumultuous times, I asked how he felt about the ongoing economic crisis. “It could have been averted,” he said flatly. He didn’t want to say whether or not the new currency could prevent future banking crises. “It needs to prove itself,” he said. “But it’s an intriguing idea.” I told him I had been looking for Nakamoto and thought that he might be here at the Crypto 2011 conference. He said nothing. Finally, I asked, “Are you Satoshi?” He laughed, but didn’t respond. There was an awkward silence. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to review the design for you,” he offered instead. “I could let you know what I think.” “Sure,” I said hesitantly. “Do you need me to send you a link to the code?” “I think I can find it,” he said. Soon after I met Clear, I travelled to Glasgow, Kentucky, to see what bitcoin mining looked like. As I drove into the town of fourteen thousand, I passed shuttered factories and a central square lined with empty storefronts. On Howdy 106.5, a local radio station, a man tried to sell his bed, his television, and his basset hound—all for a hundred and ten dollars. I had come to visit Kevin Groce, a forty-two-year-old bitcoin miner. His uncles had a garbage-hauling business and had let him set up his operation at their facility. The dirt parking lot was jammed with garbage trucks, which reeked in the summer sun. “I like to call it the new moonshining,” Groce said, in a smooth Kentucky drawl, as he led me into a darkened room. One wall was lined with four-foot-tall homemade computers with blinking green and red lights. The processors inside were working so hard that their temperature had risen to a hundred and seventy degrees, and heat radiated into the room. Each system was a jumble of wires and hacked-together parts, with a fan from Walmart duct-taped to the top. Groce had built them three months earlier, for four thousand dollars. Ever since, they had generated a steady flow of bitcoins, which Groce exchanged for dollars, averaging about a thousand per month so far. He figured his investment was going to pay off. Groce was wiry, with wisps of gray in his hair, and he split his time between working on his dad’s farm, repairing laptops at a local computer store, and mining bitcoin. Groce’s father didn’t understand Kevin’s enthusiasm for the new currency and expected him to take over the farm. “If it’s not attached to a cow, my dad doesn’t think much of it,” Groce said. Groce was engaged to be married, and planned to use some of his bitcoin earnings to pay for a wedding in Las Vegas later in the year. He had tried to explain to his fiancée how they could afford it, but she doubted the financial prudence of filling a room with bitcoin-mining rigs. “She gets to cussing every time we talk about it,” Groce confided. Still, he was proud of the powerful computing center he had constructed. The machines ran non-stop, and he could control them remotely from his iPhone. The arrangement allowed him to cut tobacco with his father and monitor his bitcoin operation at the same time. Nakamoto knew that competition for bitcoins would eventually lead people to build these kinds of powerful computing clusters. Rather than let that effort go to waste, he designed software that uses the processing power of the lottery players to confirm and verify transactions. As people like Groce try to win bitcoins, their computers are harnessed to analyze transactions and insure that no one spends money twice. In other words, Groce’s backwoods operation functioned as a kind of bank. Groce, however, didn’t look like a guy Wells Fargo would hire. He liked to stay up late at the garbage-hauling center and thrash through Black Sabbath tunes on his guitar. He gave all his computers pet names, like Topper and the Dazzler, and, between guitar solos, tended to them as if they were prize animals. “I grew up milking cows,” Groce said. “Now I’m just milking these things.” A week after the Crypto 2011 conference, I received an e-mail from Clear. He said that he would send me his thoughts on bitcoin in a day. He added, “I also think I can identify Satoshi.” The next morning, Clear sent a lengthy e-mail. “It is apparent that the person(s) behind the Satoshi name accumulated a not insignificant knowledge of applied cryptography,” he wrote, adding that the design was “elegant” and required “considerable effort and dedication, and programming proficiency.” But Clear also described some of bitcoin’s weaknesses. He pointed out that users were expected to download their own encryption software to secure their virtual wallets. Clear felt that the bitcoin software should automatically provide such security. He also worried about the system’s ability to grow and the fact that early adopters received an outsized share of bitcoins. “As far as the identity of the author, it would be unfair to publish an identity when the person or persons has/have taken major steps to remain anonymous,” he wrote. “But you may wish to talk to a certain individual who matches the profile of the author on many levels.” He then gave me a name. For a few seconds, all I could hear on the other end of the line was laughter. “I would love to say that I’m Satoshi, because bitcoin is very clever,” Vili Lehdonvirta said, finally. “But it’s not me.” Lehdonvirta is a thirty-one-year-old Finnish researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology. Clear had discovered that Lehdonvirta used to be a video-game programmer and now studies virtual currencies. Clear suggested that he was a solid fit for Nakamoto. Lehdonvirta, however, pointed out that he has no background in cryptography and limited C++ programming skills. “You need to be a crypto expert to build something as sophisticated as bitcoin,” Lehdonvirta said. “There aren’t many of those people, and I’m definitely not one of them.” Still, Lehdonvirta had researched bitcoin and worried about it. “The only people who need cash in large denominations right now are criminals,” he said, pointing out that cash is hard to move around and store. Bitcoin removes those obstacles while preserving the anonymity of cash. Lehdonvirta is on the advisory board of Electronic Frontier Finland, an organization that advocates for online privacy, among other things. Nonetheless, he believes that bitcoin takes privacy too far. “Only anarchists want absolute, unbreakable financial privacy,” he said. “We need to have a back door so that law enforcement can intercede.” But Lehdonvirta admitted that it’s hard to stop new technology, particularly when it has a compelling story. And part of what attracts people to bitcoin, he said, is the mystery of Nakamoto’s true identity. “Having a mythical background is an excellent marketing trick,” Lehdonvirta said. A few days later, I spoke with Clear again. “Did you find Satoshi?” he asked cheerfully. I told him that Lehdonvirta had made a convincing denial, and that every other lead I’d been working on had gone nowhere. I then took one more opportunity to question him and to explain all the reasons that I suspected his involvement. Clear responded that his work for Allied Irish Banks was brief and of “no importance.” He admitted that he was a good programmer, understood cryptography, and appreciated the bitcoin design. But, he said, economics had never been a particular interest of his. “I’m not Satoshi,” Clear said. “But even if I was I wouldn’t tell you.” The point, Clear continued, is that Nakamoto’s identity shouldn’t matter. The system was built so that we don’t have to trust an individual, a company, or a government. Anybody can review the code, and the network isn’t controlled by any one entity. That’s what inspires confidence in the system. Bitcoin, in other words, survives because of what you can see and what you can’t. Users are hidden, but transactions are exposed. The code is visible to all, but its origins are mysterious. The currency is both real and elusive—just like its founder. “You can’t kill it,” Clear said, with a touch of bravado. “Bitcoin would survive a nuclear attack.” Over the summer, bitcoin actually experienced a sort of nuclear attack. Hackers targeted the burgeoning currency, and though they couldn’t break Nakamoto’s code, they were able to disrupt the exchanges and destroy Web sites that helped users store bitcoins. The number of transactions decreased and the exchange rate plummeted. Commentators predicted the end of bitcoin. In September, however, volume began to increase again, and the price stabilized, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Kevin Groce added two new systems to his bitcoin-mining operation at the garbage depot and planned to build a dozen more. Ricky Wells, his uncle and a co-owner of the garbage business, had offered to invest thirty thousand dollars, even though he didn’t understand how bitcoin worked. “I’m just a risk-taking son of a bitch and I know this thing’s making money,” Wells said. “Plus, these things are so damn hot they’ll heat the whole building this winter.” To Groce, bitcoin was an inevitable evolution in money. People use printed money less and less as it is, he said. Consumers need something like bitcoin to take its place. “It’s like eight-tracks going to cassettes to CDs and now MP3s,” he said. Even though his friends and most of his relatives questioned his enthusiasm, Groce didn’t hide his confidence. He liked to wear a T-shirt he designed that had the words “Bitcoin Millionaire” emblazoned in gold on the chest. He admitted that people made fun of him for it. “My fiancée keeps saying she’d rather I was just a regular old millionaire,” he said. “But maybe I will be someday, if these rigs keep working for me.” ♦

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British and American History Paintings of the 1700s Sophisticated Europeans from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries deemed “history painting” to be the supreme achievement in the visual arts. In addition to imaginatively re-creating actual events from the past, history paintings also illustrated heroic or moralizing episodes from religion, mythology, and literature. The central challenge of history painting lay in selecting a particular subject that could engage the heart and instruct the mind. In devising appropriate figures, the painter demonstrated his mastery of anatomy and expression. Grand settings and symbolic accessories proved the artist’s grasp of perspective depth and still-life draftsmanship. Compositions and color schemes had to be carefully conceived to accentuate the principal characters and to clarify the meanings of the incidents. In depicting significant events that appealed to the conscience, history painting deserved its reputation as the most demanding and rewarding form of art—both for the creator and the viewer. The same desire for profundity in narrative pictures often invested portraits and landscapes with allegorical meanings and poetic overtones. 1 of 10 Idealism versus Realism in History Painting Sir Joshua Reynolds, first president of London's Royal Academy of art, delivered these words in a speech in 1774: “Invention is one of the great marks of genius; but if we consult experience, we shall find, that it is by being conversant with the inventions of others, that we learn to invent; as by reading the thoughts of others we learn to think…. It is vain for poets or painters to endeavour to invent with material on which the mind may work, and from which invention must originate. Nothing can come of nothing.’ For his own history paintings, Reynolds declared he would “sometimes deviate from vulgar and strict historical truth, in pursuing the grandeur of his design.” Thus, regardless of when and where the events occurred, Reynolds clothed his figures in classical robes and placed them before idealized scenery. In 1771, though, the American artist Benjamin West, who was to succeed Reynolds as the Royal Academy’s president, produced a startling shift in convention. West depicted a recent incident, set against a recognizable location, with figures in contemporary dress. Defending his novel idea of conveying history plainly rather than allegorically, West stated, “The same truth that guides the pen of the historian should govern the pencil of the artist…. I want mark the date, the place, and the parties engaged in the event; and if I am not able to dispose of the circumstances in a picturesque manner, no academical distribution of Greek or Roman costume will enable me to do justice to the subject.” Reynolds graciously acknowledged that West’s straightforward approach gave a new, more realistic, direction to history painting. 2 of 10 The Boston portraitist John Singleton Copley, urged by Benjamin West to further his artistic studies abroad, sailed for Europe in 1774. Within a few years, Copley had the necessary skills to undertake huge pictures of events from recent history. On 7 April 1778, William Pitt, the 1st Earl of Chatham, rose to speak in London’s House of Lords. In the midst of a debate about the colonial revolutionaries, Pitt suffered a stroke and died one month later. His death removed one of Britain’s leading political moderates during the critical years of the American War of Independence. This small oil painting is Copley’s preliminary compositional sketch for his large canvas now in the Tate Gallery, London. Sunbeams pour through a roundel window over the throne canopy, spotlighting the stricken Pitt. Following proper academic procedure, Copley first used browns and grays to work out the overall distribution of the scene before considering the color scheme and details. The pencil lines drawn over this study create a proportional grid—called “squaring”—that enabled the artist to transfer and enlarge the design. In 1781, the final ten-foot-wide canvas was displayed to popular acclaim in a private pavilion. How Copley had managed to persuade fifty-five noblemen to sit for their portraits became the talk of British society. 3 of 10 Henry Fuseli's dramatic painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1786, depicts the tense climax of Oedipus at Colonus, a drama by Sophocles. In that ancient Greek tragedy, King Oedipus had gone into self-imposed exile at Colonus, a town near Athens, after discovering to his horror that, unwittingly, he had murdered his father and married his own mother. Oedipus, having blinded himself in remorse, is depicted here with blood-red eyes in a thick, scabby paint—the opposite of the normal use of smooth, clear textures for eyes. The kneeling Polynices, one of Oedipus’ two sons, hopes to win his father's favor over his brother, who had usurped the throne. Outraged at both his unfaithful boys, Oedipus condemns them to die in battle by each other's hand. The blind king extends his powerful arms to curse them, while Polynices recoils as if struck a painful blow. Standing between her father and brother, Antigone seeks reconciliation. In contrast to Antigone’s strength of will, her weeping sister, Ismene, personifies sorrow. Fuseli, a Swiss clergyman, became a classical scholar before studying art in Rome. After immigrating to London in 1780, Fuseli was elected the Royal Academy’s professor of painting. 4 of 10 At its London premiere on 29 January 1728, The Beggar’s Opera triumphed as an immediate success. In his comic operetta, John Gay parodied both government corruption and the vogue for Italian opera. The arias were popular ballads with new lyrics by Gay, and the characters were pickpockets and prostitutes. William Hogarth, as Gay’s friend, painted six canvases of the final scene, which is set in Newgate Prison. On trial for robbery, Captain Macheath stands in shackles, while two of his lovers plead for his life. Lucy, his mistress, kneels before her father, Lockit the jailer, who wears keys on his belt. Macheath’s wife, Polly, also implores her father, Peachum, a criminal mastermind and fence, to intervene on Macheath’s behalf. The other figures are not actors but theater patrons who, according to custom, were privileged to sit on stage. Adding to the fun, these spectators include caricatures of prominent aristocrats. Before becoming a painter, William Hogarth earned fame with sets of humorous prints—his “modern moral subjects”—that satirized contemporary life. In 1753, Hogarth published the earliest major book of art theory in English. His Analysis of Beauty extolled lively, sinuous lines, such as the complex curves of the figures’ poses and the stage curtain in this theatrical tableau. 5 of 10 Benjamin West sailed from colonial Philadelphia to Rome in 1760. Visiting London three years later, the American artist decided to stay in England, where he soon became principal history painter to King George III. A London newspaper's review of the 1780 Royal Academy exhibition stated that The Battle of La Hogue "exceeds all that ever came from Mr. West's pencil." In 1692, Louis XIV of France had mounted an ill-fated attempt to restore James II, a fellow Catholic, to the throne of England. In response, Britain and her Protestant allies, the Dutch, massed their fleets and engaged the enemy for five days off the northern French coast near La Hogue. Nine decades later, West employed much artistic license to devise this patriotic scene that is almost entirely propaganda. Standing in a boat at the left, for instance, Vice Admiral George Rooke embodies heroic command with his raised sword. Yet he undoubtedly gave orders far from the thick of battle. At the right, a Frenchman deserts his craft with its fleur-de-lis motif. Having lost his wig, he becomes an object of ridicule. West parted the foreground's thick smoke to reveal the French flagship beached in the center distance. Actually sunk a few days before this encounter, The Royal Sun is here imaginatively refloated -- only to be run against the cliffs so that West might better symbolize the French defeat. 6 of 10 By 1779, Benjamin West had conceived his life’s “great work,“ intending to rebuild the Royal Chapel at Windsor Castle as a shrine to Anglican theology. His proposal involved some forty different subjects from the Old and New Testaments, all rendered on a colossal scale. After sponsoring West’s elaborate scheme for two decades, King George III canceled it in 1801. Although the overall project was abandoned, many individual canvases were completed. This nine-foot-long Expulsion had been shown at the Royal Academy of art in 1791. The Archangel Michael, as the agent of the Lord’s wrath, expels the first sinners from Eden. Overhead, a sharp ray of light cuts through the air in reference to God’s “flaming sword” in the Book of Genesis. While Eve implores forgiveness, Adam covers his face to hide his sobbing. They wear fur robes because God clothed them in “coats of skins” so that they could stand unashamed in his presence. Satan’s serpent, now cursed, slithers away on its belly to eat dust. West’s inventive interpretation in this Expulsion contains two motifs not found in Genesis or any traditional pictures of the theme: an eagle swoops upon a helpless bird and a lion chases frightened horses. In general terms, such beasts of prey might imply the destruction of harmony that resulted from Original Sin. 7 of 10 Richard Wilson, who began as a portraitist, became Britains’ first major landscape painter. During a seven- to eight-year stay in Italy in the 1750s, he realized that landscapes could be metaphors of the human condition. Inspired by the arcadian scenes painted in seventeenth-century Rome by Claude Lorrain, Wilson produced evocative vistas that combine classical grandeur with English rusticity. One of the thirty-six initial members of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1769, Wilson found patrons among British gentlemen who had taken Grand Tours of Italy. The Mediterranean scenery here, including the sunlit church and smoking volcano, evokes memories of Italy. But, the woodland glens and the cavern by the brook are distinctly English. Three hermits inhabit this shadowed grove. The two at the left are robed as Christian monks, while the partial nude at the right may be a pagan priest. He lies beside a crumbled statue of a lion, symbolic of civilization’s vanities. The romantic subject recalls poetic lines in The Seasons, a long blank verse finished in 1730 by James Thomson: “…And all is awful, silent gloom around. These are the haunts of Meditation, these The scenes where antient Bards th'inspiring breath, Extatic, felt; and, from this world retird.” 8 of 10 Josiah Wedgwood, the pioneer of pottery manufacturing, commissioned this mythological scene that illustrates the invention of the art of modeling bas-relief sculpture. Wedgwood’s own fired-clay vessels, decorated with low reliefs, would have been seen by an eighteenth-century audience as the aesthetic descendants of this ancient Greek maiden’s attempt to preserve her beloved’s profile. The girl was the daughter of a potter in Corinth. Her boyfriend was about to embark on a perilous journey to foreign lands, taking only his spear and dog. As a memento, she traced her sleeping lover’s silhouette onto the wall. Her father then used the drawing to model a clay relief, which he baked in his kiln to create a ceramic keepsake. Joseph Wright, a master of artificial illumination, concealed a hanging lamp behind the curtain, suggesting the source of the beams that cast the youth’s shadow. In contrast to the lamp’s gentle glow, intense sparks and embers leap inside the potter’s fiery furnace. Wright researched his topic for archeological accuracy. Wedgwood loaned antique vases from his own art collection so that Wright could copy their shapes, and the clothing derives from ancient sculpture. Classical symmetry pervades the design; the curtain and archway flank the focal action of the maiden’s stylus tracing the youth’s profile. 9 of 10 Joseph Wright of Derby, nicknamed after his birthplace in Derbyshire, was noted for dramatic lighting effects such as the twilight cliffs in this imaginary landscape. The contrast of moss-green highlights against rose-violet shadows generates a remarkably decorative effect. These mountains are bracketed between a distant sky of jade and amethyst and a rust-brown foreground with its solitary, seated peasant. The villas and castles atop the bluffs recall Wright’s studies in Italy from 1773 to 1775, but the rutted road and gentle hills in the front resemble his own central England. Although the inspiration is from ideal landscapes by seventeenth-century artists, the shimmering colors are unique to Joseph Wright. He perfected such enchanting light effects in scenes of blacksmiths at their forges, scientists conducting experiments at night by candles, and moonlit landscapes with erupting volcanos or electrical storms. Note, for instance, Wright’s contrast of different flames in The Corinthian Maid. For all of his fame at depicting unusual illumination, Wright of Derby earned his income mainly as a portrait painter of the middle-class gentry. Since he chose to live in Derbyshire, Wright was isolated from London’s art circles. Elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1781, he quarreled with that institution and resigned three years later. 10 of 10

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In an effort to support tropical medicine research in endemic international areas and in populations most affected by these diseases, NIAID initiated the Tropical Medicine Research Centers (TMRC) program in 1991. In 2012, NIAID funded eight Centers to conduct research over the next five years on the following neglected tropical diseases (NTDs): schistosomiasis, hookworm infection, ascariasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas’ disease, lymphatic filariasis, and foodborne trematodiases. The Centers are located in regions severely impacted by these NTDs. The TMRC program also supports clinical and field site development. A major outcome of this research program is to build capacity to enable TMRCs to conduct future clinical trials, implement new treatment and prevention strategies, and develop novel vector control strategies. Last Updated July 31, 2012 Last Reviewed July 31, 2012

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In between that, cars will be used to ferry Kenyan research scientist Jim Nyamu to the Inn at Lambertville Station on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. to talk about endangered African elephants. It doesn't cost anything to attend any of the awareness events, although donations are accepted for organizations working to save elephants in the wild. At the Inn, Nyamu will have a slide presentation and answer questions about his work. Nyamu started his 560-mile journey on Sept. 4 in Boston. He made stops in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. After the New Jersey leg of his walk he plans to travel through Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, ending on Oct. 4 at the International March for Elephants in Washington, D.C., organized by The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust through its iWorry camapaign. That march will take place in cities worldwide on Oct. 4, including Princeton, starting at 11 a.m. at Monument Hall. Participants who pre-register will get a commemorative T-shirt, said New Jersey march coordinator Marianne Romano of Lambertville. It was designed by 18-year-old Bernardsville resident Jeremy Pascale. The goal of the march is to get governments to recognize the impact of the ivory trade. Since Feburary, Nyamu has walked about 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) to raise awareness for the plight of elephants. He is the founder and director of Elephant Neighbours Center. According to his organization's website, the elephant death rate from poaching throughout Africa is about 8% yearly "based on recent studies," higher than the 7.4% annual death rate "that led to the international ivory trade ban nearly 20 years ago." However, his site cautions, the "poaching death rate in the late 1980s was based on a population that numbered more than one million. Today the total African elephant population is less than 470,000." "If the trend continues; there won't be any elephants in 2020 except in fenced areas with a lot of enforcement to protect them." Earlier this summer Nyamu organized long walks to raise awareness in Kenya. During his U.S. walk he is speaking at universities and other schools and meeting with elected officials. Locally, Romano said that Hopewell Valley Community Bank is sponsoring the Nyamu's walk and the Oct. 4 march.

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Helping A Friend Who May Have An Eating Disorder Learn how to recognize a problem Concerns about diet, weight and body size are common among college students. In our culture, thinness is a symbol of beauty, success, happiness and control, while body fat or weight gain is seen as a sign of laziness, unattractiveness, lack of will power, or failure. It is not unusual for someone to think that if he or she were a certain weight, size, or shape, life would be better. As a result, dieting and “fitness” have become for many an obsession. The difference between dieting and having an eating disorder involves the degree of a person’s preoccupation with food, the amount of anxiety and distress related to eating and weight , the lengths one will go to control weight and food consumption, and the degree to which weight and food contribute to self esteem and self worth. Socially accepted dieting practices, such as fad diets, cleanses, and fasts can actually be unhealthy preoccupations with body image and weight. Many individuals with nutritionally unbalanced eating practices may not have a diagnosable eating disorder. However, unhealthy eating and exercise patterns are reason for concern, as they can develop into serious problems that may impact an individual’s health, self esteem and daily functioning. Here are some questions that might suggest your friend has an eating disorder. If he or she answers two or more of the following questions positively, he/she should see a healthcare professional for an evaluation. - Do you make yourself Sick because you feel uncomfortably full? - Do you worry that you have lost Control over how much you eat? - Have you recently lost more than 14 pounds in a 3-month period? - Do you believe yourself to be Fat when others say you are too thin? - Would you say that Food dominates your life? Talk to Your Friend If you are concerned about a friend’s eating or exercise behaviors, it’s time to talk to him or her about it. Don’t wait until your friend’s behaviors become out of control, deeply entrenched or dangerous. Approach your friend individually. Don’t ambush or surprise with a large intervention. Even if a number of individuals in your friend group, team, or residence hall are concerned, pick someone to have a one-on-one. This will decrease the likelihood that he or she will become defensive as a result of feeling ganged up on or gossiped about. Set up a time to talk with your friend that is convenient and comfortable for both of you. Finals week may not be a good time to begin this conversation, but anytime is better than avoiding the issue if you are concerned. Pick a time and place where you won’t be interrupted or distracted. Suggest that you both turn your cell phones off, or agree not to text or answer the phone while you talk. It’s ok to think about what you want to say beforehand. Consider writing it down first or practicing with another friend. Share Your Concerns Be open and straightforward, but avoid statements that are judgmental, shaming, or place blame. Statements like, “You just need to eat,” “You’re ruining our friendship,” or, “How can you make yourself throw up?,” are counterproductive. Instead, give specific examples of why you are concerned about your friend’s eating or exercise behaviors. Some more effective approaches can be, “I’ve heard you vomiting in the bathroom and it scares me,” “Lately you’ve stopped coming to the dining hall with us, saying you’ve already eaten,” “I’m concerned with how much time you spend at the gym,” “I’ve noticed the more stressed you get, the less you eat.” Accept Your Limits Disordered eating behaviors are often a way for someone to feel in control, deal with their feelings, or cope with stress. It is not realistic to expect your friend to give up these behaviors right away, or just because you talked about it. People with anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating need professional help. Let your friend know you think he or she should speak with a professional. Offer to help your friend make an appointment at UHCS, or help them find a doctor, therapist or treatment facility. Remember, you cannot force your friend to want treatment or to change his or her behavior. Trying to force your friend to eat or following him or her into the bathroom so that they cannot purge is not effective. It may make your friend feel you are trying to control them, and make him or her less likely to turn to you for help in the future. If your friend refuses to acknowledge the problem or seek help, it does not mean you have to deal with your worries alone. We urge you to meet with a counselor at UHCS yourself to discuss your concerns and address how the eating disorder is affecting your life. Express and show your on-going support Because denial, shame, and issues of control are so prevalent for someone with an eating disorder, it can take repeated, nonjudgmental conversations for a person to feel safe enough to admit and talk about their problem. Be patient and let your friend know you want him or her to be happy and healthy. Encourage your friend to talk about how he or she is feeling, rather than dealing with emotions through unhealthy behaviors. Help your friend find other areas where they can feel proud of themselves besides weight, by complimenting him or her on strengths, talents, and achievements. Be a role model for your friend by maintaining your own healthy eating and exercise behaviors. Avoid conversations focused on calorie intake, fad diets, or how much time it will take to “work off” the ice cream you just ate. Your friend is likely paying attention to how you talk about yourself and your body, and can benefit from your example of positive body image and self-acceptance. John F Morgan, Fiona Reid, and J Hubert Lacey, “The SCOFF Questionnaire - a New Screening Tool for Eating Disorders,” West J Med. 2000 March; 172(3): 164–165. Resources for Eating Disorders Support

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How strong are your bones? Bone densitometry, also known as dual-energy X-ray absorption (DEXA), is a painless test to help your doctor diagnose osteoporosis or to determine whether certain steps should be taken to protect your bone health. The results from your DEXA exam will be compared with the peak bone mass of the average healthy same-sex adult. A bone densitometry exam is more precise than conventional diagnostic imaging (X-rays) and can help to diagnose bone loss at an early stage. You may want to discuss with your doctor having a bone densitometry test if you have one or more of the following risk factors for osteoporosis: - Your mother, grandmother or another close relative had osteoporosis or bone fractures. - You have low body weight, a slight build or a light complexion. - You have a history of cigarette smoking or heavy drinking. - You experienced the early onset of menopause, naturally or surgically; (early is defined as before the age of 45). - Over a long period of time, you have taken medication that accelerates bone loss such as corticosteroids for treating rheumatoid arthritis or other conditions, or some anti-seizure medications. - You have already experienced a bone fracture that may be the result of thinning bones. - Your ethnic background is Caucasian or Asian. Preparing for a bone densitometry exam You may eat normally on the day of your exam; however, you should avoid taking calcium supplements for at least 24 hours before the test. You will be asked to remove any ear or body piercings or other metal or electronic objects from your body before the exam as these objects interfere with the quality of the images. Generally, the portion of your body that is being examined will be undressed; you may be asked to wear a hospital gown to cover yourself during the exam. For your safety Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or suspect you may be pregnant. Your doctor may decide to postpone the exam or use an alternative exam such as an ultrasound to reduce the possible risk of exposing your baby to radiation. Tell your doctor if you have recently had a barium exam or have been injected with a contrast medium for a CT scan or had a nuclear medicine exam. Your doctor may wish to postpone a DEXA scan for five to seven days. What to expect during a bone densitometry exam The DEXA bone density exam typically takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Our technologist will prepare and guide you by explaining the procedure, helping you remove clothing or piercings and positioning you to ensure the highest-quality images are obtained from your exam. The technologist performs the exam and can always see and hear you. The technologist may ask you to, and assist you with, change positions to obtain images from multiple areas of interest. The DEXA exam has two parts: one to assess your spine and the other to assess your hips. For the spine scan, you will lie flat on your back with your legs elevated. For the hip scan, you will lie flat on your back with your legs outstretched. Both hips are scanned unless you have had a hip replacement, in which case the hip without replacement would be scanned. If both hips have been replaced, only your spine will be scanned. For both parts, the detector portion of the machine will slowly pass over the area without direct contact with your body. At no time is your body confined or enclosed or your face covered. When your exam is complete, you can leave and resume regular activities. A radiologist will review your exam images and report the findings to your doctor. Your doctor will then discuss the findings and next steps with you.

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP Backers of the new Open Source Seed Initiative will pass out 29 new varieties of 14 different crops, including broccoli, carrots and kale, on Thursday. Backers of the new Open Source Seed Initiative will pass out 29 new varieties of 14 different crops, including broccoli, carrots and kale, on Thursday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP A group of scientists and food activists is launching a campaign Thursday to change the rules that govern seeds. They're releasing 29 new varieties of crops under a new "open source pledge" that's intended to safeguard the ability of farmers, gardeners and plant breeders to share those seeds freely. It's inspired by the example of open source software, which is freely available for anyone to use but cannot legally be converted into anyone's proprietary product. At an event on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, backers of the new Open Source Seed Initiative will pass out 29 new varieties of 14 different crops, including carrots, kale, broccoli and quinoa. Anyone receiving the seeds must pledge not to restrict their use by means of patents, licenses or any other kind of intellectual property. In fact, any future plant that's derived from these open source seeds also has to remain freely available as well. Irwin Goldman, a vegetable breeder at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, helped organize the campaign. It's an attempt to restore the practice of open sharing that was the rule among plant breeders when he entered the profession more than 20 years ago. "If other breeders asked for our materials, we would send them a packet of seed, and they would do the same for us," he says. "That was a wonderful way to work, and that way of working is no longer with us." These days, seeds are intellectual property. Some are patented as inventions. You need permission from the patent holder to use them, and you're not supposed to harvest seeds for replanting the next year. Even university breeders operate under these rules. When Goldman creates a new variety of onions, carrots or table beets, a technology-transfer arm of the university licenses it to seed companies. This brings in money that helps pay for Goldman's work, but he still doesn't like the consequences of restricting access to plant genes — what he calls germplasm. "If we don't share germplasm and freely exchange it, then we will limit our ability to improve the crop," he says. Sociologist Jack Kloppenburg, also at the University of Wisconsin, has been campaigning against seed patents for 30 years. His reasons go beyond He says turning seeds into private property has contributed to the rise of big seed companies that in turn promote ever-bigger, more specialized farms. "The problem is concentration, and the narrow set of uses to which the technology and the breeding are being put," he says. Kloppenburg says one important goal for this initiative is simply to get people thinking and talking about how seeds are controlled. "It's to open people's minds," he says. "It's kind of a biological meme, you might say: Free seed! Seed that can be used by anyone!" The practical impact of the Open Source Seed Initiative on farmers and gardeners, however, may be limited. Even though anyone can use such seed, most people probably won't be able to find it. The companies that dominate the seed business probably will keep selling their own proprietary varieties or hybrids. There's more money to be made with those seeds. Most commercial vegetable seeds are hybrids, which come with a kind of built-in security lock; if you replant seed from a hybrid, you won't get exactly the same kind of plant. (For this reason, some seed companies don't bother getting patents on their hybrids.) John Shoenecker, director of intellectual property for the seed company HM Clause and the incoming president of the American Seed Trade Association, says his company may avoid using open source seed to breed new commercial varieties "because then we'd ... have limited potential to recoup the investment." That's because the offspring of open source seeds would have to be shared as well, and any other seed company could immediately sell the same variety. The initiative is probably more significant for plant breeders, especially at universities. Goldman says he expects many plant breeders at universities to join the open source effort. Meanwhile, two small seed companies that specialize in selling to organic farmers — High Mowing Organic Seeds in Hardwick, Vt., and Wild Garden Seed in Philomath, Ore., are adding some open source seeds to their catalogs this year.

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National Transportation Safety Board Office of Public Affairs Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that the probable cause of the 2007 pipeline rupture near Carmichael, Mississippi was the failure of a weld that caused the pipe to fracture along the longitudinal seam weld, a portion of the upstream girth weld, and portions of the adjacent pipe joints. On November 1, 2007, a 12-inch diameter pipeline segment operated by Dixie Pipeline Company was transporting liquid propane at about 1,405 pounds per square inch gauge, when it ruptured, releasing about 431,000 gallons of propane, in a rural area near Carmichael, Mississippi. As a result, the propane began to vaporize and form a cloud that expanded over nearby homes. Local emergency responders received calls informing them of the smell of gas and the sighting of white gas. Approximately seven-and-a-half minutes after the rupture, the vapors ignited, creating a fireball. There were two fatalities and several minor injuries. The accident pipe was manufactured in 1961 using the low- frequency electric resistance welding (ERW) process for longitudinal seam welds. The majority of ruptures in ERW pipe involve the longitudinal seams. At the time of the accident, no confirmed in-service pipeline ruptures in girth welds had been reported for the entire pipeline since it was installed. Additionally, segments of the accident pipe had been inspected multiple times since 1998, using in-line inspection tools. As a result of the investigation, the Safety Board issued recommendations to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Clarke County Board of Supervisors, the American Petroleum Institute, and Dixie Pipeline Company on testing of pipeline, public awareness, and training and drills for 911 personnel. A summary of the findings of the Board's report is available on the NTSB's website. NTSB Media Contact: Terry N. Williams The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.

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|Agenda for Action: Background Materials to the 4rth World Conference on Women (UNAIDS, 1995, 9 p.)| AIDS is essentially a sexually transmitted disease (STD), which like some other such diseases can also be spread through blood and blood products, and from an infected woman to her unborn or newborn child. Women are biologically more vulnerable than men to HIV infection and other STDs. Studies in many countries have found that male-to-female transmission of HIV appears to be 24 times as efficient as female-to-male transmission. Postulated as the major factors responsible for differential transmission are the larger mucosal surface area exposed to virus in women and the greater viral inoculum present in semen compared with vaginal secretions. Male-to-female transmission of some STDs is at least 15% more efficient than female-to-male transmission. Young girls are particularly vulnerable. Their immature cervix and relatively low vaginal mucus production presents less of a barrier to HIV, making them biologically more vulnerable to infection than older premenopausal women. Other data suggest that STDs especially those, such as chancroid and syphilis, which cause ulcerative lesions greatly facilitate both the acquisition and transmission of HIV. However, women with STDs are often asymptomatic and fail to recognize any infections. As a result, women are more vulnerable to HIV infection because they are more likely to have untreated STDs. Often their vulnerability to STDs is the result of their partners behaviour rather than their own. This increases the likelihood that they will not recognize low-grade infections. At the same time, women tend to avoid STD clinics for fear of being recognized and stigmatized. Women who do seek medical services often choose to go to primary health, family planning, and maternal and child health clinics for their care. Unfortunately, such facilities are often less well equipped to diagnose and treat STDs or may be unsympathetic or judgmental towards women with STDs. Finally, women are disproportionately the recipients of blood transfusions and other blood products (e.g., for anaemia or childbirth complications). In the absence of adequate blood screening, womens vulnerability to blood-borne HIV transmission increases.

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The kindest view you could have of the emissions trading scheme, what's left of it, is that it is a brutally pruned seedling barely surviving in frozen ground. Just how much damage the Government's refusal to limit New Zealand emitters' ability to meet their obligations with ultra-cheap imported carbon has done to the scheme is apparent in the 2012 numbers released by the Ministry for the Environment on Tuesday. Last year, 26.9 million units were surrendered to the Government by participants in the ETS, a whopping 64 per cent increase on 2011's tally of 16.4 million. Actual emissions of greenhouse gases did not jump 64 per cent, of course. Emissions from the energy and industrial sector did rise, probably reflecting low inflows into the hydro lakes early in the year, which required more gas and coal to be burned in thermal power stations. Emissions from liquid fossil fuels were flat. The big increase, however, was in the forestry sector, which accounted for 82 per cent of the increase in units surrendered. Some of that was deforestation, where a forest is harvested and the landowner then switches to another land use and is deemed to have emitted the carbon stored in the trees. The collapse in carbon prices meant that the deforestation liability no longer provided much of a barrier to exit from forestry. Or to put it another way, the incentive to replant that carbon pricing was supposed to provide has pretty much disappeared. Incentives matter. The other driver of the increase in units surrendered by the forest sector represents "Kyoto" forest owners - those whose forests were planted since 1989 on land not previously forested - opting out of the ETS. When that happens they have to repay the Government the same number of units it has previously allotted to them for the carbon removed from the atmosphere and stored in their trees (since 2008 anyway). The incentive to do that is good old-fashioned arbitrage. The units the Government allotted to forest owners, and to trade-exposed industrial emitters, are New Zealand units, only good within the New Zealand ETS. But the scheme allows those with obligations under the scheme to surrender other sorts of unit instead of NZUs, including certified emission reduction units (CERs), emission reduction units (ERUs) or removal units (RMUs) issued offshore under the Kyoto Protocol. The trouble is that because way too many of these things have been issued, and because the European ETS, much the most liquid carbon market, limits the extent to which European emitters can use them to meet their obligations, they are a glut on the market. ERUs, in particular, which are issued mainly by Russia and other eastern European governments, have traded for as little as a few cents a tonne. No wonder, then, that last year 95 per cent of the units surrendered under the New Zealand ETS, where no such restriction applies, were imported, 70 per cent of them ERUs. In 2011 71 per cent of the significantly smaller number of units surrendered were imported. As an aside, allowing such an overwhelming majority of the units surrendered to be sourced offshore is hardly consistent with Kyoto's principle of supplementarity - that reliance on international carbon trading must be supplementary to domestic action to reduce emissions. In any case untrammelled access to international Kyoto markets has allowed some forest owners to sell their NZUs when the price was $20, subsequently replace them with cheap ERUs, use the latter to square accounts with the Government and pocket the profit. Others may have decided to hold on to their NZUs but filled their boots with enough cheap imported carbon to meet their obligations so that any future recovery in the price of NZUs, which do not have a use-by date, is all upside. Of the 26.9 million units surrendered last year 9.2 million were from the forestry sector. "Who can blame them?" says Lizzie Chambers, principal of Carbon Match, a carbon trading facility. "It's been a torrid, unpredictable tale with a lot of complexity, compliance cost and very little change on the ground thus far." But a corner may have been turned. Recent weeks have seen NZUs move from the $2 level to around $4.70. That is not high enough to drive any significant reduction in emissions, she says, but it is a step in the right direction. Nigel Brunel of carbon brokers OMF Financial says: "We are now seeing a spread of buyers enter the market and the price action suggests this market has the impetus to go higher. Most of the sellers have been small forest owners selling some stock, some of whom are exiting the ETS, and speculators who bought at lower levels letting some go." It may be the market starting to adjust to the fact that going forward emitters' ability to use cheap imported units for compliance purposes will be limited. The Government has yet to decide on the rules for carrying over Kyoto units for use beyond the end of 2012. But the upper limit will be 15 million tonnes. In addition, by refusing to undertake commitments under the Kyoto Protocol for the 2013 to 2020 period, the Government has shut New Zealand out of the Kyoto markets from 2015 on. So demand for NZUs, which have been largely crowded out of the domestic carbon market, ought to increase. Just as well, because there are millions of them out there as the ETS has been running for more than three years. The big uncertainty is how many will ever be available for sale. Kyoto forest owners in the ETS may well opt to keep them in the bottom drawer as they will need them to cover the emissions they are accountable for when they harvest their trees. Another potential source of liquidity in the market, linkage with an Australia ETS, is looking pretty unlikely with the election of a Coalition Government committed to scrapping carbon pricing. So officials of the Ministry for the Environment are working on an auctioning system to provide an additional supply of NZUs to the market. In light of all this uncertainty that is an unenviable task. Meanwhile, deforestation continues, at a rate of around 5000ha a year - small by comparison with the "chainsaw massacre" years which preceded the start of Kyoto's first commitment period in 2008. But the 5000ha figure may understate the rate of deforestation. Landowners have four years after harvest to replant and avoid a deforestation liability. In the meantime they get the benefit of the doubt, unless it is obvious that a land use change is under way. The ministry's report has afforestation exceeding deforestation in 2010, 2011 and most of all in 2012. But its estimate for this year has a net contraction in the size of the plantation forest estate - exactly the opposite of what we need. Debate on this article is now closed.

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By JUDY SHULER Special to the OBSERVER The seasonal migration of birds through long distances and improbable odds has captured the imagination and inspired people through centuries. We mark the seasons with their hopeful first arrival in spring, and settle into fall at their departure. Photo by David McNicholas A red-tailed hawk. The spring count of hawks and eagles, birds of prey known for their keen eyesight, agility and skill as hunters, began nearby on March 15. One of the best places to follow their travels along the southern shore of Lake Erie is at the Ripley Hawk Watch. Two miles east of Ripley and 4 miles west of Westfield, Ripley Hawk Watch is made up of three sites located between the Lake Erie shore and the top of the steep escarpment about three miles south of the lake. The top of the escarpment runs parallel to Lake Erie and defines Lake Erie's prehistoric shore. Raptors often soar on updrafts to aid their travels. They do not like to cross large bodies of water where there are no updrafts. Instead, they follow land routes and shorelines to navigate around large waters. The proximity of the Alleghany Escarpment to Lake Erie narrows and concentrates their migration pathway in our area. Ripley Hawk Watch shares the Lake Erie migration corridor with the Presque Isle Hawk Watch in Erie, Pa., and the Hamburg Hawk Watch near Buffalo. While the raptors are traveling west to east, counts often vary surprisingly at each location. At Ripley, the count season runs March 15 through May 15. Last year, after an uncommonly mild winter and an ice-free Lake Erie nearby, the total count was 23,160 birds. It was down 19 percent from the 10-year high count of 28,522 in 2011 following that year's winter. Ten years of electronic data from the site have been archived and analyzed, but site data from Ripley have been filed with the Hawk Migration Association of North America since the early 1980s. Species seen in the greatest numbers are turkey vultures (11,061 last year) and broad-winged hawk (9,564 last year). Sharp-shinned hawk (1,037) and red-tailed hawk (624) logged the next largest counts. A total of 17 raptor species have been recorded. Other species being followed with interest are common loons, because of conservation concerns in New York state, and sandhill cranes. Unlike hawks, loons fly directly toward and out over Lake Erie. Bald eagles have also been showing up in increasing numbers. Last year a record-setting 139 migrating bald eagles were supplemented by 131 sightings of non-migrant eagles over the two-month watch. The big day for migrating bald eagles was May 2, with 40 birds tallied. Because migrating hawks are often seen high overhead, identification can depend on recognizing their silhouettes. You can download a free two-page silhouette guide at hmana.org/silhouette-guide/ or order a laminated copy from the Hawk Migration Association of North America and help support the monitoring and conservation of raptor populations. Hawks in Flight, (Sibley et al.) is a very helpful introduction to hawk watching, and most popular field guides provide useful information on plumage and behavior. Turkey vultures are one of the first birds to move north in spring, as early as mid-February. Peak flights typically occur in late March and early April. Last year, more than 1,100 were counted on March 21. Soaring with wings raised in a V and making wobbly circles, Turkey vultures are large dark birds with long, broad wings. Bigger than other raptors except eagles and condors, they have long "fingers" at their wingtips and long tails that extend past their toe tips in flight. Turkey vultures, like many retirees, are coming back from Florida, Texas, or as far south as Mexico. Broad-winged hawk comes in two color phases: the common light phase and a rare dark phase. The dark form is entirely sooty brown with a tail like the light morph, and with whitish flight feathers contrasting with the dark wing linings. They usually migrate in large flocks or "kettles" that can range from a couple of individuals to thousands. Last year nearly a third of the season's migrating broad-wings, a jaw-dropping 3,162, were seen on a single day, May 2, along with the eagles and a strong count of other birds. A recent study attached satellite transmitters to the backs of four broad-winged hawks and followed them as they migrated south in the fall. The hawks migrated an average of 4,350 miles to northern South America, and traveled an average of 69 miles each day. Volunteer observers and counters at Ripley Hawk Watch typically begin their tally around 9 a.m. and continue into the afternoon. Weather conditions will determine exact times and which of the three sites to staff. Southerly winds force the birds closer to Lake Erie shore. To find the site closest to Lake Erie, follow Route 5 west 3.5 miles past the traffic signal at Barcelona, just beyond Shorehaven on your right. Predominantly westerly or easterly winds allow the birds to spread out between the lake and escarpment. Head for Parker Road, between Route 20 and Barber Road. Northerly winds encourage migrants to ride the winds deflected by the face of the escarpment, favoring the Creamery Road site, south of Barber Road. All sites are marked with signs and are located on private property. Bring a folding chair, a field guide and binoculars, and dress for the weather. Early spring weather can test the mettle of the most dedicated watchers. Last year rain, snow or fog closed the watch seven days. Between the three watch sites, elevation rises from 630 to 1,454 feet above mean sea level and weather can vary considerably, particular with fog and wind. Daily counts are posted at hawkcount.org.Hawkcount.org was started to report counts at Holiday Beach in Ontario in early 2000. Since then, it has expanded to include site reports from over two hundred hawk watch sites in Mexico, the U.S., Panama and Canada. Visitors to the watch and beginning birders are welcome. For further information, contact Gil Randell, site coordinator, at firstname.lastname@example.org. Judy Shuler recently joined Lake Erie Bird Club to learn more about local birds and natural history. For further information on the club, contact Joanne Goetz at email@example.com.

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Silurian Period (443 to 417 million years ago) As temperatures rose again, the glaciers melted and flooded some continents. There are many fossils of land plants dating back to this period, as well as fossilized echinoderms such as the sea lily, arthropods such as sea scorpions, and various species of jawless fish and armored fish, as well as a number of species of spider. The Devonian Period (417 to 354 million years ago) Countless fossil fish date back to this period. During the Devonian, a kind of "mass disappearance" took place and certain species became extinct. This mass disappearance affected coral reefs, with stromatoporoids (a form of reef-forming coral) disappearing entirely. But there is no difference between the thousands of fossil fish that lived during the Devonian Period and many species of fish living today. This, once again, is important evidence that living things have undergone no changes over the course of millions of years, and that there can be no question of their having evolved gradually. The Carboniferous Period (354 to 290 million years ago) Also known as the Coal Age, this period is subdivided into two separate periods, the Lower Carboniferous or Mississippian and the Upper Carboniferous or Pennsylvanian. Land rising and falling, resulting from collisions between continents, and rises and falls in sea levels linked to the polar ice caps were significant events that shaped the world during this period. Many fossils of marine and terrestrial life forms date back to the Carboniferous The coelacanth, which Darwinists for many years depicted as a supposedly intermediate form, is still alive today, proving the invalidity of this claim. It has undergone no change over the course of millions of years and has never undergone "evolution." Contrary to Darwinists' claims that the coelacanth was a "missing link" that corroborated evolution, it is actually an example of a "living fossil" that totally refutes evolution. The coelacanth had been the subject of countless forms of evolutionist speculation, but its emergence as a living fossil presents evolutionists with a major dilemma. The Permian Period (290 to 248 million years ago) the end of the Permian Period, another mass disappearance took place that represented the final end of the Paleozoic Era. The fossil record shows that during this huge disappearance, 90%-95% of living species became extinct. Nonetheless, some Permian life forms have survived right down to the present day. Fossil specimens such as a 230-million-year-old dragonfly and a 240-million-year-old spider prove that evolution never took place at any time in the past. 2B. The Mesozoic Era (248 to 65 million years ago) The Mesozoic Era is divided into three separate periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. It was during this era that dinosaurs lived and became extinct. This article is based on the works of Harun 150 years ago, the British naturalist Charles Darwin proposed a theory based on various observations made during his travels, but which could not be supported by any subsequent scientific findings. In essence, his theory of evolution consisted of various scenarios, ...More WHAT IS A FOSSIL? the broadest definition, a fossil is the remains of a living thing that lived long ago and that has survived down to the present day by being preserved under natural conditions. The fossils that come down to us are parts of an organism, or remains left behind when the living thing concerned was still alive ...More

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Larding, Blanching, Boning ( Originally Published 1904 ) LARDING is performed by introducing fat strips of meat, ham, and bacon into poultry and meats which are naturally dry and devoid of flavor. The meats which are usually so treated are turkey, rabbits, veal, and chickens.. The larding meat is cut into thin strips and is inserted at intervals of about an inch in the breast of the fowl or over the surface of the meat, by means of a larding needle. This is a short, thick needle with an opening or slit, controlled by a spring, into which the strips of bacon are inserted. They are practically sewed into the meat. A portion of the meat to be larded is pinched up and the needle forced through. When the strip of bacon is forced through by the needle the charge of larding. meat is released from the needle. Then the needle is withdrawn. Under the heat of the fire the fat dries out and bastes the fowl, rendering the meat juicy, and at the same time imparting a flavor. Meat when so treated is described on the menu as pique. To blanch meat or vegetables is to plunge them into boiling water for a given length of time, generally two or three minutes; then throw them into a bowl of spring water and leave them until cold. With meat this is done for the purpose of giving firmness to the flesh,, and thus facilitating the operation of larding, and also to preserve the whiteness of certain meats, such as rabbits or fowls. With vegetables it is done to keep them green, and to take away their acrid flavor. .Ox tongues and almonds, fruit kernels, etc., are said to be blanched, when through the action of hot water the skin can be easily peeled off; calves' heads and feet are blanched to soften them, and thus make them easier to trim. This is a method of treating fowl so as to re-move the bone, or carcass, from the flesh, and yet to leave the flesh in its original form. To those to whom even carving is a hardship this may seem a difficult task. In boning a chicken, make an incision from the neck to the rump of the fowl, down the breast; cut the neck off short; take out the crop; pull the skin well back to the wings; disjoint the wings-under the skin; clear the whole body down to the legs; draw back the legs so as to expose the sockets and cut the ligaments; peel the flesh-skin off to the tail; cut through the " tail piece " inside of the skin; and then turn:the carcass out. The shape of the fowl is then preserved by proper stuffing. Other fowl are boned in the same way. LESSON RECIPE FOR BONING BONED SHOULDER OP VEAL Place a clean cloth upon the table, and upon this lay the veal, skin side down. A sharp, strong-knife is needed. Cut off the flesh on the inner side nearly down to the blade-bone; detach the edge of this first; then work the knife under it, keeping close to it: Care must be used not to pierce. the outer skin. When the bone is separated from the flesh in all parts, unsocket it with the knife, and withdraw it. Then take out the second joint in the same way. With a little practice the two parts of the bone may be withdrawn without separating them. The knuckle-bone is, of course, left in. The greatest care is required that during the operation the outer skin be not pierced or broken. The meat is then ready for stuffing.

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On 23 June, Olympic Day is celebrated all around the world: hundreds of thousands of people – young and old – get moving and participate in sporting and cultural activities, such as runs, exhibitions, music and educational seminars. Over the last two decades, the event has helped to spread the Olympic ideals to every corner of the world. Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability. Over the last 20 years, Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day Runs all over the world. From 45 participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the first edition in 1987, today the large majority of the 205 NOCs is joining in. What’s more, many of the participating NOCs are in Africa – proving the event’s worldwide appeal. Nowadays, Olympic Day is developing into much more than just a sports event. Based on the three pillars “move”, “learn” and “discover”, National Olympic Committees are organising sports, cultural and educational activities. Some countries have incorporated the event into the school curriculum and, in recent years, many NOCs have added concerts and exhibitions to the celebration. Recent NOC activities have included meetings for children and young people with top athletes and the development of new web sites directing people to programmes in their neighbourhood. This makes it easier for everybody to become part of Olympic Day. You can also join in and share your experience via our social media channels - Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

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Before 2004, if you had heard the word Facebook, you might have envisioned some kind of high school picture directory or a picture book that teaches how to draw cartoon faces. Seven years and 600 million users later, Facebook means a lot more than that: for both you and your teen. Headlines like this, this, and this are very sobering. Unfortunately, stories like these are so common they are almost predictable: a teenager meets someone on the internet (many times pretending to be many years younger than he or she is), they exchange pictures and phone numbers, and agree to meet somewhere. The man (or woman) turns out to be much different than the person they portrayed online and abuses the child. Whether or not the criminal is caught, the biggest loss is suffered by the youth who often goes on to experience incomprehensible pain. Facebook isn’t evil. In fact, it can be a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances when separated by distance. By being conscientious and using the tools Facebook has created, we can protect our teenagers online. Facebook is continually working to improve privacy settings for their users, in order to allow them to better control what content is visible. Rules for minors — Children younger than 14 aren’t allowed to have a Facebook account (according to both Facebook policy and national law). Many “tweens” and others evade this rule by simply entering an incorrect birth year when setting up their account. Unfortunately, there is no device yet invented to prevent people lying about their age. As a parent, you have the responsibility to monitor what your children do on the internet. This doesn’t mean you have to constantly be breathing down your kid’s neck, but you should pay attention to who they interact with, what sites they visit, etc. Minors (anyone younger than 18) are automatically given tighter security settings than their older counterparts. They aren’t included in public search listings and only their basic information (name, profile picture, gender, networks, and username) is listed to “non-friends”. Privacy Settings — You can specify who gets to see what information about you or your teen. For example, you can limit who sees your teens birthday to: everyone, friends of friends and networks, friends and networks, friends of friends, friends only, or you can completely customize a list of who you want to see. You can preview how your profile looks and even see how it looks to different people. When you are editing your settings, simply click, “Preview my Profile” and then type a friend’s name in the box near the top to see what information that friend can see. Then you can go back and customize it some more if it still needs tweaking. Block — Jus as in real life, make sure you teach your children to be careful around strangers. There’s no need to add anyone as a friend, just to be be nice. Once in a while, an unwanted visitor may try to “friend” your teenager on Facebook. Make sure your children know of the dangers of interacting with strangers on the web and know how to use the “block” feature if someone is persistently giving them undesired attention. Blocked people will be unable to interact with or see your child’s profile on Facebook. Your child can also block obnoxious apps like FarmVille, PetVille, CityVille, FrontierVille, or Zoo World. You can go back and edit your block lists by clicking on the account drop-down menu, clicking privacy settings, then clicking “Edit your lists.” Postings — Teach your children to be careful with what they post on their wall. Teenagers should avoid posting information on their current whereabouts, especially when they are alone. They should also be careful not to post extremely negative status updates or comments. Even though improving Facebook controls help you to limit who sees your posts, it doesn’t always work out the way you plan. In the case of Dan Leone, a negative comment about his employers (the Philadelphia Eagles) got him fired.Other stories have circulated around the news about similar experiences on Twitter. Teenagers should be prepared for any eyes to see what they post. By playing it safe on Facebook, your children will not only be safer, but also have more enjoyable online experience. You won’t ever regret being proactive and involved in the lives of your kids. About the Author Derek Gurr is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them search for online degrees that can help them reach their goals. We would like to thank our guest writers on the Online Security Authority Blog! We feel it’s a honor and pleasure, to have others participate and contribute to the great content, advice and opinions on and in this Online World, we all live in… help us, help them, by supporting and visiting their sites! as always, be safe Online Your Online Security Authority teach it, learn it, and share it… © 2006 – 2011 Online Security Authority

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By Matt Moir, CBC News Les Simonffy gets out of his truck and trudges across a worn patch of grass towards the lonely corner of a densely wooded property. With every step closer, the buzzing grows louder and louder, until what at roadside seemed like a faint hum sounds more like a symphony. It is in this secluded spot in rural Ancaster that Simonffy lovingly cares for his honeybees. All one million of them. “I used to play golf with my buddies, but I much prefer being here with the bees. I feel like I’m a part of nature when I’m out here,” says Simonffy as he strolls through his shaded apiary, casually swatting away a swarm of at least a dozen bees buzzing around his head. Simonffy developed an affinity for bees as a 14-year-old boy in Hungary. Now the Ancaster resident is the president of the 80+ member Golden Horseshoe Beekeepers Association. And though one million bees sounds like a lot, it’s about 225,000 less than he had at this time last year. “I had 42 hives last year, but I lost 12 over the winter. [Beekeepers] used to lose about 10 per cent of our bees every winter, but now it’s a lot more.” What Simonffy describes — a nearly 30 per cent drop in the number of his bees — is what scientists see with bee populations all over the world. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that nearly a third of bee colonies died this past winter. Government agencies in Britain and Europe have reported similar numbers. Profound drops in bee populations have significant global consequences. Many fruit, vegetable and seed crops depend on pollination, and honeybees are one of the world's leading pollinators. Of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of food worldwide, 71 are bee-pollinated, according to the United Nations. All together, bees pollinate about $30 billion worth of crops every year. Dan Davidson, president of the Ontario Beekeepers Association, told the CBC that Ontario’s bee population has declined considerably over the past five years. Before 2007 “we were losing about 17 per cent per year. But in 2007, something changed and we’ve been losing about 30 to 35 per cent since then,” said Davidson. The causes behind the precipitous drop in population are varied and complex. They range from parasites to malnutrition to pesticides. Ernesto Guzman, a bee expert at the University of Guelph, told the CBC that “the evidence available for southern Ontario suggests that the varroa mite [a microscopic parasite originally from Asia] is the main culprit of honey bee mortality cases.” Davidson believes that insecticides used on corn and other crops are the biggest danger to the bee population. “The problem with the insecticides is they don’t break down very quickly so they’re accumulating in the environment," he said. "And that’s where the bees get their water and their food. If they haven’t already, it’s going to take over the No. 1 problem for bees and beekeeping. Varroa mites have been our No. 1 for a lot of years, but we’re going to see insecticides take over.” Davidson has spent considerable time at Queen’s Park in recent weeks, lobbying government to impose stricter limitations on the use of insecticides. But he acknowledges that it is a difficult battle due to what he calls the “powerful” agricultural lobby. Something must change though, he says, or the future of beekeeping in Ontario will be bleak. “People are giving up, there’s no doubt about it. Especially if there’s no chance of these chemicals being taken out production, there’s no reason to keep on beekeeping. You’re banging your head against the wall.” Back in Ancaster, Simonffy is more sanguine. Though quick to lament the loss of so many bees, he is confident in the insect’s evolutionary perseverance. “Bees have been around for 20 million years, so we won’t kill them off this quickly.” “I hope,” he added. Read

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Here Be Dragons Click on it for the original. It's a picture of a "subterranean void" on Mars, taken by the HiRISE ultra-high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The resolution on that photo is 25 centimeters per pixel; the void shown is about 100 meters across. This is one of seven holes in Mars; all seven are along the flank of Arsia Mons, the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanos. Presumably they're cave entrances, but -- so far -- even the HiRISE camera can't see anything in there. Mars has a dusty atmosphere; if these were shallow depressions or cave openings, scattered light would be visible in enhanced images. But absolutely nothing is visible. At the very least, that means they're really, really deep. What's particularly exciting about these caves is that they may be the best places to find extant life on Mars. According to USGS scientists (PDF): Subterranean void spaces may be the only natural structures on Mars capable of protecting life from a range of significant environmental hazards. With an atmospheric density less than 1% of the Earth’s and practically no magnetic field, the Martian surface is essentially unprotected from micro-meteoroid bombardment, solar flares, UV radiation and high-energy particles from space. Thermal imaging of the voids show that they maintain a relatively constant temperature, remaining relatively warm in the cold Martian night. Who's up for a bit of spelunking?

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Betydelsen av trycksårsprevention och trycksårsbehandling : -en studie om sjuksköterskors uppfattningar Abstract (Summary)Pressure ulcer is a wound or a tissue damage that appears because of an insufficient blood supply. Patients who are confined to bed, have a reduced ability to move or are in a state of poor nutrition are in a greater risk to evaluate pressure ulcer. The aim of the study was to describe nurses´ experiences concerning their work with pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. The result was grounded on a questionnaire study. 52 nurses´ participated. The participants were 49 women and three men. They were between the ages of 23 and 59 years and worked fulltime in medicine, surgery and orthopaedics hospital departments. The result showed that the majority of the nurses´ experienced that pressure ulcer was a current problem. The experiences of the nurses´ were that pressure ulcer rarely appeared in their departments and that the prevalence has decreased over time. The mainly opinion was that the nursing staff were good at pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. Some nurses experienced a lack of documentation regarding pressure ulcer. The most nurses´ agreed on the appearance of guidelines in the departments and some nurses´ experienced the guidelines as unavailable. The majority group were doubtful if assessment scales were appropriate for their work. The most nurses´ experienced that pressure ulcer prevention and specific attention was given to patients in risk for the problem. School:Högskolan i Skövde Source Type:Master's Thesis Date of Publication:06/10/2008

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“The Prisoners Are Not Hard to Handle:” Cultural Views of German Prisoners of War and Their Captors in Camp Sharpe, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania This paper explores how perceived cultural and ethnic identities effected the interactions between German prisoners of war and the citizens of Adams County, Pennsylvania during the Second World War. Newspapers articles, oral histories and government documents were analyzed to gauge the level of interaction between and the reception of German POWs who worked in the community as temporary labor relieve. The first chapter locates Camp Sharpe geographically within the history of Adams County and Pennsylvania, historically within the larger study of German prisoners of war in America and outlines the development of German culture within southern Pennsylvania. Chapter two provides a chronology of the creation and management of Camp Sharpe and the temporary work camp in Gettysburg. It also details the interactions between German prisoners of war and the citizens of Adams Country, showing that there was ample opportunity for German prisoners and Americans to communicate with each other due to the peculiar policies for prisoner of war labor. The last chapter examines the creation and maintenance of German culture and the existence and influences of several factors that could impact the formation of identity. By acknowledging these factors, this work will explore why German prisoners of war and the citizens of Gettysburg generally responded favorably to each others’ presence and try to account for the varying influences that caused both this reaction and less frequent negative responses. School:Bowling Green State University School Location:USA - Ohio Source Type:Master's Thesis Keywords:world war ii homefront prisoners of gettysburg german Date of Publication:01/01/2008

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General Instructions for Writing Scientific Papers or Lab Reports Prior to writing a report, you may discuss the laboratory experiment with your peers or your instructor. However, the final content, organization, and wording of the report must be of your own design. You may not use figures and graphs or statistical analyses prepared by others and presented to the class in the oral presentations. All data analysis must be your own. Late reports will be penalized 5% per day. How to get started? Our suggestion for writing a lab report is to start by analyzing your data and working on the Results section’s presentation of these data. You should finish with the abstract. It is best to start with the Results section, since you must thoroughly understand your results to form conclusions. When you know what you are able to conclude about the plants or beetles, it is easier to see what background information is appropriate for the introduction. The Methods and Materials section, which should be fairly straightforward, can be written at any point. Use the checklist below after you have written your first draft. You might also refer to the Carlton College lab report guide as an additional source for science writing suggestions (). Lab Report Format A report written in the correct format in most courses will have the following sections, in this order: Methods and Materials Results: Tables, Figures and separate results text References (or Literature Cited) However, you will only be asked to include a title, methods, results, discussion, and references sections in the sole report in this course. Compose a title that provides specific information about the variables being tested and reflects the major conclusion of the paper. The major conclusion is often called "the take-home message". Compare and contrast these potential titles: "Response of patients to different doses of ice cream" "Frequent administration of ice cream boosts patients' morale" “Morale in hospital patients is improved by serving more ice cream” As you analyze the titles consider these questions: - Can you easily identify the main topic and the variable that was tested? - Is the take home message clear? - Think about the word choices: Are any words in the titles ambiguous e.g. What was the patient response? What doses were used? In this section, use paragraphs rather than lists, to accurately summarize the final procedures/methods that were employed to collect and analyze your data. The materials (your plants or insects, controlled conditions, equipment used, etc.) are incorporated into the narrative. Provide enough detail so that a reader following this section can evaluate and repeat your experiment. The Carlton College lab report guide is a great reference if you are struggling with this section. () Subheadings: Using subheadings helps organize your method section particularly in big experiment with multiple parts such as the plant lab. Again examine the reference articles you have read for lab for ideas on organizing a methods section. Have a separate paragraph (not a list!) for each subheading. The actual dial settings of equipment used, final concentrations of solutions, number of initial beetles, greenhouse conditions etc. are reported in the methods section, as they will influence the results and their interpretation. It is impossible for your reader to evaluate the results if s/he cannot figure out how you did the experiment. It is more important to be honest and accurate than that you followed the correct procedure. Many experimental errors can be explained by “mistakes” made in methodology. One subheading, often forgotten is Data Analysis: a section on the mathematical calculations and statistical analyses you used. Tell your reader the variables that were compared, the types of statistical tests used, and for what they were used. What alpha level (threshold significance probability) was used? Were the data transformed in any way (by taking their logarithms, etc.)? Citations: If you followed a procedure EXACTLY as described in the lab manual you may cite the lab manual for that procedure (don’t forget to include the lab manual in the references cited section). For example, a subheading identified as photosynthetic rate might be written: “The photosynthetic rates of leaves were measured at 25 degrees C and light intensities between 0 and 1000 µmol photons m-2 s-1 using a Qubit Model 3750 Infra red gas analyzer (BISC 111, 2009).” Note: An appropriate reference section citation for the lab manual is: BISC 111. 2011. Introductory Organismal Biology Lab Manual. Wellesley College Biological Sciences Department. Wellesley MA. Labs 3-5. The text of this section should be double spaced, except for the table/figure captions which should be single spaced. The result section should contain your data presented in the form of figures and tables and must include an equally important narrative description of the results. Interpretation of your data (why you obtained these results, possible errors, etc.) belongs in the Discussion and should not be reported in the results. Text of Result Section: The most salient (noteworthy, striking, contrasting) results must be described in a narrative. Reading the results sections from published papers will give you a feel for how results should be presented in text. You should describe general trends, and you should refer specifically to figures and/or tables that pertain to the trends you are describing. Referring to tables and figures in text: You should eliminate redundancy. You do not need to repeat in text form the values that you list in a table or show in a figure –- these should stand on their own. The reader should be made aware of the main results by reading the narrative without having to look at the figures or tables. The purpose of this section is to draw the reader’s attention to what you think is important about the data. Example: “The mean transpiration rate was higher for Eichhornia crassipes than Rhoeo (Fig. 1).” Note here you don’t say “Figure 1 shows…” or “As can be seen in Figure 1…” Just tell the reader what you found, then cite the figure (as “Fig.”, or “Figs.” if more than one) or table in parentheses. Reporting statistics in text: The question often arises as how best to present the results of statistical tests, for example, a t-test. One way to do this, especially if reporting several test results, is to construct a table with appropriate headings. If expressing such a result in Results text form, there are many ways to phrase this. You want to give the basic results of the test and enough detail so that readers can understand the structure of the test data or could check p-values themselves. When reporting the statistical significance of your results in the Results text, include the name of the test, the test statistic, the degrees of freedom and the p - value. Citing results of a t-test: “The mean number of beetles in population E was significantly higher than in population D (t-test, tstat = 2.87, df = 8, p = 0.02, alpha level = 0.05).” “In Helianthus (sunflowers), the mean stomatal density was 50% higher on the upper than on the lower leaf surface. This difference was significant (t-test, tstat = 3.21, df = 3, p = 0.0023, alpha level = 0.05). Citing results of an ANOVA - Tukey statistical test: If we quantified total leaf thickness (by measuring cross-sections of leaves) and if there was a significant difference between two or more of the plants, you might summarize this as: "Leaf thickness was compared in four plant species adapted to a range of natural habitats from very dry to aquatic. Average leaf thickness ranged from 342 µm in Helianthus to 925 µm in Rhoeo and was significantly different among the four plants (ANOVA, F = 24.4, df = 3, 35, p < 0.0001, alpha level=0.05; Tukey HSD) (you should also cite the table or figure showing these data). Scindapsus leaves were significantly thicker than Helianthus but thinner than Rhoeo while Eichhornia crassipes overlapped with both Scindapsus and Helianthus." Or if you were comparing beetle growth in different types of flour: "After 70 days, the mean number of adult beetles in the starting population (20) had increased by a factor of 20 in wheat flour but only by a factor of 10 in corn and 7 in white flour (Fig. 1). Mean population sizes in corn and white flour were not significantly different from each other but were significantly different from the mean population size in wheat flour (ANOVA, F = 22.7, df = 2, 6, p = 0.002, alpha level=0.05; Tukey HSD test)." Useful tip: Avoid using the term “significant” in most scientific expression, unless referring to the results of a statistical test. This word has a very specific meaning in a scientific paper, as we have seen. Figures and Tables: The narrative text of Results describes your findings while the data that documents those findings is processed and presented in tables and figures. Tables and figures should be able to stand alone in a scientific paper, meaning that the reader should be able to understand, generally, the experiment and the data’s meaning without reading either the Methods section or the narrative description Effective figures present information in a format that is easily evaluated by the reader. Remember that tables and figures summarize results, they do not present large amounts of raw data (the individual measurements you each made). When possible, the results should provide some way of evaluating the reproducibility or statistical significance of any numbers presented. Graphs, pictures, drawings, and computer-generated images are all represented as figures. Figures are numbered consecutively (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.) in the order they are cited in the text. Examples of tables and figures and their legends/captions are available throughout this lab manual in addition to the examples presented here. It is very helpful to refer to scientific publications for additional examples. Most Figures in your reports will be graphs that were prepared using a computer program. Label the axes carefully and specify the units. Put the independent variable on the X-axis (the horizontal axis or abscissa). The experimenter controls the values of the independent variable. Put the dependent variable on the Y-axis (the vertical axis or ordinate). The experimenter measures the dependent variable. If more than one set of data is plotted on a single graph (e.g., data from different species), be certain to identify each data set plotted using a key. The "key" (called a legend in some graphing programs, such as Excel) to identifying the different data may appear imbedded in the graph itself (labeling the curves or columns) or in the text caption below the graph. Font sizes in figures (and tables) should be such that text is easily readable when printed. Data may be also be effectively presented in figures as images. Many times, these photos will be taken of specimens under a microscope. Often, the most effective way to use photomicrographs (photos taken of a specimen or sample under a microscope) in figures is to present more than one of them in a single figure with one legend (different photos labeled A, B, etc. representing different levels of your independent variable) This is called a composite figure. Composite figures invite comparisons; therefore, such figures are able to visually and effectively make the point that some aspect of your dependent variable (stomatal density/aperture length/structure of cross section) changed with the independent variable (plant species). That change is easily visible by labeling the relevant parts in the photos presented for comparison. Tables are used to present numerical data and are numbered separately from figures (Table 1, Table 2, etc.). The numerical data in the table is most often displayed as means ± SD or means ± SE (n= number of replicates) rather than including all measurements. Reporting raw data from each replicate of an experiment is not usually acceptable. Each column of data should have a heading that describes completely what is in that column including the units of measurement. Some columns may need a double heading. For example, when reporting data from different species, you should specify which column of data was collected from each species. It will also be necessary to give an additional heading over all of the species’ data columns indicating what type of data are in these columns. Enter data values so that decimal points are vertically aligned, and align and space all entries for maximum clarity. Legends/headings/captions (single space): Tables and figures should be able to stand-alone in a scientific paper and should be single-spaced. Each table and figure must have a number and a legend/heading/caption, a brief text description that tells the reader what the table or figure presents, and a brief, general description of how the data were obtained. This description is called a heading in a table and a caption in a figure, but both descriptions can generally be described as a legend. Each scientific journal has its own rules for the detail to be included in a legend, and here we offer some general guidelines. Excessive reporting of methodology is unnecessary in legends if methods have been described adequately elsewhere in the paper (remember, eliminate redundancy). The information identifying and describing a table is usually placed above the table whereas figure numbers and legends are placed below the graph or picture. In the legend/caption, be sure to explain the meaning of any ambiguous symbols not shown in a figure key. It is also helpful to summarize results of statistical analyses in captions, especially if Tukey test results are presented in the figure rather than in a separate table. If error bars are included in the figure, the caption should tell the reader whether they represent SD or SE. The legend/caption does not include any interpretation of the data or statement of conclusions. Avoid redundancies; present either a figure or a table as shown below. Similarly, if you cite t-test/ANOVA results in the legend/caption of your illustrations, you do not need to include them in the narrative of the results section. Figure 1. Population size of adult Tribolium beetles raised in different flour types (mean ± SE). Twenty unsexed beetles were placed in a jar containing one gram of flour per individual. Three replicates per treatment were set up and the beetles were cultured at 29 degrees C and 50% humidity for 70 days. ANOVA, F = 22.7, df = 2, 6, p = 0.002, alpha level = 0.05; Tukey HSD test results are shown as letters above columns. Means not sharing the same letter are significantly different. Table 1. Test of the hypothesis that food type affects adult flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) population growth. Twenty unsexed beetles were placed in a jar containing one gram of flour per individual. Three replicates per treatment were set up and the beetles were cultured at 29 degrees C and 50% humidity for 70 days. ANOVA, F = 22.7, df = 2, 6, p = 0.002, alpha level = 0.05. Tukey levels not sharing the same letter are significantly different. Example of table representing means +/- SE, Tukey HSD test results and an appropriate caption: Example of a Composite Figure: Composite figures show connected information using multiple formats. The figures should agree with the final conclusions illustrated by your data and represented in graphs/tables. In other words, if your numerical data shows that plant A has a relatively high stomatal density, be sure to choose a photo of an epidermal peel for your photomicrograph that shows plant A has a high stomatal density relative to the other species of plants. The following is an example of a composite figure from Klich, M.G. (2001): Fig. 2. Cleared leaves of E. angustifolia and drawings of transverse sections. (a,b) Lower shade leaves; (c,d) medium half sun-exposed leaves; (e,f) upper sun-leaves. (For a,c,e, bar: 1 cm; for b,d,f, bar: 50 mm). Note in Fig 2 that each photo or drawing in the figure has a bar with its scale noted in the caption of the figure. The caption also describes the contents of each section of the figure and labels specific pictures/drawings with letters to denote different groups. You may also choose to use arrows with labels to point out specific components of the figure that you think should be highlighted for your reader. Writing a good Discussion section is the most challenging part of composing a scientific paper. Organize your Discussion around the major points (conclusions) that you want to make from your data. Use your results to support these points without restating them, and try to relate your results to the expectations in the introduction. The discussion is the appropriate place in the paper to evaluate the significance of your findings. In this section you try to explain what the data mean. Show your reader what your results mean in the context of the whole biological system with which you’re working. Begin this section with a general restatement of your experimental goals as a topic sentence to frame the entire discussion; then summarize your main findings, using specific references to tables and figures in your results section. When organizing the discussion, it is best to follow the pattern of organization that you established in the 'Results’ narrative. You might compare your data to published reports from similar experiments (CITE them). In-text Citations (within the text): Be sure you cite the source of all background information in proper “in-text” format. Here are 3 examples of options for citing in your written text: Albie (2004) found that … In contrast, Hummel and John (2000) reported that ...... Others have found that … (Hold, 2004; VandenBos et al., 2001; Mayer, pers. comm., 2005) . Note the proper in text citation format for various numbers of authors of publications: - one author: (Albie, 2004) - 2 authors (Albee and VanderBos, 2008) - more than 2 authors (VandenBos et. al, 2001) The first author is the only name reported here, but all authors are listed in the References Cited section of your report. -You may also include page numbers, particularly for books, (VanderBos et. al, 2001, 781). Look at your data: Do they support your hypothesis? Do they agree or conflict with published research? Mention the results from your experiments that support or conflict with your hypothesis or related studies, and offer plausible explanations. The Discussion is where you "make your case", much as a lawyer might do in a trial, based on the evidence you have presented. Considering the overall goal of our plant labs, your "case" might consider: How do these plant species illustrate evolutionary adaptation to environment? An excellent way to organize your Discussion, as well as your Results and Introduction sections, is to lead off each paragraph with a topic sentence, a sentence that summarizes the main point, or “take-home message”, of the paragraph. This is a straightforward statement that basically condenses all that is to follow in the paragraph. Then, the rest of the information in each paragraph flows in illustration of those main points. As an example – this is a topic sentence appropriate for a Discussion section paragraph: "The positive effect of the treatment was especially pronounced in the two groups receiving the highest doses. This is perhaps due to?... (Describe possible reasons that explain positive effects in these groups, including those findings and reasons suggested by previous studies).” The bolded sentence is the topic sentence here. It is the "take-home" message of the paragraph. Try to do this for all paragraphs you write, especially in the Introduction, Results, and Discussion. Start the Discussion with the most important finding of your research and its interpretation. Don’t dwell on difficulties encountered in the study. Another useful rule of thumb to help you compose your Discussion is to answer the question: “What are three principal findings I can discuss here?” Of course, there may be more or fewer than three, but the point is to focus on the main results and their implications. Possible experimental or human errors should be mentioned in the discussion, but they should not be the focus of your Discussion. You should suggest further studies that you think should be conducted on this topic, additional questions that could be posed, or ways to modify the present study. Emphasize the “take-home’ messages of the paper in a concluding paragraph. Your conclusion should summarize the principal findings, interpretations, and implications of your work. Only references actually cited in the paper are included in the Reference section at the end of the paper. This should not be a bibliography of “interesting” sources. List the references in alphabetical order by first author, or title if an anonymous document. In addition to books and the lab manual, scientific studies or reviews in peer- reviewed journals provide excellent information. Be careful when using information from the Internet since it is unscreened and could be biased or unreliable. Avoid including or citing a “.com” web address. Nearly every journal has different requirements for listing sources consulted in the writing of a research paper. The important point is to follow consistently the format required. For the BISC 111 reports we will use the American Psychological Association (APA) Citation Style. A clear and complete APA style guide can be found at: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citapa.html. For additional information refer to the Wellesley College library’s suggestions for citing electronic sources found in the Style Manual section of the WC library web site: http://www.wellesley.edu/library/Research/citation.html. General notes on references • Single-space references. • Use sentence-case for titles. • Spell journal names out completely (no abbreviations). • Include all authors. • Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by (first) author, interfiling books, articles, etc. • Indent the second and following lines 5 to 7 spaces or one half inch. • Use only the initials of the authors' first (and middle) names; never use first or middle names. • If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. • Underline or italicize all genus and species names. • Magazine (not scientific journal) articles: include the month (and day) as shown under Newspapers. • Websites: if the date the page was created is not given, use (n.d.). This is an optional section in which you could mention people (and funding agencies if your research was supported by a grant) who were particularly important to the completion and success of the research.

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How To Save Math Education (And A Tiny Piece Of The World Along With It) Date: This event took place live on October 01 2009 Presented by: Dan Meyer Duration: Approximately 60 minutes. For everything it does well, the US model of math education conditions students to anticipate narrowly defined problems with narrowly prescribed solutions. This puts them in no place to anticipate the ambiguous, broadly defined, problems they'll need to solve after graduation, as citizens. This webcast will define two contributing factors to this intellectual impatience and then suggest a solution. About Dan Meyer Dan Meyer has taught high school math for six years. He is a recipient of Cable in the Classroom's Leader in Learning award. He lives with his wife in Santa Cruz, CA. Questions? Please send email to

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During a 2-hour test flight, Air New Zealand flew a 747 aircraft on a 50-50 blend of conventional fuel and biofuel made from the jatropha plant. Jatropha, a flowering plant native to Central America, is more durable than traditional biofuel crops, like soybeans and corn, requiring less water and fertilizer and can be grown in sandy, saline or infertile soil. It also has a higher yield per seed, producing 30-40% of its mass in oil. A barrel of jatropha oil costs roughly $43, while crude oil can surge over $120 per barrel. Results of the test flight will be reviewed in hopes of finding a viable, cheaper source of fuel for the struggling airlines. Via The New York Times.

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With the heat of summer comes a most remarkable bounty from Mother Nature: Fresh-from-the-farm potatoes to toss on the grill, juicy peaches bursting with flavor, and crunchy bell peppers to liven up salads. But there's a dark side to fresh local produce. Many of your favorite picks from the produce section or farmer's market are tainted with chemicals that aren't just toxic to garden pests and bees, but possibly to you, too. In fact, many weed- and bug-killing chemicals have been linked to serious diseases like childhood cancer, lupus, obesity, ADHD, and autism, among many others. We can't veggie-wash our way out of this problem, either. Most United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) experiments looking at pesticide contamination in produce involve testing produce that's already been washed or peeled. Looking at more than 28,000 samples taken by the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) created a list of the most contaminated produce to highlight the overall pesticide loads of common fruits and veggies. See why sourcing organic produce is so important… Around 99 percent of apple samples tested positive for at least one pesticide residue, according to the 2013 EWG report. In fact, previous testing from the USDA Pesticide Data Program turned up seven known or possible carcinogens and 19 suspected hormone-disrupting chemicals in apple samples. EWG rated strawberries as the second most contaminated fruit, basing its conclusion on government data. Still, if it's a choice between eating a conventional strawberry or processed, sugar- or fat-laden convenience foods, choose the berry—the antioxidants in even nonorganic versions outweigh the risks, EWG notes. To cut your chemical load, choose organic whenever possible. Grow Your Own: Strawberries Grapes are notorious for pesticide contamination. In fact, the EWG report found a single grape tested positive for 15 different pesticides. Read More: Best Grapes for Organic Growers Past USDA Pesticide Data Program evaluations turned up 64 pesticide residues on this crunchy snack and soup stock staple. In the EWG report, a single celery sample tested positive for 13 different pesticides. Learn More: Grow Your Own Celery Pit fruits are notoriously hard to grow organically because the high sugar content attracts not just people, but also bug pests. Past USDA tests found 62 different pesticide residues on samples. Seasonal Goodness: Peach and Raspberry Crostata Even these statistics would make Popeye cringe: Past USDA testing has found residues of eight known or probable carcinogens and eight neurotoxins; 23 were considered toxic to honeybees, too. 7. Sweet Bell Peppers A single bell pepper tested positive for 13 different pesticide residues, according to the recent EWG report. Previous testing shows imidacloprid, a chemical bug killer in the neonicitinoid family, turned up on nearly 80 percent of sweet bell peppers tested. Emerging studies link neonicitinoids insecticides to massive honeybee die-offs. Grow Your Own: Bell Peppers Every single sample of imported nectarines tested positive for pesticides. If you're aiming to avoid chemicals in fruit, don't totally rely on U.S.-grown nectarines, either. Domestic nonorganic versions were commonly contaminated, too. Like what you see here: Sign up for the FREE Organic Gardening Newsletter! Traditionally, toxic endosulfan, a chemical in the DDT family, has been a go-to pesticide for many commercial cucumber growers. Luckily, the government is phasing out its use for all crops because it's a potent neurotoxin. Still, cucumbers today have a heavy pesticide load, according to EWG. Choose organic when you can. Easy & Awesome: DIY Refrigerator Pickles Potatoes are hammered with chemicals. The average potato has a much higher total weight of pesticides than any other food crop. Nonorganic versions of the starchy staple are generally sprayed multiple times a year in the field then their vines are sprayed with an herbicide just prior to harvesting to make the process easier. Keep Reading: 7 Ways to Plant Potatoes

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This article is copyright 2008 International Schizophrenia Foundation http://www.orthomed.org/isf/isf.html and may not be reprinted or otherwise used without ISF's written permission. If you are interested in using or reprinting this article, please contact ISF at firstname.lastname@example.org or write to International Schizophrenia Foundation, 16 Florence Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2N 1E9. Fax (416) 733-2352. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 29, 2008 Vitamin E Prevents Lung Cancer News Media Virtually Silent on Positive Vitamin Research (OMNS, October 29, 2008) Researchers at the University of Texas Anderson Cancer Center have found that taking more vitamin E substantially reduces lung cancer. Their new study shows that people consuming the highest amounts of vitamin E had the greatest benefit. When they compared persons taking the most vitamin E with those taking the least, there was a 61% reduction in lung cancer risk. (1) Lung cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer on earth; over 1.3 million people are diagnosed with it each year. With medical treatment, survival rates are "consistently poor," says Cancer Research UK. Lung cancer kills nearly 1.2 million per year. It accounts for 12% of all cancers, but results in 18% of all cancer deaths. (2) Anything that can reduce these dismal facts is important news . . .very important. Yet the mainstream media have virtually ignored vitamin E's important role as a cancer fighter. A sixty-one percent reduction in lung cancer with vitamin E? How could the news media have missed this one? The news media probably did not miss it: they simply did not report it. They are biased. You can see for yourself what bias there is. Try a "Google" search for any of the major newspapers or broadcast media, using the name of the news organization along with the phrase "vitamin E lung cancer." When you do, you will find that it will quickly bring up previous items alleging that vitamin E might (somehow) increase cancer risk. You will find little or nothing at all on how vitamin E prevents cancer. Indeed, the bias is so strong that even a qualified search for "increased vitamin E reduces lung cancer" will still, and preferentially, bring up media coverage alleging that vitamin E is harmful. Negative reporting sells newspapers and pulls in viewing audiences. The old editors' adage must still be true: "If it bleeds, it leads." Here's more positive vitamin E cancer research that the media "missed." A study in 2002 looked at patients with colon cancer "who received a daily dose of 750 mg of vitamin E during a period of 2 weeks. Short-term supplementation with high doses of dietary vitamin E leads to increased CD4:CD8 ratios and to enhanced capacity by their T cells to produce the T helper 1 cytokines interleukin 2 and IFN-gamma. In 10 of 12 patients, an increase of 10% or more (average, 22%) in the number of T cells producing interleukin 2 was seen after 2 weeks of vitamin E supplementation." The authors concluded that "dietary vitamin E may be used to improve the immune functions in patients with advanced cancer." That improvement was achieved in a mere two weeks merits special attention. (3) Was it on the news? Did you hear about how high doses of vitamin E help cancer patients' immune systems in only two weeks? Why not? Might the answer possibly have anything to do with money? One cannot watch television or read a magazine or newspaper without it being obvious that drug company cash is one of the media's very largest sources of revenue. Given where their advertising income comes from, it is hardly a big surprise that media reporting on vitamins is biased. Well-publicized vitamin scares feed the pharmaceutical industry. Successful reports of safe, inexpensive vitamin therapy do not. One commentator has observed that pharmaceutical and other "corporations marshal huge public relations efforts on behalf of their agendas. In the United States the 170,000 public relations employees whose job it is to manipulate news, public opinion and public policy in the interests of their clients outnumber news reporters by 40,000." (4) Another commentator wrote that "Janine Jackson of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a news media watchdog group, told the American Free Press that 60 percent of journalists surveyed by FAIR admitted that advertisers 'try to change stories (and) there is an overwhelming influence of corporations and advertisers' on broadcast and print news reporting." (5) Drug companies don't have any drug that can reduce lung cancer risk by 61%. If they did, you would have heard all about it in their advertisements. And it would be all over the news. Positive drug studies get the headlines. Positive vitamin studies rarely do. This is an enormous public health problem with enormous consequences. A cynic might say that press and television coverage of a vitamin study tends to be inversely proportionate to the study's clinical usefulness. Truly valuable research does not scare people; it helps people get well. It would be difficult to identify anything more helpful than actively reporting the story when a vitamin is shown to reduce lung cancer by 61%. The good news about how important high quantities of vitamin E are in combating cancer is not arising out of nowhere. A US National Library of Medicine MEDLINE search will bring up over 3,000 studies on the subject, some dating back to 1946. By the early 1950s, research clearly supported the use of vitamin E against cancer. (6) Before 1960, vitamin E was shown to reduce the side effects of radiation cancer treatment. (7) In reviewing vitamin E research, one notes that the high-dose studies got the best results. Vitamin E is not the sure cure for cancer. It is not certain prevention, either. Stopping cigarette smoking is essential. But vitamin E is part of the solution, and we need more of it. An independent panel of physicians and researchers (8) has recently called for increasing the daily recommended intake for vitamin E to 200 IU. The present US RDA/DRI is a mere 15-20 IU/day. It is time to raise it. A lot. (1) Mahabir S, Schendel K, Dong YQ, Barrera SL, Spitz MR, Forman MR. Dietary alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherols in lung cancer risk. Int J Cancer. 2008 Sep 1;123(5):1173-80. (3) Malmberg KJ, Lenkei R, Petersson M et al. A short-term dietary supplementation of high doses of vitamin E increases T helper 1 cytokine production in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2002 Jun; 8(6):1772-8. (4) Robbins R. Global problems and the culture of capitalism. Allyn and Bacon, 1999, p 138. http://www.globalissues.org/article/160/media-and-advertising (5) Prestage J. Mainstream journalism: Shredding the First Amendment. Online Journal, November 7, 2002. http://www.globalissues.org/article/160/media-and-advertising (6) Telford IR. The influence of alpha tocopherol on lung tumors in strain A mice. Tex Rep Biol Med. 1955;13(3):515-21. Swick RW, Baumann CA, Miller WL Jr, Rumsfeld HW Jr. Tocopherol in tumor tissues and effects of tocopherol on the development of liver tumors. Cancer Res. 1951 Dec;11(12):948-53. (7) Fischer W. [The protective effect of tocopherol against toxic phenomena connected with the roentgen irradiation of mammary carcinoma.] Munch Med Wochenschr. 1959 Sep 4;101:1487-8. German. Also: Sabatini C, Balli L, Tagliavini R. [Effects of vitamin E and testosterone in comparisons of skin exposed to high doses of roentgen rays administered by semi-contact technic.] Riforma Med. 1955 Apr 30;69(18):Suppl, 1-4. Italian. See also: Graham JB, Graham RM. Enhanced effectiveness of radiotherapy in cancer of the uterine cervix. Surg Forum. 1953;(38th Congress):332-8. (8) Doctors say, Raise the RDAs now. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 30, 2007. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v03n10.shtml For more information: Many full-text nutrition and vitamin therapy research papers are posted for free access at http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom . Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource. Editorial Review Board: Damien Downing, M.D. Harold D. Foster, Ph.D. Steve Hickey, Ph.D. Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D. James A. Jackson, PhD Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. Erik Paterson, M.D. Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D. Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., Editor and contact person. Email: email@example.com To Subscribe at no charge: http://www.orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html

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(also chiefly British furore) 1An outbreak of public anger or excitement: the article raised a furor among mathematicians More example sentences - They are hoping to take advantage of the public anger and media furor generated by the first of Gomery's two reports. - Both have maintained they have been hard-done by and both have stirred up a public furore over whether they are the victims of the justice system. - The whole furore happened when the public hadn't heard the song. late 18th century: from Italian furore, from Latin furor, from furere 'be mad, rage'.

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Investigation into the dealings of political opponents, typically in order to discredit them publicly: opposition research may be a bit too confrontational in the normal course of a campaign but completely appropriate as a response to an attack More example sentences - Admittedly, much of what one "knows" about candidates comes from opposition research. - The gathering, use, and online storage of opposition research is nothing new. - Lengthy primary battles result in competing candidates essentially digging up and airing free opposition research for the other party. Definition of opposition research in: - The British & World English dictionary

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verb[with object] US dialect Fail to remember: mostly what you disremember ain’t worth the trouble to call to mind More example sentences - That got tiring fast, since I disremembered the notes to the chorus. - It provides the means for the user to apply passwords and disremember them. - ‘Freud said the most profound remembering is disremembering,’ counters Melvyn. Definition of disremember in: - The US English dictionary

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When Japan launched its treacherous surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7 December 1941, and seized American island bases between Hawaii and the Philippines (Guam and Wake), one major aim was to facilitate capture of the Philippines without interference from the United States Navy. As starving American and Philippine troops fought a hopeless battle against invading Japanese troops between December 1941 and May 1942, any hope of reinforcement by the greatly weakened United States Pacific Fleet was negated by the Japanese Navy's control of the vast stretch of water between Hawaii and the Philippines. To appreciate the major contribution by General Douglas MacArthur to the American military disaster in the Philippines, see Battle of the Philippines. THE AMERICAN ADMIRAL WHO SAVED AUSTRALIA IN 1942 Commander in Chief US Navy 1942 - Admiral Ernest J. King Admiral King refused to accept the largely defensive role assigned to the US Navy in the Pacific War theatre by Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. With the warships that were left to him after the treacherous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he went on the offensive against Japan and almost certainly saved Australia and Hawaii from Japanese occupation in 1942. Pearl Harbor found the United States with a mostly obsolete Navy At the time of Pearl Harbor, the warships of the United States Navy were mostly elderly relics dating back to the World War I era and earlier. This situation had been brought about by two decades of isolationism and neglect of the Navy by the US Congress and Administrations before that of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. An exception to this neglect of Americas defences was the Pacific Fleets force of four large fleet carriers. Each of these carriers was equal to any of Japans six largest fleet carriers. The major difference between the American and Japanese carriers lay in the quality of the aircraft and the experience of the aircrews. The aircraft on the American carriers were either obsolete or nearing obsolescence. Most of the American aircrews lacked any combat experience, and many were under-trained. The Japanese naval airmen had been honing their combat skills in Japans brutal war against China since 1937. Within the limitations imposed by the Washington and London Naval Treaties, Japan had built the most powerful navy in the Pacific region at the time of Pearl Harbor. To match the power of the Imperial Japanese Navy in early 1942, the US Navy needed to be provided with a large fleet of modern warships, especially fast and powerful aircraft carriers. Apart from the four large aircraft carriers that had escaped the deadly Japanese onslaught at Pearl Harbor, and the addition of USS Hornet in February 1942, that modern fleet still had to be built in American shipyards that were struggling at the time of Pearl Harbor to meet the demands of the Battle of the Atlantic. American shipbuilding capability had been seriously impaired during the Great Depression years (1929-1939) when many American shipyards had been forced to close their gates. The problem facing Americans after Pearl Harbor was the lead time necessary to build a large warship and prepare it for battle. Under pressure of war, the time between the laying of the keel of a large carrier and achieving operational status was reduced to two years. The first of the powerful Essex Class carriers was laid down in April 1941. USS Essex (CV-9) became fully operational in June 1943. It was joined by the second Essex Class carrier Yorktown (CV-10) in December 1943. These inescapable timings meant that between Pearl Harbor and the middle of 1943, the United States had only four of the large carriers mentioned above to keep the powerful Japanese Navy at bay across the vastness of the Pacific. USS Saratoga (CV-3) was torpedoed twice during 1942, and was out of action for most of that critical year. Japans attack on Pearl Harbor would transform American Pacific war strategy, naval tactics, and senior naval command. President Roosevelt is persuaded to adopt a "Germany First" war strategy Less than two weeks after he won an unprecedented third term in office in November 1940, President Roosevelt received a private briefing from the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark. Stark warned Roosevelt that failure by the United States to aid Britain against Germany would almost certainly lead to Britain's defeat and German domination of the whole of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Stark argued that American aid to Britain should include actual participation in the war in Europe and North Africa by US armed forces. Stark also argued that top priority should be given to defeating Germany regardless of any threat that might arise from Japan. Admiral Stark's advice that the defeat of Nazi Germany should be the top priority of the United States even in the event of war with Japan was accepted by President Roosevelt, and formally designated as "Plan D". The plan acquired the designation "D" simply because it followed the numbering in Stark's formal memorandum to the President. However, Plan D was effectively an implementation of the American militarys Rainbow -5 strategic war plan. Rainbow -5 stipulated as its premise that the United States was engaged in war against the three Axis powers, Japan, Germany and Italy. This plan specified that American military power would be deployed against Germany and Italy as a priority even if Japan had already entered the war as their ally. Until Germany and Italy were defeated, Rainbow -5 required the United States to adopt a defensive posture in the Pacific behind lines linking Hawaii to Alaska and Panama. The Rainbow -5 war plan clearly involved abandoning everything west of Hawaii to the Japanese, including the Philippines and Australia. The US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, supported Plan D and President Roosevelt authorized talks between the American and British military chiefs of staff to implement Plan D. In March 1941, the American and British chiefs of staff met secretly and agreed that the Americans would join Britain in pursuing a "Germany First" war strategy if the United States was drawn into World War II as an ally of Britain. The "Germany First" war strategy was not announced to the American public for a number of reasons. One compelling reason for secrecy was the fact that the United States was not yet at war with Germany. There would also have been major political risks for Roosevelt in disclosing the proposed war strategy. Apart from attracting the fury of the powerful isolationist and peace lobbies, it would have been an admission that America's army in the Philippines would be abandoned to its fate in the event of a Japanese attack. The Arcadia Conference confirms a "Germany First" Allied war strategy As the United States increased its military support for Britain during 1941, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill foresaw the probability that the Americans would be drawn into the conflict with Germany and Italy as an ally of Britain. In that event, Churchill strongly supported adoption by the Anglo-American Allies of a "Germany First" war strategy. Churchill appreciated that this war strategy would put Australia, British Malaya, the Philippines, and the rest of South-East Asia at serious risk of Japanese occupation if Japan entered the war on the side of Germany and Italy. However, this prospect does not appear to have greatly concerned Churchill whose top war priorities were the defence of Britain, Egypt, Palestine, the Suez Canal, and India. WINSTON CHURCHILL - NO FRIEND TO AUSTRALIA The top war priorities for British Prime Minister Winston Curchill were the defence of Britain, Egypt, Palestine, the Suez Canal and India. He argued strongly for the United States and Britain to pursue a "Germany First" war strategy and treat the Pacific as a secondary theatre of World War II. Churchill does not appear to have been greatly concerned by the Japanese threat to invade Australia. As Churchill saw it, the Philippines, Australia, British Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies could be recovered from Japanese occupation after Germany had been defeated. The treacherous Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor both delighted and worried Churchill. He knew that the United States would now be fighting the Axis powers with Britain, but he was concerned that President Roosevelt would be unable to resist public pressure to exact vengeance for Pearl Harbor. Just before Christmas 1941, the British Prime Minister and his military chiefs travelled to Washington aboard the battleship HMS Duke of York to consult with President Roosevelt and his military chiefs. The purpose of this journey was to persuade Roosevelt to adhere to the secret agreement between the American and British governments to give priority to defeating Nazi Germany, and not to divert America's vast resources to halting Japanese aggression in the Pacific. This meeting of the two leaders and their military chiefs became known as the Arcadia Conference. Churchill was alarmed to find on his arrival in Washington that the American public and Congress were calling for an all-out war of vengeance against Japan. The American people were still unaware that their President and his military chiefs had secretly committed the United States to defeating Germany as its top priority, and that this agreement meant holding a defensive line between Alaska, Hawaii, and the Panama Canal. They were also unaware that the "Germany First" war plan effectively made everything west of that line expendable, including Australia and American military forces in the western Pacific. When Roosevelt and Churchill joined the American military chiefs in conference on 23 December 1941, Admiral Stark had been replaced as chief of the US Navy. The new Commander in Chief of the US Navy was Admiral Ernest J. King, and he was strongly opposed to any downgrading of the war against Japan to a secondary theatre. The US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, was conscious of the fact that his army troops would have a much larger role to play in an assault on the Nazi stronghold of occupied Europe and he supported the "Germany First" strategy. With nearly two million American recruits in the US Army, and his troops heavily under-employed at that moment, Marshall was keen for the assault on Nazi-occupied Europe to be undertaken as quickly as possible. Churchill dismissed the feasibility of an early invasion of Europe. He pointed out that the Allied forces were simply not trained, equipped, and ready to invade Nazi-occupied France. Churchill argued forcefully that American troops would be better employed in a lower scale invasion of North Africa to assist British and Australian troops to defeat General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. Having been the architect of disastrous amphibious landings in World War I (Galipolli) and World War II (Narvik), Churchill knew better than Marshall the grave dangers inherent in putting inexperienced troops ashore on a strongly defended coast. Churchill had assigned the code-name "Gymnast" to his plan for American army troops to gain amphibious landing experience in North Africa, before they undertook the far more dangerous task of assaulting the strongly defended coast of Nazi-occupied France. To the dismay of the American military chiefs, President Roosevelt supported Churchill. Roosevelt underlined the political necessity of bringing the rapidly expanding American recruit army into action as soon as possible, and agreed that the North African operation was appropriate for that purpose. The American landing in North Africa was fixed for November 1942. It would later become known as "Operation Torch". Roosevelt maintains the secrecy of the "Germany First" war strategy Although conscious of the political risks for his Democratic Party in adhering to the "Germany First" war strategy so soon after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt was persuaded by Churchill to adhere to this plan and it was confirmed in writing at the Arcadia Conference. Appreciating that the American public and Congress would not tolerate a war strategy that allowed the Japanese to proceed on an unchecked rampage across the Pacific, President Roosevelt decided to keep secret his governments commitment to the "Germany First" war strategy. The United States establishes a military command in Australia Despite committing the United States to defeating Nazi Germany as its top priority, Roosevelt appreciated that the inevitability of American defeat in the Philippines made it important for the United States to hold Australia and the string of islands between Australia and Hawaii as bases for an eventual American counter-offensive against Japan. During the Battle of the Philippines , the United States Army established a new command in Australia on 22 December 1941. The new command was based at Brisbane and designated the US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA). The commander of USAFIA was Major General George Brett, and he was answerable to General MacArthur who was still at that time the commander of the American army in the Philippines. The purpose of USAFIA was initially to channel military supplies to the Philippines. However, the Japanese overran South-East Asia so quickly that few supplies reached the beleaguered American army in the Philippines except by submarine. Although circumstances prevented USAFIA making a significant contribution to the defence of the Philippines, the American government appreciated the importance of building up American military strength in Australia which was intended to be the main base for an Allied counter-offensive against Japans southern defensive perimeter which was anchored on the port of Rabaul in New Guinea after 23 January 1942.

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The Government sometimes adds a provision to a Bill which enables the Government to repeal or amend it after it has become an Act of Parliament. The provision enables the amendment of primary legislation using delegated (or secondary) legislation. Such provisions are known as "Henry VIII clauses". The House of Lords Select Committee on the Scrutiny of Delegated Powers in its first report of 1992-93 defined a Henry VIII clause as: a provision in a Bill which enables primary legislation to be amended or repealed by subordinate legislation, with or without further Parliamentary scrutiny. [HL 57 1992-93, para 10] The clauses were so named from the Statute of Proclamations 1539, which gave King Henry VIII power to legislate by proclamation. Related information can be found from the following links. Related glossary term: Bills Brief Guide: Delegated Legislation ( PDF 350 KB)

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Wolf Trap National Park - http://www.nps.gov/wotr Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts began as a gift to the American people from Catherine Filene Shouse. Encroaching roads and suburbs inspired Mrs. Shouse to preserve this former farm as a park. In 1966 Congress accepted Mrs. Shouse's gift and authorized Wolf Trap Farm Park (its original name) as the first national park for the performing arts. Through a fruitful partnership between the National Park Service and the Wolf Trap Foundation, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts offers a wealth of natural and cultural resources to the community and to the nation.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: One of the hottest issues in higher education these days is the recent explosion of free online courses. Universities are grappling with their impact on teaching and on liberal arts education. NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels has our story. WALTER SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG, DukeUniversity: A discounting term, you mark with D. An evaluative the term, you mark with E. SPENCER MICHELS: Tracy Lippincott, who works in a San Francisco bar, is taking a college course in her apartment online on how to reason and argue. The teacher is Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, professor of ethics at DukeUniversity in North Carolina, and the class is free. WALTER SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG: So, how do you learn the technique? The answer is very simple. You practice, and then you practice again, and then you practice and practice and practice and practice. TRACY LIPPINCOTT, online student: This class has these really short little lectures, which is great, because you can kind of watch one, and then think about it and react, and then you don’t have to watch a whole hour, like you would in a class. SPENCER MICHELS: “Think Again” is a class presented by a one-year-old for-profit startup called Coursera, currently the nation’s largest provider of free online courses; 170,000 students from around the world have signed up for it. The classes are called MOOCs, or massive open online courses, and they may be revolutionizing higher education. Online learning is nothing new. Colleges have been offering classes, usually for a fee, and for credit for years. More than six million Americans are taking some type of online courses. But MOOC courses are different. They’re much bigger. They use new technology. They often feature well-known professors, and they don’t cost anything. Hundreds of these college-level courses are currently being offered over the Internet. More than two million students have enrolled in Coursera classes, though the completion rate is low. Daphne Koller, a computer science professor at Stanford, is one of Coursera’s founders. DAPHNE KOLLER, Coursera: I think by opening up education for free to everyone around the world, we’re going to turn education, high-quality education, from a privilege to a basic human right, so that anyone, no matter their social, economic or family circumstances, has access to the best education. SPENCER MICHELS: Those lofty goals, the experience of teaching thousands of students, and the possibility of future profits, are what got these courses going. Professors from top universities are signing up, even though they are not paid by the providers. Eventually, universities may share revenues they receive — when there are revenues — with the professors. And those star professors have inspired intense student interest in the courses, says Coursera’s other co-founder, Andrew Ng. ANDREW NG, Coursera: Most people today will never have access to a Princeton, Stanford, Cal Tech class. But now, if you wake up tomorrow morning and you decide you want to take a Cal Tech class, you can — you can just sign up for one, and it’s free. SPENCER MICHELS: Math teacher Salman Khan started providing free online classes in 2010 out of his house, arguing that new approaches to teaching were needed. He inspired Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun and colleague Peter Norvig to put a course on artificial intelligence online just last year. SEBASTIAN THRUN, Udacity: And to our surprise, 160,000 students signed up. We managed to graduate 23,000 students at Stanford graduate-level quality in a specialized subject area called artificial intelligence, which means Peter and I taught more students than all the professors in the world combined in the same subject area. SPENCER MICHELS: Were you amazed by this, or did you expect it? SEBASTIAN THRUN: I was blown away, and it changed my life. SPENCER MICHELS: After that success, Thrun founded Udacity, a fast- growing startup in Palo Alto, financed with venture capital money, offering classes in science, technology, engineering, and math. Universities came on board, hoping to reach more students than they previously could and to improve instruction both on and off campus using online technology. Thrun says early results are promising. SEBASTIAN THRUN: We have some data on how it works. For some of the classes, we have shown that the average point score of students taking those classes online is higher, significantly higher than taking it in the classroom. That’s kind of mind-blowing. SPENCER MICHELS: He says teachers are learning new strategies that are more effective than the traditional lecture. SEBASTIAN THRUN: It’s not my lecturing that changes the student, but it’s the student exercise. So our courses feel very much like video games, where you’re being bombarded with exercise after exercise after exercise. That’s very different from the way I teach at Stanford, where I’m much more in a lecturing mode. SPENCER MICHELS: At Coursera, Ng says online courses aren’t dominated by a few aggressive students in a classroom. ANDREW NG: On the online website, we have these things we call in-video quizzes, where the video pauses and a question pops up. Every single student sees the video pause. Every single student gets to attempt an answer, not just the one smart kid in the first row. DAPHNE KOLLER: Every single instructor that has taught a course online has told us that it’s changed profoundly the way they teach their on-campus students. SPENCER MICHELS: The University of California at Berkeley has decided to partner with another MOOC provider called edX, a not-for-profit in Cambridge, Mass. Computer science professor Armando Fox, who heads campus online learning, lectures about the beauty and joy of computing. As he talks, with some visual aids, his lecture is taped by a technician, who will send it to edX, where it will be posted online, a free class that is identical to what his students at Berkeley are receiving. ARMANDO FOX, University of California, Berkeley: This is an opportunity that I think none of us ever have seen before, where, you know, we can essentially teach the world. We had an e-mail from one student who lived in the Gaza Strip, and he was apologizing that his homeworks were always late because they only get six hours of electricity per day, and he was using some of that electricity budget to take our course. You know, as an instructor, I think there’s no higher compliment than that. SPENCER MICHELS: With on-campus students watching lectures and basic material online, MOOCs provide the opportunity for instructors to use class time for discussions and exercises, a so-called flipped classroom. As a bonus, Fox says, the information students furnish when they take online courses is providing valuable data about learning. ARMANDO FOX: With MOOCs, you know, with thousands of students taking a quiz, as instructors, we can now put some science into asking, which are the hardest quiz questions? Which questions will tell us who the superstar students might be? SPENCER MICHELS: MOOC startups are still trying to figure out how to make money. Udacity is getting revenue from several companies like Google to provide specialized courses. Coursera is charging potential employers for providing names of high-scoring students. And, eventually, students may pay for credits transferable to colleges. So far, students can earn only a certificate when they complete a course. Almost no colleges are giving credit for MOOCs, at least not yet. At Stanford and other elite universities around the country, undergraduate tuition, plus room and board, runs about $54,000 a year. At Berkeley, a public university, it’s around $30,000, depending on where you live. The big question is, what do you get for that that a free online course with a stellar professor wouldn’t give you? SUSAN HOLMES, Stanford University: I don’t think that you can give a Stanford education online, in the same way as I don’t think that Facebook gives you a social life. SPENCER MICHELS: Susan Holmes is a professor of statistics at Stanford. She fears that budget-conscious colleges may use online education to replace instructors and save money. SUSAN HOLMES: People will think it’ll be much cheaper to hire people who aren’t trained with Ph.D.s and to make the student watch courses, and use graduate students, or even undergraduates, as advisers. SPENCER MICHELS: But even more important, Holmes is worried that MOOCs could damage a key university goal: providing a liberal arts education, where students learn to write and express themselves. SUSAN HOLMES: And that is done with interaction with the students. The professors meet with the students, advise the students, and the students also have their colleagues to talk to, their peers. SPENCER MICHELS: The difficulty of providing personal contact also concerns Coursera’s founders, but they think they are addressing it with online study groups or forums. ANDREW NG: Learning is social, and we learn best when we have classmates to discuss things with. When you teach a class of 100,000 students, what that means is that, if there’s a student thinking about some topic, no matter what time of day you’re awake thinking about it, there will be someone in some time zone awake thinking about the same thing as you are. They can discuss it with you. SPENCER MICHELS: Still, the problem of personal contact is getting lots of attention from students and from teachers. WALTER SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG: We cannot answer e-mails from students, so please do not e-mail us individually. There will be discussion forums where you can go and talk to other students about the material in the course. TRACY LIPPINCOTT: The thing that I really miss is actually personal contact with the professor. I like to be able to get personalized advice from the person who’s in charge, and maybe just a little of like a thumbs-up, you know, just a little bit of positive reinforcement. But in terms of, like, between students, you can create that. SPENCER MICHELS: In fact, Lippincott did create that, by organizing a recent meet-up for students taking the Think Again class at a trendy bar in San Francisco where she works. Anyone can attend. MAN: Whenever you get into an argument, all you are doing is thinking about a rebuttal when the other person is talking. And it’s not listening. WOMAN: And what I’m trying to do now is actually think not of my argument, but the other people’s arguments and say, OK, that — you are convincing me, but that’s not an argument. WOMAN: I can’t wait to be able to rip apart people I don’t agree with. WOMAN: You know, just like, oh, let me just show you where you are wrong in so many ways. I took a class in this. SPENCER MICHELS: Some students taking MOOC classes are doing it just to learn. Others hope a certificate will help them get a job. Still others want to eventually get college credit. Figuring out how to get colleges to accept MOOC classes for credit is a major thrust of the fast-growing, constantly changing online teaching industry right now. GWEN IFILL: On our website, Spencer reports on how online educators monitor cheating. He also spoke with one computer science professor who uses Web tools to engage his students.

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The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site of Canada Landmarks and symbols of Canadian identity, national historic sites of Canada are first and foremost dedicated to commemoration. Each site has his own significance and contributes, in its own way, to the commemoration of Canadian History. The commemorative intent of a historic site, i.e. the element to be commemorated specifically on the site, is closely connected with the special features that cause its national significance to be recognized and which, in the final analysis, justify its existence as part of the system of national historic sites. Generally speaking, the commemorative intent of a site is defined on the basis of the recommendations of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC). The commemorative intent of the Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site of Canada has been defined as follows : The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site commemorates the fur trade in the Montreal area. © Parks Canada/A. Kedl 2002 Under the Parks Canada Agency Act (1998), Parks Canada is entrusted with ensuring the commemorative integrity of our national historic sites. Sections 32.(1) and 32.(2) of the act require each historic site administered by the Agency to draw up a management plan that must be submitted to Parliament every five years. The management plan is used to implement general Parks Canada policy at the local level and is approved by the minister after public consultation. It sets the course for the long-term development and management of each national historic site and serves as a framework for subsequent management activities and for the planning and implementation of site-related projects. One of the goals of the management plan is to assure the commemorative integrity of the site, notably through application of the principles and practices of cultural resources management. Along with this strategic objective, the plan also determines measures to implement in order to deliver educational experiences that meet visitor expectations and foster appreciation of the historic site. , 6.35 MB Note: To read the PDF version you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system. If the Adobe download site is not accessible to you, you can download Acrobat Reader from an accessible page. If you choose not to use Acrobat Reader you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or ASCII text by using one of the conversion services offered by Adobe.

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So who was Captain James? Whoever he was, he had a vision, a grand vision. And, he was not alone. It seems to have been a common desire and even an expectation in the latter half of the 19th century that the eastern deserts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties were only awaiting manâs engineering ingenuity in order to spring to life. Nothing was impossible, as far the early pioneers were concerned. Largely, they were right. Todayâs Coachella and Imperial valleys are very near to being the productive environments the regionâs early residents dreamed of. One of the earliest promoters of the idea was Captain James. As is very often the case in newspaper accounts of the time, Jamesâ full name never appears in the story. A search of documents related to the period failed to turn up any further mention of a Captain James. Heâs probably there somewhere, but he remains elusive. Iâm assuming James is his last name. Anyway, in September 1873, James rolled into town, having completed a survey of the desert. Right away, Iâm thinking, âNot the quickest captain around.â Why on earth would you survey the desert during the hottest time of the year? âCaptain James tells us that no one who has not had the practical experience on the desert can imagine the normal condition of heat which prevails there,â the newspaper reports. âThe ground in mid-day is hot enough to cook eggs; and snakes, bugs, toads and all kind of insects refuse to venture out of their holes until the evening has set in.â What a revelation, huh? But what is interesting is the paperâs account of how adapted the Native Americans were to the hostile environment. âThey will pass barefooted over ground which would produce blisters on our feet at the first step,â it says. âTheir hair is naturally long and falls luxuriantly down their backs. They plait it into thin strands, which give(s) it a consistency that enables them to make of it a perfect sunshade; and when they are traveling toward the sun they will throw it out over their heads so that it forms a real protection against its rays.â This sounds rather fanciful, as does the writerâs contention that there is evidence in the desert of âan extinct civilization ⦠Relics of great works of engineering, of aqueducts and embankments, and the earthen lines which carry to us ideas of villages and cities can be traced at various points. There is every evidence of a past civilization and great populousness in the place which is now desert.â If this was Captain Jamesâ story, perhaps it was due to his gray matter being fried just a wee bit too much. His original expedition was to âdetermine the feasibility of connecting the waters of the Gulf of California with that vast arid basin.â

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The schema module defines two classes, Schema and SchemaDict, derived from DbObject and DbObjectDict, respectively. Schema is derived from ~pyrseas.dbobject.DbObject and represents a database schema, i.e., a collection of tables and other objects. The 'public' schema is special as in most contexts an unqualified object is assumed to be part of it, e.g., table "t" is usually shorthand for table "public.t." For now, the schema name is the only attribute and is of course the identifying attribute in the Schema keylist. SchemaDict is derived from ~pyrseas.dbobject.DbObjectDict. It is a dictionary that represents the collection of schemas in a database. Certain internal schemas (information_schema, pg_catalog, etc.) owned by the 'postgres' user are excluded. Method from_map is called from Database ~pyrseas.database.Database.from_map to start a recursive interpretation of the input map. The inmap argument is the same as input to the ~pyrseas.database.Database.diff_map method of Database. The newdb argument is the holder of ~pyrseas.dbobject.DbObjectDict-derived dictionaries which is filled in as the recursive interpretation proceeds.

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Recording Underwater - Mark Griswold TheoryAs you may already know, sound originates with a vibration that travels though a medium. Normally, we hear sounds propagating through air and most microphones are set up to receive this airborne signal. Sound waves can travel through both solids and liquids as well. If you stick your head underwater, the water effectively couples with your eardrum to transfer the water-born vibrations to your inner ear. There's plenty for your ears to hear underwater because sound waves travel five times further though water than they do through air. You may wish to read a tutorial on underwater acoustics. Waterproofing an existing microphoneYou can experiment with underwater recording by waterproofing a microphone you already own. One way to waterproof a mic is to seal it inside a deflated balloon. For greater "sensitivity", try a latex condom (use an unlubricated one). Seal the open end around the mic cable, making sure to cover the XLR connector. One way to do this is by making rings around the cable with electrical or duct tape (hint: WD-40 will remove any sticky tape residue). You could also construct a special use cable with a couple of rubber "O" rings around the mic cable. You could also waterproof a microphone by dipping it in "Plasti Dip," a rubber epoxy used to rubberize handles on metal tools. The coating is flexible enough to transmit sound vibrations. The coating is water proof, but hard to remove. The main disadvantage of the waterproofing techniques is the inefficient acoustic coupling of the mic element to the water. Your recordings might seem a little muffled. You may want to use a hydrophone, which is a specially designed microphone that transduces sounds propagating underwater. Constructing a hydrophoneTypically, a hydrophone contains a piezo electric element, a preamp, and housing. Take the piezo element out of its case and solder the leads to a cable. Waterproof this contact mic with "Plasti Dip." Piezo elements can be found at Radio Shack, Mouser Electronics, or All Electronics. Edmunds Scientific may also have hydrophone elements for sale. You could also attach (and waterproof) a commercial contact mic, such as the C-ducer, to a thin plate. Commercially available hydrophonesHere are some lists of commercially available hydrophones with lots of technical information: DPA microphones make a high end hydrophone. Robb Nichols's PH1 hydrophone offers great value for the money. You may also want to contact : 5454 Indian River Drive North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada V7G IL3 Phone: (604) 929 0440 Fax: (604) 929 0440 Cetacean Research has tools geared toward whale research and many mp3s. LinksIf you are interested in designing a preamp for your hydrophone, look at the Analog Devices AD797, a low noise op amp for sonar applications. The "Dolphin EAR" people have interesting things on their website, but are big newsgroup spammers. The National Academy of Sciences has a section about Sound in the Ocean on their site. Keep the Oceans Quiet! - Fight the US Navy's use of LFA sonar! Search usenet newsgroups Search the web NASA - Earth Observatory More of Mark Griswold's writings at: www.pugetsoundman.com > > > WRITINGS

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What do you think the answer should be? If the angular speed is 3.623 radians/second, and the time is given as 0.717 seconds, how do you think you would get the angle in radians? (Hint: Angle is similar to distance, which equals rate X time.) Don't just give your answers, show how you got those answers. (Then we can see where you made a mistake.) Here's a hint: I assume you know that period means the time for one revolution. If you know that 3.4 revolutions takes 1 second, how long will 1 revolution take?

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© A Klopper Osmunda regalis is unusual in that it forms new fertile fronds in autumn, and not in spring or summer as is common in most Plants form huge, light green rosettes of up to 1.5 m high under favourable conditions. Young fronds (leaves) are covered in a hairy felt as they emerge, but become hairless at maturity. The bipinnate (doubly divided) fronds are lanceolate (lance-shaped and tapering towards the tip), rather leathery and can be as large as 600-1 200 x 300-450 mm. The elongated, blunt-tipped pinnules (leaflets) have serrated edges and turn from red to green as they The fertile pinnules at the tip of each fertile frond are narrowed, clustered and apparently totally covered with sporangia (spore-bearing sporangia, which are green when young, but darken to brown at maturity, are large and not in sori (clusters of sporangia). The erect, fertile fronds in the centre of the plant project above the outer spreading, sterile fronds. Plants have a massive creeping rhizome (root system) and the rootstock can protrude several centimetres above the ground like a short trunk covered with leaf sheaths and roots. Osmunda regalis is an almost cosmopolitan species. It occurs in Europe, North, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, but is not found in Australia or New Zealand. In southern Africa it is commonly found in the wetter regions and prefers areas with an annual rainfall of 400-1 200 mm per annum. It has a wide altitudinal range in southern Africa, occurring from near sea level to 2 000 m. The species is abundant in the warmer, low-altitude regions along the base of the Eastern Escarpment and becomes less frequent at higher altitudes. It often occurs in woodland and forest, but generally requires fairly high light intensity. It can form large colonies and always grows near water, along rivers and streambanks, where the rhizome is continually bathed in running water. It is less common in wet grasslands, in half to full shade, and is rarely found in open positions, on sand or gravel soils. Derivation of name and historical aspects The origin of this fern's name is too old to be traced. Possible derivations include the Saxon name 'Osmond' for the Germanic god Thor, or combining the Latin os (= mouth) and mundus (= clean), as it was reputedly used to clean the mouth. Another possibility is that it was named after King Osmund, who reigned over the South Saxons about 758 A.D. If this is true, the specific epithet regalis, meaning royal, would then be obvious. It may also refer to the fact that this species is very widespread in Europe, or to the stately growth of the plant. The family Osmundaceae is an isolated and primitive group with no close relations. Osmundaceae fossils are known from as far back as the Permian (290-248 million years ago), while modern Osmunda fossils have been found in Upper Cretaceous sediments (up to 65 million years ago). The genus Osmunda comprises approximately seven species, of which only O. regalis, also the largest member of the genus, occurs in southern Africa. The only other representative of the family in southern Africa is Todea barbara. Uses and cultural aspects The rhizome of this plant was used as a remedy in Europe against rickets and abscesses. Patients also had to sleep on a bed made of the herbaceous parts of the plant. Poultices or emollients containing Osmunda regalis rootstock are reputedly an effective treatment for bruises, burns, sprains, broken bones and ulcers. The stem was used as an astringent and a tonic. When the root is slowly simmered in water it breaks down to a mucilaginous mass that was very popular for stiffening linen. The fibrous roots do not compact or soften easily and have long been used as a growing medium in the cultivation of orchids and other plants. Growing Osmunda regalis © A Klopper Its large size, longevity and the distinctly different sterile and fertile parts make this slow-spreading species an ideal accent plant for landscaping. It is especially useful for waterside planting, but needs space to be fully appreciated. It grows well in shade, but tolerates full sun if it receives plenty of moisture and will thrive in wet, boggy soils. These ideal conditions should be matched as closely as possible when cultivating this species in the garden. Osmunda regalis requires a cold winter, and this is maybe the reason why, in southern Africa, this species tends not to form the massive plants (with fronds of up to 3.3 m in favourable conditions) seen in Europe. It also restricts the use of this fern as a houseplant. The royal fern can be propagated by dividing the crown before the new spring growth uncoils and planting the divisions in well-prepared soil. Division must only be done when absolutely necessary and the wounds must be sealed to prevent fungus infection. This species prefers acid to neutral soil, rich in humus. A mixture of loam, sharp sand and leaf mould or peat can be added to the soil when preparing for planting. It can also be easily grown from spores. Bear in mind that Osmunda has green spores and these must be sown fresh. Viable spores germinate quickly, often within a day. - BURROWS, J.E. 1990. Southern African ferns and fern allies. Frandsen Publishers, Sandton. - FREETHY, R. 1987. British ferns. The Crowood Press, Wiltshire. - JACOBSEN, W.B.G. 1983. The ferns and fern allies of southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban. - JEFFERSON-BROWN, M. 1992. Hardy ferns. Ward Lock, London. - JONES, D.L. Encyclopaedia of ferns. Timber Press, Oregon. PERL, P. 1979. The Time-Life encyclopaedia of gardening: ferns. Time-Life International, The Netherlands. - ROUX, J.P. 2001. Conspectus of southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 13: 1-223. SABONET, Pretoria. - SCHELPE, E.A.C.L.E. & ANTHONY, N.C. 1986. Pteridophyta. In O.A. Leistner, Flora of southern Africa. Botanical Research Ronell R. Klopper National Herbarium, Pretoria

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The Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), an arthropod-born Flavivirus, is the major cause of viral encephalitis, responsible for 10,000–15,000 deaths each year, yet is a neglected tropical disease. Since the JEV distribution area has been large and continuously extending toward new Asian and Australasian regions, it is considered an emerging and reemerging pathogen. Despite large effective immunization campaigns, Japanese encephalitis remains a disease of global health concern. JEV zoonotic transmission cycles may be either wild or domestic: the first involves wading birds as wild amplifying hosts; the second involves pigs as the main domestic amplifying hosts. Culex mosquito species, especially Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, are the main competent vectors. Although five JEV genotypes circulate, neither clear-cut genotype-phenotype relationship nor clear variations in genotype fitness to hosts or vectors have been identified. Instead, the molecular epidemiology appears highly dependent on vectors, hosts' biology, and on a set of environmental factors. At global scale, climate, land cover, and land use, otherwise strongly dependent on human activities, affect the abundance of JEV vectors, and of wild and domestic hosts. Chiefly, the increase of rice-cultivated surface, intensively used by wading birds, and of pig production in Asia has provided a high availability of resources to mosquito vectors, enhancing the JEV maintenance, amplification, and transmission. At fine scale, the characteristics (density, size, spatial arrangement) of three landscape elements (paddy fields, pig farms, human habitations) facilitate or impede movement of vectors, then determine how the JEV interacts with hosts and vectors and ultimately the infection risk to humans. If the JEV is introduced in a favorable landscape, either by live infected animals or by vectors, then the virus can emerge and become a major threat for human health. Multidisciplinary research is essential to shed light on the biological mechanisms involved in the emergence, spread, reemergence, and genotypic changes of JEV. Citation: Le Flohic G, Porphyre V, Barbazan P, Gonzalez J-P (2013) Review of Climate, Landscape, and Viral Genetics as Drivers of the Japanese Encephalitis Virus Ecology. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 7(9): e2208. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002208 Editor: Michael A. Johansson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States of America Published: September 12, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Le Flohic et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: The present work as been funded by the Research Unit 190 on “Emerging diseases,” Health Department, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Le Sextant, 44, bd de Dunkerque, CS 90009, 13572 Marseille cedex 02. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The incidence of zoonotic diseases, transmitted to humans from wild or domestic animals, has noticeably increased during the past few decades and currently represents 70% or more of emerging diseases . Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), an arbovirus of the Flavivirus genus, family Flaviviridae, is transmitted by mosquitoes from animals to humans. In humans, this zoonotic disease is the largest worldwide cause of epidemic viral encephalitis , . The pathogenesis of the JEV and the clinical manifestations of the disease, including severe neurological syndromes, depend on several factors that have been deeply reviewed elsewhere , . The incubation period ranges from 5 to 15 days; JE infections are lethal in about 25–30% of cases, mostly in infants, and lead to permanent sequelae in about 50% of cases. JE was first described in 1871 in Japan, and first characterized in 1935 . Despite an effective vaccine developed in 1941, and the subsequent national immunization campaigns that have greatly reduced the incidence of JE in several countries, sporadic cases continue to be reported, and JEV continues to spread widely in South, East, and Southeast Asia and Australasia . Currently, more than three billion people live in JE-endemic countries . There, though people of all ages may be exposed to JEV, the JE incidence is higher in children because most adults are immune . Now, about 68,000 JE cases are estimated to occur annually, causing at least 10,000–15,000 deaths in more than 20 Australasian countries , . Aims and Methodology This review aims at offering an overview of the factors affecting JEV epidemiology. It discusses the current state of knowledge on JEV diversity, molecular epidemiology, and ecology, and examines how environmental variables and modifications, especially those associated with agriculture, affect the landscape characteristics and JEV ecology. The literature review was achieved by using both general web search engines and scientific web search engines such as PubMed, Springerlink, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. It focused on the literature available on virology, molecular and spatial epidemiology, entomology, and landscape and behavioral ecology. Five JEV genotypes have been distinguished by nucleotide sequencing of the C/PrM and E (capsid, precursor membrane, and envelope) genes . Genotypes I, II, and III are distributed throughout Asia, while genotype IV is restricted to Eastern Indonesia . Genotype V was long restricted to Malaysia but isolates were recently found in China and in the Republic of Korea , . Genotypes IV and V form the oldest JEV lineage, which appears to have originated from an ancestral virus in the Indonesian-Malaysian region. JEV therefore probably originally spread from this region , . Genotypes I, II, and III are the most prevalent, having accounted for 98% of the strains isolated from 1935 to 2009 . JEV Molecular Epidemiology Until recently, genotypes I and III were mostly associated with epidemic diseases in temperate regions of Asia, while genotypes II and IV were associated with endemic diseases in tropical regions. It was therefore postulated that the JEV epidemiology differed with genotypes . However, more recent observations show that genotypes can be found indifferently within epidemic or endemic areas. Indeed, genotype I has been isolated in Australasia within the tropical region , genotype II has been shown to have circulated in the Republic of Korea within the temperate region before the 1970s , , and genotype III, the only one in India so far, has circulated both in the south Indian peninsula (characterized by endemic activity) and in the north (characterized by epidemic activity) , . Differences in the JEV genome might explain phenotypic variations of the disease. Experimental changes in the E gene have indeed been shown to be associated with loss or gain of neuroinvasiveness and neurovirulence in mice and monkeys –. Even so, experimental studies of the neurovirulence of wild JEV strains in mice showed no clear-cut genotype-phenotype relationship , and there is still no firm evidence that the JEV genotypes circulating differ in their virulence (Figure 1). However, the dengue virus type 2, another closely related Flavivirus, has been shown to possess interesting genotype-dependent characteristics such as human viral pathogenicity or midgut viral replication in Aedes aegypti , . The JEV molecular markers previously and currently studied might not be sufficient and need further investigation. Figure 1. Overview of the drivers of the JEV ecology and epidemiology. Arrows from one driver (ex: climate) to another (ex: vectors abundance) illustrate the influence of the first on the second. Lines are dotted when the link between two drivers is uncertain. Question tags underscore uncertain aspects of the JEV cycle. The JEV is represented in red in the zoonotic cycle in the middle of the figure. Humans, as they stay outside of the JEV cycle, do not enter the cycle. Major drivers influencing the JEV ecology and ultimately the epidemiology in humans are framed. These drivers and their influences are colored as follow: in green, agriculture; in blue, climate and natural disasters; in purple, host/vector genetics; in yellow, JEV genetics; urbanization, which is a priori not relevant to the JEV life cycle, appears in gray. Vaccine, as one major nonenvironmental driver influencing the risk of JEV transmission and infection to humans, is in light blue. “multi-scale” is annotated when one driver has a multiple spatial scales effect on another.doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002208.g001 Rather than by viral genetic determinants solely, the JEV epidemiological pattern appears to be actually influenced by a complex set of variables, including several environmental, ecological, and immunological factors (Figure 1). JEV Spatial Epidemiology The distribution area of JEV has consistently enlarged. Sometimes, the genotypes of JEV isolates changed locally. In northern Vietnam and Thailand, a shift from genotype II to genotype I was reported , . In northern temperate regions (i.e., Japan, South Korea, and Northeast China), genotype I progressively replaced genotype III and became the main genotype . It is now very probably the most widespread genotype in Asia, which was otherwise found to be lethal for humans , –. However, to date, vaccines are only derived from genotype III strains; whereas protective levels of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies of these vaccines were found against the various circulating genotypes, variations between genotypes call for further studies , . In particular, since the immune response against genotype I was less pronounced, its duration should be addressed . JEV Ecology: Vector- and Host-Virus Interactions Over 30 mosquito species (family Culicidae) belonging to the Aedes, Anopheles, Armigeres, Culex, and Mansonia genera are recognized to potentially carry JEV, but not all are equally competent for virus transmission . Susceptibility and competence vary among and within mosquito species , but also possibly covariate with genotypes, as has been shown for dengue , and Chikungunya virus strains . However, no variations in vector competence and transmissibility by various mosquito species for different JEV genotypes have yet been demonstrated. Culex species are the most competent JEV vectors, in the same way that Aedes species are the most competent Dengue viruses vectors . This low plasticity of the virus to vectors may be explained by the vector ecology, especially host-feeding preferences, as few species feed on JEV reservoir-amplifying hosts. For example, in mainland Australia Cx annulirostris, a competent JEV vector, feeds predominantly on marsupials, and thus remains outside the JEV transmission cycle , . JEV is transmitted by Cx. annulirostris, Cx. annulus, Cx. fuscocephala, Cx. gelidus, Cx. sitiens, Cx. vishnui species complex, and the rice field–breeding mosquitoes Culex tritaeniorhynchus . Cx. tritaeniorhynchus is the major JEV vector because it is highly competent and is largely distributed all over the JEV-endemic regions , . JEV vectors are highly zoophilic, tending to prefer wading birds, cattle, and pigs to humans , , . Therefore, vector trophic preferences are a major ecological factor affecting the fitness of the virus. Variations of competence may be due to differences in the susceptibility to infection of mosquito midgut and salivary glands, and then to differences in the efficiency of virus secretion and transmission . Susceptibility to JEV infection is partly dependent on the E gene sequence of the virus. This gene encodes a protein involved first in virus cellular entry through attachment to membrane receptors and second in the fusion of both JEV and host-cell membranes . However, despite some study on the subject , no data demonstrates there are important variations in vector competence and transmissibility between various mosquito species for different JEV genotypes. Hosts also play a central role in virus ecology, according to their viraemia and availability within the immediate vector flight range. Ultimately, two types of JEV transmission cycle can be drawn: a bird-associated wild cycle and a pig-associated rural domestic cycle. Bird-Associated Wild Cycle Although in the wild a wide range of animals (bats, birds, rodents, snakes, wild boars…) may be infected by JEV, with high seroprevalence rates in several mammal and bird species, most of them are dead-end hosts and are unable to infect mosquitoes , . However, over 90 bird species are known to be amplifying and reservoir hosts of JEV. Among them, wild wading birds, in particular egrets (Egretta garzetta) and herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) of the Ardeidae family, are highly susceptible to JEV infection. They represent the primary effective animal hosts, since they have a high virus titer, and are an outstanding source of infection for mosquitoes , , . As many of them are widely distributed and migratory, ardeid species are suspected of being responsible for several virus introductions, from China to Japan, and from the Indochinese peninsula to northern Asia . Several additional wild animal species are considered part of alternative JEV cycles: wild boars have been suspected to be the source of sporadic human cases of JE in Singapore , wild peridomestic mammals (raccoons, wild boars, raccoon dogs) in Japan, and flying foxes in Australia tested positive for JEV reacting antibodies , . In China, JEV has been isolated from two bat species . In the wild cycle, JEV vectors, although highly zoophilic, are largely opportunistic blood feeders and their feeding pattern relies more likely on the host availability within the given landscape than on innate preferences , . Humans in the vicinity of this cycle could be accidentally infected. Pig-Associated Rural Domestic Cycle In the JEV rural domestic cycle, cattle, chicken, dogs, ducks, goats, horses, and pigs may be infected, but only a few of them are efficient virus amplifiers . This domestic cycle occurs mainly within rural landscapes, with pigs acting as the primary domestic amplifying host. Some other domestic mammals (cattle, dogs, goats) also display high seroprevalence rates, as pigs do; however, pigs replicate the virus quickly and have the highest viraemia , . Due to intensive pig farming in East and Southeast Asia (http://faostat3.fao.org/), pigs are the main component of the domestic cycle . In particular, the industrialization of pig farming, which has broadly developed for several decades in many countries (China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) , has enhanced the amplification of the JEV within dense pig herds, and thus contributed to increase the risk of JEV transmission. Therefore, the high proximity between humans and livestock became the main risk factor for human infection , . Interaction between domestic host and pathogen depends on several host genetic, physiologic, and agricultural factors. First, for many diseases, resistance (defined as the ability to resist infection or moderate pathogen lifecycle) and tolerance (defined as an asymptomatic infection) in livestock have a genetic component, including breeds' genetic traits (, ; examples given by Gibson ). While resistance to infection limits the circulation and maintenance of pathogens in a population, tolerance on the contrary does not limit the virus transmission . The replacement of indigenous breeds by exotic ones (Landrace, Large White, or Duroc) might potentially have changed the susceptibility to JEV infection in domestic pigs. However, data on susceptibility or differences in the ability to amplify JEV between exotic imported or indigenous pig breeds are lacking. Second, variations in the attractiveness of pig hosts between farms depends on physiological and agricultural factors (e.g., sows are more often bitten than piglets, as are encaged pigs) , . Third, the intensity of circulation in farms depends on the amount of pigs reared by farm, their age at slaughter, their reproduction rate, and the vaccination effort . Subsequently, the epidemiology of JEV in the domestic reservoir host follows a complex multifactorial pattern that needs to be brought to light. The mosquito vector species present in the wild transmission cycle are also greatly implicated in the rural domestic cycle. Although most mosquito species usually consume bird, cattle, and pig blood , Cx. quinquefasciatus, whereas opportunistic, seems also very anthropophilic on account of its use of various domestic water collections and wastewater from pig farms as breeding sites , , , , . Because it has been shown to naturally carry the JEV and to be experimentally capable of transmitting it , , Cx. quinquefasciatus is another potential vector of the JEV domestic cycle. It represents an important potential source of infection for humans, so much the more it has emerged in areas where it was absent before following urbanization and human expansion, and increases in number in urban households with human density and pig keeping , . Evolutionary Ecology of the JEV Until recently, the factors influencing the historical and geographical emergence and spread of JEV genotypes were not clearly understood. In fact, genotypes' emergence and spread appear to have a complex pattern relevant with the role of environmental factors. Some emerge in areas where they were absent before (e.g., genotype V in Tibet, a cold and high-altitude region that was considered free of JEV , , and genotype I in the Australasian region ), whereas some replace the dominant genotype (e.g., genotype III to genotype I shift). It is thought that these changes are due to the JEV fitness to a new competent vector (e.g., genotype V, besides being isolated from Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, seems associated with a new JEV vector in the Republic of Korea: Cx. bitaeniorhynchus ) or to new host availability (e.g., increasing pig farming in Tibet ). More likely, environmental factors (e.g., mosquito dispersal by wind in Australia), animal ecology (e.g., migration of animals), human activity (e.g., pig trade introducing genotype I in Australia ), and climatic changes are variables independent to JEV genetics that may modify the distribution area of JEV and its genotypes. Environmental Factors: Drivers of JEV Epidemiology The (re)emergence of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases as well as variations in disease risk and incidence are strongly driven by environmental factors. Among the most relevant factors are climate but also land cover and land use, respectively the biophysical attributes of the earth's surface and the human purpose or intent applied to these attributes . However, these variables occur at several different geographic ranges, and hence multi-scale studies are a major stake for the understanding of the spatial epidemiology of diseases . For a long time, JEV epidemiology has exclusively been broached at the global scale and primarily on the basis of climatic variables (i.e., rainfall and temperature) because they indeed strongly affect vector density . Recently, Miller et al. identified an optimal range of temperature during the wet season that is favorable to the Cx. tritaeniorhyncus biology. As they also found that most of JE cases were located in areas of high probability of vectors, they underlined the link between climatic covariables, vector ecology, and human health. Moreover, temperature might affect the competence of a vector-genotype couple over another, as shown for the West Nile virus . In our previous study , six Asian and Australasian regions were identified according to anthropogenic, biological, geographic, and physical factors including not only climatic conditions, but also biomes and land use. The regional history of JEV genotypes was analyzed (i.e., the number of JEV isolates and the proportion of each genotype). Then we emphasized the two regions of intensive JEV circulation: the Paleartic biogeographic realm comprising Eastern Russia, Japan, Korea, and Northern China, and a tropical region characterized by large cover of rice fields comprising the Indochinese peninsula (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), South China, and Taiwan . Actually, land cover and land use changes have been driving the JE risk and incidence. In Asia, paddy field surfaces have constantly extended since the early 1960s (http://faostat3.fao.org/). Given paddy fields provide long-term Culex sp. breeding sites and attract many wading birds for foraging and resting, they enhance the circulation and expansion of mosquito and wading bird populations . Thus, in areas where rice-irrigated farming is widespread, the JEV transmission might become less dependent on rainfall , . Likewise, because the amount of live pig heads has increased since the 1960s (http://faostat3.fao.org/), both backyard and industrial pig farming have provided a continuous increasing, outstanding potential source of blood meals for mosquitoes. Additionally, a finer-scale spatial analysis (i.e., local or regional landscape) helps to better picture how landscape structure affect the JEV epidemiology. At fine scale, JEV ecology is indeed largely affected by both land cover and land use as these factors affect vectors' and hosts' ecology (Figure 1). Once the JEV is introduced, its ecological sustainability indeed relies on its growth within the susceptible host population and on its transmission between hosts through vectors. Then the risk of incidental infection to humans depends on the likelihood of disease transmission within the surrounding landscape . To be transmitted to humans, JEV needs: 1) competent mosquito vectors, 2) reservoir-amplifying hosts, and 3) nonimmune humans within the range of the JEV-competent vector and animal hosts. In this process, the three major landscape elements are paddy fields, pig farms, and human habitations. In the landscape, they are distributed in habitat patches. Their density, size, and spatial arrangement are key factors determining the degree to which the landscape facilitates or impedes movement of vectors among them (i.e., the landscape connectivity) (Figure 1). Within a given landscape, this biological connectivity may strongly affect the JEV transmission dynamics. Nonenvironmental Factors of JEV Epidemiology Vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the incidence of JE in humans, yet it has no effect on the JEV transmission cycle. Vaccination of livestock, especially pigs, would in contrast reduce the amplification of the virus, the rate of mosquito infection, and subsequently the risk of transmission to humans. Yet, vaccination of pigs is generally not used to prevent JE because it is costly, hardly feasible logistically, and not necessarily effective in piglets (they must be immunized after the disappearance of maternal antibodies) , . Moreover, pigs represent a relevant sentinel model, the surveillance of which could predict a potential JE outbreak in a human population nearby . Immunizing sentinel pigs would also impede the detection of such a threat. Other factors have strong effects on the JEV and genotype circulation within infected landscapes and their emergence in nonendemic landscapes and regions. There are, among them, the movements of either naive or infected animals such as the migrations of flying vertebrates and trading and transportation of domestic animals. These movements modify human exposure to JEV and thus require the particular attention of the health system. In southeastern Asia, trade of live animals occurs between farms, local markets, and more importantly within the Indochinese peninsula and China, and also to Hong Kong and Singapore . Viremic birds, for instance, may have been responsible for JEV spread and introductions , into India , Taiwan , or Papua New Guinea . Over long distances, migratory birds are the most likely spreader of the JEV as some species, such as Egretta garzetta and Nycticorax nycticorax, have a complex migration system over a large geographical area (http://maps.iucnredlist.org). However, the large-scale movement patterns of the main wading birds species implicated in JEV transmission are little known. Additionally, JEV may disperse through wind-blown infected mosquitoes, as is assumed to be the cause of the JEV introduction from Papua New Guinea to north Australia or from China to Japan . Moreover, there is no evidence that JEV requires adaptation to shift between the bird-associated wild cycle and the pig-associated rural domestic cycle , . The JEV may easily be transferred from one to another if competent vectors feeding on both wild and domestic hosts are present in JEV-infected areas where both hosts are in close proximity. For more than a half century, human activities have led to changes of land use and land cover and subsequent deep environmental changes of habitats. These modifications have modified the risk of infection for humans. The ecology of arthropod-borne diseases, noticeably JE, remains complex since they are highly dependent on various biotic and abiotic environmental factors and on the spatial scale of study. To assess and predict JE emergence therefore remains difficult. Multidisciplinary research focusing on virology, molecular and spatial epidemiology, landscape and behavioral ecology, history, and socioeconomic studies are essential to shed light on the biological mechanisms involved in the emergence, spread, reemergence, and genotypic changes of JEV. Five Key Articles in the Field - van den Hurk AF, Ritchie SA, Mackenzie JS (2009) Ecology and geographical expansion of Japanese encephalitis virus. Annu Rev Entomol 54: 17–35. - Weaver SC, Barrett ADT (2004) Transmission cycles, host range, evolution and emergence of arboviral disease. Nat Rev Microbiol 2: 789–801. - Mackenzie JS, Gubler DJ, Petersen LR (2004) Emerging flaviviruses: the spread and resurgence of Japanese encephalitis, West Nile and dengue viruses. Nat Med 10: S98–109. - Solomon T (2006) Control of Japanese encephalitis — within our grasp? N Engl J Med 355: 869–871. - Solomon T, Ni H, Beasley DWC, Ekkelenkamp M, Cardosa MJ, et al. (2003) Origin and evolution of Japanese encephalitis virus in Southeast Asia. J Virol 77: 3091–3098. Key Learning Points - The Japanese encephalitis virus epidemiology is strongly dependant on the ecology of both amplifying hosts and mosquito vectors, which themselves are affected not only by natural environmental factors but also by human activities. - The spatial epidemiology of the JEV needs to be investigated at global and landscape scales, as human-induced land use and land cover have effects on the species distribution area, population density, species community structure, and interactions between vectors, hosts, and humans. - Though the fitness of the virus to hosts and vectors appears little dependent on genetic factors (genotypes), knowledge of other closely related arboviruses suggests that the epidemiological implications of genotypes might be underestimated. - The introduction, spread, emergence, and persistence of JEV zoonotic cycles in a new region may be predicted according to the characteristics of the landscape at various spatial scales. We are grateful to Dr. Christophe Paupy from IRD and CIRMF and Dr. François Rouet from CIRMF for reviewing the manuscript and providing a great deal of useful advice. Special thanks to Heidi Lançon who revised the article. Obituary. Philippe BARBAZAN, Ph.D. (1950–2009) was a medical entomologist working for the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD). For more than a decade he worked as a researcher, and was a mentor for the students, at Mahidol University, Center for Vaccine Development and Center for Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases (Thailand). He dedicated his career to epidemiology of arthropod-borne viral diseases, and spatial and environmental factors affecting their transmission among several developing countries around the world. Sadly, Philippe passed away in June 2009 after months of courage fighting against cancer. 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(2013) Cross-protective capacity of Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccines against circulating heterologous JE virus genotypes. Clin Infect Dis 56: 267–270. doi: 10.1093/cid/cis883 - 35. Fan Y-C, Chen J-M, Chiu H-C, Chen Y-Y, Lin J-W, et al. (2012) Partially neutralizing potency against emerging genotype I virus among children received formalin-inactivated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6: e1834 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001834. - 36. Goddard J (2008) Dynamics of arthropod-borne diseases. In: Goddard J, editor. Infectious diseases and arthropods. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. pp. 19–28. - 37. Hanley KA, Nelson JT, Schirtzinger EE, Whitehead SS, Hanson CT (2008) Superior infectivity for mosquito vectors contributes to competitive displacement among strains of dengue virus. BMC Ecol 8: 1. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-8-1 - 38. Tsetsarkin KA, Vanlandingham DL, McGee CE, Higgs S (2007) A single mutation in chikungunya virus affects vector specificity and epidemic potential. 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Rosen L, Roseboom L, Gubler D (1985) Comparative susceptibility of mosquito species and strains to oral and parenteral infection with dengue and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Am J Trop Med Hyg 34: 603–615. - 49. See E, Cheng H, Wang D, Eong E, Lee M (2002) Presence of hemagglutination inhibition and neutralization antibodies to Japanese encephalitis virus in wild pigs on an offshore island in Singapore. Acta Tropica 81: 233–236. doi: 10.1016/s0001-706x(01)00212-1 - 50. Ohno Y, Sato H, Suzuki K, Yokoyama M, Uni S, et al. (2009) Detection of antibodies against Japanese encephalitis virus in raccoons, raccoon dogs and wild boars in Japan. J Vet Med Sci 71: 1035–1039. doi: 10.1292/jvms.71.1035 - 51. van den Hurk AF, Smith CS, Field HE, Smith IL, Northill JA, et al. (2009) Transmission of Japanese Encephalitis virus from the Black Flying Fox, Pteropus alecto, to Culex annulirostris mosquitoes, despite the absence of detectable viremia. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81: 457–462. - 52. Wang J, Pan X, Zhang H, Fu S, Wang H, et al. (2009) Japanese Encephalitis viruses from bats in Yunnan, China. Emerg Infect Dis 15: 939–942 doi:10.3201/eid1506.081525. - 53. Chaves LF, Harrington LC, Keogh CL, Nguyen AM, Kitron UD (2010) Blood feeding patterns of mosquitoes: random or structured? Front Zool 7: 3. doi: 10.1186/1742-9994-7-3 - 54. Nitatpattana N, Le Flohic G, Thongchai P, Nakgoi K, Palaboodeewat S, et al. (2011) Elevated Japanese encephalitis virus activity monitored by domestic sentinel piglets in Thailand. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 11: 391–394. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2010.0035 - 55. Weaver S (2005) Host range, amplification and arboviral disease emergence. In: Peters CJ, Calisher CH, editors. Infectious diseases from nature: mechanisms of viral emergence and persistence. New York: Springer Wien. pp. 33–44. - 56. Gibson JP, Bishop SC (2005) Use of molecular markers to enhance resistance of livestock to disease: a global approach. Rev Sci Tech 24: 343–353. - 57. Roy BA, Kirchner JW (2000) Evolutionary dynamics of pathogen resistance and tolerance. Evolution 54: 51–63. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb00007.x - 58. Gibson JP (2002) Role of genetically determined resistance of livestock to disease in the developing world: potential impacts and researchable issues. In: Perry BD, Randolph TF, McDermott JJ, Sones KR, Thornton PK, editors. Investing in animal health research to alleviate poverty. Nairobi, Kenya. p. 148. - 59. Rodhain F (2010) Japanese encephalitis: a fast-changing viral disease. Bull Soc Pathol Exot 103: 135–154. doi: 10.1007/s13149-010-0060-1 - 60. Sota T, Hayamizu E, Mogi M (1991) Distribution of biting Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) among pigs: effects of host size and behavior. J Med Entomol 28: 428–433. - 61. Hasegawa M, Tuno N, Yen NT, Nam VS, Takagi M (2008) Influence of the distribution of host species on adult abundance of Japanese Encephalitis vectors —Culex vishnui subgroup and Culex gelidus— in a rice-cultivating village in Northern Vietnam. Am J Trop Med Hyg 78: 159–168. - 62. Samuel PP, Arunachalam N, Hiriyan J, Thenmozhi V, Gajanana A, et al. (2004) Host-feeding pattern of Culex quinquefasciatus Say and Mansonia annulifera (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae), the major vectors of filariasis in a rural area of south India. J Med Entomol 41: 442–446. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585-41.3.442 - 63. Nitatpattana N, Apiwathnasorn C, Barbazan P, Leemingsawat S, Yoksan S, et al. (2005) First isolation of Japanese encephalitis from Culex quinquefasciatus in Thailand. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 36: 875–878. - 64. Fonseca DM, Smith JL, Wilkerson RC, Fleischer RC (2006) Pathways of expansion and multiple introductions illustrated by large genetic differentiation among worldwide populations of the southern house mosquito. Am J Trop Med Hyg 74: 284–289. - 65. Lindahl J, Chirico J, Boqvist S, Thu HTV, Magnusson U (2012) Occurrence of Japanese encephalitis virus mosquito vectors in relation to urban pig holdings. Am J Trop Med Hyg 87: 1076–1082. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0315 - 66. Li M-H, Fu S-H, Chen W-X, Wang H-Y, Guo Y-H, et al. (2011) Genotype V Japanese encephalitis virus is emerging. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 5: e1231 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001231. - 67. McMichael A, Woodruff R, Hales S (2006) Climate change and human health: present and future risks. Lancet 367: 859–869. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(06)68079-3 - 68. Lambin EF, Turner BL, Geist HJ, Agbola SB, Angelsen A, et al. (2001) The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths. Glob Environ Change 11: 261–269. doi: 10.1016/s0959-3780(01)00007-3 - 69. Ostfeld RS, Glass GE, Keesing F (2005) Spatial epidemiology: an emerging (or re-emerging) discipline. Trends Ecol Evol 20: 328–336. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2005.03.009 - 70. Miller RH, Masuoka P, Klein TA, Kim H-C, Somer T, et al. (2012) Ecological niche modeling to estimate the distribution of Japanese encephalitis virus in Asia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6: e1678 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001678. - 71. Kilpatrick AM, Meola MA, Moudy RM, Kramer LD (2008) Temperature, viral genetics, and the transmission of West Nile virus by Culex pipiens mosquitoes. PLoS Pathog 4: e1000092 doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000092. - 72. Udvardy MD (1975) A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. Morges (Switzerland): International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. 48 pp. - 73. Xiao X, Boles S, Frolking S, Li C, Babu JY, et al. (2006) Mapping paddy rice agriculture in South and Southeast Asia using multi-temporal MODIS images. Remote Sens Environ 100: 95–113 doi:10.1016/j.rse.2005.10.004. - 74. Elphick CS, Baicich P, Parsons KC, Fasola M, Mugica L (2010) The future for research on waterbirds in rice fields. Waterbirds 33: 231–243. doi: 10.1675/063.033.s117 - 75. Keiser J, Maltese MF, Erlanger TE, Bos R, Tanner M, et al. (2005) Effect of irrigated rice agriculture on Japanese encephalitis, including challenges and opportunities for integrated vector management. Acta Tropica 95: 40–57 doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2005.04.012. - 76. Richards EE, Masuoka P, Brett-major D, Smith M, Klein TA, et al. (2010) The relationship between mosquito abundance and rice field density in the Republic of Korea. Int J Health Geogr 9: 32. doi: 10.1186/1476-072x-9-32 - 77. Lambin EF, Tran A, Vanwambeke SO, Linard C, Soti V (2010) Pathogenic landscapes: interactions between land, people, disease vectors, and their animal hosts. Int J Health Geogr 9: 54 doi:10.1186/1476-072X-9-54. - 78. Tischendorf L, Fahrig L (2000) On the usage and measurement of landscape connectivity. Oikos 90: 7–19. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900102.x - 79. Wada Y (1988) Strategies for control of Japanese encephalitis in rice production systems in developing countries. Vector-borne disease control in humans through rice agroecosystem management: proceedings. International Rice Research Institute in collaboration with the WHO/FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Environmental Management for Vector Control. - 80. Di Nardo A, Knowles N, Paton D (2011) Combining livestock trade patterns with phylogenetics to help understand the spread of foot and mouth disease in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Rev Sci Tech 30: 63–85. - 81. Fulmali PV, Sapkal GN, Athawale S, Gore MM, Mishra AC, et al. (2011) Introduction of Japanese encephalitis virus genotype I, India. Emerg Infect Dis 17: 319–321. doi: 10.3201/eid1702.100815 - 82. 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Gray wolf’s California quest comes to an end The gray wolf was native to California. Prior to OR-7, the last known grey wolf was shot in Lassen County in 1947. Photo by Gary Kramer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife A rather unique and intriguing visitor recently brought his stay in California to an end. After more than a year of wandering through northern California, presumably in search of a mate and a new territory, a gray wolf known as OR-7 left the Golden State and returned to Oregon on March 13. OR-7 wandered throughout northeastern California but spent most of his time in Plumas and Tehama counties. Originally from northeastern Oregon’s Imnaha pack, OR-7 was fitted with a radio collar in February 2011 when he was just a pup. The nomadic gray wolf dispersed from his pack in the fall of that year to begin an epic walkabout. His trek in search of a new home and a mate is typical for a young male wolf. The distance and territory his quest has taken him to is not so common. Nor is the worldwide attention he has attracted. From northeast Oregon, OR-7 traveled south through the Oregon Cascades, becoming the first wolf known to cross west of the Cascades since 1947. In December 2011 he became the Golden State’s first documented wolf since 1924. His presence has led to speculation that OR-7 might be the wolf that would begin the re-establishment of a wolf population in the Golden State. |This California Department of Fish and Wildlife map shows OR-7’s travels through northeastern California. OR-7 appears to have spent much of 2012 about 12 to 15 miles southwest of Lake Almanor. Click to see a full page version of the map.| The re-establishment of wolves in California would not be welcome news to all — certainly not in a part of the state where cattle ranching is a big part of the economy. But I quietly hoped that OR-7 would find his mate and wolves would once again take their place as part of the California landscape. In fact, as I followed his travels, I thought it was quite possible that he had found a mate. OR-7 traveled great distances at a time through Oregon and then through Siskiyou, Modoc and Lassen counties. But that seemed to change when he got to Plumas County. His travels did not range near as widely. He roamed a much smaller area, mostly west of Lake Almanor and south of Mineral, for several months. It seemed logical that he found something here he liked. For a young male wolf in search of a mate, I could not help but think that what he found here may have been that mate he was searching for. It is true that no wolves have been sighted here for many decades. But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be one here. After all, if OR-7 had not been collared as a pup would we have known he was here? I think that is part of the attraction of wild ecosystems; we can’t know everything about them. They sort of keep us humble that way. But why was I hoping that OR-7’s presence in California would be the beginning of the re-establishment of wolves back into our wildlands? My desire to see the return of the wolf is not entirely logical. I eat beef and I know people who raise beef for a living. I have no desire to see my beef prices go up and the ranchers’ profits go down. While there has not been a single case where OR-7 has preyed on domestic livestock, livestock losses are an inevitable result of coexisting with wolves. I am also a deer hunter. When I moved to Plumas County in the 1970s the deer population was pretty healthy. Since then the deer population has declined significantly (with the possible exception of those deer living in the vicinity of my garden). Much of the decline can be attributed to the increase in mountain lion predation since it became illegal to hunt the lions in the late 1970s. Another major predator, especially one as efficient as the wolf, certainly isn’t going to help the deer population around here. So why the fascination with the iconic predators? Have I lost sight of the lessons of “The Three Little Pigs”? Was I not paying attention to the fate of Little Red Riding Hood? Aren’t those stories just a small part of our folklore going back many hundreds of years that were meant to teach us to fear wolves? And what of our great American heritage? Wasn’t the taming of the West one of our greatest achievements? Getting rid of predators that threatened the settlers’ livestock and the settlers themselves was a big part of taming the American West. It was as necessary as the roads and dams and the cities that followed. Maybe my fascination has to do with feeling like I missed a little something by not having been part of this great landscape before it was so effectively tamed. Sure I live in one of the greatest mountain ranges on earth. It is wild and beautiful, but not as wild as it once was. Part of me yearns for that wilder time, even if the bigger part of me is quite happy living in a time where my life is full of fascinating technology, access to enriching culture, abundant and diverse foods and efficient transportation. I don’t want to go back to those earlier times. But I do want to feel that wildness every now and then. I had the pleasure of living in Southeast Alaska for several years. I loved the idea that so much of Alaska remains untamed. I had many wonderful adventures there. I got to experience fish and wildlife and wilderness that were beyond anything I had ever experienced before or since. The grey wolf inspires both fear and awe. Wolves have been the subject of much folklore throughout civilization. The tales range from Little Red Riding Hood, tricked by a wolf dressed up as her sick grandmother, to Remus and Romulus, brothers who founded the city of Rome after being raised by a female wolf. I heard wolves howling on several occasions while in Alaska. For me there is no sound in nature that can match the howl of a wolf. It is a haunting and beautiful sound. It can send shivers down your spine and it reminds you that you are just a small player in a wild and wonderful world. Only once did I get to see a pack of wolves. It was a sight I will never forget. When you hear the wolf howl, or better yet see those beautiful animals, you know you are in a truly wild place. You are in an intact ecosystem with the predator who claims the top of the food chain making his presence known. That is something too few of us in this fast-paced modern civilization get to experience. It reminds us of our roots and our place on this earth. Wolves are fascinating, but not just because of the wildness they represent. They also have an intriguing social nature. Part of what makes wolf packs so interesting is that they are in some ways like our own society. A wolf pack is a very organized community. There is a well-defined hierarchy that is respected and enforced among pack members. Roles and rules are well understood. Whether they are hunting, playing or raising the pups, there is a high degree of communication and cooperation. A wolf pack is an extended family. Everybody pitches in to provide for the community and to raise the young ones. What a concept! In addition to being social, wolves exhibit behaviors that suggest a high level of intelligence. They also demonstrate playfulness and even a genuine affection and devotion towards one another. It is risky to assign too many human characteristics to wolves, but it is equally difficult to observe wolves and not see a bit of ourselves in them. Maybe the wolf speaks to us. It speaks about being wild, free and independent, and still caring and working together for the good of the family and the community. That may be a romanticized notion. But it speaks to me. I wish OR-7 well. And even though I didn’t get to see him or hear him howl, I thank him for making me stop and think and for taking me back to the wolves I remember in Alaska. And when I walk in the woods, I will try to be a little more observant. You never know who else might be wandering in those same woods.

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When I talk to woodworkers about drawers, particularly dovetail joinery, I mention the transition that occurs as we moved from one furniture period to the next. In general, dovetails became a drawer-joinery method during the William & Mary period; woodworkers had used dovetails earlier, but they became more widely used during the period that stretched from about 1690 through 1730. At that time dovetails were large and chunky and not very refined. As we move into the Queen Anne period, dovetails changed. Pins got smaller and tails began to grow. Overall, the look became a bit more refined as we paid attention to details. During the Chippendale period, without new joinery methods on which to concentrate, woodworkers focused more on details. Drawer dovetails were more refined. Pins became more narrow as tails again gained in size. You can, in some of the furniture from this period, find examples of dovetails with pins barely wide enough for a saw blade to pass. Today we have little new joinery and even less in new designs, so we continue to focus on details. We use special layout tools to mark our dovetails, we use dividers to get each socket laid out just right and we stress over the smallest joint gaps – your dovetails best be tight and closed or others will notice. This focusing of attention is what causes me to wonder about woodworking as a whole. Are we so tied up in the details – in trying to get everything correct and perfect before we move on – that we’re no longer getting projects built? Have we become “process-oriented” woodworkers instead of “project-oriented” woodworkers? Or do we still want to get completed projects? I’m waiting to hear your comments.

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If your arrangement were a script, dynamics and articulation would be the stage direction. These tools help your music become expressive, unique, and exciting. In most cases, they give the music that extra “push” when notes and rhythms don’t do the trick alone. Some people feel that is its not necessary to write in dynamics or articulation in collegiate a cappella arrangements because the writer will usually be there to direct the group and bring his vision to life. Here’s why you should kick said people square in the groin: - The arranger isn’t always present, either because he’s absent from rehearsal, has left the group, or the arrangement has been picked up by another group. - The arranger possibly won’t/can’t always express or articulate his vision verbally. - The arranger possibly won’t remember all of the direction he intended when he arranged the piece. - The singers should be able to see the direction written out at every rehearsal. - No one listens to the music director anyway. So, clearly, adding written direction into your arrangement is extremely important. We can break this practice up into two main groups (see title). Dynamics, in music, is essentially direction on how loud or quiet your group is singing. This is not to be confused with intensity; in fact, there usually needs to be a greater focus on intensity when your group is singing quietly, because that’s usually when the group’s excitement tends to dwindle. We will assume that you’ve had some exposure to dynamic notation, but we’ll recap the basics here: Forte (f) – Loud Fortissimo (ff) - WAY loud Piano (p) – Soft Pianissimo (pp) – way soft Mezzo forte (mf) - Kind of loud Mezzo piano (mp) - Kind of soft Mezzissimo (mm) - EXTREMELY moderate (okay, I made this one up.) Crescendo () – Gradually increase volume over indicated time frame Decrescendo () – Gradually decrease volume over indicated time frame Sforzando (sf) - Sudden change in volume Dynamics are deceptively difficult to master. This is mostly due to the fact that, as you may have suspected, they are not based on absolute measures. Rather, they depend on their relationship to one another based on the context of the piece. A forte in one arrangement may translate, in absolute terms, to a mezzo piano in another. This is why it is important to work with your group on understanding their dynamic spectrum and working together to create a unified sound. More on that in Advanced Explorations. You can pretty much lump every non-volume-related direction into the “articulation” bucket. There are many different ways to express the notes you’re singing, and articulation helps better define these. The short list of terms is below: legato: played smoothly staccato: played in a separated or detached manner slur: several notes played without separation tenuto: note is held out to its full value (or perhaps a bit longer) accent mark: note is emphasized in specified manner There are many, many different articulations that can be used in a given piece of music. The above is simply a quick refresher so that we may be sure to properly denote our direction on our arrangements. Different dynamic and articulation options play a huge role in your piece’s overall sound and complexity. They breathe life into your music! In Advanced Explorations, we will look at how these different directions can affect character, phrasing, intensity, and other key aspects of any engaging musical work.« Go Back

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On some systems with shared libraries you need to tell the system how to find the newly installed shared libraries. The systems on which this is not necessary include BSD/OS, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, Linux, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Tru64 UNIX (formerly Digital UNIX), and Solaris. The method to set the shared library search path varies between platforms, but the most widely-used method is to set the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH like so: In Bourne shells (sh, ksh, bash, zsh): LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/lib export LD_LIBRARY_PATH or in csh or tcsh: setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/local/pgsql/lib Replace /usr/local/pgsql/lib with whatever you set --libdir to in step 1. You should put these commands into a shell start-up file such as /etc/profile or ~/.bash_profile. Some good information about the caveats associated with this method can be found at http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/_/ldpath.html. On some systems it might be preferable to set the environment variable LD_RUN_PATH before building. On Cygwin, put the library directory in the PATH or move the .dll files into the bin directory. If in doubt, refer to the manual pages of your system (perhaps ld.so or rld). If you later get a message like: psql: error in loading shared libraries libpq.so.2.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory then this step was necessary. Simply take care of it then. If you are on BSD/OS, Linux, or SunOS 4 and you have root access you can run: (or equivalent directory) after installation to enable the run-time linker to find the shared libraries faster. Refer to the manual page of ldconfig for more information. On FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD the command is: /sbin/ldconfig -m /usr/local/pgsql/lib instead. Other systems are not known to have an equivalent command. If you installed into /usr/local/pgsql or some other location that is not searched for programs by default, you should add /usr/local/pgsql/bin (or whatever you set --bindir to in step 1) into your PATH. Strictly speaking, this is not necessary, but it will make the use of PostgreSQL much more convenient. To do this, add the following to your shell start-up file, such as ~/.bash_profile (or /etc/profile, if you want it to affect all users): PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/bin:$PATH export PATH If you are using csh or tcsh, then use this command: set path = ( /usr/local/pgsql/bin $path ) To enable your system to find the man documentation, you need to add lines like the following to a shell start-up file unless you installed into a location that is searched by default: MANPATH=/usr/local/pgsql/man:$MANPATH export MANPATH The environment variables PGHOST and PGPORT specify to client applications the host and port of the database server, overriding the compiled-in defaults. If you are going to run client applications remotely then it is convenient if every user that plans to use the database sets PGHOST. This is not required, however; the settings can be communicated via command line options to most client programs.

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Of all the natural disasters that could befall us, only an Earth impact by a large comet or asteroid has the potential to end civilization in a single blow. Yet these near-Earth objects also offer tantalizing clues to our solar system's origins, and someday could even serve as stepping-stones for space exploration. In this book, Donald Yeomans introduces readers to the science of near-Earth objects--its history, applications, and ongoing quest to find near-Earth objects before they find us. In its course around the sun, the Earth passes through a veritable shooting gallery of millions of nearby comets and asteroids. One such asteroid is thought to have plunged into our planet sixty-five million years ago, triggering a global catastrophe that killed off the dinosaurs. Yeomans provides an up-to-date and accessible guide for understanding the threats posed by near-Earth objects, and also explains how early collisions with them delivered the ingredients that made life on Earth possible. He shows how later impacts spurred evolution, allowing only the most adaptable species to thrive--in fact, we humans may owe our very existence to objects that struck our planet. Yeomans takes readers behind the scenes of today's efforts to find, track, and study near-Earth objects. He shows how the same comets and asteroids most likely to collide with us could also be mined for precious natural resources like water and oxygen, and used as watering holes and fueling stations for expeditions to Mars and the outermost reaches of our solar system. Donald K. Yeomans is a fellow and senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he is manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office and supervisor of the Solar System Dynamics Group. He is the author of Comets: A Chronological History of Observation, Science, Myth, and Folklore. "Balancing the wonders of astronomy with the looming potential for an epic, planet-wide disaster, Yeomans, a fellow and research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explores the origins of near-Earth objects--asteroids, comets, meteors, and meteoroids--and the threat they can pose to our planet. . . . Yeomans's book is an accessible and far-ranging primer on the science of near-Earth objects."--Publishers Weekly "As Earth creaks on its course around the Sun, it is exposed to a relentless barrage of asteroids and comets. Donald Yeomans, who manages NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, offers an introduction to the science of these lethal monsters, one of which may have seen off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and created the Chicxulub crater. Yeomans shows how the threats are balanced by potential boons, such as the theoretical delivery of the building blocks of life on Earth. Can these reeling masses even become interplanetary pitstops on the road to Mars?"--Nature "[Near Earth Objects] gives readers an inside account of the latest efforts to find, track and study life-threatening asteroids and comets."--ScientificAmerican.com's Observations blog "Near-Earth Objects is a fascinating tour guide of the asteroids we should worry about."--Marcus Chown, New Scientist "Despite its title, Near-Earth Objects offers a concise and informative overview of the formation of the entire solar system: why the planets differ, the latest theories on how they lined up and the origin of such leftovers as comets and asteroids. Yeomans also makes a good case that a near-Earth asteroid is an accessible target for our next space adventure, readying us for Mars and preparing us for a time when we might depend on them as a source of rare minerals."--Marcia Bartusiak, Washington Post Table of Contents: Chapter 1 Earth's Closest Neighbors 1 Chapter 2 The Solar System's Origin: The Classical View 15 Chapter 3 How and Where Do Near-Earth Objects Form? 29 Chapter 4 Near-Earth Objects as the Enablers and Destroyers of Life 47 Chapter 5 Discovering and Tracking Near-Earth Objects 57 Chapter 6 The Nature of Asteroids and Comets 79 Chapter 7 Nature's Natural Resources and the Human Exploration of Our Solar System 100 Chapter 8 Near-Earth Objects as Threats to Earth 109 Chapter 9 Predicting the Likelihood of an Earth Impact 125 Chapter 10 Deflecting an Earth-Threatening Near-Earth Object 140 Index of Asteroid and Cometary Objects 159 General Index 161

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Teachers and child therapists are acutely aware of the effect divorce and broken homes can have on a child's learning potential as well as school behavior. In fact, teachers can generally predict an evolving divorce based on observation of the student's school performance. Although each child experiences divorce and separation differently, the one constant that should be addressed is the child's feelings of abandonment and mistrust and/or symptoms that define the emotions of an attachment disorder, factors that also seriously affect school learning. According to researchers, divorce affects secure attachments, which can have a negative impact on behavior in childhood and throughout their life. For example, children diagnosed with oppositional-defiant disorder, conduct disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder frequently display attachment disorders (trust), due to abuse, neglect or trauma, all of which can be caused by separation or divorce. A study by noted psychologist Mary Ainsworth in 1978 may offer some clues about the effect divorce and separation can have on learning. The study involved observing children between 12- and 18-months-old responding to a situation in which they were briefly left alone and then reunited with their parent. One group of infants exhibited distress when separated from their parents but were happy when the parent returned. Although the child was distressed at separation, when the parent left, the child in this group felt he was able to depend on his mother or felt assured that the parent would return. The children in this group are defined as securely attached. There was a sense of predictability or expectation that these infants exhibited. In brain development terms, when the child experiences a sense of predictability, the experience stimulates the prefrontal cortex, the seat of organization and social intelligence, a necessary ingredient for school and life success. A second group of infants became very distressed when the parents left. This attachment style suggests that ambivalent attachment is a result of poor maternal availability. These children cannot depend on their mother to be there when the child is in need. Again, we can see the need for predictability but also the need for kinesthetic stimulation or the need of maternal touch or bonding. To stimulate the child's kinesthetic intelligence or sensory and motor brain areas in a school environment, these parents may need to turn to a school directed toward the child's kinesthetic intelligence. For example, Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori recognized this need when she developed a school curriculum for orphaned children who had severe attachment disorders. Her curriculum centered on stimulating the sensory motor brain areas, which attempts to duplicate the feelings of maternal touch or bonding that could eliminate the feeling of ambivalence. A third group of children demonstrated a need to avoid parents or caregivers. Children who are punished for relying on a parent will learn to avoid seeking help in the future. This "avoidant attachment" type could be the most serious attachment of disorders because they mistrust and fear relationships, which runs counter to higher order learning and thinking. Bottom line, all children need support to learn successfully, especially children who divorce and separate from their learning potential and intelligence. David Sortino, a Graton resident, is a psychologist and retired teacher.

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“This is a reminder that we live here in earthquake country here in Southern California,” said Robert Graves, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. With an earthquake fresh in everyone’s mind, the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region re-posted the outline for an ideal preparedness kit, which should be equipped for three to seven business days and contain at least 26 items, from no-brainers such as water (a gallon per person) and a flashlight, to less-thought of items such as bleach, copies of personal documents and entertainment items to pass the time. “This is a little reminder that we need to check our emergency kits, make sure we have a preparedness plan, have food and water,” Graves said. As always, ShakeOut’s Drop, Cover Hold On campaign implores Southland residents to do just that in the event of an earthquake. The Earthquake Early Warning System, created by the USGS, Caltech, UC Berkeley and the University of Washington, gave a two-second warning ahead of the shakes hitting Pasadena. “(It’s) a work in progress,” said USGS geologist Egill Hauksson. “If we kept improving our systems and have the right sources, we could get it up to four seconds.” The 4.4-magnitude St. Patrick’s Day shaker is expected to produce smaller aftershocks throughout the next few days. The Southland escaped the earthquake with no injuries or damage, but the threat of a larger earthquake always looms. “We have faults all over Southern California, and the possibility of having a larger, damaging earthquake is always present,” Graves said.

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Rocket Launched From Wallops Flight Facility In Virginia WALLOPS ISLAND, Va., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Black Brant XII suborbital rocket carrying the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER) was successfully launched at 11:05 p.m. June 5 from NASA's launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. With CIBER, scientists are studying when the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe and how brightly they burned their nuclear fuel. Jamie Bock, CIBER principal investigator from the California Institute of Technology, reported that good data was received from the payload. CIBER was lofted to an altitude of approximately 358 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. CIBER will not be recovered, as planned. The Black Brant XII rocket was launched under clear skies. The launch was reportedly seen from as far away as central New Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern North Carolina. The next rocket launch from Wallops is a Terrier-Orion sounding rocket between 5:30 and 10 a.m., June 20. The rocket will be carrying experiments developed by participants in the RockOn and RockSat-C programs conducted jointly with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia. More information on CIBER and the NASA Sounding Rocket Program is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets

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NEW YORK – Science may be humankind’s greatest success as a species. Thanks to the scientific revolution that began in the seventeenth century, humans today enjoy instant communication, rapid transportation, a rich and diverse diet, and effective prevention and treatment for once-fatal illnesses. Moreover, science is humanity’s best hope for addressing such existential threats as climate change, emerging pathogens, extra-terrestrial bolides, and a burgeoning population. But the scientific enterprise is under threat from both external and internal forces. Now the scientific community must use its capacity for self-correction – based on new information, discoveries, experiences, and ideas (the stuff of scientific progress for centuries) – to address these threats. A major hindrance to scientific progress is the increasing scarcity of research funding – a trend that has been exacerbated by the global economic crisis. Uncertain funding prospects not only discourage scientists from pursuing risky or undirected lines of research that could lead to crucial discoveries; they also make it more difficult to recruit the best and brightest for scientific careers, especially given the extensive training and specialization that such careers require. Furthermore, leaders from across the political spectrum are questioning scientifically-established principles – such as anthropogenic climate change, evolution, and the benefits of vaccination – with no scientific basis. At best, such statements serve as a distraction from important issues; at worst, they distort public policy. Although such threats are outside of scientists’ direct control, improved communication with political leaders and the public could help to reduce misinformation and bolster confidence in science. But the field’s credibility is also being undermined from within, by the growing prevalence of scientific misconduct – reflected in a recent spate of retracted scientific publications – and an increasingly unbalanced scientific workforce that faces perverse incentives. Although the vast majority of scientists adhere to the highest standards of integrity, the corrosive effects of dishonest or irreproducible research on science’s credibility cannot be ignored. The problems are rooted in the field’s incentive structure – a winner-take-all system in which grants, prizes, and other rewards go to those who publish first. While this competitive mentality is not new in science – the seventeenth-century mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz spent more than a decade fighting bitterly for credit for the discovery of calculus – it has intensified to the point that it is impeding progress. Indeed, scientists today are engaged in a hypercompetitive race for funding and prestigious publications that has disconnected their goals from those of the public that they serve. Last year, for example, when C. Glenn Begley and Lee Ellis sought to reproduce 53 “landmark” preclinical cancer studies, they discovered that nearly 90% of the findings could not be reproduced. While the researchers who originally published those studies may have profited from increased funding and recognition, the patients who need new cancer treatments gained nothing. Moreover, this winner-take-all system fails to account for the fact that scientific work is largely carried out by research teams rather than individuals. As a result, the scientific workforce is beginning to resemble a pyramid scheme: unfair, inefficient, and unsustainable. The incentives associated with the winner-take-all system encourage cheating – ranging from questionable practices and ethical lapses to outright misconduct. This threatens to create a vicious cycle in which misconduct and sloppy research are rewarded, undermining both the scientific process and its credibility. The problems are clear. But addressing them requires a prudent strategy that accounts for the structural fragility of the scientific enterprise, in which scientists must complete extensive training, regulation can easily stifle creativity, and funding limitations can substantially delay progress. Because of this fragility, few countries have been able to establish highly productive scientific enterprises, even though scientific innovation and technological breakthroughs are crucial to a country’s productivity, economic growth, and influence. Given the challenges implicit in establishing and maintaining a robust scientific sector, reform efforts must be undertaken carefully. At the same time, the reforms must be comprehensive, addressing methodological, cultural, and structural issues. Methodological reforms should include revised training requirements that allow for less specialization, together with improved training in probability and statistics. Scientific culture must be reformed to abandon longstanding practices, such as those that determine how credit is assigned. And structural reforms aimed at balancing the scientific workforce and stabilizing funding are crucial. Some reforms should be fairly easy to implement. For example, it would not be difficult to win support for improving education in the ethical aspects of scientific research. But other important reforms, such as creating alternatives to the winner-take-all incentive system, will present enormous challenges. An effective reform strategy should employ the tools of science – specifically, data collection and analysis. More data are needed to understand workforce imbalances, the peer review system, and how the economics of the scientific enterprise influence scientists’ behavior. Science has been studied by sociologists, historians, and philosophers, but rarely by scientists themselves. Now, with perverse incentives undermining their credibility and hampering research, scientists must take matters into their own hands. Applying the scientific method to the problems of science could be scientists’ best hope for regaining public confidence and reinvigorating the quest for transformative discoveries.

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I was reading the social studies board earlier today about the use of interactive notebooks. I was intrigued since I'd never heard of these. The posts about them made them sound like something I would be very interested in doing with my kids. The reason I'm calling you out is because I opened the following link you suggested had a good student sample. (BTW, this was from 2006.) Not only was there a good sample (I'm very visual. I needed to see one.), but I found the entire site extremely useful! Mr. Saunders has a similar social studies curriculum, so I found many of his attachments are ones I could use in my class. I can absolutely see myself using this for the upcoming school year. I'm excited! The processing activities/writings the kids do will be very beneficial for them, and it will help me in assessing their understanding of the content/units we cover. I do have a question for you (and/or for anyone else who reads this): Do you think it wise, since I'm an interactive notebook virgin , to do this with science at the same time or will that be too much? Last edited by trexteach; 06-13-2009 at 03:33 PM.. I am in the same boat. I will be teaching 7th grade Science and World History next year. I had already planned on using notebooks in Science...not sure how they will be set up. Originally it wasn't going to be an interactive notebook, but now that I have discovered them... I might be using them. Either way... I am doing notebooks for the first time in both classes. I know that it will be a lot of work. I just feel like they are a great tool and that a little extra work in the beginning will make the entire year better. I used them for the first time this year in 4th in both science and s.s. I thought they were beneficial and did not feel it was too much, in fact students knew the basics, organization & purpose and applied them in both subjects. I did not use contents pages like some do, instead we had the standards/indicators typed up and glued into the beginning of each unit. We simply checked off when it was covered. I know next year I'll use them again and model more and make sure I emphasize this is such a good study guide if they've taken good notes and personalized as a way to remember important material. Is'nt Mr. Saunder's site great? His is one of the best! IMO, doing it for the first time in two different classes could be a bit of a challenge, but certainly not an impossibility as Linda has indicated. You may want to consider setting up model notebooks this summer. In the beginning you have to model a lot and have suggestions for the students to choose from for the student portion of the notebook. The younger they are I found, the longer it takes before the majority of the class can work on thier own. What I love about the ISNs is you can actually set them up in any way that fits your teaching style and the needs of your class. I like the idea of the indicators being glued to the front of the notebook. One year I went sequentially in my notebook for one of my classes because the "flippy pages" were a real pain for most of my students and a frustration for me. I liked it so well I converted to that for all of my classes. I was reading through this and was very intrigued so I did some searches on the net because I wanted to know more. I came across this wiki that on the surface looks wonderful. You that know more about them would be able to offer a better opinion. Here is the site That is the site i started. I was trying to gather all suggestions for ISNs in one place. Many have added to it since then. It was a public wiki until some of the links posted were porn. So it is protected - meaning you have to ask to be a member. I always say yes, but at least if porn is posted I have a way to trace it and report it. As a member you can add links also, or if you do not know how, you can send a message through the wiki to me if you would like me to post it. The links on the home page are all ISN links. On the side under content is something with stars that I do not quite understand and was posted by a member who asked to become an organizer. I think it may have something to do with her school because there was an increase in traffic at that time. Well just write a big DUH on my forehead!!!!! I apologize. I have been reading and reading. I would like to use these in my social studies class. You have a great site. Thank you for compiling all of these resources. How on earth do I actually get this started - what I mean is, from the teacher side of things. We implemented a new curriculum in Soc St. 2 yrs ago and my colleagues and i are still struggling with the way our govt wants it taught. It is very inquiry based with critical thinking and our gr 4 classes seem to struggle with this approach (perhaps its us oldies who just don't get it and can't teach it the way it's meant to be taught). I am thinking that this may give us (or particularly me - (the others in my team really resist change) some direction. Any advice would really be appreciated. I teach older grades, so some of what I do may mot be appropriate for 4th graders. For teacher input, I may use that for teaching outlining and summarizing of the material in the book, guided notes, vocabulary, informative handouts, etc. For student output they do one or more of the following: Ven Diagrams, Word Gram, maps, illustrated timelines, charts/graphs, Cause/Effect Charts, cartoons, flow charts, illustrated definitions, pictwords, poems, anagrams, foldables, brocures,etc. When I first introduce ISNs, I model different ways of responding, and they all respond the same way. Once I have modeled many different ways of responding, then we move on to suggesting ways of responding to a specific lesson. They do not have to use the ways suggested, but it helps those who have no clue what to do. Thanks, Wig, for the suggestion to make a model notebook this summer. That's probably a good idea. I would like to do this in soc. studies and science, but maybe I'll hold off a bit with science, or begin it later in the 1st quarter, once I feel I have a good grasp on the soc. studies notebooks. Mr. Saunders does have a great site. I emailed him to make sure it was okay to use some of his work for my class. He had no problem with it. Thanks, all, for your additional suggestions/info. I'm ready to "dig in". I love notebooks. I found a math interactive notebook recommended from a PT member about 4 years ago and have used it in my classroom ever since. The first year was skeletal but the next years it's gotten better and easier to implement. Unfortunately the site that I got it from stopped posting their book. I emailed the ladies and they said they were creating a professional one to sell. Haven't seen it yet. I was going to start using them in math this year. We use some Fosnot units- they are mainly investigations and the notebook seemed like a great place to write about the strategies they use to solve the problems. Groovy Gal- is the site you were talking about one that was 2 6th grade teachers posted? I have looked several times for that site- when I found it originally 2 years ago I got some good stuff - cowboy method of dividing & Dr. Pepper method of converting decimals to percents made me smile. ancientciv posed good questions and mentioned +/- to choosing the medium as well as deciding how to attach handouts, but aren't handouts too big for comp books and even spiral notebooks? Don't they hang out over the edges and get all crumply? And what about 2 sided or multipage handouts? I was thinking I could print the reverse side so it could be seen if glued across the top and flipped up? It also seems like a binder would be better if I decide to combine the writer's notebook, reading journal, and grammar all into one ISN and need sections. I do love the idea of a small, compact spiral versus a clunky binder. Especially if they are kept in the room, I would have to store over 120 binders and spirals would be sooo much better. Thanks for any help. Maybe I just need to spend the time to study all the online resources which have been provided. Wig, you're too kind! You know I say the same thing about you! choosing the medium as well as deciding how to attach handouts, but aren't handouts too big for comp books and even spiral notebooks There are tricks to handouts in the composition notebooks - my favorite is to either reduce (using a copier, or printer options) so that you can get two handouts to a page. This not only saves paper, but fits nicely in a comp. book. For two sided handouts you can format a word document as "book fold" and get up to 3 side easily. You can also glue across just the top, and the handout can be flipped. The Mead Spiral notebook is the "holy grail" as full size handouts will fit in it and they are darn near indestructable, but they are pretty pricey. Regular spirals can handle handouts with just a little trimming, or folding. The reason I like notebooks versus binders is the whole tearing out and being lost thing. In a notebook, if page 100 isn't done its there - blank and beckoning. In a binder, page 100 could just be not there. That being said, I know people who swear by binders. I also have used composition book ISNs for three years. I tried spirals for two years, and they're not for me. I agree with ancientciv regarding binders, but it's a personal choice. As for handouts being too big, I frequently will edit a word document to be landscape with two columns. Then I put one copy of the handout (with slightly smaller font) in one column and a second copy in the other column. Then I print it and copy half as many full pages as I need, cut them in half with a paper cutter, and voila! They fit perfectly in the composition book this way. Also, you can reduce a full size page on the copier to about 70% and it will also fit. I do this for handouts I do not have a digital copy of. Another idea I use for putting handouts in the ISN is envelopes. I have envelope templates that I copy for the students, they cut them out and put them together, then glue them to the page and tuck in their handout/assignment. With two-sided pages, I have the students fold the page "hamburger" and put a strip of glue at the top on the back of the page. Then they glue it down and are able to life up the page to see underneath. This summer, I've been teaching Summer School math and I have been experimenting with a math ISN (I normally teach social studies). I will try to upload a few of the pages we've done in there to the wiki. There are some neat examples of putting handouts in creatively that are hard to describe in words. Attached I have an example of one of my handouts that are edited to be two-to-a-page. Ancientciv and Swtogirl: Wow thanks so much for the detailed explanations, examples and attachments! I am still in a quandary, vacillating back and forth, but believe me this helped so much to understand how a comp book would be workable. I did explore all of the resources on the wikispace. I am ready to launch the concept, no matter what medium I settle on. I even emailed some excerpts and links to the 6th and 7th grade social and science teachers I work with and one SS teacher already responded with enthusiasm. If they buy in, this will be the first interdisciplinary activity we embark upon. Yahoo! I am indebted.

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Vitamin B1 also known as thiamin is essential to the healthy functioning of the human body. It supports the nervous system and is critical to the proper functioning of enzymes which drive the processes that make energy for us. Vitamin B1 is also important to the transmission of nerve signals. Vitamin B1 easily enters and leaves the body so it must be added daily. B1 participates in many of the body's chemical reactions and processes. It performs tasks like helping us maintain a normal metabolism, and helping us efficiently use carbohydrates for energy. Vitamin B1 helps to process carbohydrates and protein. In fact, most cells in the body require it to create their fuel ATP (adenosine triphosphate). And the more a person relies on carbs for their main source of energy, the greater the need for B1. - Vitamin B1 (thiamin) supports energy metabolism. - Vitamin B1's role in energy metabolism helps your body convert food to energy. - Vitamin B1 contributes to energy reactions in the body. - Vitamin B1 supports carbohydrate metabolism. - Vitamin B1 promotes nervous system health. - Athletes and those engaged in intense exercise may require additional Vitamin B1 intake. - The B-vitamin complex is made up of several vitamins that work well together to support nervous system health. Basically, Vitamin B1 works with the other B vitamins to convert protein and carbohydrates into energy. It is especially involved in carbohydrate metabolism, and is a key factor in the healthy functioning of all the body's cells. It is important to the functioning of the heart, muscles, and nervous system and nerve cells require Vitamin B1 to function normally. Vitamin B1 has an important role in nerve conduction, but the precise mechanism is not well understood. Fortunately, Vitamin B1 is found in many food sources, including whole grains. The structure function claims made on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These dietary supplement products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Patuxent Wildlife Research Center This online document--PDF format (and compact disc) contains the 35 reports in the Contaminant Hazard Reviews (CHR) that were published originally between 1985 and 1999 in the U.S. Department of the Interior Biological Report series. The CD was produced because printed supplies of these reviews--a total of 105,000--became exhausted and demand remained high. Each review was prepared at the request of environmental specialists of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and each contained specific information on selected metals and metalloids (silver, arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, lead, molybdenum, nickel, tin, selenium, zinc), organics (polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, acrolein, diazinon, atrazine, fenvalerate, famphur, chlordane, chlorpyrifos, cyanide, diflubenzuron, mirex, carbofuran, toxaphene, compound 1080, paraquat, pentachlorophenol), ionizing radiation, and a cumulative index to chemicals and species. Each report reviews and synthesizes the technical literature on a single contaminant and its effects on terrestrial plants and invertebrates, aquatic plants and animals, avian and mammalian wildlife, and other natural resources. The subtopics include contaminant sources and uses; physical, chemical, and metabolic properties; concentrations in field collections of abiotic materials and living organisms; deficiency effects, where appropriate; lethal and sublethal effects including effects on survival, growth, reproduction, metabolism, mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity; proposed criteria for the protection of human health and sensitive natural resources; and recommendations for additional research. All reports were authored by Dr. Ronald Eisler, previously of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center located in Laurel, Maryland. Patuxent staff who participated in producing this CD were Ronald Eisler, Robert E. Munro, Lois M. Loges, Kinard Boone, Mary M. Paul, and Lynda J. Garrett. A free copy of the CD, while supplies last, may be obtained by contacting: Librarian, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland 20708-4030 (telephone 301-497-5551 or 5550; email: email@example.com).Contaminant Hazard Reviews Online!

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- Feb 13, 2009 Disadvantages of Cloud Computing There are a number of reasons why you might not want to adopt cloud computing for your particular needs. Let's examine a few of the risks related to cloud computing: - Requires a constant Internet connection. Cloud computing is impossible if you can't connect to the Internet. Since you use the Internet to connect to both your applications and documents, if you don't have an Internet connection you can't access anything, even your own documents. A dead Internet connection means no work, period—and, in areas where Internet connections are few or inherently unreliable, this could be a deal-breaker. When you're offline, cloud computing simply doesn't work. - Doesn't work well with low-speed connections. Similarly, a low-speed Internet connection, such as that found with dial-up services, makes cloud computing painful at best and often impossible. Web-based apps require a lot of bandwidth to download, as do large documents. If you're laboring with a low-speed dial-up connection, it might take seemingly forever just to change from page to page in a document, let alone to launch a feature-rich cloud service. In other words, cloud computing isn't for the broadband-impaired. - Can be slow. Even on a fast connection, web-based applications can sometimes be slower than accessing a similar software program on your desktop PC. Everything about the program, from the interface to the current document, has to be sent back and forth from your computer to the computers in the cloud. If the cloud servers happen to be backed up at that moment, or if the Internet is having a slow day, you won't get the instantaneous access you might expect from desktop apps. - Features might be limited. This situation is bound to change, but today many web-based applications simply aren't as full-featured as their desktop-based brethren. For example, you can do a lot more with Microsoft PowerPoint than with Google Presentation's web-based offering. The basics are similar, but the cloud application lacks many of PowerPoint's advanced features. If you're a power user, you might not want to leap into cloud computing just yet. - Stored data might not be secure. With cloud computing, all your data is stored on the cloud. How secure is the cloud? Can unauthorized users gain access to your confidential data? Cloud computing companies say that data is secure, but it's too early in the game to be completely sure of that. Only time will tell if your data is secure in the cloud. - Stored data can be lost. Theoretically, data stored in the cloud is unusually safe, replicated across multiple machines. But on the off chance that your data goes missing, you have no physical or local backup. (Unless you methodically download all your cloud documents to your own desktop—which few users do.) Put simply, relying on the cloud puts you at risk if the cloud lets you down.

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Read books online at our other site: The Literature Page Quotations by Subject - We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. - Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818), letter to John Adams, 1774 - I've arrived at this outermost edge of my life by my own actions. Where I am is thoroughly unacceptable. Therefore, I must stop doing what I've been doing. - Alice Koller, An Unknown Woman, 1982 - All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) - Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way... you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) - Actions lie louder than words. - Carolyn Wells - Deliberation is the function of the many; action is the function of one. - Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970), War Memoirs, 1960 - The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. - Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects - You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man's actions are, such must be his spirit. - Demosthenes (384 BC - 322 BC), Third Olynthiac - I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions. - Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980), The Long Loneliness, 1952 - An event had happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent. - Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797), Speeches... in the Trial of Warren Hastings, May 5, 1789 - Action is character. - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940), The Last Tycoon, 1941 - You ask me why I do not write something....I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results. - Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910), in Cecil Woodham-Smith, Florence Nightingale, 1951 - Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money. It lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. - Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945), Speeches... in the Trial of Warren Hastings, May 5, 1789 - We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind. - Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945), Fireside chat on national defense, May 26, 1940 - When a man asks himself what is meant by action he proves he is not a man of action. Action is a lack of balance. In order to act you must be somewhat insane. A reasonably sensible man is satisfied with thinking. - Georges Clemenceau (1841 - 1929), Conversation with Jean Martet, January 1 1929 - Somewhere deep down we know that in the final analysis we do decide things and that even our decisions to let someone else decide are really our decisions, however pusillanimous. - Harvey Cox, On Not Leaving It to the Snake, 1967 - Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. - Herbert Hoover (1874 - 1964) - Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it a charm. - Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825) - I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. - John Locke (1632 - 1704) - I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one. - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) - Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) - Life is one long process of getting tired. - Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902), Notebooks, 1912 - Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome. - Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), Rasselas, 1759 - In this theater of man's life, it is reserved only for God and for angels to be lookers-on. - Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) - Aggressive fighting for the right is the greatest sport in the world. - Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919) - We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with high and resolute courage. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out. - Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919), Address at the opening of the gubernatorial campaign, New York City, October 5, 1898 - Delay is preferable to error. - Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), Letter to George Washington, May 16, 1792

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Link to The Confederacy is Formed. After looking at the pictures of Fort Sumter in 1861 and how it appears today, draw your own picture of the take-over of the fort by the Confederate troops on April 12, 1861. Remember that the North wore blue uniforms and the South wore gray. Return to the Civil War for Fifth Graders

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World Wetlands Day 2009 -- ICIMOD World Wetlands Day is celebrated this year with a special focus on ‘Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands connect us all’. The focus is designed around the theme of wetlands in the context of river basin management and the role our wetlands play in their surrounding environments. This year’s slogan is very relevant to the mountain context of the Himalayan region. At the local level, wetlands in the mountains and their associated services play a vital role in supporting the livelihoods of local communities, and especially activities like fishing and agriculture. At the river basin scale, wetlands are important for balancing the hydrological regimes or water balance of the river systems and acting, for example, as buffer zones for flood hazards and water resources. The upstream land and water management activities in the mountains affect both the water availability and the risks for downstream communities. The wetlands in the mountain regions connect the upstream and downstream physical systems. Increased attention needs to be paid to these largely biophysical aspects of wetlands. There is a need to review conventional policy-programme processes that in the past have created and increased inequalities between highlands and lowlands through economic links that are unfavourable to highlands and uncompensated ecological and economic flows from highlands to lowlands. The Himalayan wetlands, and especially the high altitude wetlands, are under great threat from climate change. These wetlands appear to be shrinking at a higher rate than wetlands in other parts of the world. The loss of glaciers will also affect the wetlands and lead to significant decreases in the availability of freshwater in the region, which is a source of freshwater for rivers that serve close to 20% of the world’s population. The time has come to focus on managing our wetlands better and finding ways to use their precious water resources more effectively -- to grow food, to provide clean drinking water, to maintain their special biodiversity and genetic resources, and so many others. Sound management plans are needed so that wetlands can maintain their ecological health and enhance their resilience, and thereby increase their adaptive capacity to meet the challenges of global climate change. Together with its regional member countries, ICIMOD is focusing on development of the information and knowledge needed to improve our understanding of the wetland resources of the Himalayan region to provide a sound basis for developing such plans and strategies. See the flyer at Dr. Hua Ouyang Integrated Water and Hazards Management (IWHM)/ICIMOD Dr. Eklabya Sharma Environmental Change and Ecosystem Services (ECES)/ICIMOD Nira Gurung (Ms), Communications Officer International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development GPO Box 3226, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel +977-1-5003222 Direct Line 5003310 Ext 115 Fax +977-1-5003277 Web www.icimod.org

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Water vapour act as a powerful greenhouse gas absorbing long-wave radiation. If the atmospheric water vapour concentration increases as a result of a global warming, then it is expected that it will enhance the greenhouse effect further. It is well known that the rate of evaporation is affected by the temperature and that higher temperatures increase the (saturated) vapour pressure (the Clausius-Clapeyron equation). This process is known as the water vapour feedback. One important difference between water vapour and other greenhouse gases such as CO2 is that the moisture spends only a short time in the atmosphere before being precipitated out, whereas the life time of CO2 in the atmosphere may be longer than 100 years. Technical Note: Sorry for any recent performance issues. We are working on it.

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Tillamook Obituary Records In Oregon, obituaries were published in newspapers after the end of the civil war. Previously, obituaries and death notices were usually extremely brief and The publishing of detailed obituaries by newspapers in United States began to become more customary following the end of the Civil War and were more likely to include common folk. Prior to that, most mentions regarding someone's death were usually quite brief unless they were about a prominent member of the community. Obituaries as well as death notices indicate the passing of an individual. However, the obituary also serves to provide information regarding the deceased, such as their names, spouses, siblings, children and other offspring's. In addition, the obituary will also detail where the deceased was buried and sometimes may even contain a complete biography of the deceased's life. Obituaries and Death Notices are sometimes the only record of someone's death. Death certificates, even if supposedly required, were often never issued in some parts during the 1890s to 1920s. In addition, they are sometimes the only source for the maiden name of a woman. For people who lived in Tillamook, you are advised to look into records from local newspapers. Many provide access to online reserves as well. It is also advised that you look into newspapers from all across Tillamook county, as it is possible that the individual was known in other parts of Oregon as well.

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Greenock (Gaelic Grianaig, ) is a large town and former burgh of barony in the Inverclyde council area of western Scotland. It forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east. Greenock's population was recorded as being 45,467 in the 2001 census, a decrease from about 78,000 in 1966. It lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the "Tail of the Bank" where the River Clyde expands into the Firth of Clyde, and is in what was the county of Renfrewshire. Greenock Central railway station at Cathcart Street opened in 1841, for the first time providing a fast route from Glasgow to the coast linking up with Clyde steamer services. The provision of this new line eliminated the necessity of taking the steamer all the way down river from Glasgow. In 1869 the Caledonian Railway was bypassed by the rival Glasgow and South Western Railway which opened a station on the waterfront at Princes Pier. To regain custom, the Caledonian Railway extended (what is now known as the Inverclyde Line) the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway west to Gourock; this line was built to run inland through deep cuttings and tunnels to avoid disturbance to the villas of Greenock's west end. Greenock's increasing importance and wealth was manifested in the construction of the Italianate Municipal Buildings, whose Victoria Tower, completed in 1886, stands 245 feet (74.7 m) tall. Begun five years previously in a competition won by architects H. & D. Barclay, it audaciously trumps the tower of the contemporaneous Glasgow City Chambers by more than a metre. It remains uncompleted, however. A local businessman called Robert Cowan refused to sell his building in front of the tower for less than his own price, preventing completion of the right hand façade of the southern elevation. In 1907 the Admiralty compulsory purchased part of this land and constructed the Clyde Torpedo Factory, which opened in 1910, with 700 workers transferred from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. The site was tasked with designing and testing of torpedoes. These were then tested in Loch Long. During the Second World War the site switched entirely to manufacturing torpedoes. The original gun battery site was occupied by the Navy Buildings, the main offices, just to the east of the torpedo factory buildings. Greenock reached its population peak in 1921 (81,123) and was once the sixth largest town in Scotland. The Inverclyde Royal Hospital is located in Greenock serving both the population of the town and wider area including Port Glasgow, Gournock and the Isle of Bute. Ravenscraig Hospital is also located in Greenock dealing with pyschiatric, day patients, referrals and specialised prescribing. In the early 17th century, the first pier was built in Greenock. Shipbuilding was already an important employer by this time. The first proper harbour was constructed in 1710 and the first well-known shipbuilders, Scott's, was established the following year. It was the oldest shipbuilding business in the world and gained numerous contracts with the Royal Navy from 1806, building ships such as the Prince of Wales. Scott's was nationalised in 1969 and merged with Lithgow's (founded 1874, later the largest privately owned yard in the world) the same year becoming Scott Lithgow. Other yards included Cartsburn, Cartsdyke, and Klondyke - all of which closed during the 1970s and 1980s due to competition from South Korea and Japan. The site of the Scott's yard is now occupied by a T-Mobile call centre. Ship repair work continues at the Garvel dry dock. Freight traffic is handled at the container cranes of Greenock's Ocean Terminal, at Prince's Pier which was constructed for the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The same terminal is also a regular port of call for cruise liners visiting the west of Scotland. Greenock's Great Harbour is one of the three main ports providing marine services support to the Royal Navy, in dual site operation with Faslane at HMNB Clyde on the Gare Loch. This formerly came under the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, but is currently operated by Serco Denholm, who are preferred bidders for the next contract. This facility means that "Admiralty" boats and tugs are a common sight on the Clyde. Greenock's attractive esplanade provides a gently curving riverside walk just over a mile (1.6 km) long extending to the west from Ocean Terminal to the Royal West Boat Club sailing and rowing facilities and clubhouse at the corner of the Navy Buildings which house a main Her Majesty's Coastguard centre as well as a Royal Naval Reserve establishment, HMS Dalriada. Sugar refining began in Greenock in 1765. John Walker began a sugar refinery in Greenock in 1850 followed by the prominent local cooper and shipowner Abram Lyle who, with four partners, purchased the Glebe Sugar Refinery in 1865. Another 12 refineries were active at one point. The most famous of these (and successful, being the only survivor until August 1997) was Tate & Lyle. It was formed from a merger in 1921 between Abram Lyle, who had expanded into Plaistow, and Henry Tate, who had set up a sugar refinery in Liverpool and had also expanded into London. By the end of the 19th century, around 400 ships a year were transporting sugar from Caribbean holdings to Greenock for processing in the 14 sugar refineries. Tobacco from the Americas also arrived here. When Tate and Lyle finally closed its Greenock refinery in 1997 it brought to an end the town's 150-year old connections with sugar manufacture. A newly built sugar warehouse continued shipping operations at Greenock's Ocean Terminal. The former sugar warehouse at the James Watt Dock was by then scheduled as a grade A listed building as a fine example of early industrial architecture, with an unusual feature of a colonnade of cast iron columns forming a sheltered unloading area next to the quayside. This building has since lain empty, with various schemes being proposed for conversion and restoration. The photographs show the building still intact in February 2006, but a fire on the evening of 12 June 2006 caused severe damage to much of the building before being brought under control in the early hours of 13 June. The local council confirmed that parts of the building will have to be taken down to ensure public safety, but promised an investigation and emphasised the importance of this world heritage building. However, with manufacturing moving to Eastern Europe and Asia, work has shifted to the service sector, especially call centres. T-Mobile and IBM both have major call centre operations in Greenock, while the Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage Centre processes Mortgage applications from throughout the UK & Ireland. IBM have in recent years curtailed their operations greatly in the area. Sanmina, another electronics company, took over much of the IBM installation. As of 2006, Sanmina have themselves announced major cuts, with 370 jobs being moved to Hungary. Sanmina has now shut and the remaining workers are being re-located. Lenovo has now also re-located away from Greenock, and the plant is at 10% of the 1999/2000 capacity As of 2008 the plant has now been scheduled for 'shutdown' with the remaining workers being 'relocated' Greenock is Scotland's best served town in terms of railway stations. It boasts nine: Bogston, Cartsdyke, Greenock Central, Greenock West, Fort Matilda, Whinhill, Drumfrochar, Branchton and IBM Halt. Only Glasgow has a much greater number of stations and Edinburgh possesses only one more. Greenock is located at the end of the A8 road/M8 motorway which begins in Edinburgh. It is also the northern terminus of Euroroute E05 which heads south through England, France and Spain, ending at the Spanish port of Algeciras which also possesses a container terminal. Greenock is fictionalised as 'Gantock' by Robin Jenkins in his 1979 novel Fergus Lamont (The Gantocks are in fact a rocky shoal in the Firth of Clyde nearby, just off Dunoon). Alasdair Gray's 1984 novel 1982, Janine is set in a Greenock hotel room. Greenock has featured in several of the poems of Douglas Dunn. Greenock has featured as the backdrop to several films: the television films Just a Boy's Game (1979), , Down Where The Buffalo Go (1988) and Down Among the Big Boys (1993) and the theatrical films Sweet Sixteen (2002) and and Dear Frankie'' (2004), Greenock's most noted son is the engineer James Watt. He is remembered in the name of the local college, at the library instituted in his memory and by the original James Watt Memorial College building on the site of his birth place in William Street which incorporates a commemorative statue. Other famous Greenockians include: the composers Hamish MacCunn and William Wallace, musicians John McGeoch and Thomas Leer, poets Denis Devlin, W. S. Graham and Jean Adam, merchant Matthew Algie, actors Richard Wilson, Stella Gonet and Martin Compston, playwrights Bill Bryden and Peter McDougall, comedian Charles 'Chic' Murray, opera singer Hugh Enes Blackmore and Antarctic explorer Henry Robertson 'Birdie' Bowers. The novelist John Galt, noted for founding Guelph, Ontario in 1827, lived in the town and based some of his work, most notably Annals of the Parish (1821), on Greenock and surrounding towns. He is buried in the Inverkip Street Cemetery. Lawrence Tynes, kicker for the New York Giants an American Football team in the NFL, originates from Greenock and has several family members still in the town. The British painter, William Scott (1913-1989) was born in Greenock and lived there with his family until 1924 when the family moved to Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. The Oscar winning screenwriter, Neil Paterson (1916-1995) was born in Greenock, as was the radio and television presenter Jimmy Mack (1934-2004). Catherine (Muir), a homemaker, was born in Greenock and immigrated to the United States as an eleven year-old. Catherine is known for being the mother of Emmy-winning American comedian and writer Jay Leno. Jay is best known as the host of NBC television's long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Mary Campbell, Robert Burns' Highland Mary, is buried in Greenock Cemetery where there is a monument to her memory. Greenock is also home to the world's first Burns club, The Mother Club, which was founded in 1801. Its most infamous resident is Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer and former head of Libyan Arab Airlines, who was convicted on 31 January 2001 of murder after causing a bomb to be placed on board Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988 with the loss of 270 lives. Megrahi was moved in February 2005 from solitary confinement in Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow to Greenock Prison, where he is expected to serve the rest of his 27-year sentence. Another famous local resident was recently covered in an article by The Daily Telegraph and is known as "The Catman". He is a man of around 60 who lives wild. Greenock’s climate is temperate maritime having mainly cool summers but with relatively mild winters. Its location means that the heat retentive properties of seawater help keep winter temperatures higher. Additionally, the effect of the Gulf Stream on the Clyde helps Greenock's average temperature stay approximately one degree above that of eastern coastal towns on the same latitude. Greenock anecdotally has the reputation for having higher than average rainfall (the song The Green Oak Tree comments on this) but this is not statistically true; the Western Highlands in fact has the highest average rainfall in Scotland.

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The glossators conducted detailed text studies that resulted in collections of explanations. For their work they used a method of study unknown to the Romans themselves, insisting that contradictions in the legal material were only apparent. They tried to harmonize the sources in the conviction that for every legal question only one binding rule exists. Thus they approached these legal sources in a dialectical way, which is a characteristic of medieval scholasticism. They sometimes needed to invent new concepts not found in Roman law, such as half-proof (evidence short of full proof but of some force, such as a single witness). In other medieval disciplines, for example theology and philosophy, glosses were also made on the main authoritative texts. In the Greek language, "γλώσσα" (glossa) means "tongue" or "language." Originally, the word was used to denote an explanation of an unfamiliar word, but its scope gradually expanded to the more general sense of "commentary". The glossators used to write in the margins of the old texts (glosa marginalis) or between the lines (glosa interlinearis - interlinear glosses). Later these were gathered into large collections, first copied as separate books, but also quickly written in the margins of the legal texts. The medieval copyists at Bologna developed a typical script to enhance the legibility of both the main text and the glosses. The typically Bolognese script is called the Littera Bononiensis. Accursius's Glossa ordinaria, the final standard redaction of these glosses, contains around 100,000 glosses. Accursius worked for decades on this task. There exists no critical edition of his glosses. The medieval lawyers also wrote glosses on the medieval texts of Canon law such as the Decretum Gratiani (around 1140), the Liber Extra of Gregory IX (1234), the Liber Sextus of Boniface VIII (1298) and later smaller collections of papal decretals, verdicts in letter form sent to papal delegates. The decrets of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, too, have received glosses. In the older historiography of the medieval learned law, the view developed that after the standard gloss had become fixed a generation of so-called commentators started to take over from the glossators. In fact, the early medieval legal scholars, too, wrote commentaries and lectures, but their main effort was indeed creating glosses. Most of the older glosses are accessible only in medieval manuscripts: modern editions of only a few manuscripts exist. The main microfilm collections of glossed legal manuscripts are at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt am Main, at the universities of Munich, Würzburg, Milan, Leyden and Berkeley.

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) is a moth of the family Noctuidae . It is distributed throughout Europe This is a fairly large species (wingspan 52-59 mm) with long, narrow wings giving a 'streamlined' appearance. The forewings are grey with brown and black streaks. The hindwings are grey in the male, brown in the female. It flies at night in June and July and is attracted to light and a variety of flowers. The larva is grey or brown with black spots. It feeds mainly on sow thistles and lettuces but other food plants have been recorded (see list below). The species overwinters as a pupa. - The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range. Recorded food plants - Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991) - Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984

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Despite the worldwide economic downturn, wind energy capacity jumped 31% and generates electricity in 70 countries, 17 of which now have at least 1,000 MW installed, says the Earth Policy Institute in its report on wind energy. China led with 13,000 MW of new wind capacity, the first time that any country has installed more than 10,000 MW in a single year. With a total of 25,000 MW, China has doubled its wind capacity in each of the last five years, moving into third place behind the United States and Germany. “Considering the ambitious projects already in its development pipeline, it is not likely to stay in third place for long,” and the report notes that China's Wind Base programme has identified six windy provinces to host seven wind mega-complexes of between 10,000 MW and 37,000 MW each. When complete, these wind bases will total 130,000 MW of capacity, more than the entire world had at the end of 2008. China to lead wind energy growth Amendments to China's Renewable Energy Law of 2006 will take effect in April 2010, and government agencies have been directed to determine and enforce the share of total electricity from renewable energy sources, similar to the renewable portfolio standards. The amendments will also provide for transmission lines and grid upgrades. The United States passed Germany in wind capacity in 2008 and widened its lead last year, expanding by 10,000 MW to reach a cumulative 35,000 MW of wind turbines. Texas remains the leading state in both annual and total wind installations, reaching 9,400 MW overall. Although Iowa is a distant second with 3,700 MW of wind capacity, at least 17% of electricity in that state comes from wind. “As the financial crisis tightened credit and suppressed investment in early 2009, the US wind industry was bracing for a steep drop in installations from 2008's record 8,400 MW but, due in large part to wind-friendly provisions in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, more than 100 new wind farms came online in 28 states, in what was the strongest year yet for US wind construction,” the report adds Wind is well established in Europe In Europe, Spain added the most new wind in 2009 but, with 26,000 MW installed, Germany still commands the continent’s largest wind capacity. Two states in northern Germany, with combined population of four million, routinely source 40% of their electricity from wind turbines. Several markets in Europe have great potential for wind, and the report says Italy, France and Britain have doubled their installed wind capacity since 2006, with all three crossing the 4,000 MW mark last year. Another country that is expanding its wind energy is Portugal, which edged past Denmark last year. “Europe, China and the United States tend to dominate the wind headlines, but many other countries are also harnessing this abundant energy source,” it notes. India installed 1,300 MW last year, which was 30% less than in 2008 but enough to make it the fifth country to surpass 10,000 MW of wind capacity. Offshore wind is poised to grow rapidly “Most of the world's wind turbines are found on land, but offshore wind capacity is poised to grow rapidly from its current 2,100 MW,” the report adds. Nearly 600 MW were brought online last year, including the world's largest offshore project (Denmark's 209 MW Horns Rev 2 wind farm in the North Sea). “Having increased ninefold in total capacity since the start of the twenty-first century, wind power is quickly solidifying its position as an important part of the global energy mix,” it concludes. “As governments look to reduce dependence on price-volatile fossil fuels and to cut carbon emissions, wind ... is becoming an increasingly attractive option.”

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Sue Holmes, Sandia National Labs June 18, 2014 | 1 Comments New Mexico, USA -- Sandia National Laboratories has come up with an inexpensive way to synthesize titanium-dioxide nanoparticles and is seeking partners who can demonstrate the process at industrial scale for everything from solar cells to light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Titanium-dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles show great promise as fillers to tune the refractive index of anti-reflective coatings on signs and optical encapsulants for LEDs, solar cells and other optical devices. Optical encapsulants are coverings or coatings, usually made of silicone, that protect a device. Industry has largely shunned TiO2 nanoparticles because they’ve been difficult and expensive to make, and current methods produce particles that are too large. Sandia became interested in TiO2 for optical encapsulants because of its work on LED materials for solid-state lighting. Current production methods for TiO2 often require high-temperature processing or costly surfactants — molecules that bind to something to make it soluble in another material, like dish soap does with fat. Those methods produce less-than-ideal nanoparticles that are very expensive, can vary widely in size and show significant particle clumping, called agglomeration. Sandia’s technique, on the other hand, uses readily available, low-cost materials and results in nanoparticles that are small, roughly uniform in size and don’t clump. “We wanted something that was low cost and scalable, and that made particles that were very small,” said researcher Todd Monson, who along with principal investigator Dale Huber patented the process in mid-2011 as “High-yield synthesis of brookite TiO2 nanoparticles.” Low-cost Technique Produces Uniform Nanoparticles that Don’t Clump Their method produces nanoparticles roughly 5 nanometers in diameter, approximately 100 times smaller than the wavelength of visible light, so there’s little light scattering, Monson said. “That’s the advantage of nanoparticles — not just nanoparticles, but small nanoparticles,” he said. Scattering decreases the amount of light transmission. Less scattering also can help extract more light, in the case of an LED, or capture more light, in the case of a solar cell. TiO2 can increase the refractive index of materials, such as silicone in lenses or optical encapsulants. Refractive index is the ability of material to bend light. Eyeglass lenses, for example, have a high refractive index. Practical nanoparticles must be able to handle different surfactants so they’re soluble in a wide range of solvents. Different applications require different solvents for processing. Technique Can be Used with Different Solvents “If someone wants to use TiO2 nanoparticles in a range of different polymers and applications, it’s convenient to have your particles be suspension-stable in a wide range of solvents as well,” Monson said. “Some biological applications may require stability in aqueous-based solvents, so it could be very useful to have surfactants available that can make the particles stable in water.” The researchers came up with their synthesis technique by pooling their backgrounds — Huber’s expertise in nanoparticle synthesis and polymer chemistry and Monson’s knowledge of materials physics. The work was done under a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project Huber began in 2005. “The original project goals were to investigate the basic science of nanoparticle dispersions, but when this synthesis was developed near the end of the project, the commercial applications were obvious,” Huber said. The researchers subsequently refined the process to make particles easier to manufacture. Existing synthesis methods for TiO2 particles were too costly and difficult to scale up production. In addition, chemical suppliers ship titanium-dioxide nanoparticles dried and without surfactants, so particles clump together and are impossible to break up. “Then you no longer have the properties you want,” Monson said. The researchers tried various types of alcohol as an inexpensive solvent to see if they could get a common titanium source, titanium isopropoxide, to react with water and alcohol. The biggest challenge, Monson said, was figuring out how to control the reaction, since adding water to titanium isopropoxide most often results in a fast reaction that produces large chunks of TiO2, rather than nanoparticles. “So the trick was to control the reaction by controlling the addition of water to that reaction,” he said. Textbooks Said It Couldn’t Be Done, Sandia Persisted Some textbooks dismissed the titanium isopropoxide-water-alcohol method as a way of making TiO2 nanoparticles. Huber and Monson, however, persisted until they discovered how to add water very slowly by putting it into a dilute solution of alcohol. “As we tweaked the synthesis conditions, we were able to synthesize nanoparticles,” Monson said. The next step is to demonstrate synthesis at an industrial scale, which will require a commercial partner. Monson, who presented the work at Sandia’s fall Science and Technology Showcase, said Sandia has received inquiries from companies interested in commercializing the technology. “Here at Sandia we’re not set up to produce the particles on a commercial scale,” he said. “We want them to pick it up and run with it and start producing these on a wide enough scale to sell to the end user.” Sandia would synthesize a small number of particles, then work with a partner company to form composites and evaluate them to see if they can be used as better encapsulants for LEDs, flexible high-index refraction composites for lenses or solar concentrators. “I think it can meet quite a few needs,” Monson said.

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Measurement of dissolved volatile concentrations in pyroclasts has formed the basis of our understanding of the links between magma degassing and the explosivity of silicic eruptions. To date these studies have focussed exclusively on the densest pyroclastic obsidians, which comprise on a tiny proportion of the erupted products, in order to bypass the difficulty of analysing vesicular material. As a consequence, crucial information is missing about how degassing in the densest clasts relates to the behaviour of the bulk of the magma volume. To overcome this shortcoming, the volatile content of variably vesicular pyroclasts from the Rotongaio ash has been analysed using both micro-analytical (SIMS, synchrotron FTIR) and bulk techniques (TGA-MS). The Rotongaio ash was an exceptionally violent phase of phreatomagmatic activity during the 181 AD rhyolitic eruption of Taupo (New Zealand), the most powerful worldwide in the last 5000 years. The Rotongaio phase involved opening of new vents beneath Lake Taupo and the ash is characterised by a wide range of clast vesicularities (<10 to 80 % by volume). Volatile measurement was challenging due to the high bubble number densities and small clast sizes. The mismatch between the water content of matrix glasses measured using bulk and micro-analytical techniques reflects pervasive post-eruption hydration of vesicle walls, which is most problematic at high vesicularities. Micron-scale maps of water concentration variations around vesicles in 30–50 vol % vesicular samples were acquired using SIMS. They indicate strong hydration within 5 microns of vesicle walls, with pockets of unhydrated glass remaining in the thickest septa. Analysis of these unhydrated domains allowed robust measurement of water contents in pyroclasts ranging from 1 to >50 vol % vesicles. Matrix glasses had largely degassed (0.19–0.49 wt % H2O, compared with an initial concentration in melt inclusions of 3.6 wt %). The water contents measured using SIMS decreased systematically with increasing magma vesicularity. These results are fit well by a simple magma degassing model, in which a batch of magma first undergoes partial open-system degassing to a uniform water concentration of 0.4 wt % H2O. Vesiculation then occurs with closed-system degassing, creating a negative relationship between vesicle content and the water content remaining in the melt. This model is consistent with the intrusion of a shallow cryptodome beneath Lake Taupo (depth 100–200 metres) and prolonged stalling of magma at this shallow level. This was then followed by abrupt magma ascent and vesiculation, accompanied by interaction with the overlying lake water. Recent experiments have shown that the most violent interactions between rhyolitic magma and water may occur when the magma is highly viscous and prone to shear failure, as this creates the initial surface area for magma-water contact that results in explosive fuel-coolant interaction. The accumulation of a large volume (1 km3) of degassed, highly-viscous rhyolitic magma directly beneath Lake Taupo may have therefore caused the exceptionally violent magma-water interaction that occurred during the Rotongaio phase. This reveals new links between magma degassing and the explosivity of eruptions when external water is involved, and illustrates the value of analysing pyroclastic material spanning a wide range of vesicularity in order to better reconstruct degassing systematics.

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More than two decades since his death, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideas—his call for racial equality, his faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, and his insistence on the power of nonviolent struggle to bring about a major transformation of American society—are as vital and timely as ever. The wealth of his writings, both published and unpublished, that constitute his intellectual legacy are now preserved in this authoritative, chronologically arranged, multi-volume edition. Faithfully reproducing the texts of his letters, speeches, sermons, student papers, and articles, this edition has no equal. Volume One contains many previously unpublished documents beginning with the letters King wrote to his mother and father during his childhood. We read firsthand his surprise and delight in his first encounter (during a trip to Connecticut) with the less segregated conditions in the North. Through his student essays and exams, we discover King's doubts about the religion of his father and we can trace his theological development. We learn of his longing for the emotional conversion experience that he witnessed others undergoing, and we follow his search to know God through study at theological seminaries. Throughout the first volume, we are treated to tantalizing hints of his mature rhetorical abilities, as in his 1945 letter to the Atlanta Constitution that spoke out against white racism. Each volume in this series contains an introductory essay that traces the biographical details of Dr. King's life during the period covered. Ample annotations accompany the documents. Each volume also contains a chronology of key events in his life and a "Calendar of Documents" that lists all important, extant documents authored by King or by others, including those that are not trnascribed in the document itself. The preparation of this edition is sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta with Stanford University and Emory University.

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People With Asthma Need Yearly Flu Shot Getting the flu can be serious business for people with asthma. The flu can leave you susceptible to serious illnesses such as pneumonia. That’s why it’s important to take steps to prevent it. The good news is that you can help prevent the flu. Here's how: The ideal time to get the flu shot is as soon as it is available each fall. Then the vaccine can protect you during the height of flu season between December and March. Check with your doctor to schedule your shot. When you call the office, remind them that you have asthma. If vaccine supplies run low, people with asthma and other chronic health problems get priority. Do not get the flu nasal spray vaccine. It could trigger an asthma attack. You will need a flu shot every year. This is because there are different strains of flu viruses that vary from year to year. Scientists update the vaccine each year to fight off the strains experts think will be the most common and serious. Even with a flu shot, you may still get the flu, but your symptoms won’t be as bad and you will recover more quickly. Getting a flu shot every year is vital to help protect your health.

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Starting college is a big milestone in anyone's life. In some families, starting college is almost like getting married - it's a big step, a giant move towards independence. Everything that happens during college counts towards the future - that's why it's so important for students to start college on the right footing. First of all, see if you have everything all pinned down before you start college. If your college is going to be quite a distance away from home, you'll need to find a place to stay. And if you've already found a place to stay, you'll need to find roommates who can share the rent with you. You're only starting college and finances are going to be tight - with someone sharing the place with you, you can bring the expenses down. The next thing that you have to decide on before starting college is the mode of transportation. Your options are...college car, a motorcycle or a bicycle. The mode of transportation depends on how far you are going to be housed from the college. If you're within college campus, you can probably start with a bicycle. If you're located outside the college campus, you might need a car to get you around. Next, go shopping for college clothes. A whole new wardrobe is necessary only if you are moving to a place where the weather is very different from where you live, for example, your home is in Maine and your college California. Otherwise, you can probably live with what you already have in your wardrobe. If you don't know the kind of clothes you will need for college, why not factor the cost of a new wardrobe into your starting college funds. You can go do some shopping when you've started college. Living on your own and starting college also means that you'll have to do some calculations on the use of kitchen utensils (getting some of your own is a good idea), and also some entertainment. Yes, you're starting college but you still need to have some fun once in a while. Starting college means that you're probably going to need your own computer, printer and scanner too. Most colleges have these facilities in their college campus. The options are:- buy new ones if you can afford it before you start college, buy second-hand ones, loan one from your relatives or parents, use the ones available in college or pay for the services in Internet cafes where these facilities are widely available. Research the area near the college and see if there's a need to get your own electronics. If you can save the money for something else, you can start college without it and use the ones in the college first. If you have reasons to want to move tables, beds, furniture and shelves from home, this could save your parents some money. Starting college is already ripping the bank accounts apart, so, if you can save on furniture, why not? If you're bringing the furniture from home, find a relocating service contractor to help you move the furniture to your new place. Most importantly, before starting college, you'll need to get a list from your college so that you can purchase the books before college starts. It is best that you start college on the right footing, so, don't wait until all the books are gone. About the Author Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.travel-and-play.com on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

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Get access to the common mistakes students make in their A-Level physics exams. Inspired by The Examiner's reports this is an un-missable opportunity to find out where precious marks are dropped. How Does the Body Fight Back? Faced with such daunting invaders how can our body fight back? There are two approaches that the body uses, passive and active defences. Passive defences are those that are set up to stop bacteria or viruses entering the body. They act as roadblocks. They are found in those places where the invaders are most likely to try to the body. Invaders try to get inside us via five main areas: 1. The skin The skin is a very good, tough barrier to infection so long as it does not get damaged. When it is cut or punctured the flow of blood will carry out some invaders. Then when it clots it stops others getting in. 2. The eye Contains very delicate tissues that can be easily crossed. To give protection our tears will wash out some invaders and releases an enzyme that kills bacteria. 3. The respiratory system The airways all the way down into the alveoli in our lungs give a perfect way to invade. Fortunately they are lined with cells that can produce mucus in which dust and microbes get trapped. This mucus is then brought up towards the mouth by the wave-like action of the cilia attached to the cells. 4. The reproductive system Apart from the thin skin present around the penis and vagina, there aren't many defences to microbes. So quite a few microbes are able to cause diseases if they try this route of attack. 5. The digestive system Many microbes enter through our mouths on our food. However they face a difficult time! Our saliva contains an enzyme which attacks bacterial cells. Then our stomach contains hydrochloric acid and more enzymes. Most microbes will be killed. So not a pleasant trip! Now have a go at matching the correct part of the body to the description of the passive defences used there: Other ways in! Microbes also use another means of access. They hitch a ride on or inside another organism, called a vector. For example, malaria gets into humans through the bite of a mosquito. As the mosquito feeds by boring a hole through the skin and sucking blood, the malarial parasite hitches a ride through the mosquito's saliva into our blood stream. The bacteria that caused the Bubonic plague in the 1300's was even more crafty! The bacteria hitched a ride inside fleas. The fleas then were carried about on rats. The rats then hitched rides on sailing ships. No wonder the disease spread so quickly, almost 20,000 miles in 16 years at one time, and killed at least a quarter of the European and Asian populations. The body has no passive defence against vector-borne attack, it just does not expect microbes to enter this way. Once the body's passive defences are breached there is another line of defence. The active system of cells go and deal with the invaders directly. This is the immune system. The most important of the cells in this defence system are the white blood cells White blood cells are obviously carried around in the blood, but they can also crawl out of blood vessels and get to any cell in the body. They can go anywhere! The immune system cells act in 3 ways: 1. Consume the invaders The white cells extend their cell membrane around the invader. Eventually it is taken inside the cell by endocytosis and enzymes are secreted to destroy it. The white cell then absorbs what is left. 2. Produce antibodies Other white cells produce antibodies when they meet an invading microbe. These special protein molecules stick to the microbes and mark them as 'foreign' invaders. The microbes are either killed or other white cells come along and consume them. The beauty of antibodies are that once they have been made your body is always ready attack that same invader on another occasion. You have developed anatural immunity to it. 3. Produce antitoxins Yet other white cells produce antitoxins. These are like an antidote to the toxin poisons made by some bacteria. The antitoxins stick to the toxins and make them harmless.

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Temple of Neptune (450 BC) The Temple of Neptune (or Apollo or Hera II) dates from 450 BC and is the most complete of the three - everything remains intact except the roof and parts of the inner walls. It has double rows of columns. On the east side are remains of two altars, one large and one smaller. The smaller one was added by the Romans when they cut through the larger altar to build a road to the forum. Statues around the larger altar may indicate that Apollo was patron of the temple. Another possible dedication is Hera, like the older temple next to it.

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Tertium Organum, by P.D. Ouspensky, , at sacred-texts.com The impossibility of the mathematical definition of dimensions. Why does not mathematics sense dimensions? The entire conditionality of the representation of dimensions by powers. The possibility of representing all powers on a line. Kant and Lobachevsky. The difference between non-Euclidian geometry and metageometry. Where shall we find the explanation of the three-dimensionality of the world, if Kant's ideas are true? Are not the conditions of the three-dimensionality of the world confined to our receptive apparatus, to our psyche? NOW that we have studied those "relations which our space itself bears within it" we shall return to the questions: But what in reality do the dimensions of space represents—and why are there three of them? The fact that it is impossible to define three-dimensionality mathematically must appear most strange. We are little conscious of this, and it seems to us a paradox, because we speak of the dimensions of space, but it remains a fact that mathematics does not sense the dimensions of space. The question arises, how can such a fine instrument of analysis as mathematics not feel dimensions, if they represent some real properties of space? Speaking of mathematics, it is necessary to recognize first of all, as a fundamental premise, that correspondent to each mathematical expression is always the relation of some realities. If there is no such a thing, if it be not true—then there is no mathematics. This is its principal substance, its principal contents. To express the correlations of magnitudes is the problem of mathematics. But these correlations must be between something. Instead of algebraical a, b and c it must be possible to substitute some reality. This is the ABC of all mathematics; a, b and c are credit bills; they can be good ones only if behind them there is a real something, and they can be counterfeited if behind them there is no reality whatever. "Dimensions" play here a very strange rôle. If we designate them by the algebraic symbols a, b and c, they have the character of counterfeit credit bills. For this a, b and c it is impossible to substitute any real magnitudes which are capable of expressing the correlations of dimensions. Usually dimensions are represented by powers: the first, the second, the third; that is, if a line is called a, then a square, the sides of which are equal to this line, is called a2, and a cube, the face of which is equal to this square, is called a3. This among other things gave Hinton the foundation on which he constructed his theory of tesseracts, four-dimensional solids—a4. But this is pure fantasy. First of all, because the representation of "dimensions" by powers is entirely conditional. It is possible to represent all powers on a line. For example, take the segment of a line equal to five millimetres; then a segment equal to twenty-five millimetres will be the square of it, i.e., a2 and a segment of one hundred and twenty-five millimetres will be the cube—a3. How shall we understand that mathematics does not feel dimensions—that it is impossible to express mathematically the difference between dimensions? It is possible to understand and explain it by one thing only—namely, that this difference does not exist. We really know that all three dimensions are in substance identical, that it is possible to regard each of the three dimensions either as following the sequence, the first, the second, the third, or the other way about. This alone proves that dimensions are not mathematical magnitudes. All the real properties of a thing can be expressed mathematically as quantities, i.e., numbers, showing the relation of these properties to other properties. But in the matter of dimensions it is as if mathematics sees more than we do, or farther than we do, through some boundaries which arrest us but not it—and sees that no realities whatever correspond to our concepts of dimensions. If the three dimensions really corresponded to three powers, then we should have the right to say that only these three powers refer to geometry, and that all the other higher powers, beginning with the fourth, lie beyond geometry. But even this is denied us. The representation of dimensions by powers is perfectly arbitrary. More accurately, geometry, from the standpoint of mathematics, is an artificial system for the solving of problems based on conditional data, deduced, probably, from the properties of our psyche. The system of investigation of "higher space" Hinton calls metageometry, and with metageometry he connects the names of Lobachevsky, Gauss, and other investigators of non-Euclidian geometry. We shall now consider in what relation the questions touched upon by us stand to the theories of these scientists. Hinton deduces his ideas from Kant and Lobachevsky. Others, on the contrary, place Kant's ideas in opposition to those of Lobachevsky. Thus Roberto Bonola, in Non-Euclidian Geometry, declares that Lobachevsky's conception of space is contrary to that of Kant. He says: The Kantian doctrine considered space as a subjective intuition, a necessary presupposition of every experience. Lobachevsky's doctrine was rather allied to sensualism and the current empiricism, and compelled geometry to take its place again among the experienced sciences. 1 Which of these views is true, and in what relation do Lobachevsky's ideas stand to our problem? The correct answer to this question is: in no relation. Non-Euclidian geometry is not metageometry, and non-Euclidian geometry stands in the same relation to metageometry as Euclidian geometry itself. The results of non-Euclidian geometry, which have submitted the fundamental axioms of Euclid to a revaluation, and which have found the most complete expression in the works of Bolyai, Gauss, and Lobachevsky, are embraced in the formula: The axioms of a given geometry express the properties of a given space. Thus geometry on the plane accepts all three Euclidian axioms, i.e.: 1. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. 2. Any figure may be transferred into another position without changing its properties. 3. Parallel lines do not meet. (This last axiom is formulated differently by Euclid.) In geometry on a sphere, or on a concave surface the first two axioms alone are true, because the meridians which are separated at the equator meet at the poles. In geometry on the surface of irregular curvatures only the first axiom is true—the second, regarding the transference of figures, is impossible because the figure taken in one part of an irregular surface can change when transferred into another place. Also, the sum of the angles of a triangle can be either more or less than two right angles. Therefore, axioms express the difference of properties of various kinds of surfaces. A geometrical axiom is a law of given surface. But what is a surface? Lobachevsky's merit consists in that he found it necessary to revise the fundamental concepts of geometry. But he never went so far as to revalue these concepts from Kant's standpoint. At the same time he is in no sense contradictory to Kant. A surface in the mind of Lobachevsky, as a geometrician, was only a means for the generalization of certain properties on which this or that geometrical system was constructed, or the generalization of the properties of certain given lines. About the reality or the unreality of a surface, he probably never thought. Thus on the one hand, Bonola, who ascribed to Lobachevsky views opposite to Kant, and their nearness to "sensualism" and "current empiricism," is quite wrong, while on the other hand, it is not impossible to conceive that Hinton entirely subjectively ascribes to Gauss and Lobachevsky their inauguration of a new era in philosophy. Non-Euclidian geometry, including that of Lobachevsky, has no relation to metageometry whatever. Lobachevsky does not go outside of the three-dimensional sphere. Metageometry regards the three-dimensional sphere as a section of higher space. Among mathematicians, Riemann, who understood the relation of time to space, was nearest of all to this idea. The point, of three-dimensional space, is a section of a meta-geometrical line. It is impossible to generalize on any surface whatever the lines considered in metageometry. Perhaps this last is the most important for the definition of the difference between geometries (Euclidian and non-Euclidian and metageometry). It is impossible to regard metageometrical lines as distances between points in our space, and it is impossible to represent them as forming any figures in our space. The consideration of the possible properties of lines lying out of our space, the relation of these lines and their angles to the lines, angles, surfaces and solids of our geometry, forms the subject of metageometry. The investigators of non-Euclidian geometry could not bring themselves to reject the consideration of surfaces. There is something almost tragic in this. See what surfaces Beltrami invented in his investigations of non-Euclidian geometry—one of his surfaces resembles the surface of a ventilator, another, the inner surface of a funnel. But he could not decide to reject the surface, to cast it aside once and for all, to imagine that the line can be independent of the surface, i.e., a series of lines which are parallel or nearly parallel cannot be generalized on any surface, or even in three-dimensional space. And because of this, both he and many other geometers, developing non-Euclidian geometry, could not transcend the three-dimensional world. Mechanics recognizes the line in time, i.e., such a line as it is impossible by any means to imagine upon the surface, or as the distance between two points of space. This line is taken into consideration in the calculations pertaining to machines. But geometry never touched this line, and dealt always with its sections only. Now it is possible to return to the question: what is space? and to discover if the answer to this question has been found. The answer would be the exact definition and explanation of the three-dimensionality of space as a property of the world. But this is not the answer. The three-dimensionality of space as an objective phenomenon remains just as enigmatical and inconceivable as before. In relation to three-dimensionality it is necessary: Either to accept it as a thing given, and to add this to the two data which we established in the beginning. Or to recognize the fallacy of all objective methods of reasoning, and return to another method, outlined in the beginning of the book. Then, on the basis of the two fundamental data, the world and consciousness, it is necessary to establish whether three-dimensional space is a property of the world, or a property of our knowledge of the world. Beginning with Kant, who affirms that space is a property of the receptivity of the world by our consciousness, I intentionally deviated far from this idea and regarded space as a property of the world. Along with Hinton, I postulated that our space itself bears within it the relations which permit us to establish its relations to higher space, and on the foundation of this postulate I built a whole series of analogies which somewhat clarified for us the problems of space and time and their mutual co-relations, but which, as was said, did not explain anything concerning the principal question of the causes of the three-dimensionality of space. The method of analogies is, generally speaking, a rather tormenting thing. With it, you walk in a vicious circle. It helps you to elucidate certain things, and the relations of certain things, but in substance it never gives a direct answer to anything. After many and long attempts to analyze complex problems by the aid of the method of analogies, you feel the uselessness of all your efforts; you feel that you are walking alongside of a wall. Thereupon you begin to experience simply a hatred and aversion for analogies, and you find it necessary to search in the direct way which leads where you need to go. The problem of higher dimensions has usually been analyzed by the method of analogies, and only very lately has science begun to elaborate that direct method which will be shown later on. If we desire to go straight, without deviating, we shall keep strictly up to the fundamental propositions of Kant. But if we formulate Hinton's above-mentioned thought from the point of view of these propositions, it will be as follows: We bear within ourselves the conditions of our space, and therefore within ourselves we shall find the conditions which will permit us to establish correlations between our space and higher space. In other words, we shall find the conditions of the three-dimensionality of the world in our psyche, in our receptive apparatus—and shall find exactly there the conditions of the possibility of the higher dimensional world. Propounding the problem in this way, we put ourselves upon the direct path, and we shall receive an answer to our question, what is space and its three-dimensionality? How may we approach the solution of this problem? Plainly, by studying our consciousness and its properties. We shall free ourselves from all analogies, and shall enter upon the correct and direct path toward the solution of the fundamental question about the objectivity or subjectivity of space, if we shall decide to study the psychical forms by which we perceive the world, and to discover if there does not exist a correspondence between them and the three-dimensionality of the world—that is, if the three-dimensional extension of space, with its properties, does not result from properties of the psyche which are known to us. 75:1 Roberto Bonola, "Non-Euclidian Geometry." The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, 1912, pp. 92, 93.

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Let's start with a questions: to eat or be eaten - which would you rather do? The topic is diets and the things animals eat, whether it’s vegetables, fruit, birds’ eggs or meat. There are two groups of critters out and about; predators and prey, both with clever escape routes. Because a predator to one, is a prey for another and the food web is complex, as you’ll discover. So, decide wisely which one you’d rather be,neither lifestyle is all that easy.The positives and negatives can be hard to discern, but the links below will help you learn that it's health and security for which animals strive, with only the strongest individuals who survive. Find out about Predators Find out about Prey

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|Arc-Fault Circuit Protection||| Print || Arc-Fault Circuit Protection An arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) is a safety device for homes that provides protection from electric fires, which are twice as deadly as other home fires. Electricity can leak out of damaged and deteriorating wires and start a fire behind walls. An AFCI detects irregular flows in electricity, and shuts electricity off if there is a problem. Electric fires cause more damage than other fires. Fortunately, many electric fires are preventable. The cost of installing AFCIs is directly related to the size of the house and the number of circuits installed. Each AFCI typically costs about $30 to $35.You probably have a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector and locks on the door. Think of an AFCI as another important and necessary gadget to keep your home safe. A qualified electrician can install an AFCI, and inspect the safety of your home’s electrical system.

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"Too much heat is not safe for anyone and is even riskier if a person is older or has health problems," explained Family Practice physician Karl Getzinger, M.D. "The elderly suffer from heat related illnesses in disproportionately high numbers. Their sense of hot or cold can change with age, along with their ability to sweat and cool the body through evaporation. "The body is always working to keep a balance between how much heat it makes and how much it loses. People suffer heat-related illness when the body's temperature control system is overloaded. The body normally cools itself by sweating. However, under some conditions, a person's body temperature rises very rapidly and may damage the brain or other vital organs. "Several factors affect the body's ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather. When the humidity is high, sweat will not evaporate as quickly, which prevents the body from releasing heat as quickly. Other conditions that can limit the ability to regulate body temperature include being very young or old, obesity, fever, dehydration, poor circulation, sunburn, prescription drug use or alcohol use." Being hot for too long can cause many heat-related illnesses, all grouped under the name hyperthermia. "Heat edema is a swelling in the ankles and feet when a person gets hot," remarked Dr. Getzinger. "Heat cramps are the painful tightening of muscles in the stomach area, arms, or legs. While the body's temperature and pulse usually remain normal during heat cramps, the skin may feel moist and cool. "Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather. It can occur at any age, but is most common in young children. Heat rash looks like a red cluster of pimples or small blisters. It is most likely to occur on the neck and upper chest, in the groin, under the breasts, and in elbow creases." Heat syncope is a sudden dizziness that usually occurs while performing an activity in the heat. "If you take a form of heart medication known as a beta blocker or are not used to being outdoors in hot weather, you are even more likely to feel faint when in the heat," Dr. Getzinger advised. Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness. It can develop over several days of exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids, and is a warning that the body can no longer keep itself cool. Those most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly people, those with high blood pressure and those working or exercising in a high heat environment. "With heat exhaustion, the skin may be cool and moist, while a person's pulse rate will be fast and weak," Dr. Getzinger said. "Typically, the individual may be breathing fast and shallow. He or she may also experience heavy sweating, paleness, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or fainting. If heat exhaustion is suspected, have the person drink cool, nonalcoholic beverages; cool off with a shower; dress as light as possible; and rest." Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body's temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails, and the body is unable to cool down. "When the body becomes unable to control its own temperature, it may rise to 106 degrees F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes," Dr. Getzinger cautioned. "Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency medical treatment is not provided. "Signs of heat stroke can include fainting; a body temperature over 104 degrees F; a change in behavior such as confusion, being grouchy, acting strangely or staggering; dry flushed skin; a strong rapid pulse or a slow weak pulse; not sweating despite the heat; or being in a coma." If signs of heat stroke are present, try to get the person cooled off and seek immediate medical treatment by a physician. "Many people die of heat stroke each year," stated Dr. Getzinger. "Older people living in homes or apartments without air conditioning or good airflow are at most risk. So are people who don't drink enough fluids or those with certain chronic diseases or alcoholism." Lower the Risk During hot weather, people need to drink more liquid than their thirst indicates. "Increase your fluid intake, regardless of your activity level during extremely warm conditions," Dr. Getzinger added. "This is especially true during heavy exercise in a hot environment, when a person should drink 16-32 ounces of cool fluids each hour. Avoid drinks containing caffeine or alcohol, as they make a person lose more fluids. It takes an average of 64 to 80 ounces to replace the water the body loses in 24 hours." If you live in a home or apartment without air conditioning, try to create cross-ventilation by opening windows on two sides of the building. If possible, spend at least two hours a day in an air-conditioned place, such as a shopping mall, the movies, the library, a senior center, or a friend's house, especially during the hottest periods of the day. "Lastly, don't try to exercise or do a lot of activities when it is hot," Dr. Getzinger concluded. "If you are not accustomed to working or exercising in a hot environment, start slowly and pick up the pace gradually. If exertion in the heat makes your heart pound and leaves you gasping for breath, stop the activity at once. Get into a cool area and rest, especially if you become lightheaded, confused, weak, or faint." Karl Getzinger, M.D., is a board certified Family Practice physician affiliated with Salem Community Hospital's medical staff. Appointments with Dr. Getzinger can be scheduled by calling his office at 166 Vine St. in Salem 330-337-3500; or 356 E. Lincoln Way in Lisbon, 330-424-1404.

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People experiencing substance use disorders tend to have higher rates of infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted diseases than the rest of the population. A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that substance abuse treatment facilities located in urban settings are more likely to offer on-site screening for infectious diseases than those in rural areas. The report, based on a survey of all 13,720 known substance abuse treatment facilities across the nation, shows that 42 percent of facilities offered on-site screening for infectious diseases. Facilities in the most urban settings of the nation were nearly twice as likely to offer on-site screening services as substance treatment facilities located in the most rural settings (51 percent versus 27 percent). Identifying and treating infectious diseases is important not only to the health and well-being of individual patients, but to public health. Effective treatment of infected individuals can help prevent the spread of infectious disease to other patients and the general community. Screening tests are an important element to identifying infectious diseases and linking people to needed help. The SAMHSA spotlight report, Forty-Two Percent of Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Offer On-Site Screening for Infectious Diseases , is available at http://www.samhsa.gov/data/spotlight/spot070-infectious.pdf . The spotlight report is based on SAMHSA’s 2011 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS). N-SSATS is an annual survey of all the nation’s substance abuse treatment facilities. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities.

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