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The struggle here is that the white adult male that is supposed to be in charge realizes that he lives his life to affect the indigens. As the reader analyzes this narrative. For the reader to calculate out how Orwell uses the tone of his narrative to appeal to the reader. Once the reader begins to understand how Orwell is utilizing a blunt and blunt tone towards the Burmans and imperialism. Whether it be a poster for a new movie or handling social pressures to conform, persuasion is one of the most prevalent styles of rhetorical dialogue. While persuasion is most commonly associated with in-your-face advertisements and political speeches, more subtle rhetorical artifacts, such as novels and essays, can contain equally persuasive elements. Though Orwell has personal sympathy for the Burmese, the Burmese do not respect his position or legitimize his authority. Imperialism is an institution that destroys both the oppressor and the oppressed. After all, Orwell was an open critic of imperialism during the early 20th Century. His first-hand encounters with the evils of imperialism during his time as a police officer in Burma make him a reputable source of knowledge about the conditions and reality of the British oppression of Burma. Is killing the elephant justifiable? Orwell purposefully recounts his negative experiences in Burma to reinforce his view that imperialism is harmful on both ends. The miserable attitude of the author, the strained tensions between the British and the Burmese, and the needless suffering of the elephant all serve to create the impression that imperialism is a destructive system. Because of this, Shooting an Elephant can be considered an effective piece of writing. Though it is important to consider the effectiveness of writing on an individual basis, it is perhaps more important to examine the impact of rhetoric on a societal level. Historically speaking, Shooting an Elephant… Relate back to persuasion and effectiveness of rhetorical piece. This entry was posted in Works in Progress and tagged haleyrclwip by Evelyn Bateman.Sep 24, · Andrew Browning Shooting An Elephant George Orwell George Orwell immediately begins the essay by first claiming his perspective on British Imperialism. He claims that it is evil and he is fully against the oppressors, the benjaminpohle.coming System: GC, GBA, PS2, XBOX. The essay Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell is an example of a persuasive rhetorical piece. Orwell’s publication Shooting an Elephant is an autobiographical account of Orwell’s experiences as a British police officer in Burma during a period of British imperialism. Though Orwell has personal sympathy for the Burmese, the Burmese do not respect his position or legitimize his authority. Aug 31, · Rhetorical Analysis of Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” () 31 Aug In Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” the author explores the complexities of imperialism–and how they are mutually disadvantageous to both parties involved. Rhetorical Analysis of “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell Essay Sample In George Orwell’s short narrative. “Shooting an Elephant. ” the storyteller. a immature European sub-divisional constabularies officer provinces. “that when the white adult male turns tyrant it is his ain freedom that he destroys. In George Orwell’s short narrative. “Shooting an Elephant. ” the storyteller. a immature European sub-divisional constabularies officer provinces. “that when the white adult male turns tyrant it is his ain freedom that he destroys. ” This realisation of British imperialism comes to him one twenty-four hours when he is pressured into hiting and killing a . Rhetorical Analysis of Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” Essay Sample While reading the essay Shooting an Elephant, first published in by Eric Blair under the pen name of George Orwell, one gets captivated by the intricate web of rhetoric that Blair weaves throughout the piece.

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So here is how it goes… Positive economics is facts and figures. They are statements which can be verified and tested.For example if I tell you that Burberry shares have gone up 16.2%, this is a positive statement because you can go out and test it. So the definition for positive statements you need to know is: it is a statement that is testable or verifiable. It is a fact or assertion. N.B – Remember in the example to give an example if you get a chance. On the other hand, normative analysis is based on opinions – what in economics we call “value judgements”. An easy way to recognise them is to look for words like ‘ought’ and ‘should’. For example, if I say that the company Superdry should not be in the FTSE 250 then this is a normative statement because it contains the word“should” and it is my personal opinion. It cannot be tested or verified. An example of a normative statement which does not contain should or ought is : “Some critics are calling for government intervention as rents are becoming unfairly high” – this is in fact taken from a past exam marks scheme. The reason why this is normative is because of the adjective ‘unfairly’ what is unfair to one person is not to another. The fact that someone can disagree with the statement is another easy way to tell the if the statement is normative. For the exam this definition you need to know is: It is a value judgement which cannot be tested or verified. This is a great quiz to test your knowledge for the first section of economics including positive and normative analysis:

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Colavito contends that the only critical way to read the texts is to agree with his particular set of naturalistic assumptions; and thereby apprehend a better understanding of their context — which we would argue is exactly what the Nephilim Theory does, perhaps for the first time since the days before Augustine before the fifth century. John used the logos concept as his backdrop which had been articulated by the Jewish scholar, Philo of Alexandria a contemporary of Jesus. How to Write a Summary of an Article? In science, the main goal is to understand physical realities. We would add it also provides a plausible explanation from an eschatological perspective for burgeoning UFO and alien abduction incident reports by vast sources across the globe today. Galileo could not prove it [heliocentricity] and not one of the arguments he advanced for it is accepted today as scientifically demonstrative. In the Bible, the actions of God are usually natural-appearing and occasionally miraculous-appearing. Others yet may believe that cultural revolutions, such as the Enlightenment of the 18th century, a phenomenon that spurred great change and bore great thinkers, truly altered society. Inherent Conflict and Warfare? The Galileo affair provides important lessons and applications to the Church and to science today. He saw mountains, valleys and other features indicating change on the moon. Aristarchus of Samos d. The logic of inductive inference. It is due to the Enlightenment, and specifically the works of such philosophers as John Locke, whose essays are unparalleled in wisdom, for example, that America is a democratic country. His Holiness said he could not avoid having Galileo brought to the Holy Office for the examination and I replied that my gratitude would be doubled if he would exempt Galileo from this appearance, but he answered that he could not do so. In a Catholic's view, not only is heaven perfect and inalterable, but also the Creator of heaven is infallible and unchangeable. In this cosmology, the world is hierarchically ordered; everything belongs to a natural position. Admittedly — to outsiders and unbelievers — what I propose could not sound more absurd. The truth, however, is that the conflict between science and religion is still being waged. In a letter of February 13,to the King of Tuscany, Ambassador Niccolini described the surprisingly benign treatment accorded the astronomer: In Enoch, for example, the angels specifically blame only the Nephilim when making the case for the Flood to God: Galileo used astronomy as a metaphor in epistemology. Today, in an age in which science and technology have become such dominant forces in human progress, these examples may seem like barbaric remnants of an unenlightened past. However, in regard to intensity, the human mind, which is equipped with mathematical knowledge, coincides with the divine wisdom. The logos was not God. Anyway, he now says [Colavito is now quoting LAM]: By writing in this fashion, Copernicus would have been able to deny that he himself believed in heliocentrism because he phrased it as nothing more than a hypothesis and as a result, would be able to slip past the Church's dislike of heliocentrism. Not that Colavito at this point cares about being accurate — he is simply belittling those of us who believe this account to be historically truthful]. Galileo said, during his trial inthat he did not believe what he wrote, that he let his vanity influence his words and phrasing to make him appear more intelligent to his readers but this plan failed when his readers came to the conclusion that he believed the Copernican hypothesis to be true because of his powerful phrasing. And second, have they always been and will they continue to be antagonists? For instance, even if an inquirer observes thousands of stones, trees and flowers, the inquirer could never discover physical, chemical and biological laws in the atomic level or the molecular level. His website is www. In science, the main goal is to understand natural process To such a tribunal [the Inquisition], a denunciation was made that Galileo or his disciples had asserted that God is an accident and not a substance [or] a personal being; that miracles are not miracles at all. Then, good sense estimated at their true value the accusations launched against the Church because of the Galileo affair. In this case Galileo violated the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching the heliocentric theory. Therefore, for convenience as well as clarification, I will refer to our teaching or position as the Nephilim Theory. Using yet one more analogy: In the Pope's mind, Galileo was making a caricature of him by having Simplicio say that phrase. Vatican Observatory Publications,ix. Some people may see the industrial and the technological revolutions of the past two centuries as central pillars that have helped humanity not only survive, but also advance greatly.The Galileo affair (Italian: il processo a Galileo Galilei) was a sequence of events, beginning aroundculminating with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in for his support of heliocentrism. Galileo vs. God: The Father of Modern Science on Religion, Truth, and Human Nature making an eloquent case for why blind adherence to sacred texts shouldn’t be used to disarm the validity of scientific truth. and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to. Theological conflicts between Galileo and the Catholic Church and their implications for modern disciplines which appears to contradict the literal interpretation of the Bible, Galileo's science contains certain elements that threaten the established theology of the Catholic Church. the case of Galileo could be viewed as a struggle. Galileo Galilei ( A.D.) received a broad Renaissance education. Untilwhen Galileo built his first telescope at age 46, he focused mainly on physics, not astronomy. He soon made discoveries which shook the foundations of the Aristotelian cosmos. He saw mountains, valleys and other features indicating change on the moon. Introduction. hristian apologists such as Henderson () and Birkett () argued that the conflict between Galileo and the Catholic Church is a battle between old science (Ptolemaic astronomy) and new science (Copernican astronomy), rather than a battle between science and religion. In the Galileo case, the second and third conditions were absent and, possibly, also the first condition. At best, one can make a strong case that the Catholic Church of that day was under-informed in its views on physical science .Download

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SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and State Fire Marshal Jim Walker wants to remind Oregonians to add fire safety to their cooking and holiday meal plans. “The holiday is a time to give thanks and enjoy friends and family,” said Walker. “By following basic fire-prevention tips, you can keep yourself and loved ones safe and avoid cooking-related fires.” In Oregon, cooking was the leading known cause of residential structure fires over the past five years (2013-17), causing an average of 19 percent of Oregon’s total residential structure fires, according to state fire agency data submitted to the National Fire Incident Reporting System. On average, there are 533 cooking-caused residential structure fires in Oregon per year. Statewide the range/stove was the most frequently reported equipment involved in cooking fires. Of these, 73 percent were from an electric-powered range/stove. All told, there were 10 deaths in Oregon from residential cooking fires during the past five years, or an average of two deaths per year. Cooking safety tips: - Don’t leave cooking food on your stovetop unattended, especially when frying and sautéing with oil. - While your turkey is cooking, check on it frequently. - Use a timer to monitor cooking times when simmering, baking, or roasting foods that require long cooking times. Check the stove or oven frequently. - Remember to keep items that may catch fire, like oven mitts, wooden utensils, food wrappers, and towels, at least three feet from the cooking area. - Roll up your shirt sleeves and avoid using clothing that may come in contact with open flames or other heat sources. - Don’t cook if you are drinking alcohol or using other substances that make you drowsy. - Keep children three feet or more away from all cooking areas, hot food, and liquids to avoid burns. - Keep pot and pan handles turned inward on the stove to avoid bumping them and spilling hot foods. - Heat cooking oil slowly and never leave it unattended. If you have a cooking fire: - Always keep a lid nearby to smother small grease fires. Smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner and don’t move the pan until it is completely cool. - Never pour water on a grease fire; it can splatter the grease and spread the fire. - In the event of a fire in your oven or microwave, turn the appliance off and keep the doors closed. - When in doubt, get out! Call 9-1-1 after you leave. Make sure you have smoke alarms on every level of your home, outside each sleeping area, and in every bedroom. Test smoke alarms monthly and replace them if they are 10 years old or older.

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This webinar will present the guidelines that were developed by Mental Health First Aid Australia and the University of Melbourne, with assistance from the National LGBTI Health Alliance, MindOUT project. The guidelines outline what a person needs to consider when providing mental health first aid to an LGBTIQ person. It will briefly review the literature on… Continue reading MindOUT Webinar: Considerations When Proving Mental Health First Aid to an LGBTIQ Person » Knowledge Hub category: Mental health Visit the MindOUT! project home page. This webinar session is aimed to develop individual practitioner and organisational capacity to understand and provide inclusive psychosocial services to their clients with intersex variations. Participants will learn about the range of different topics including: Intersex: bodily variations, sexuality and gender identities Intersectionality of intersex issues Experiences and impacts of isolation, stigma and discrimination Human Rights implications Disclosure and self-awareness Inclusive language Current… Continue reading MindOUT Webinar: Understanding Intersex » Regrettably, a significant body of research supports the view that LGBTIQ individuals have a higher per capita level of risk of mental illness, self-harm and suicide. For a variety of factors their life journey can be much more difficult to navigate. LGBTIQ individuals from multicultural, multi-faith and multi-lingual backgrounds often face additional challenges around coming… Continue reading MindOUT Webinar: LGBTI People from Culturally and Lingistically Diverse Backgrounds » Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental lifelong condition that is characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. The sexual profile of individuals with ASD suggests a higher prevalence of non-heterosexuality and gender-fluidity. Research findings indicate that mental health concerns are amplified for autistic individuals who… Continue reading MindOUT Webinar: Sexuality and Gender Diversity in Autism Spectrum Disorder » LGBTI people have specific experiences when it comes to alcohol and drug use and mental health. This webinar will discuss the prevalence of alcohol and drug use amongst LGBTI communities and the vulnerabilities and risk factors leading to problematic use. This webinar will look closely at methamphetamine use among men who have sex with other… Continue reading MindOUT Webinar: LGBTI People Alcohol and Drugs, and Mental Health » Presenter: Dr Dan Parker Although most Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) Australians live healthy and happy lives, research has demonstrated that a disproportionate number experience poorer mental health outcomes and have higher risk of suicidal behaviours than their peers. These health outcomes are directly related to experiences of stigma, prejudice, discrimination and abuse on the basis of… Continue reading Snapshot of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Statistics for LGBTI People » The MindOUT! Youth Project brought together ten LGBT specialist youth services from around Australia to document and celebrate the amazing work they are already doing with LGBT young people. This project to date, has documented practice based evidence for best practice care and support when working with these populations. We would like to take the… Continue reading MindOUT Youth Project Report » Beyondblue has a range of resources for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people on the topic of depression and anxiety. When something seems wrong and you feel like the blues are taking over your world, you may be experiencing depression. Losing your sense of joy, feeling run down and undertaking risky behaviours are all signs the… Continue reading Beyondblue: Resources for LGBTI People » The majority of lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people lead happy, healthy, fulfilling lives. However, studies have found that non-heterosexual people face up to twice as much abuse or violence (including physical, mental, sexual or emotional) than their heterosexual counterparts. This prejudice and discrimination adds an additional layer of risk on top of… Continue reading Beyondblue Factsheet: Depression and Anxiety in GLBTI People » A report on the health and wellbeing of transgender people in Australia and New Zealand. The third national study on the health and wellbeing of same sex attracted and gender questioning young people.

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【明報專訊】Andy Warhol was one of the twentieth century's most iconic artists, rising to fame in the 1950s, until his death in 1987. He was a proponent of pop art, which took inspiration from advertising images, and the culture of celebrity. Two of his most famous paintings are of Marilyn Monroe, and Campbell Soup tins. He was recognised as much more than just a painter, also known for his sculpture, experimental films, performance art, and commentary on culture in the 1960s, and coining the phrase "15 minutes of fame". In so doing he stepped out of the art world and into the mainstream celebrity limelight.

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We all know how important family life is. Unfortunately, or not we understand it in different stages of our life may be earlier or late. But did you ever think how important you are to your parents or grandparents? According to the recent studies having a close relationship with them enhance their mental and physical wellbeing. According to the research’s death or disability are not just results of physical health but it can be a mental factor as well such as loneliness. Loneliness is lacking a loyal connection with your loved ones. The articles “DoYouRemember” states that, “Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that loneliness plays a large role in the decline so often associated with old age. The study followed 1,600 adults, with an average age of 71 — despite controlling for socioeconomic status and health, the lonely consistently held higher mortality rates. Nearly 23% of lonely participants died within six years of the study, as opposed to only 14% of those that reported adequate companionship.” And according to Scary Mommy, “Another study, from the Public Library of Science, reported that elderly people who don’t have enough social interaction are twice as likely to die prematurely. To put it in perspective, the increased mortality risk is comparable to the death risk of smoking. Loneliness is approximately twice as dangerous as obesity.” Moreover, the children who had secure and faithful relationships with their parents feel less isolated, have a good behavior in controlling language and are more responsive than the children who have insecure relationships with their parents. So, allocate more time share your love and affection towards your parents. This will help them to reduce stress and irritation which will lead to a healthy lifestyle. These will remain as wonderful memories in your life and add more value to your life.

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Chapter 17: “The Cream of Things,” (page 271 in hardback) “Louisa continued to believe Dr. Kane’s 1870 diagnosis, that mercury poisoning from calomel lay at the root of her ills. That diagnosis went unchallenged until 2001, when Drs. Norbert Hirschhorn and Ian Greaves, working with another colleague on a paper about the effects of Abraham Lincoln’s mercury-based “blue pills,” learned that Louisa Alcott was believed to have died of mercury poisoning. Could they confirm that diagnosis? Greaves and Hirschhorn set out to be Louisa’s doctors, compiling a medical history from her writings and reports by others. They noted her excellent health and exceptional vigor before contracting typhoid pneumonia, her treatment with mercury, her recovery, and the symptoms and debility that began about three and a half years later. “Hirschhorn and Greaves classified Louisa’s symptoms as headaches (“neuralgia”), joint pain and swelling (“bunches on the leg”), and a welter of gastrointestinal ills: “loss of appetite, nausea, heartburn,” also “eructation” (belching) and stomach discomfort. Louisa’s intestinal problems overshadowed the others and pointed to gastro-esophageal reflux disease, or GERD. Louisa also complained of laryngitis and bronchitis; GERD is a known cause of those symptoms. Hirschhorn and Greaves found that mercury poisoning was not a plausible explanation for Louisa’s symptoms. She did not have the trembling hands or “extreme sensitivity to slights, [and] irrational outbursts of rage” that were known effects of mercury poisoning. Louisa had a tem- per, but however quick and at times unkind, it always had a cause and a rational target. “The pattern of Louisa’s poor health over many years also refuted the mercury poisoning thesis. Mercury causes symptoms only as long as it is taken, and Greaves and Hirschhorn found no evidence that Louisa took mercury after she left the Georgetown hospital. The medical profession knew that mercury was dangerous and ineffective. That knowledge had supported Lincoln’s decision to discontinue mercury when he became president. Dr. Kane had been correct about the danger of mercury, but his belief that it never left the body and that the painful “bunches” on Louisa’s leg were from dormant mercury was unfounded. Louisa’s body would have been free of mercury in a year after treatment, at most, Hirschhorn and Greaves maintain. “What, then, was causing Louisa Alcott’s many distressing symptoms? Drs. Hirschhorn and Greaves looked at two theories. Either Louisa suffered from several seemingly unrelated chronic illnesses, or, more likely, all could be explained by one multisystemic disease. If so, which one? Without being able to conduct modern diagnostic tests, Greaves and Hirschhorn wrote, “we can only recall the old professor’s teaching: ‘Listen to the patient. She is telling you the diagnosis.’ ” Louisa was “telling” them that she had an autoimmune disease. Exposure to mercury had the potential to trigger an autoimmune response but would not cause the symptoms per se. An autoimmune disease such as syphilis or lupus, on the other hand, could attack Louisa in exactly the miserable ways she described. Discarding syphilis as less probable, the doctors posited lupus as the likely candidate. “Without Louisa their theory could not be proved, and lupus can be difficult to diagnose in any case. But the doctors came very close to clinching the case when Dr. Hirschhorn found a visual clue that had been hiding in plain sight for over a century. As in the best detective fiction, the clue was in the portrait—the only painting of Louisa—by the acclaimed artist George Healy. Louisa had enjoyed sitting for Healy when she came to Rome in 1870 after a run of sunny days in northern Italy. She was less pleased with the portrait, which she described in Jo’s Boys as notable for the “curious effect of light upon the end of the nose and cheeks as red as the chair she sat in.” She hung it behind a door. Harriet had also mentioned in a comment on the previous post that the article could possibly be obtained for free through your public library. It’s a surprisingly easy read considering that it’s for a medical journal. Check it out!

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Crescent ♍ Virgo Moon phase on 4 December 2042 Thursday is Last Quarter, 22 days old Moon is in Virgo.Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin Last Quarter is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 49% and getting smaller. The 22 days old Moon is in ♍ Virgo. * The exact date and time of this Last Quarter phase is on 4 December 2042 at 09:19 UTC. Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon. It is visible to the south in the morning. Moon is passing about ∠14° of ♍ Virgo tropical zodiac sector. Lunar disc appears visually 7.9% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1799" and ∠1947". Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon of December 2042 after 22 days on 26 December 2042 at 17:43. There is low ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at big angle, so their combined tidal force is weak. The Moon is 22 days old. Earth's natural satellite is moving through the last part of current synodic month. This is lunation 530 of Meeus index or 1483 from Brown series. Length of current 530 lunation is 29 days, 18 hours and 1 minute. It is 1 hour and 37 minutes longer than next lunation 531 length. Length of current synodic month is 5 hours and 17 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 1 hour and 46 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest. This lunation true anomaly is ∠201.7°. At the beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠232°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep decreasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of perigee (∠0° or ∠360°). 8 days after point of perigee on 25 November 2042 at 22:40 in ♉ Taurus. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 3 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 8 December 2042 at 00:37 in ♏ Scorpio. Moon is 398 418 km (247 565 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 3 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 405 435 km (251 926 mi). 10 days after its ascending node on 24 November 2042 at 01:03 in ♈ Aries, the Moon is following the northern part of its orbit for the next 2 days, until it will cross the ecliptic from North to South in descending node on 7 December 2042 at 05:37 in ♎ Libra. 10 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♈ Aries, the Moon is moving from the beginning to the first part of it. 5 days after previous North standstill on 29 November 2042 at 03:21 in ♋ Cancer, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠28.344°. Next 9 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-28.294° in the next southern standstill on 13 December 2042 at 13:29 in ♐ Sagittarius. After 8 days on 12 December 2042 at 14:29 in ♐ Sagittarius, the Moon will be in New Moon geocentric conjunction with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Moon-Earth syzygy.

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To understand precision and recall, it is important to know about - False positives(FP) : mail was NOT a SPAM but it WAS LABELLED as spam - False negatives(FN): mail WAS a SPAM but was NOT LABELLED as spam - True positives(TP): mail WAS a SPAM and also LABELLED as spam - True negatives(TN): mail was NOT a SPAM and also LABELLED as NOT a SPAM - Precision is defined as (TP / TP + FP) and Recall = (TP / (TP + FN)). - Increasing precision involves decreasing FP and increasing recall means decreasing FN. This often leads to precision-recall tradeoff - Ideally, users don’t want to miss the important mails, hence decreasing FP is priority and thus, care more for precision. Here are more evaluation metrics used in machine learning, including classification tasks such as spam filtering.

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Coming to you LIVE from the 3rd annual RNA Symposium: Advancing RNA Bioscience into Medicine. Follow us on Twitter or the tag #umichrna! Live blogger: Sarah Kearns. Editor: Whit Froehlich. Neurodegenerative diseases and genetic conditions lack effective treatments. Patients with disorders like Huntington’s disease (HD) and congenital amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) thus have unmet medical needs. To begin to get to the heart of these disorders, researchers like Dr. Anastasia Khvorova, a professor at UMass Medical School, are looking for strategies to target RNA in order to develop treatments. These strategies involve oligonucleotides – small DNA molecules that bind to mRNAs – that can prevent the mRNA from producing that encoded protein. Oligonucleotides by themselves have little clinical relevance because they target their specific mRNA sequences wherever they arise in the body. For diseases that mainly affect certain areas, localization is required for effective treatments. Appending chemical additions or modifications to the backbone of the oligonucleotides allows them to have appropriate distribution and specificity for their target. Therapeutic oligonucleotides could be the sequence-specific drugs certain genetically determines disorders like HD or congenital ALS need for treatment, and some are in clinical trials. Dr. Khvorova is developing novel oligonucleotide treatments that are safe, durable, and can be widely delivered to the brain and spinal cord. She is uniquely capable of doing this research and making these oligonucleotides as the founder of the UMass Nucleic Acid Chemistry Core. This is the only nonprofit facility in North America capable of synthesis of modified oligonucleotide in the quantity needed to perform these experiments. She’s also the named inventor on over 150 patents and 200 patent applications, and is defining the field of RNA drug design and development. Returning to smaller forms of RNA, its unique chemical structure allows it to be a modifiable chemical backbone for drug development. “There is enormous excitement when something is realized” she claims, showing a slide of the Technology Hype Curve showing the market size (and optimism) of using siRNA in clinical contexts. The hype comes from the concept that drugs, instead of being a daily pill, could be administered only once a year as an injectable RNA. What Dr. Khvorova wants to understand is how to effectively use RNA as a treatment and direct its localization to have the desired minimally invasive therapeutics. “Chemistry matters,” she insists, showing the many different types of modifications that are necessary for the stabilization of siRNA. The ribose portion of siRNA in particular needs to be modified so it does not become degraded within the cell. Terminal phosphates, too, will be cleaved instantaneously without chemical protection, where the phosphate is necessary for proper recognition. Modified siRNAs, compared to those that are unmodified, have significantly more stability and long-term tissue retention. Trying to address pharmacokinetic properties of the siRNA therapeutic, they turn to co-administering with lipids. Constructing a library of lipophilic conjugates and administering these conjugates with the modified siRNA therapeutics, they found there is better distribution across the body in a mouse model. Looking at two different targets, Huntingtin and cyclophilin B, there is targeted, functional, and selective delivery. This is not contradictory because, while the biologic becomes widely distributed in the body, it is only functional in a certain tissue type where there is aberrant pathophysiology. One focus is preeclampsia (PE), the leading cause of premature births, which is caused by oversecretion by the placenta factor sFlt-1; because it has a significant unmet medical need. Levels of sFLT1 mRNA are significantly higher in the placenta than in any other tissue type allowing for an siRNA therapeutic to be a viable option. There are two isoforms of sFlt-1, a short and long construct, where the short form is only found in the placenta and the long form in the mother’s liver and kidney. Using the facility of the UMass Nucleic Acid Core, they are able to synthesize and validate the siRNAs for their studies. They find that there is selective sFtl-1 downregulation that does alleviate the hypertension associated with preeclampsia. Testing siRNA delivery on CNS-related disorders yielded a surprising result. She recounts excitedly alerting her collaborator after the first experiment: “Look, a pink brain!” Dr. Khvorova shows in this pink-colored brain that the siRNA was able to cross the blood-brain barrier, a significant challenge in drug development. Specifically targeting Huntington’s Disease in sheep, she showed that there was sustained modulation of Huntingtin protein expression. With only 2ng of drug per mg of tissue, there can be sustained action and effectiveness of the therapeutic. Doing the same test in non-human primates, she finishes her talk by showing a very pink brain, with the hope that the siRNA therapy could soon be used in human clinical trials to treat Huntington’s Disease.

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WERNER SALES passed 1,000 but De Dion was the world’s biggest manufacturer of vehicle engines, producing 3,200 by year’s end with power outputs up to 2¾hp. In time De Dion engines would propel up to 150 makes of car, trike and motorcycle. A complete De Dion trike weighed in at about 200lb; yours for £50. FOLLOWING A TRIP TO PARIS to buy a motor cycle, a British pioneer rider wrote: “The De Dion Bouton firm only recommend motor bicycles to be ridden in fine weather, as they consider it dangerous to ride on wet surfaces or through traffic…It is all right when you are riding straight ahead, with both wheels in the same straight line, but in turning corners, or even to avoid anything on the road, it is extremely dangerous, as it stands to reason that any wheel driven by motive power has a strong tendency to skid and bring down the maihine…”It is simply courting danger to cross wet places and damp spots on the road…I can only give them the advice my French friends gave me, ‘Mefiez voius, c’est tres dangereuse’ (Take care, it is very dangerous).” IN 1893 CHARLES H Metz set up the Waltham Manufacturing Co in Massachusetts to make Orient bicycles; by 1898 he was running a racing team and, to help train his cyclists, he ordered built a tandem pacer with the pilot sitting up front and the passenger operating a French-made Aster copy of the DeDion-Bouton engine (Aster became a leading supplier, producing a range of stationary engines as well as powering bikes, trikes, cars, boats and in due course, aircraft). The tandem was a great success, and before long Metz was experimenting with a heavy-duty version of the Orient bicycle powered by an Aster/DeDion-Bouton engine. In 1900 he launched the Orient-Aster motor cycle; in adverts he coined the name ‘motocycle’. HARD ON ITS heels came the Columbia, built by Pope using the company’s own IOE single in one of its bicycle frames. And the Holley bothers, Earl and George, set up the Holley Motor Company, making IOE motorcycle engines in Bradford, PA; sales were disappointing so they began to make and sell complete motorcycles. Rather than use bicycle frames Earl and George built their frames from scratch, mounting the engine low in place of the pedals. REX, CHATER-LEA and OK (later OK-Supreme, OK?) debuted; there were now about 50 British marques. S DE JONG & CO OF Antwerp fitted its Minerva bicycles with 172cc/¾hp ZL clip-on engines. They were a great success so Minerva copied the ZL engines and made its own: it also sold them to other bicycle manufacturers AMERICAN FIRMS made 1,681 steam, 1,575 electric and 936 petrol cars. IN CLECKHEATON, WEST Yorks, Joah Carver Phelon and his nephew Harry Rayner used a (1¾hp) De Dion in their Phelon & Rayner motor cycles but they patented the use of a sloping engine to serve as the downtube of an adapted bicycle frame. They also pioneered chain drive but could not afford to go into production so the design was licensed to Humber, which would produce it as the Humber Beeston until 1907. The sloper design would be in production for more than six decades. A US REPORT estimated there were about 10,000 automobiles on European roads owned by 7,000 enthusiasts—5,600 of them in France, which boasted 619 vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers, 1,095 repair shops and 3,939 stockists. By way of contrast, the report concluded: “If we put the number of automobiles in this country at 700 it will probably be an exaggeration. The number of makers actually at work or organizing is probably no more than 100.” SINGER, BEST KNOWN for sewing machines, went into the motorcycle business by snapping up Coventry-based Perks and Birch which had developed a ‘motor-wheel’. This comprised an engine built into an aluminium wheel and featuring a surface carb and low-tension mag. ENTREPRENEUR AND diplomat Emil Jellineck was a major distributor for Daimler and Maybach. He sponsored and specified a revolutionary sports car to be named after his daughter, Mercedes. So if she’d had a different name yuppies might still be boasting about their Brunhildes or Ermintrudes. Here’s another whimsy: 40 years later Hitler was swanning about in a huge armoured Merc. You have to wonder if he knew Emil Jellineck’s dad was a rabbi—Adolph’s favourite motor was named after a Jewish princess. Glover Bros of Coventry built a tidy two-wheels-at-the-front trike. The firm made its own engine, which it mounted over the front axle; the trike boasted a spring frame, Ackerman steering, belt drive, drip-feed lubrication, coil ingnition and a valve-lifter controlled from the handlebar. THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB (the ‘Royal’ comes later) staged a 1,000-mile reliability trial. Motor cycles were still in the experimental stage with only a few imported examples in the country. Two brave riders on front-wheel drive Werners entered but were not among the 65 starters. However the cars were joined by a 3hp Ariel quad; a 2¼hp Ariel trike with Whippet trailer (a lady’s bicycle frame without the front fork but with the rear wheel and pedalling gear to help on the hills); another Ariel trike sans trailer; a 2¼hp MMC trike; and a 2¾hp Simms motor wheel (a tricycle with two wheels in front, one behind, front driving, rear steering). They left Hyde Park on 23 April, ending Day 1 at Bristol. Day 2, on show in in Bristol. Day 3, Bristol to Birmingham via Cheltenham where the vehicles were displayed. Day 4, on show in Birmingham; Day 5, Birmingham to Manchester via Matlock and some serious hills (during which AJ Wilson, with a little LPA on his Ariel trike, beat a Panhard driven by the Hon CS Rolls which was then the fastest vehicle in England). Day 6, on show in Manchester. Day 7 was a Sunday which in those days really was a day of rest. Day 8, Manchester to Kendal with hill climbing on Shap Fell. Day 9, Kendal to Carlisle with hill climbing on Dunmail Raise. Day 10, Carlisle to Edinburgh. Day 11, on show in Edinburgh. Day 12, Edinburgh to Newcastle upon Tyne (in the teeth of a gale along the Berwickshire coast). Day 13, on show in Newcastle. Day 14 was a Sunday. Day 15, Newcastle to Leeds via York where the vehicles were displayed. Day 16, on show in Leeds. Day 17, Leeds to Sheffield via Harrogate and Bradford where the vehicles were displayed. Day 18, on show in Sheffield. Day 19, Sheffield to Nottingham (but some of the vehicles diverted to Welbeck for a speed trial in which the Ariel and trailer came third with the Century tandem sixth). Day 20, Nottingham to Marble Arch via Northampton (a run of 124 miles). There was also a champagne breakfast hosted by Viscount Northcliffe at Calcot Park, Reading; a dinner at the Birmingham Conservative Club hosted by Alfred Bird, MP; and other social events at Manchester and Edinburgh.The 1,000 Mile Tour was designed to publicise motoring and in that it succeeded. Thousands of spectators lined the route; most of them seeing motorised vehicles for the first time. The towns they passed through were packed, to the extent the vehicles had trouble passing through them. The show days were essential for running repairs. The survivors in the (almost) motor cycle class were the Ariel quad, the Ariel trike and trailer, the Century tandem, the Empress trike and the Enfield quad. CS Rolls won the speed trial in his 12hp Panhard at 37.63mph which was officially the fastest vehicle in England— a De Dion-Ariel trike and trailer came fourth at 29.45mph. And on Birkhill, acording to Autocar, “the Ariel quadricycle, Ariel tricycle with trailer, Enfield quadricycle, and Mr Rolls’s Panhard achieved the same result.” So while solos were not yet up to such a demanding event, the trikes took on the best automobiles and gave a taste of triumphs yet to come. MMC TRIKES SUBSEQUENTLY proved their worth in a more demanding environment when a detatchment went to South Africa to do their bit in the Second Boer War. THERE WERE TWO major cycle shows, the National at the Crystal Palace and the Stanley at the Agricultural Hall, Islington. They were run simultaneously; both, according to the Autocar, featured “exhibits of autocars, motor cycles, fittings, and accessories”. At the Stanley, for example, Alfred Dunhill’s exhibit included “a new waterproof gauntlet glove lined with wool. He has brought this out in response to numerous enquiries for a glove of this description, and we, from personal use, can speak of it as most comfortable, as it gives a maximum of protection from damp and cold with a minimum of clumsiness. One of the most interesting Dunhill novelties consists in some new puncture-repairing patches. These are made simply of two layers of pure rubber in such a way as to prevent curling. Petrol is the only thing required in using them, and when applied they not only stick to the air tube, but fill up the punctures as well. They should do much to dispel tyre troubles…The Motor Clothing Co will show some motor garments in which a specialty is made of extra thicknesses of cloth and leather over the chest. Also similar garments for ladies’ wear, and some very smart lines in liveries for motor servants…Brown Bros will show the Brown motor tricycles and quadricycles, the Brown-Whitney steam carriage, motorcycle frames and fittings, motors, repair parts and an immense varied collection of motor accessories…The Enfield Cycle Co will have their tricycles and quadricycles with several recent improvements added…In addition to motor eye-shields, new pattern horns, a new patent induction coil, and a new carburetter for De Dion tricycles, SW Gamage will exhibit ear-guards, foot-muffs, sparking plugs, acetylene, oil, and candle lamps, together with a large assortment of specialties in autocarist garments. A particular object of interest will be the chauffeur’s “Combination” garment, which will do equal duty as a rug or overalls…Hoare and Sons will show the special ‘Autocoat’ and ‘Autosuit’ for those who follow automobilism. We can vouch for their being suitable in every way for the purpose for which they are built. The garments are absolutely wind and rain proof, no matter the force of the gale or the downpour, and are stylishly made withal in the best material…Humber will have quite a number of machines from motor tricycles and quadricycles upwards…C Lohmann will have the Perfecta acetylene lamps made in large sizes for motor cycles, motor cars, and carriages…The Motor Carriage Supply Co will show the new 3½hp Simms voiturette fitted with the Simms-Bosch magneto-ignition…Roots and Venables will have the only machine in either show burning ordinary paraffin…Swain Patents Syndicate will show a very interesting motor cycle tyre. It has neither wires nor thickened edges, and is held on the rim by the patented method in which the lining is woven…Benton and Stone, Bracebridge Street, Birmingham. The exhibitors are actual manufacturers of inflators, reservoir tanks, and kindred articles, and they make a good show of them. The motor cycle reservoirs are constructed with steel barrels and steel bands, and the swivel fastenings are made specially strong…Bowden’s Patents’ Syndicate. The clever Bowden mechanism has hitherto been applied principally to cycle brakes, but the time is doubtless not far distant when the general engineer will wonder how ever he got on without it. The mechanism is already being made in various strengths for motor work, and is covered first with a waterproof material and then with a German silver wire. A simple exhaust lifter is introduced for use on motor cycles. A lever pivoted at one end engages with the cotter in the valve stem, and is operated by the Bowden cord from a small lever on the handlebar. It can be readily fitted by the rider without any drilling or like operations. The British and Foreign Electrical Vehice Co are exhibiting the ‘Powerful’ car which took part in the recent trials and the run to Southsea, making a very good impression on those who saw it. It is an immense vehicle, and as at present constructed only carries two passengers, which seems rather a small result for two and a half tons of mechanism, but it is really only an experimental vehicle…Benetfink & Co has now extended its motor department to the length of motor cycles, and it has made a most excellent selection in the Ariel. We can only emphasise our opinion that the Ariel motor cycle is second to none in the world…W Canning & Co is showing a combined motor and dynamo arranged on one shaft and forming a generator for charging accumulators…It can be made entirely automatic, so that when the accumulators are charged the current is cut off. The starter is provided with a “no load” release, so that there is no danger of injuring the motor when switching on the current…The Churchbank Cycle Co. Some wooden wheels are shown fitted with Gare’s tyre. This consists of an iron tube with an eccentric hole laid in a bed of rubber. The hole is filled with rope. The tyre is said to be both silent and wear resisting…The Crypto Works. A sample of the Lawson motor bicycle is exhibited. The motor proper is mounted on one side of the front wheel, being balanced by the flywheel, which is arranged on the other side of the wheel. A strutted fork is employed, and the ring post of the strut carries a tank which holds a gallon of petrol, and also a supply of lubricating oil. The motor is of one horse-power, and has incandescent ignition. The handle-bar is carried on a strong loop spring…The Enfield Cycle Co, Redditch. Three motor cycles are exhibited; the surface carburettor has given place to one of the Longuemare type, and we have no doubt that the alteration will be found a considerable improvement. [At this time a ‘motor cycle’ might have two, three or even four wheels.] AW Gamage. Some large bells are well calculated to effect the purpose of the horns in a more pleasant way. In the electric department we notice Peto and Radford’s batteries, and the Reclus incandescent sparking plug; also a clever little instrument for sorting out the poles when one gets the wiring mixed up. There are some excellent jackets and overcoats, with skin inside, outside, or in between, with and without the fur in situ. A good show, truly. Gibbs’ Auxiliary Power (Cycle) Syndicate). This is hardly a motor exhibit in the ordinary sense of the word, but the safety bicycle shown is intended at some period of its progress to be propelled by compressed air. The front wheel axle is provided with two cranks connected to pistons in oscillating cylinders with suitable connecting rods. On going downhill the cranks are set to work and air is compressed into the main tubes of the frame, which act as a reservoir. On coming to a rise the valves are reversed, causing the compressed air to drive the cranks and front wheel. A device is fitted for regulating the power at which the compressed air shall be utilised. Under ordinary circumstances a charge of air will last about half a mile. Iliffe, Sons and Sturmey. This firm have the latest issues of The Autocar and other publications of interest to the automobilist, such as ‘Motor Cycles’, ‘On an Autocar through the Length and Breadth of the Land’, ‘Horseless Vehicles’, and Lacy Hillier’s cycle and motor novel, ‘The Potterers’ Club’…Joseph Lucas. This noted lamp firm have not yet produced a special motor lamp, though they are by no means neglecting the matter. Meanwhile, they recommend their Holophote cycle lamp for use on motor cycles, as it is well calculated to stand the vibration…The Meyra Electric Co. Meyra batteries are calculated to work for some three or four hundred hours-practically a whole season. They are made throughout of British materials, and the company make a fair allowance for discharged cells in Dart payment for new ones…Powell & Hanmer. In addition to carriage lamps of the ordinary pattern some motor cycle lamps are exhibited, one pattern having the spring handle at the side and another at the back. In the latter case the red light is fitted in the back of the lamp in accordance with the legal regulations…HW Van Raden. Mr Van Raden’s woven glass accumulators are attaining a very high reputation, and have been recognised by such large users as the Post Office… Into a warp of lead wires spun glass is woven as a weft, and this forms a grid which holds the paste. The whole plate thus constructed is wrapped in an envelope of spun glass, the positive and negative plates being of identical construction, so that the current can be reversed from time to time. An exceedingly neat little dynamo is shown which may be run off a fly-wheel to keep the accumulators charged. Another battery is combined in one case with a coil, and forms practically a rotary magneto, so that with a very small expenditure of power the rider is saved from the trouble so frequently attending batteries. This device deserves very close attention, and seems one of the best solutions of the sparking difficulty.” FRENCH WATCHMAKER JEAN Constantin teamed up with a M Cabanes to design and manufacture a 1½hp (approx 250cc) engine with a spray carburettor which revved up to 2,400rpm. They duly bolted one into a bicycle frame, mounting it horizontally because Constantin believed this would minimise engine vibrations felt by the rider. Drive was by chain rather than belt; the chain could be tensioned by loosening and turning the left crankcase plate. Claimed top speed was about 28mph. Constantin’s machine was put into production by Rouanet and Co in Saint-Chinian in the South of France; it won a gold medal at the International Exhibition in Montauban. Fewer than a dozen were built, of which a few had strenthened frames and forks. Two complete machines and an engine have survived.

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One of the most incredible things about photovoltaic power is its simplicity. It is almost completely solid state, from the photovoltaic cell to the electricity delivered to the consumer. Whether the application is a solar calculator with a PV array of less than 1 W or a 100 MW grid-connected PV power generation plant, all that is required between the solar array and the load are electronic and electrical components. Compared to other sources of energy humankind has harnessed to make electricity, PV is the most scaleable and modular. Larger PV systems require more electrical bussing, fusing and wiring, but the most complex component between the solar array and the load is the electronic component that converts and processes the electricity: The Solar Inverter. In the case of grid-tied solar system, the inverter is the only piece of electronics needed between the array and the grid. But Off grid solar system: applications use an additional DC to DC converter between the array and batteries and an inverter with a built-in charger. 5 things you need to consider before choosing Solar Inverter for your home solar PV system: - How do Solar Inverters work? - Types of Solar Inverter - What size should you buy - How much should you spend for Solar Inverter - What Solar Inverter brands? First, let talk a little bit about how does it work? #1 How do Solar Inverters work? DC to AC The Power Inverter is what changes the direct current (DC) from your battery to alternating current (AC) needed by many electrical devices. If you are going to run just simple 12 volt DC (direct current) devices off your batteries, then you won’t need it. However, most of us will need to run AC equipment. See the image below to know the basic difference between DC and AC: In a wire with AC, the electricity is running in one direction and then the other thus “alternating” its direction. The smoothness with which this current flows is described by a “sine wave” where, if you were watching electrons flow from one point in the wire, they might appear to go first one way and then the other. DC electricity, on the other hand, is flat because there is no wave, no alternation between positive and negative. DC flows only in one direction. And story end! With AC, however, there is a bit more to tell. The stuff that the power companies send me doesn’t flow just one way; it reverses its direction 60 times every second. (That’s why they call it 60 cycles per second.) So, The inverter work like a magic. OK, now I think you really understood the difference between DC and AC, and how do solar inverters work in our PV system. #2 Types of Solar Inverter Standard string inverter warranties are usually between 5 and 10 years; as this is less than the warranties on solar PV panels it would seem sensible to budget for at least one string inverter replacement during the lifetime of your solar PV system. If you have micro-inverters installed instead this may not be necessary. A string inverter works most efficiently when all the solar PV panels have the same characteristics and are operating under the same conditions. If it is known from the start that some of the panels are not likely to be operating under the same conditions. For example, they are not all orientated in the same direction or some of them will be shaded for a part of the day – this would be a good reason to install two or more inverters as part of the system. An alternative would be to install an inverter that has been designed to cope with more than one string of solar PV panels operating in different conditions. Micro-inverters get around the need for all panels to have the same characteristics and be operating under the same conditions by having an inverter installed to the back of each panel. This means when the performance of a panel is affected, for example by natural shading or from obstructions from leaves or debris, it will not affect the overall performance of the system, as would a string invertor – particularly one without MPPT. Micro-inverters also include MPPT which micro-inverter manufacturers claim works more effectively than it does in string inverters where something as small as an antenna could reduce the performance of the whole solar PV system. Some benefits of micro-inverter that I want you know - Performance of the solar PV array is optimized and reports claim the system could have improved energy harvest of between 5 per cent and 20 per cent over the lifetime of the system - Improved energy harvest should result in increased income - The potential for enhanced monitoring as the performance of each individual panel can be monitored separately - Greater reliability – if one micro-inverter fails, it will not affect the whole PV system - Installation of micro-inverters is cheaper and easier as wiring is simpler and no high voltage DC equipment is required, which also makes them safer to install. - It may be easier to increase system size by adding new panels. - Increased lifetime – the single most common cause of failure in a solar PV system is the string invertor, which normally requires replacement at least once over the lifetime of the array. The latest micro-inverters have fewer life-limited components, and manufacturers claim a lifetime of 25 years to match the panels - The cost per watt is more for micro-inverters but is offset by a simpler installation and increased energy harvested. Drawbacks of micro-inverters - Still a relatively new technology and there are only a small number of manufacturers - More expensive than string invertors - Potentially costly to replace as roof access required - Only useful in situations where shading is a significant issue - Lack of expertise should things go wrong – relatively small market thus reliance on small pool of installers and manufacturers OFF-grid solar inverter Off grid solar inverter are already multitaskers: combination inverter/chargers with bi-directional energy capabilities to convert DC to AC and AC to DC. This allows the inverter to manage PV or other energy sources while also maintaining battery storage. Until recently, the rather clean-cut separation between off-grid solar PVsystems (mainly for providing power in remote or stand-alone applications without grid access) and grid-tied systems (mainly to supplement utility power for economic reasons) made it easy to segregate solar inverters into two related classes, with little or no overlap between them. #3 What size should I buy? General Steps to Size an solar Inverter There are three basic steps you have to take to figure out the wattage ratings for the inverter you will need: 1.Calculate the Continuous Loads: Add up all the normal operating wattages of the equipment you expect to be running simultaneously. 2.Calculate the Surge Loads: Add up all the surge or peak wattages of the equipment that might possible be starting at the same time. Warning! When sizing an inverter for a system, the safest way to do it is to look up the surge loads for all the equipment you are likely to be running. Some devices such as pumps, refrigerators and air conditioners can have surge power demands 3 to 7 times their continuous power ratings. It is extremely important to know this because startup loads can be very high if they occur simultaneously and it can trip the circuit breaker in your inverter. 3.Adjust for Inverter inefficiency: As with a lot of electrical equipment, there is some loss of power. Pure Sine Wave Inverter loses about 10%. Modified Sine Wave Inverter loses about 15%. The key to choosing the right size There are many different makes and sizes of inverters on the market. The key are: - Maximum amount of DC electricity (expressed as max DC power in Watts) the maximum number of watts the inverter has been designed to convert - Maximum input voltage – this is the maximum voltage the inverter can manage before its electronics are damaged - Initial input voltage (sometime called start-up voltage) – the minimum number of volts the solar PV panels need to produce for the inverter to start working - Maximum power point (mpp) voltage rang – the voltage range at which the inverter is working most efficiently. Many solar PV systems in the US have an inverter with a power rating that is smaller than the array. For a 3kWp array, this equates to an inverter size of between 2.4kW and 3.3kW (often expressed in watts: 2400W to 3300W). This is because the panels are not likely to be generating at their rated efficiency for long periods of time, and to ensure that the initial input voltage and maximum power point voltage range are reached as often as possible. Inverter manufacturers often provide guidance to installers on solar inverter sizing, typically through providing system sizing software. As each inverter is manufactured to cope with a pre-determined maximum input voltage, the final choice of inverter will also be influenced by what is available on the market, particularly if your installer prefers to work with a limited number of makes. #4 How much should I spend for a solar inverter This is a difficult question to answer, as grid connected inverters are mostly offered as part of a solar PV system package. The inverter can represent around 20% of the cost of a system. You can easily check out the price of solar inverter in the US by go into website of Wholesalesolar.com But whatever you do: Never buy the cheapest inverter on the market! The real el cheapo inverters have no chance of lasting 15 years plus. Trust me on this. It is hard to design and make a good inverter that will last. Never buy a bottom of the range inverter from a no name brand. It is false economy. It just won’t last (rather like the companies selling them!). #5 What solar inverter brands? I recommend some options for you. - Safe and efficient - Product from German company - Legendary quality - Long and proud history - But expensive - Top quality - Product from European - Lots of features - Great performance - Huge company - Popular in Europe - Good quality, good support - Upper mid range - Low risk buy Delta energy system: - Build like a tank - European heritage - Long history - Good for money - Good support - Good budget option - High efficiency

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Information Possibly Outdated The information presented on this page was originally released on March 22, 2017. It may not be outdated, but please search our site for more current information. If you plan to quote or reference this information in a publication, please check with the Extension specialist or author before proceeding. Busy as a bee: A look inside a honey bee hive STARKVILLE, Miss. -- From the outside, a honey bee hive looks pretty simple: bees fly in and out. They fly around flowers, and once inside the hive, they make honey. They must be hard workers -- after all, the phrase "busy as a bee" had to come from somewhere. Like many natural phenomena, a hive of honey bees is incredibly complex. Some scientists even classify a beehive, also called a colony, as a superorganism, an insect society made up of individuals that create a functioning whole. Jeff Harris, a bee specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, explained the intricacies of life as a worker honey bee. “I don’t think most people appreciate that worker bees change their jobs as they age, which is fascinating in its own right given that the typical worker bee lives a mere 5-7 weeks during the summer season,” Harris said. “Their jobs are fairly distinct, as well.” Within the colony, worker bees have plenty to keep them occupied. Jobs include cleaning the nest, building comb, nursing bee larvae, heating and cooling the nest, caring for the queen, guarding against intruders, handling and storing food, and foraging for food and water. “Changes in key hormones in the bodies of workers control the tasks and duties they perform,” Harris said. “When they are young, between zero and three weeks old, these tasks focus on duties deep inside the nest. When they are three to six weeks old, workers spend most of their time outside the nest collecting food.” In terms of division of labor and based on gender, male bees -- called drones -- are living the lush life. They do no work. They do not have stingers for defense and do not collect pollen. That’s right. All of the worker bees are female. Drones exist for one purpose: to reproduce. When they are not congregating midair and waiting for a virgin queen to fly by, drones basically live off the effort of the workers in the colony. In areas with more severe winter temperatures, workers force the drones out of the hive at the end of the warm season to preserve the colony’s food stores. As for the queen, she may have the advantage of being fed, tended to and fiercely protected by workers, but she has her own job to do: laying eggs. “The colony’s survival depends on the queen,” Harris said. “A queen can live for several years, and after her mating flight, she spends the rest of her life inside the hive laying eggs. The one exception is if the colony swarms, the queen will travel with the swarm to start a new home.” During her peak, a queen bee can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. Laying eggs every day allows the colony’s population to remain relatively constant through the summer. Depending on how long she lives, a queen could lay up to a million eggs during her lifetime. “That seems like a lot, but the average colony has between 50,000 and 80,000 worker bees,” he said. “Balancing the colony’s food and water needs, along with the constant attention to the queen and the brood nest, requires a lot of workers.” When winter comes, the colony shifts from foraging for food to survival. The queen stops laying eggs and the size of the colony shrinks. Short-lived summer workers die off, and winter bees take their place. These winter bees live longer than their summer counterparts and are typically born in the fall when goldenrod, aster and other pollen-rich plants are in bloom. They have more fat in their bodies to survive the winter, and then are able to transition to being nurse bees when the queen resumes laying in January. On days when the temperature drops below about 57 degrees, honey bees do not fly. They stay inside the hive and cluster around the queen to keep her warm. But they are not hibernating. They are still busy, said Extension entomologist Blake Layton. “The bees gather in a ball around the queen and rapidly flex their muscles to generate heat,” Layton said. “As bees on the outer layers get cold, they move into the cluster and other bees move outward, so there is constant motion in the hive.” All this activity requires a lot of energy, which comes from honey. “The bees store honey and pollen for their own use, not to provide a delicious snack for humans,” Layton said. “Successful beekeepers leave enough stores for their colonies to survive the winter, when the bees rely on what they have stored in the comb.” Then spring rolls around, and the cycle begins again. For more information on bees and beekeeping, visit http://extension.msstate.edu/agriculture/livestock/beekeeping.

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When women visit their doctors, it’s often for ‘women’s issues’ – a breast check, a Pap smear or something related to having children (and then raising children). When it comes to women’s health, we are all guilty of thinking of women’s health and women’s reproductive health as the same thing. In the US alone, 48 million women have heart disease. Around the world, ischaemic heart disease which includes heart attacks, accounts for one third of deaths. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in a number of countries, including Australia, the UK and the US. In the US alone, 48 million women have heart disease. Yet, in Australia, the Heart Foundation conducted research which showed only a 2 in 10 women felt that heart disease was relevant to them, a figure which rose to only 3 in 10 after many years of campaigning. In recent years, doctors and patients alike have become much more aware that when it comes to women’s hearts, we’re all letting women down. When compared to their male counterparts, women are more likely to die of their heart disease. They’re also subject to a number of unique problems and risks to their heart health including pregnancy and higher incidences of some other heart diseases. …women are more likely to die of their heart disease. So why the difference? Why are women’s hearts different? What should you look out for and what can we all do to help protect women’s hearts? The biology of a woman’s heart Strictly speaking, if we were to have a woman’s heart side by side with a man’s, they look the same. Aside from a woman’s heart being a little smaller because women tend to be a little smaller than men, the basic building blocks are the same. However, when we look a little closer, we see some differences in how the two work and how they get sick. One of the biggest biological events in a woman’s lifetime is menopause. At this time, the levels of oestrogen in her blood decline. This leads to the traditional symptoms of menopause but has a very important side effect on the heart. Oestrogen is good at keeping blood vessels healthy and supple and at keeping cholesterol levels quite safe. When the oestrogen falls, we know that blood vessels become stiffer, more likely to build up plaque and cholesterol becomes higher with high levels of the bad LDL cholesterol. A woman’s blood vessels and her heart are particularly prone to the ill effects of other illnesses. For reasons we’re not sure of yet, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and smoking seem to cause more damage to women than men. Finally, the way in which heart attacks happen in men and women can be different. A heart attack happens when the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart develop blockages. In men, these blockages tend to be big, bulky plaques that stick out into the middle of the vessel. These blockages are easy to see on tests like a coronary angiogram and tend to respond well to the treatments that we have. Women however, often have a different form of the disease. Up to 60% of women who have symptoms don’t have these big plaques. Rather, they have blood vessels that are more reactive; they squeeze and spasm aggressively, another area that is under intense investigation. Symptoms of heart disease Most of us are familiar with the traditional way heart disease is seen on TV or in in movies. Usually, the character falls over clutching their chest. Pain in the middle of the chest that travels down the left arm or into the jaw is traditionally associated with heart disease. However, only 31% of women have chest pain. Women tend to have more symptoms that are a little harder to pick such as shortness of breath, weakness, arm, back or jaw pain (without the chest pain), palpitations, dizziness or tiredness. These symptoms make picking heart disease notoriously difficult for the woman and her doctors or nurses alike. If we all struggle to pick these things up, it means that we lose precious time in treating the heart disease. …only 31% of women have chest pain. Women are also more likely than men to have their symptoms attributed to anxiety or being overly worried. Women tend to prioritise their other tasks whether that be work or caring for children and delay having any issues seen to promptly. Getting women to know more about their hearts is important as is making sure doctors and nurses too are aware of heart disease in women. The way we treat women’s hearts Over many years, we have managed to refine the way we treat heart problems. These advances in medicine, surgery and cardiology meant that we started to see much better survival in people with heart disease. However women with heart disease haven’t really shared in this gain, owing to late recognition of their heart troubles and less use of the best possible treatments in women. We’re also beginning to see that our ‘best medical treatment’ don’t seem to pack the same punch in women as they do in men. Women who have heart attacks or heart failure experience a nearly double risk of dying. This seems to happen because of these underlying biological differences but also because after a heart attack, women don’t get what they need. This includes medicines but also other important things like heart surgery or stents. Now some of this may be cultural but in other cases, because women’s heart disease is different, the treatments aren’t given because they’re thought not to work as well. When women do have treatment for heart disease, they have different side effects that aren’t seen by men. Women who have heart attacks or heart failure experience a nearly double risk of dying. Cardiac rehabilitation is an important part of heart care where after a diagnosis of a heart condition, people participate in a structured exercise program. These programs reduce symptoms and the need for readmission into hospital. Women don’t go to cardiac rehabilitation though; they’re not referred or they have significant barriers to getting there like financial constraints or still needing to be someone’s primary care giver. While we’re still working out which treatments may work better for women, that doesn’t mean that we should under-treat women and tackling the other reasons behind lack of treatment. As for treatments that are tailor-made for women’s hearts, they’re being worked on as we speak. Broken hearts and babies There are a few conditions that tend to cause heart trouble in women more so than men. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a disease where a tear occurs out of the blue in the coronary arteries of the heart. It’s a common cause of a heart attack in young women and it can be easily missed. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is another heart disease that we see more commonly in women than men. It happens usually after a severe emotional stress and causes the heart to pump poorly. It’s often referred to as ‘broken heart syndrome’ and may happen because the heart is very sensitive to adrenaline released during a big shock. This disease can be very serious and researchers are unravelling its how’s and why’s. Finally, pregnancy is shaping up as an interesting time for a woman’s heart. We now know that illnesses during pregnancy like pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and diabetes mean that a woman is at higher risk of heart problems in the future. It’s important for women who have these problems to keep their doctor informed and take extra care of their hearts. What can you do to take care of your heart? As you may have gathered, we have a lot of work to do when it comes to raising awareness around women’s hearts. The Heart Foundation (Australia) asks a simple favour of all of us and that is to tell three women to take care of their hearts. Raising awareness amongst us all including health care professionals is so vital in the fight against heart disease. However, it doesn’t stop there. Since women are slightly more prone to the ill effects of diabetes, inactivity or smoking, prevention reigns supreme for women’s hearts. Studies have shown that no matter their body weight, exercise can half in some people, the risk of heart problems in women. It’s also vital to know your own risk and your doctor can help you work this out by checking your blood pressure and your cholesterol as well as screening for diabetes. Even young women should know their blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol and when you have other health checks say for the contraceptive pill, a Pap smear or checks for the kids, that is a great time to make sure you’re checked out too. Finally, be aware of your own body. If you have something that isn’t quite right such as pain in the chest, back, abdomen or arm, shortness of breath, lacking in energy which makes it hard to do the things you used to do, make sure you get yourself to your doctor to get checked out and take care of your heart. Please visit our additional articles to learn more about Broken Heart Syndrome (Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy): Comments are purely for informational purposes and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Disclaimer

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Quick- name 5 heroes. Do you have 5? Good. Now cross off the names of any professional athlete, politician, statesman, rights activist, celebrity, or major religious figure. How many do you have left? Two? One? Heroes do not have to be well known. They do not have to be famous. They do not even have to be extraordinary people all of the time. For some people, a hero is one person who did an extraordinary thing that had a great personal impact. It is strange and often saddening to me that the common conception of heroes is that they are supernatural in some way. “Heroes” lead exemplary lives filled with extraordinary deeds; they always make the right choice; and they have a noble goal or mission to fulfill. This concept of a hero is unfortunate because it is so exclusive. There are many heroes who are ordinary people, living among ordinary people. They may have had one moment, or a series of moments, that made them stand out, but they are otherwise unknown individuals. In many cases, their extraordinary deeds are taken for granted because they were done in the line of duty. The men and women of our armed services see heroes made among them every day, but they do not expect compensation, or even recognition for their actions. The American public takes for granted the brave actions of U.S. service members, and seldom recognizes their extraordinary bravery, loyalty, and dedication to their country. Former Navy pilot Wayne Booker noted that “People in [the military] die every day,” and also spoke about the lack of realization that the American people have for the sacrifices made for them. He recalled “[Before I retired], there was a period of time when seven of my close friends were killed in aircraft incidents, but the focus of the media was on the cost of the aircraft, not the lives lost. There seems to be a general lack of awareness among the public that [the armed forces] allow us to live how we live” (Interview. Booker). If you are looking for a book on inspirational stories of heroes, look no further. Peter Collier, along with Artisan Publishing Company, compiled an excellent book entitled Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. Within the 244 pages of this book, there are nearly 140 stories from Medal of Honor winners from a number of wars and conflicts. There is John F. Baker, Jr., who, as a private first class in the army during Vietnam, single-handedly killed ten Vietcong, destroyed six machine gun bunkers, and saved eight fellow soldiers (Collier 8). Or Desmond T. Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist, who, although he could not bear arms, joined the Army’s medical corps. On Okinawa Island, in the spring of 1945, Doss tended to, evacuated, and rescued seventy-five American GIs single-handedly (Collier 64). Every page of this book is filled with stories like these. Stories of selfless rescues or offensive charges into the face of danger to save the lives of other men are commonplace in this anthology of uncommon people. And this book is only a fraction of the stories of Medal of Honor winners. Over 3,400 people have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and many of those were posthumous. Before coming to the Coast Guard Academy, I could not name any of these men, and I doubt that many people can. This does not diminish the magnitude of their actions, but rather highlights the ignorance our culture maintains with regard to military heroes. In addition to those who were officially recognized for their actions, there are those who were awarded no medal, and given no official recognition, but were still heroes in the eyes of their comrades. Mr. Booker remembers two incidents from his time in the Navy. A young sailor jumped down two decks (between 20 and 25 feet) to fight a potentially disastrous fire on board his ship, and a Navy chief who ran out onto the burning flight deck during another fire. Amid fiery explosions, armed with nothing but a fire extinguisher, he was trying to save the pilots trapped in their planes (Interview. Booker). Although they received no reward and little recognition for their actions, both the sailor and the chief are truly heroes. The Medal of Honor winners, like the sailor and the chief, voluntarily risked their lives to protect their friends and their country. No one can deny that they are heroes, yet their names and actions are virtually unknown to the American public. There is a saying in the Coast Guard: “When the weather’s getting bad, and everyone else is headed in, the Coast Guard is headed out.” When speaking of heroes, of people who risk their lives for the safety of others, the United States Coast Guard certainly cannot be omitted. The official Coast Guard website lists estimates that each day, the Coast Guard rescues 15 people, assists 114 people in distress, and conducts 82 search and rescue operations (USCG website). Plucked from stormy waters or a sinking vessel, there are no words to describe the relief and thankfulness those people must feel at seeing searchlights slice through the darkness, and seeing a helicopter or cutter come slowly into view, and knowing that they are safe because the Coast Guard is there. Hurricane Katrina brought renewed recognition to the small service. With the efficiency and dedication that few organizations have, the Coast Guard made rescuing the residents and rehabilitating the city of New Orleans possible. Wikipedia.com cites the number of people rescued by the Coast Guard during the disaster relief effort at 32,000--the largest number rescued by any single service--but admits that the article is out of date. In Sitka, Alaska, the story of the Last Run will always be remembered. The fishing boat La Conte floundered in heavy seas, miles from the nearest port. The accompanying storm was so large that there were waves in excess of 100 feet, sustained winds of 94 mph, and gusts at 140 mph. At one point, the winds were so strong, they forced the helicopter backwards: Then [the pilot] heard a sound very few airmen in an H-60 have ever heard – the sound of one force being overcome by a greater one, the sound of two General Electric T-700 1,900-shaft horsepower engines spooling down. It was an odd, agonizing drone…the cockpit lights dimmed. In the flickering light, everything seemed to move in slow motion: [the pilots] pulling power on the sticks, [the flight mechanic] slamming into the rear wall, the aircraft tilting until it seemed to stand on its tail…A swell was cresting less than twenty feet below (Lewan 244). Coast Guard Air Station Sitka made two unsuccessful rescue attempts, sent out three helicopters and one reconnaissance aircraft, six pilots, three rescue swimmers, and five flight mechanics, and finally managed to locate and rescue the surviving men in the vast expanse of dark water that is the Bering Sea (Lewan). The Coast Guard remains the smallest of the United States armed forces. It is often left off of lists of the armed forces or military services. But the selfless and extraordinary deeds of the men and women in this service are certainly no less than heroic. To fill a position where it is your job to risk your life so that someone else may live- that is heroism. Too often, people do not give the Coast Guard enough credit for the challenging jobs it takes on until they are in need of rescuing. These rescuers and defenders are heroes, plain and simple. But little recognition is given to Coast Guardsmen outside their own community because people expect them to be there in times of crisis - they take this small yet vital service for granted, along with the men and women who make it possible. But most of the people in the Coast Guard would probably agree with Mr. Booker’s affirmation that “This is a great country, and that makes it worth it. The people here…to live the way we do…that makes it worth it” (Interview. Booker). Unfortunately, there seems to be little time spent reflecting on the actions of people who give of themselves simply because they feel it is the right thing to do. Memorial Day and Veterans Day are holidays designed for the express purpose of remembering the service that American soldiers have given. And each year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, the nation remembers its veterans with ceremonies and parades. In a small town like the one where I grew up, the crowds lining the streets for these parades are usually sparse, and usually comprised of relatives or friends of those marching. Few people without a direct connection to the veterans make an effort to come out and show support. In contrast, the 4th of July finds these same streets packed with lawn chairs and cheering crowds. The public celebrates the holiday that represents their freedom, but forgets those who fight to preserve it. Active duty or retired, young or old, tall and strong or old and bent, these citizens are the true unsung heroes of the United States, and they are almost entirely unrecognized for their valor. The American public takes for granted that U.S. service members will make whatever sacrifices necessary to preserve our great nation, but are sadly unwilling to give them the recognition they deserve. Meredith Tufts, a longtime resident of Manchester and former civil servant, effectively captured the sentiment when she wrote: “In the words of an old spiritual, "You can't wear the crown if you don't bear the cross." Veterans bear the cross of fighting for what is best in our society: the multitude of freedoms which, ironically, also allow those less idealistic and more selfish to simply exploit those freedoms to their own advantage. But they are also those who deserve the crown.” About the author: Elizabeth Tufts is currently in her third year as a cadet at the United States Coast Guard Academy. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, she studies Government and sails on the Women’s Varsity team while at the Academy. She enjoys reading fiction and creative writing, and loves to travel. Ms. Tufts will graduate in May of 2007 to become an Ensign in the Coast Guard. Collier, Peter. Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. New York: Artisan, 2003. Lewan, Todd. The Last Run. New York: Harper Collins, 2004. Booker, Wayne. Personal Interview. 1 May 2006. Tufts, Meredith. Personal Interview. 27 April 2006. United States Coast Guard official website: http://www.uscg.mil/overview/index.shtm

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Time for another update on my learning project. Last week, I attended the second workshop at the CCE (Centre for Continuing Education). I learned about Quality Management. The word “quality” defined in the dictionary as, “the degree of excellence of something.” The essence of quality management is to ensure that a project is efficient and effective and that it meets it’s intended objectives and overall planned performance. At the workshop, we discussed some examples of why a project could fail. Besides not meeting its objectives, a project could fail due to the following reasons ( can you think of other reasons?): - If the project scope is not clearly defined - The design standards were not followed properly - Team miscommunication - Unclear rules and responsibilities - Not allocating enough time or resources - Not monitoring the project progress - Lack of team experience and knowledge - Having too many cooks in the kitchen. (and the list can keep going) Quality Management is not only feedback that is collected and analyzed after the completion of a project, but also it is an integral part of project management that starts and continues at every stage of a project. Quality management focuses on excellence by exceeding expectations and keeping the project on track. Quality management consists of 4 processes (and they all start with the word quality!): - Quality definition: In order to define project quality, all project stakeholders should come to an agreement on how they all define “quality” in terms of the overall characteristics of the project, its objectives, and its outcomes - Quality assurance: provides confirmation to stakeholders on project efficiency and standards. It is a kind of audit on project progress and its phases that are usually planned at the beginning of a project. A common tool used in quality assurance is the PDCA cycle; Plan – Do – Check – Act, depicted in the graph below - Quality control provides early detection to prospective problems or issues in a project phase and is usually completed at the end of every phase - Quality improvement helps in eliminating waste and unnecessary project costs by considering current process or system strengths and identifies deficiencies for continued improvement. It A good example discussed at the workshop regarding the importance of quality assurance and quality control is the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that occurred in 1986 that exploded 73 seconds after its flight. Report analysis completed after the tragedy discovered that it was due to certain flaws (o-rings and launch temperature) that may have been detected but were not addressed properly. The lack of quality control and quality assurance, in this case, caused more losses beyond just monetary costs. We also identified 4 steps for improving the quality management process as follows: - identifying areas that could be improved in the process, and - analyzing the issue through further investigations, ‘ - developing solutions or alternatives that could help solve the issue, and finally - testing and implementing the chosen alternative or solution to the problem. I find quality management a really interesting topic, and the more I learn about it the more detailed all the items and processes get. In my next post, I plan to discuss more items and principles related to quality management.

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From the Acoustical Society of America SPOKANE, Wash. – In an era of shifting parental roles and increased involvement, researchers from Washington State University are investigating whether fathers modify their speech in the same way as mothers when talking to their children. This is the first study that has examined fathers’ verbal interactions with their children in a real-world setting using automatic data processing. Initial experimental results suggest that when fathers interact with their children, they engage less in baby talk, also called “motherese.” The research team is presenting its work at the Acoustical Society of America conference this week in Pittsburgh. The WSU Spokane speech and hearing sciences team outfitted preschoolers and their parents with recording devices to monitor social interactions over the course of a normal day. The work confirmed previous studies, which showed that mothers used higher pitch and varied their pitch more when interacting with their children than with adults. The fathers, on the other hand, talked to their children using intonation patterns more like those used when they talked to other adults. Motherese is believed to be a bonding tool because it is particularly attractive to babies and young children, with its attention-catching cadence and exaggerated vocal features. But the fathers’ approach likely bestows different benefits. “We think that maybe fathers are doing things that are conducive to their children’s learning but in a different way,” said Mark VanDam, a professor in the WSU Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences who headed the study. “The parents are complementary to their children’s language learning.” The data support what VanDam refers to as the bridge hypothesis – that fathers, by speaking to their children more like adults, might act as a link to the outside world by helping them deal with unfamiliar speech. Furthermore, the fathers’ less frequent use of classic baby talk doesn’t mean they aren’t modifying their speech in other ways – by using different vocabulary, for instance, or changing the volume or duration of their speech. VanDam believes the age and sex of the child might also influence a father’s interactions. The pilot study looked only at families with a mother and father who both lived full-time with the child, so the researchers don’t know how the results might differ in single-parent families or those headed by same-sex couples. The study is one part of a larger initiative at WSU to examine how fathers support their children’s language development from infancy through early childhood. Ultimately, VanDam and his colleagues are interested in addressing these same questions in families with children with hearing loss in order to understand how hearing loss impacts speech production and learning.

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Down Syndrome Awareness Month October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. My son, Nick is 25 years old and has a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism. As a parent and advocate, I strive to educate others to better understand these conditions. Down syndrome awareness is about promoting understanding, acceptance and inclusion of all individuals with Down syndrome. FACTS about Down syndrome from National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS): *Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome. *There are three types of Down syndrome: trisomy 21 (nondisjunction) accounts for 95 percent of cases, translocation accounts for about 4 percent and mosaicism accounts for about 1 percent. *Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. One in every 691 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome. *There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States. *Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. *The incidence of births of children with Down syndrome increases with the age of the mother. But due to higher fertility rates in younger women, 80 percent of children with Down syndrome are born to women younger than 35. *People with Down syndrome have an increased risk for certain medical conditions such as congenital heart defects, respiratory and hearing problems, Alzheimer’s disease, childhood leukemia and thyroid conditions. Many of these conditions are now treatable, so most people with Down syndrome lead healthy lives. *A few of the common physical traits of Down syndrome are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes and a single deep crease across the center of the palm. Every person with Down syndrome is a unique individual and may possess these characteristics to different degrees or not at all. *Life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically in recent decades — from 25 years old in 1983 to 60 years old today. *People with Down syndrome attend school, work and participate in decisions that affect them, and contribute to society in many wonderful ways. *All people with Down syndrome experience cognitive delays, but the effect is usually mild to moderate and is not indicative of the many strengths and talents that each individual possesses. *Quality educational programs, a stimulating home environment, good health care and positive support from family, friends and the community enable people with Down syndrome to develop their full potential and lead fulfilling lives. More information @http://www.ndss.org/Down-Syndrome/What-Is-Down-Syndrome/ Here are a few simple ways to promote Down syndrome awareness: *Post information and stories about individuals with Down syndrome on social media. *Parents of a child with Down syndrome, can send updates, pictures and tell your story to your family doctor and OB/GYN. Consider becoming a Hope Advocate- where you will get a custom hope kit to distribute to your OB/GYN and family doctor. More information @https://hopestory.org/sign-up/ *Many local Down syndrome support groups have promotional materials, like books and bookmarks that can be distributed at libraries and schools. *Down syndrome support groups have public speakers available to talk with schools, businesses, community groups, hospitals, and other organizations. *Support or volunteer for local fundraisers like the Buddy Walk in your community @http://www.ndss.org/buddy-walk/ *Encourage your kids to volunteer for Special Olympics and Best Buddies programs through their school. *Always use and promote “people first language” to respectively speak about a person with a disability. Individuals with Down syndrome should always be referred to as people first. Instead of “a Down syndrome child,” it should be “a child with Down syndrome.” Also avoid “Down’s child” and describing the condition as “Down’s,” as in, “He has Down’s.” Thank you for supporting Down syndrome awareness this month! That’s what is in my noggin this week. Follow us on Social Media: Facebook and Pinterest @Down Syndrome With A Slice Of Autism

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‘Monkeys are not very agreeable domestic pets, as they are extremely fond of mischief, and are very frequently vicious and spiteful to children.’ So wrote Mrs Loudon in her 1851 pet-keeping manual Domestic Pets their Habits and Management. Despite views such as these, in the Victorian era monkeys proved to be popular pets. Notes on Pet Monkeys and How to Manage Them by Arthur Patterson (London, 1888) advises that that the chief importers of monkeys to Britain were Cross, Carpenter, and Johnson of Liverpool or Jamrach and Abrahams of London. Monkeys were brought to Britain by sailors or dealers alongside traditional cargo from South America, India and south east Asia. Patterson’s book includes a price list for various breeds of monkeys, revealing that marmosets could be had for 15 shillings whereas an orangutan could be as much as £100. Patterson recounts an anecdote on how wild monkeys were said to be caught in Brazil: Some fanciful yarns are told, how that the natives repair to the vicinity of the haunts of the monkeys with pots of water, and also some containing an equivalent to glue. They begin washing their faces, turning the water out, and leaving the other. Upon retreating, down come the imitating monkeys, and pitch in for a wash with the gum. Of course their eyelids become fastened together, and the wretched animals are taken an easy prey. Numerous monkeys were trapped and shipped to England to be sold at the docks or via exotic pet shops, their expensive price tag ensuring they were the preserve of the rich. An exotic pet monkey was highly desirable to the Victorians and Patterson sums up their allure: ‘A more comical and entertaining pet cannot possibly be kept, if but under proper control; and you have a fertile source of never-ending drollery at your disposal.’ ‘The right place for a monkey, in civilised society, is in a cage.’ So says Patterson, going on to point out that leaving a monkey to live loose in the house like a cat or dog is folly, stating that soon the whole house will be in ‘uproar’. Many people kept their pet monkeys on a barrel and pole – this involved a long wooden pole for the monkey to climb with a barrel with a hole in at the top for the monkey to sleep in. The monkey was chained to the pole with a belt around its waist. Patterson however advised against this set up, calling it ‘barbarous’ and warning that the monkey may ‘pelt you with refuse from his larder’ and ‘be objectionable’. Patterson instead suggests a secure wooden cage with a wire front, but warns that extra wire should be added when housing a large monkey as they are apt to jump. Patterson advocates a trapeze to keep your monkey amused. Recommending the best breed of monkey, Patterson says of the brown Capuchin: ‘As clean, well-coated, and least repulsive and objectionable pets, with very little of the dirty insinuations of the Catarrhines.’ He cautions against keeping baboons: ‘their large size, superior strength, subtle cunning, and often filthy practices, giving ample reason for exclusion from general favour.’ As for feeding, the author warns: ‘the monkey is a glutton’ and should not be let loose unfettered on the kitchen cupboards. Patterson instead endorses a diet of boiled rice and milk, bread and milk, and boiled potatoes ‘which are most highly prized by them’. He also highly recommends onions which he thinks are a good ‘cleansing food’, however he notes that ‘American monkeys detest the smell of an onion’. He goes on to recount that not all monkeys are satisfied with a vegetable diet and that on one occasion his pet capuchin got loose and killed a ‘fine macaw, and partly stripped it before it was recaptured; whilst an unfortunate canary was literally devoured alive.’ Patterson proposes the following names for your pet monkey: Bully, Peggy, Mike, Peter, Jacko, Jimmy, Demon, Barney, Tommy, Dulcimer, Uncle or Knips. To tame your pet monkey and gain his trust the author recommends that you let a friend go up to the monkey’s cage violently brandishing a stick in order to frighten the animal. ‘In the midst of this nonsense, rush forward, and pretend to take the part of your pet, thrash your friend to within an inch of his life with the very stick he has been using, and put him out. Next take the monkey some savoury morsel, such as a date, or an apple, and sympathise with it. You are sworn friends from that time.’ Patterson suggests that when your pet monkey dies, should their coat be in reasonable condition you might choose to stuff them and mount them for display. He goes on to describe, in quite some detail, the agonies of a monkey’s death: The tail end of a monkey’s earthly career, as with all flesh, is its death. This is an exceedingly human-like affair, the little sufferer often holding its head in its last illness, and gasping pitifully for breath, turning its dulled eyes up towards its keeper with an expression that seems to say “What have I done?” or, “We all of us come, at last, to this!” I haven’t always had the heart to see the end of it all; for, when a monkey is past cure, the sooner its sufferings are ended the better. My method of giving the coup de grace may savour of the barbarous, but I know of no quicker or better way to finish off the poor wretch than by giving it a sharp, heavy blow, with an iron bar, on the back of the neck, just below its connection with the skull. But a bungling or nervous hand had better not attempt a job of this kind, for adding torture to its dying pangs is cruel in the extreme. Although to modern readers keeping a wild monkey as a pet seems unnecessarily cruel, it is clear from Patterson’s closing thoughts that despite his misguided ideas he did have a genuine affection for monkeys: Lastly, I would urge upon the reader not to neglect his little friend: to give him all the room and exercise possible; to provide him with a plentiful supply of clean, sweet food; always keep his domicile in a clean condition – in fact, in every possible way to make the little prisoner, who is entirely at his mercy, as happy as possible.

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Fred Anderson explains how beds were constructed in the clerk’s bedroom on the second floor of the Governor Fitch Law Office In the early 1970s, Norwalk’s historic one-room school house known as the 1826 “Downtown District School House” was threatened by demolition to make way for progress, the Connecticut Turnpike. The Norwalk Historical Society acted quickly to save and move the School House to Mill Hill Historic Park in 1971, and the rest is history! For over 40 years, Norwalk’s third grade school children have participated in the “Little Red School House” program at Mill Hill Historic Park. This unique educational program presents the early history of Norwalk in an exciting and engaging format that complements the 3rd grade history curriculum. Hundreds of school children visit Mill Hill each year for this program. We encourage the children and teachers to get into the spirit by arriving dressed in their version of 19th century costume with assigned colonial names to truly experience early Norwalk history. They are greeted by a costumed re-enactor who interprets the life and duties of Colonial Governor Thomas Fitch in the c.1740 Governor’s Law Office. The program also includes a tour of the 1835 Town House. The Norwalk Historical Society continues to strive to develop creative ways to bring history to life for the children of our community. Re-enactor Fred Anderson, portraying Governor Thomas Fitch, explains 18th-century writing tools to a visiting 3rd-grade class in Mill Hill's c.1740 Governor Fitch Law Office. Interested in additional information about the Little Red Schoolhouse program at Mill Hill Historic Park and the Little Red Schoolhouse Travel program? A class learns about colonial cooking techniques in the kitchen of the Governor Fitch Law Office. Are you enthusiastic about local history and education? Contact us about becoming a docent for our popular Little Red Schoolhouse Program. Learn about this exciting program and the important role a docent plays in making history come alive for students. We provide training for docents and a stipend. Contact Information: firstname.lastname@example.org or 203-846-0525. We welcome sponsors to support the “Little Red School House” program. Please contact Diane Jellerette, Executive Director or call 203- 846-0525 to discuss opportunities.

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The epithelial tissue in the stomach releases digestive fluids, enzymes, and acid. The tissue also protects the stomach from the secreted acid, as. See full answer below. Apr 27, 2018 · Physiological Conditions in the Stomach. It also works best at human body temperature and needs various other compounds to be present. In the stomach, conditions are quite different from those in the mouth. The presence of gastric acid makes the stomach strongly acidic, with a pH during digestion of around 1.0 to 3.0. This is outside the range at which amylase can work. Healthy stomach acid is mostly made up of hydrochloric acid (HCl), and it’s about as acidic as battery acid. In order for the body to release the right enzymes to digest food and to protect against outside microbes and parasites, your stomach acid must be strong and extremely acidic. This diagram depicts how hydrochloride acid is excreted into the stomach, acid , forming carbonic acid, then water and carbon dioxide, and the released. The mucosa contains specialized cells and glands that produce hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes to help digest food. The mucosa in the cardiac and pyloric regions of the stomach release mucus that helps protect the lining of the stomach from the acid produced for digestion. Jan 24, 2011. Results Methods for measuring gastric acid include both invasive and. presence of acid in the gastric antrum in turn inhibits gastrin release. Mar 11, 2010 · Best Answer: There is a mucosa lining produced by the cells in your stomach that protects it from gastric juice by producing bicarbonate, which neutralizes the acid in your stomach. The bi-product of HCL (acid in your gastric juice) and bicarbonate will create water. PPIs, which include Nexium and Prilosec, work by suppressing the final stage of acid release in the stomach, where as H2. The other ingredient which might stop milk from settling your stomach is the milk protein casein. It is thought it either stimulates the release of the hormone gastrin, which in turn controls the. During his trial, the jury had to watch a stomach-churning video he made of. Gilligan also shaved their hair off, and. Jul 16, 2019 · The mixture of mucus, hydrochloric acid, and pepsin is known as gastric juice. Gastric juice mixes with food to produce chyme, which the stomach releases into the duodenum for further digestion. The gallbladder stores and secretes bile into the duodenum to aid in the digestion of chyme. PTI | May 23, 2019, 11:51 IST New Delhi: Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed-release capsules. reduces the amount of acid. Aug 27, 2018. The horse's stomach is separated into upper and lower parts. The lower portion is lined by glandular mucosa and is where the acid is produced. Increased levels of gastrin can cause increased release of acid and may lead to ulcers (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome). The presence of bile in the stomach indicates material is backing up from the small intestine (duodenum). This may be normal. It may also happen after part of the stomach is removed with surgery. Tiny ‘submarines’ that speed independently through the stomach, use gastric acid for fuel (while rapidly neutralizing it), and release their cargo precisely at the desired pH: Though it may sound like. The antioxidants are required to quell or neutralise toxins from candida and yeasts cells that would be released into the blood stream when this pathogens begins. dehydration may have concentrated. how does the stomach 'know' when its the right time to release the food into the. and protects the stomach cells from the hydrochloric acid and pepsin used to. It lowers stress, reduces anxiety and depression, decreases stomach acid, lowers cholesterol levels. Once that part of the brain is activated, the body releases chemicals, including dopamine, Vitamin B12 that is released from food in the stomach is bound by specific binding proteins, and not intrinsic factor. When this bound vitamin B12 enters the small intestine, enzymes from the pancreas releases the vitamin B12 from the binding proteins. May 15, 2017 · Stomach Acid – The stomach acid is also affected during anxiety. The acid reflux is more commonly affected when the person suffers from severe anxiety. The stomach starts releasing excessive stomach acid during stress and anxiety and this increases the production of stomach acid, which causes heartburn and poor digestion. Tiny "submarines" that speed independently through the stomach, use gastric acid for fuel (while rapidly neutralizing it), and release their cargo precisely at the desired pH: Though it may sound like. Apr 25, 2019 · Figure 18.30 The regulation of gastric acid secretion. The presence of amino acids in the stomach lumen from partially digested proteins stimulates gastrin secretion. Gastrin secretion from G cells is also stimulated by vagus nerve activity. The secreted gastrin then acts as a hormone to stimulate histamine release from the ECL cells. Stomach acid or hydrochloric acid (HCl), is a very powerful digestive agent, and much more important than you realize. HCl’s important functions include: Breaking down proteins into the essential amino acids and nutrients your body needs in order to stay healthy. May 8, 2017. ML1 antagonists inhibit gastric acid secretion in parietal cells d. Transgenic expression. ML1 is a Ca2+ release channel in the tubulovesicle d. Udofia said that the ailment occurred when there was over-production of gastric acid in the stomach. “Excess acid production from the gastrin producing cells in the small bowels (duodenum) or pancreas. Jul 16, 2019. The stomach also secretes a mixture of acid, mucus, and digestive. to spread out the volume of chyme being released from the stomach and. The low acid prevents the sphincter at the stop of the stomach from closing so the low amount of acid in the stomach can move in to the esophagus and cause heart burn. If it is your stomach that is burning and not the chest it might be an ulcer because of the decrease in protective mucous, so I. May 12, 2008. Recent milestones in the understanding of gastric acid secretion and. gastrin- releasing peptide (GRP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Acid conditions in the stomach favor some hydrolysis reactions and help to. releases bicarbonate ions into the duodenum which neutralises the stomach pH. They get bloating and belly pain, but their stomach is working normally and they don’t have an ulcer." Other treatments for. This drop in temperature signals the release of melatonin to help induce relaxation and sleep by slowing the. Many people. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says medications used to treat acid reflux and other conditions do not cause stomach. have developed tiny motors that interact with stomach acid to move through the stomach and release a preloaded drug at a specific pH level. The team, led by UCSD’s Liangfang Zhang and Joseph Wang, Feb 3, 2016. As it turns out, stomach acid is roughly as acidic as battery acid, which can dissolve steel! As soon as food enters your stomach, your stomach lining releases enzymes that. The potent hydrochloric acid kills bacteria, protecting your body from harmful. I am obviously not the first to discover the power couple that is wine and cheese, but it works particularly well for me. Acid is caustic and capable of eating away and destroying living organisms. The acid in your stomach is largely made up of its best known component, hydrochloric acid, along with potassium chloride and a tiny amount of sodium chloride. Chemically, it is an acid solution with a pH—the scientific measure of acidity—of 1.5 to 3.5 in the stomach with food—with 7 being equal to neutral. Peptic ulcer disease is often treated by decreasing or eliminating gastric acid secretion, and such. the release of acetylcholine, which is a potent stimulator of. Feb 14, 2019. If the LES doesn't close all the way or if it opens too often, acid produced by your stomach can move up into your esophagus. This can cause. Jul 18, 2018. Most people don't even consider low stomach acid to be an issue because it isn't something that's ever talked about. But the symptoms of low. For instance, Merck’s Pepcid Complete for heartburn associated with acid indigestion and sour stomach, Aciphex (rabeprazole sodium) of Elan Pharmaceuticals for treating symptomatic GERD and Protonix. Jan 27, 2017. When stomach acidity reaches a safely neutral level, the polymer coating releases the payload. The de-acidification process is accelerated by. Gastric acid, gastric juice or stomach acid, is a digestive fluid formed in the stomach and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCl), potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl). Gastric acid , gastric juice or stomach acid , is a digestive fluid formed in the stomach and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCl), potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl). May 11, 2017. This acid is produced by the cells present in the lining of the stomach, which produce the acid when they get a go-ahead from the feedback. Dec 06, 2018 · First the hydrochloric acid and a group of enzymes called proteases break it down into chains of amino acids that are much smaller. Of these enzymes, the most abundant one is called Pepsin. It is considered the main gastric enzyme. It is produced by the stomach cells and its inactive form is known as pepsinogen. subsequently introduced. This group of tests gives good information on the acidity occurring in the stomach, but quantitative determination of the acid secretion is. HCl is responsible for the high acidity (pH 1.5 to 3.5) of the stomach contents and. These include gastrin, which is released mainly by enteroendocrine G cells. Aug 29, 2019 · Your stomach is full of naturally produced acid that helps break down food and protects the GI tract from infection. But, excess stomach acid can cause uncomfortable symptoms, pain, and even severe health problems. The most common symptom is heartburn (a.k.a. gastroesophageal reflux), which occurs when stomach acid. The proton pump inhibitors have a long-lasting effect on acid secretion. The main messages that tell the stomach to secrete acid after a meal are the release of. A local histamine pool is physiologically relevant only if it is within the diffusion distance of the parietal cells, if it is effectively mobilized by gastrin, and if it is endowed with the machinery for a rapid replenishment of the histamine that has been released. Histamine in the stomach occurs in endocrine cells (so-called enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells), mast cells, and neurons. Jul 16, 2019 · Role of Hydrochloric Acid in the Stomach. HCl is one of the many chemicals released in our stomach when we eat a meal. The role of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, along with the other gastric juices, is to break down foods and cause the release of enzymes that further aid digestion. HCl also protects the body from illness by killing pathogens commonly found on foods. Oct 01, 2019 · A combination of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and the salts sodium chloride (NaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl), it is produced and released by cells in the epithelium or lining of the stomach known as parietal cells. Humans consume three macronutrients in food — carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

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How to have a safe Bonfire night October 15, 2017 Everyone enjoys watching fireworks and below is a guide on tips to have a safe and stress free bonfire night. I have also included a brief history of why we celebrate November 5th. Did you know that the majority of firework related injuries happen at a family or private party. Around 50% of all injuries will happen to children under the age of 17. Why we celebrate Bonfire night The reason we celebrate is due to the failed Gunpowder Plot which was stopped on 5th November 1605 lead by Guy Fawkes. Bonfires were lit to celebrate the safety of the King. From then every 5th November was known as Bonfire night. Each year we now remember this event with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire. Background to the Gunpowder plot After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, the English Catholics hoped that her successor James 1st would be more tolerant of their religion (James 1st had a Catholic mother) However, James 1st was opposed to Catholics and this meant that several men (13) decided they must seek revenge and that violent action was the answer. The men were led by Robert Catesby and they all agreed the best action would be to blow up the Houses of Parliament. They hoped that by doing this they would kill the King and any Members of Parliament who were in the building. To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder – and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords. But the plan backfired as some of the plotters even had second thoughts. One of the plotters sent a warning letter to Lord Monteagle to avoid Parliament on 5th November. This letter reached the King and his forces made plans to stop the plot. Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes (he adopted this name while he was fighting for the Spanish). He was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The firework code:- • Only buy fireworks marked BS 7114. • Don’t drink alcohol if setting off fireworks. • Keep fireworks in a closed box. • Follow the instructions on each firework. • Light them at arm’s length, using a taper. • Stand well back. • Never go near a firework that has been lit. Even if it hasn’t gone off it could still explode. • Never put fireworks in your pocket or throw them. • Always supervise children around fireworks. • Light sparklers one at a time and wear gloves. • Never give sparklers to a child under five. • Keep pets indoors. • Don’t set off noisy fireworks late at night and never after 11pm Keeping pets safe – information from Blue Cross Why not consider using indoor fireworks Please remember that even if you have indoor fireworks that you follow all the safety instructions. What to do if you have an accident with fireworks – information from St John Ambulance Points to remember - Why not visit an organised firework display – not only is it safer but you will see wonderful displays. - Fireworks can be very loud and can upset the young or elderly so please be aware of this if you are having fireworks in your garden. - You must be over 16 to purchase what is known as novelty fireworks and these include sparklers. You must be over 18 to buy other types of fireworks. - Did you know it is illegal to let fireworks off between 11pm nd 7am except on 5th November. Diwali, New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year when the curfew is 1am. It is also an offence to set off fireworks in a public place - Please think of potential dangers before setting off Chinese Lanterns. There is a risk, particularly in rural areas, of them landing still alight near hay barns and there is also a danger of livestock ingesting pieces of wire from discarded lanterns. By following the above I hope you have a wonderful and injury free Bonfire night.

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There are so many benefits you can get from learning how to play a musical instrument. It helps you develop confidence, improves your memory and also you see changes in your social life. Here are the reasons why you should start learning an instrument now. You Become Smarter Albert Einstein, a great physicist, said that life without music is inconceivable. Studies have undoubtedly shown that there is a relationship between musical training and success in academics. Your brain is stimulated when you play music and this, in turn, will improve your memory and reasoning, as well as other intellectual functions for you to succeed in science-related subjects. Your Social Life Will Improve Also, when you play an instrument, you help expand your social circle. You get to meet people in your music classes and build new relationships with those around you. Playing musical instruments has a very unique effect on your emotions, heart rate, and blood pressure. According to the psychologist Jane Collingwood, slow classical music is the best for your system. Music can play a significant role in relaxing your mind and body, especially quiet traditional rhythms. You Get a Sense of Achievement During rehearsals, you may struggle to get the best performance, but eventually, you succeed in the competition. By delivering an incredible rendition, you develop a little pride from your achievement, which is healthy. It Builds Your Confidence Playing musical instruments builds your confidence, especially if you are going to be performing in front of a large audience. Playing in public places such as at concerts will make you show your talent, and you will see a lot of people anticipating your music. It Improves Patience When you start learning how to play musical instruments, it might not seem easy for the first few lessons, but gradually you will improve. You will notice that with constant practice: and time, you get better at it. This will also allow you to apply this in your everyday life as you learn to be patient in all matters. It Helps Improve Your Memory Studies have shown that playing musical instruments also enhances your memory, literacy skills, and reasoning. When you play a musical instrument, you are utilising the two parts of your brain. It Makes You More Creative Playing musical instruments helps you discover your creative side. As you play other people’s notes, you will find new ways to create your own unique piece.

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In 2010, Steve Jobs published a letter stating that Flash was no longer necessary. Flash had too many security risks and Steve preferred HTML5. Then YouTube, Amazon, Chrome and others also switched to HTML5. The end of Flash and HTML5 became the new standard. What is HTML5? In fact HTML5 is three kinds of code: - HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the code that describes web pages. A browser or application will convert this code into something that a user can view and it also offers some basic interaction options. - CSS is responsible for the (beautiful) design of a page. What are the advantages of HTML5? HTML5 is very versatile. You can show videos, create animations and very complex applications and games that work in your browser. For all this you don’t need any additional software or browser plugins. Videos and audio files are played directly in your browser, so less code is needed and pages load much faster. It is cross-platform and responsive. This means that it will function on every device, from a smartphone to notebook, and the design will adapt to the screen size. The browser of your device must of course support HTML5. That is usually the case. Do you have to pay for HTML5? No, it’s free. In 2016, Google decided to stop showing Flash ads. They were too slow and had the aforementioned security risks. Advertisements are now HTML5 banners that load much faster. These banners can be used to promote parts on your own site or of course to promote your website in other places.

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The Don Pedro reservoir, about 50 miles east of Modesto CA in the Central Valley, is at 8% capacity and if the water authority doesn’t find more water fast by drilling, 3,200 people could be without water by summer. Six new wells have produced no appreciable water. The area gets its water from the Merced River watershed. However the continuing California drought means little new water is coming this year. Farmers are getting zero surface water deliveries this year. This means they either fallow their fields or use groundwater pumping. The community already has cut water use by a commendable 30%. That has now been raised to 50%. Residents are being given 5 gallon buckets. Fill the buckets up with water when getting shower water hot, turn off the water, then use the water in the bucket for the shower. The water district may also be required to release water to aid downstream fish, a policy that is understandably a wee bit controversial in dire times like these. “I think it’s horrible,” says Chuck Arndt. “It’s scary. Nature gave us this water. They’re not giving us any this year. What I think is criminal is all the water that has to be let out because of the fish.” Few houseboats remain in the lake. Most have been temporarily placed in parking lots. Also out on the lake are floating pumps that carry water to the Lake Don Pedro community. “Our emergency floating pumps have another 50 feet below them,” says Kampa. “Once that gets exhausted, which right now we estimate to be sometime mid-summer, then it’s five miles to get to another location where the water exists.” Almost certainly other towns in California are or will soon be facing severe water shortages. Big cities have more resources and have stockpiled water, but even they are facing mandatory rationing.

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A friend of mine posted a short video on Facebook of her son proudly pulling his tooth out in hopes of ‘getting lots of money’ in trade for his freshly plucked tooth that night from the tooth fairy. Of course, your first reaction is ‘awe’ but this got me thinking about the mythos behind some tiny fairy flying into a child’s room at night and the weird transaction of trading a recently pulled tooth for cash. The tooth fairy may be just a made-up figure whose folklore leads you to believe that when a child loses his/her baby teeth, they are to put the tooth under their pillow (or if you’re a smart parent on the bedside table so you don’t have to sneak under their pillow at night like I had to do so many times) for the tooth fairy to come while they are asleep and buy their tooth from them while they sleep. And though there is no federal law prohibiting the buying or selling of a body part, this is definitely one of the most bizarre financial transactions that I can think of. One thing that we modern-day Americans rarely even think about, is where in the world did this story originate and whether the Tooth Fairy is actually practiced in many places throughout the world. It is obviously a tradition that has been around for a very long time, so what’s the story morning glory? While children excitingly look forward to the prospect of the tooth being traded for money, many parents around the world use the transaction to help comfort the child for the loss of their tooth. The prospect of financial gain is worth the fear and pain that results from the removal of the tooth. Since the Tooth Fairy is in the same boat as other gift giving imaginary characters like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, this belief doesn’t last for long. So we know that Santa Claus was based on a real person (or a collaboration of the lore behind many people as some researchers say) and the Easter Bunny’s history can be traced back to the 1700s where German immigrants brought the tradition of the Easter hare or Osterhase/Oschter Haws (the Easter Hare was depicted as a figure who brought ‘Easter Eggs’ as gifts to the good little children at the beginning of the Easter season aka Eastertide) to America; but where in the world does a tooth trading fairy come from? In Northern Europe, the tradition of tand-fé or ‘tooth fee’ is paid when a child loses their first tooth. This tradition has been documented in ancient writings and was even documented in the ancient collection of Old Norse literary works called “Eddas”. During the Middle Ages, the superstitions regarding children’s teeth changed. In England, it was said that the children were instructed to take their baby teeth and burn them in order to save them from having to endlessly search for them in the afterlife. They were also told to burn their teeth due to a fear that if a witch got a hold of one of your teeth, they could gain power over you. In Norse culture, however, it was the Vikings who were one of the first to initially ‘pay’ their children for their teeth. They would purchase the children’s teeth and other items belonging to the children. These items were believed to bring good luck in battle. They even hung the children’s teeth on a string around their necks. So I know that this still doesn’t explain the modern interpretation of the tiny Tinkerbell-like Tooth Fairy with wings and a magic wand that would bring you money for your tooth at night. While Santa Claus has a very exact description and the Easter Bunny is an anthropomorphic bunny (normally wearing clothes), the Tooth Fairy doesn’t have an exact description. Though we know that it definitely doesn’t look like the Rock (as he actually starred in a 2010 fantasy comedy movie titled Tooth Fairy, there is no definitive description for us to properly interpret. So while American parents dish out an average of $5.70 a tooth (yes you read that right) that is placed under their pillow; kids in other countries have much more to their Tooth Fairy story. While Americans (as well as Australia, Denmark, and England) have an ancient European influenced story of a ‘tooth fairy’ visiting in the middle of the night to trade a coin for our lost tooth; in Spain, children put their teeth also put their lost tooth into a pillow. The only difference is that they are not visited by a sweet little fairy, they are visited by a little mouse named Ratoncito Perez that will leave them a coin or a piece of candy. And no I am not joking because Colombian children have a similar tradition. Colombian children place their teeth under their pillow but a mouse named El Ratón Miguelito takes care of the tooth – money transaction. Rats and teeth seem to be a common trend because, in France, children put their teeth under their pillows but they are visited by le petite souris (yes that translates to ‘the small mouse‘) comes and takes the tooth and gives them a small gift. The trend of rodents and teeth continues in Russia where we find children putting their lost teeth inside of mouse holes in hopes that the mouse will ‘bring them a good tooth to replace their lost tooth’ while children in Sri Lanka stand outside of their house, close their eyes and call for another rodent to come and take their tooth and bring them a new one. Sri Lankan kids throw their tooth on top of their roof after saying, “Squirrel, squirrel, take this tooth and bring me a new one.” After they go back inside, they can then open their eyes. In some Asian countries (specifically China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam) the kids don’t place their teeth under a pillow for money. The kids who lose their teeth, historically, throw their bottom teeth on the roof of their house, while they throw the teeth from the top row will be placed on the floor, basement or under the floorboards. This tradition stems from the tooth-losing kid wanting their new tooth to grow correctly towards the tooth they lost. Throwing teeth sound weird to you? Haitian children also have a tradition of throwing their teeth on the roof where they ask for a rat to bring them a good tooth in return for their old baby tooth. While some Indian children follow the same tradition of throwing top teeth down and bottom teeth up, some Indian children have the tradition of asking a sparrow to bring them a beautiful new tooth. Some kids in Korea don’t throw their teeth on the roof for a sparrow, they sing a little song to another bird entirely. They sing, “Blackbird, blackbird, my old tooth I give to you. Bring me a new tooth.” Okay, I didn’t say the song was super catchy or inventive but it is a traditional song none-the-less. While some children in some believe the birds will bring them a bright shiny tooth, children in Nepal are slightly protective of their teeth. They believe that if a bird sees or eats their lost tooth, then a new one won’t grow in its place. They try to bury the tooth before a bird can see it and in a place that it can never be found or eaten. While these birds come to swoop down to get the tooth, the Cherokee Indian tribe’s children run around the house with their lost tooth, throw it on the roof while reciting the lines “beaver, put a new tooth in my jaw” four times. It would appear that Haiti and Asia aren’t the only places in the world that have a tradition of throwing teeth. In a tradition that can date back to the 13th century, kids in India and portions of the Middle Eastern countries of Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt are encouraged to throw their teeth into the sky. This common trend in a lot of middle-eastern countries, find kids wrapping their teeth in a tissue and throwing the tooth towards the sun, asking for it to take their old buffalo tooth and give them a bride’s tooth. They are essentially asking for a brighter, more beautiful smile. As strange as it may sound, in ancient Abyssinia, the children would throw their lost tooth to the howling hyena and ask them to bring them strong teeth. Even stranger still, let’s go back to parts of Asia where in Central Asia (specifically Mongolia), where lost teeth are placed in some sort of animal fat and fed to their dog. No matter how strange this sounds, the thought behind it is that they hope that their new tooth/teeth will grow to be as strong as a dog’s tooth/teeth. The trend of feeding teeth to the dog is also found in the Shuswap and Yupik Indian tribes where children would mix their teeth with some meat and feed it to their dog with the same hope as the Mongolian children. Now let’s suppose the family didn’t have a dog? Well, they would bury it under a tree so that the new tooth would have strong roots. The tradition of burying the tooth under a tree is similar to the Dene Yellowknives American Indian tribe where the mother or grandmother of the child that has lost his/her tooth and place it in a tree will take the tooth and then place it in a tree for the family to come to dance a traditional dance around the tree in hopes that the tooth grows in as straight as the tree has grown. Speaking of burying your teeth. In Turkey, parents believe that the lost tooth carries with it more bearing than just a yearning to have a great smile. They believe that that tooth holds the power to help wield the future of that child. If the child (or the parent) wants to grow up to become a famous soccer star; well they would bury the tooth at the soccer field. Say the child should grow up to become a doctor? Then they would bury the tooth at the medical school. And lastly, children in Malaysia bury their teeth for completely different reasons. They believe that since we are from the earth and that tooth was a part of them, we should return the tooth to the earth. Whether we throw our teeth in the river at sunset for good luck like kids in Pakistan or keep our teeth as a souvenir like the kids in Lithuania; we all have traditions regarding our pearly whites that some might view as bizarre. So we Americans should remember that the next time your kid loses a tooth and you slide that crisp $5 bill under your child’s pillow after carefully remove that baby tooth–think about the traditions from other places in the world. Maybe introduce another tradition to your kids or continue our Tooth Fairy tradition. Either way, I think that making our children more comfortable with the tooth-loss process is an important part of growing up. Because after all, losing a tooth isn’t exactly the most relaxing thing in the world but it is definitely something that every child in the world has to go through. Featured image – Smiling Brown haired girl holding up the baby tooth she lost by msspider66 – https://www.flickr.com/photos/msspider66/2239856567/in/photostream/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16927570 Tooth Fairy movie poster attributed to Source, Fair Use. Viking Warrior at Slavic and Wiking Festival in Wolin by Jakub T. Jankiewicz – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71430246 The Tooth Fairy as drawn by a five-year-old girl from Illinois by Eden – Tooth Fairy, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19704749 Raton Perez statue by Jlordovas – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5693917 Passer domesticus, the type species Passeridae by Alvesgaspar (talk) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6852105 Mauritanian Woman by Ferdinand Reus – A big smile., CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3220275 A seven-year-old boy lost a deciduous tooth by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)Email the author: David R. TribbleAlso see my personal gallery at Google Photos – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9470100 Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby B. Beeler

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American Wind’s Products / The global technology leader and partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and more resilient grid / When we started down the road of building a new system we had one goal, to bring power to the people. To do this we couldn't develop a system that was like anything the world had ever seen. The turbines had to be smaller, quieter more efficient, and work anywhere in the world not just the high wind areas. They also could not be placed 100 km from people and lose 30% of energy in the power lines. They had to be able to be placed right at the hospital, large building, or home. So we started from somewhere else that no one else has, we started from scratch not looking at anything other than the power formula to start. When designing a new wind turbine we had to look at the formula of how wind energy is created. We noticed that traditionally wind turbines focus on getting more energy from the air they focus simply on the surface area of the wind, we knew that in order to create the most efficient system we had to create a system that focused on both wind surface area and wind velocity. To control the wind surface area is very simple, you make more wind turbines or you make them larger. However when you make a wind turbine larger you the loose efficiency just like with anything else, the bigger it is typically the more energy you can get but the less efficient it is at using that energy. So we knew to cover the surface area we didn't have to make the turbines larger but simply use more of them in a different fashion to cover the surface area. Doing this created the Advanced WIndWall™ (AWW). The AWW covers a large surface area while keeping each turbine at maximum efficiency. Also by using walls of a certain size, we can distribute the energy in a different fashion allowing the energy created to be brought closer to the point of use, eliminating 30% loss in energy production in the transmission lines. Doing this also provides for greater energy security and resiliency. By keeping each turbine smaller and creating an array of them we also changed a key factor in which many other turbines cannot achieve, we manipulate the wind speed. We changed many things with our wind turbine systems and one of the critical things we have changed is by using a ducted wind turbine. The ducted system allows us to manipulate the most important part of the power formula and that is V3. By ducting the turbine and forcing the air to fit into a smaller space the air accelerates, this accelerating air increases potential energy at the blades. Traditionally this would cause increased back pressure in-front of the blades not allowing more air to pass through, but because our blade design reduces the pressure of the air using the Bernoulli effect we create a low-pressure zone behind the blades allowing for the air to rush through the system increasing overall efficiency. This can be seen in our Computational Fluid Dynamics as in this image we see an ambient airspeed is near 30mph and by the time the air hits the blades, the airspeed has reached nearly 80mph, after it passes by the blades the air pressure is so low the airspeed increases to over 100mph. This increase in wind speed is due to the pressure being lowered significantly. Then the air is squeezed by the ducted housing allowing the air to leave the wind turbine faster than the ambient air. This process allows for greater power production at lower ambient airspeeds by increasing the airspeed at the blade by nearly 2x in the MicroCube™ configuration. In the wind wall configuration, the wind speeds at the blade surface can be increased even greater. Using the Advanced WindWall™ to cover more surface area in but placing them randomly amongst a city we can create a distributed energy source closer to the people. Then using the ducted system of the Advanced WindWall™ by manipulating the ambient wind speed by a power of nearly 2-3 times at the surface of the blades, we can increase the potential energy in the system greatly. However, this would not be possible without to combine the power of multiple AC generators without our state of the art, 1st of its kind AC generator. Using our generator to combine 100 MicroCubes™ in series was unheard of before American Wind, Inc developed this new generator technology. Allowing for our generators to be used in both Serial and Parallel increases the efficiency even greater allowing for all of this to be possible. Using all of these things we are able to gather much more energy from the air than any other wind turbine system on the planet bar none, all while bringing power closer to the point of use. Truly creating, the power to the people.

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From our Obsession Future of Food How to feed everyone, without hurting the planet. For the first time ever, residents of Glasgow were in late May treated to a cuppa with a twist: cappuccinos made from camel milk. The Willow Tea Rooms in the Scottish city introduced the new coffee drink as part of a project to support Kenyan female milk traders who are battling climate change in Wajir county located in the nation’s northeast. With more than 12.2 million heads of camel, East Africa is home to some of the world’s largest camel populations. Rich in iron, vitamin B and C, and low in fat, the frothy milk produced by the hunched mammal is valued in the region and across the world for its medicinal value—particularly against diabetes and allergies—and is even used as an aphrodisiac. It’s also prized as a source of nutrition especially in hot and arid zones where climate change is exacerbating drought conditions and decimating food chains. As such, camel dairy products ranging from baby milk to chocolate bars, pizzas to frappuccinos have been launched all across the world. In Africa, enterprises like Mauritania’s Tiviski have been successful in disrupting the milk industry, ensuring they buy from local camel herders instead of relying on milk imports. In Chad, milk bars are helping popularize the consumption of the slightly salty milk, while Egypt’s Tayyiba Farms offers a range of products including camel white cheese, kefir, and yogurt. Yet across East Africa, the camel dairy business remains rudimentary with much of it being sold and consumed in domestic markets or guzzled by young camels themselves. This underutilization of the creamy liquid, some say, undermines its potential to grow into a multi-billion-dollar business that could change the lives of herders and milk traders alike. Given its benefits for health and well-being, camel milk could grow to become the next global superfood attracting health-conscious consumers. “No one’s talking about it,” says Bashir Warsame, whose camel processing firm Nuug opened in Nairobi last year. Warsame sources from herders in the southern and central towns of Voi and Isiolo respectively, delivering both camel milk and yogurt in various flavors to supermarkets and homes in the Kenyan capital. “The camel industry is very virgin from the milking stage to the delivery.” Warsame is one of a new crop of entrepreneurs who are tapping into what some have called the “white gold.” Using a blend of direct marketing, social media, and word of mouth, their aim is to bring the desert animal into cities and realize the commercial value of camels. They are also changing the consumption of camel milk from its usual smoked and boiled usage and introducing it in pasteurized and powdered forms. These include companies like White Gold, which kickstarted operations in the central town of Nanyuki after the giant camel milk firm Vital faced financial woes and ceased operations in 2017. In Wajir, non-governmental organizations like Mercy Corps have also helped install refrigerated ATMs, allowing traders to keep the milk from going sour and deliver it fresh. To boost the camel population and enhance food security, Kenyan officials have also distributed camels to pastoralists in arid and semi-arid areas. In Somalia, which has one of the highest numbers of camels worldwide, camel dairy production is also being looked into as a profitable business that can integrate pastoralists into the formal economy. “I do truly believe camel milk to be a superfood and more importantly the milk of the future,” says the founder of the Sweden-based startup Agrikaab, Mohamed Jimale. From Ethiopia’s teff to Senegal’s fonio, the baobab, tamarind, and dried hibiscus, Africa has contributed to the global explosion of superfoods which have drawn many Western customers due to their high content of nutrients and antioxidants. As a former nomad himself, Jimale started his firm in a bid to improve Somalia’s livestock and agricultural sectors—both hampered by recurring droughts and water scarcity. Besides using cash to sell camels to both locals and foreigners, Agrikaab also accepts cryptocurrencies in a bid to attract more customers. With six active farms across Somalia, two of which are dedicated to camels, Jimale says they hope to strike partnerships that could help them manufacture products like camel milk cheese, ice cream, and soaps. Nuug’s Warsame says he’s looking at the possibility of making camel milk cosmetics—a beauty regimen possibly first realized by Egyptian queen Cleopatra who is reputed to have bathed in camel milk to maintain soft and clear skin. Before this is attained, a number of barriers related to sourcing, infrastructure, and marketing will have to be resolved. Warsame says one way to mainstream camel milk is to marry it into the local coffee and tea scenes—which is being exported worldwide from countries like Ethiopia. Governments, he says, should also integrate the camel and pastoralist culture into the tourism industry. “It’s all about being creative with this raw material that’s abundantly available,” he said. Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech and innovation in your inbox

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Eating leafy greens is vitally important for our health. Spinach, arugula, chard, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, parsley, dandelion greens, mustard greens, beet greens, cilantro, and kale are just a few examples of leafy greens. They are packed with nutrients, antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, have cancer-fighting properties and are our greatest source of dietary nitrates. Antioxidants inhibit oxidation and fight free radicals in the body. Some benefits of antioxidants include: - Slower signs of aging, including of the skin, eyes, tissue, joints, heart and brain - Healthier, glowing skin - Reduced cancer risk - Detoxification support for the body - Longer life span - Protection against heart disease and stroke - Less risk for cognitive problems, such as dementia - Reduced risk for vision loss or disorders like macular degeneration and cataracts Kale has made a major appearance on menus in the past several years, and it’s one of those things that people tend to love or hate. I know many people think kale has had it’s moment, but I love it, and it’s packed with nutrients. It’s definitely a staple in my kitchen, and is on many of the meal plans I create for my clients. There are so many ways to incorporate it into your diet, but first let’s talk a little bit more about it, and why it’s so good for you. Kale is a member of the cruciferous, or cabbage family which includes mustard greens, turnip greens, and watercress. It is almost exactly the same vegetable as collards, only kale has leaves with curly edges and is less tolerant to heat. There are several varieties of kale. Curly kale has ruffled leaves and a fibrous stalk, and is deep green in color. This type of kale has a deep, earthy flavor and also has delicious bitter, peppery notes. Ornamental kale is a newly cultivated species, and may be green, white or purple in color. It has a milder flavor and more tender texture than other types of kale. Dinosaur, or Lacinto, kale has dark blue-green leaves that have an embossed-like texture on the leaves. It has a slightly more delicate flavor than curly kale. Kale is among the most highly nutritious vegetables. It is an excellent source of carotenes, vitamins C, B6, B1, B2, E and manganese. It is a good source of fiber and dietary nitrates, as well as minerals including copper, iron and calcium. Kale has almost three times as much calcium as phosphorus, which is a key ratio in supporting bone health. One cup of kale contains 70% of the recommended daily intake for calcium. Kale has the same sort of anticancer properties as other members of the cabbage family, and is also extremely high in chlorophyll, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, which are potent antioxidants. How to Incorporate: Kale - Use as the base for salads, or as part of a mix with spinach, arugula or other dark lettuces. - Throw a handful of kale into the blender with smoothie ingredients, or include as part of a green juice. - Mix chopped kale into quinoa along with lemon juice and pine nuts for a delicious side dish. - Add kale into scrambled eggs, egg muffins or frittatas. - Massage it! Put raw, chopped kale into a bowl. Add in a drizzle of avocado or olive oil, a splash of vinegar (apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar are just a few examples) or lemon juice, and massage the kale. It helps to break down the leaves, and completely transforms/mellows the flavor. - Mix kale into your favorite pasta dish. It will wilt down, but add texture and a punch of nutrients to the dish. - Add it into chicken or veggie soup. (Actually, there are lots of soups that would be delicious with kale.) - Wilt the kale in a pan with garlic, lemon juice and sprinkle of salt a pepper for a quick and easy side dish. - Use kale just as you would spinach in side dishes, salads and recipes that call for spinach. - Make kale chips! There are tons of recipes online for this, and it’s super easy to do. You can also buy kale chips in most grocery stores – just check for clean ingredients. These are just a few ways to incorporate kale into your meals. Given that kale is such a nutritional powerhouse, it’s worth taking the time to find your favorite ways to prepare it, and make sure it’s part of your eating plan a few times a week! Tell me: What’s your favorite dish with kale?

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Regents’ Center Director Beth Van Meeteren delivered the session, "Encouraging Student-led STEM Investigations in Early Elementary" at the Iowa Science Teaching Section Annual Conference in Ankeny on October 7th. The NSTA Elementary Science Position Statement advocates for K-3 students' access to STEM on a daily basis. The Iowa Department of Education supports the goal of a robust curriculum. In this session, the Director shared how K-3 teachers could create a physical space in their classrooms for small groups of students to engage in STEM investigations during small group reading alongside traditional literacy investigations that involve reading, writing, and word work. Unlike traditional science centers where students are given directions to follow and worksheets to complete, these teachers are offering open-ended experiences for their students to grapple with physics in force and motion, spatial thinking through experiences with light and shadow, chemistry through cooking, and rotational motion through reverse engineering tops and engineering new designs. Throughout these experiences, students gain a strong understanding of properties of materials and how those properties are beneficial in specific designs. Instead of learning about science and engineering, they engage in science and engineering; becoming comfortable with errors as they view them as an opportunity to learn. In the process of these STEM investigations, students desire to learn the tools of literacy to communicate what they are learning and figuring out.

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This Article is in top most on google Search page on semantic web OWL and Internet of things. – Ontology can be represented by OWL (Ontology Web Language) which is also refining and defining the agents used to search the personalized behavioural web for you(also called semantic web) Thus these agents understand you behaviour and help to find better recommendations and search List in Semantic space. – Semantic Web: – Augmented Reality : is used in Gaming and multimedia application (read Article link below) Perceived Reality vs The augmented reality Augmented reality is fuelled by ontology + perceived reality. READ: How Augmented Reality transforming gamification of Software (like ERP) – New age software development Ontology can integrate many task into a Uniform task which were not possible Early. Read Discussion On Reality Vs Actuality on Wikki link of Ontology This Is ongoing Article I going to complete the pieces with example and below topics – CDI, Customer Data Integration (Single version of truth for a data Like single person can be An Employee in Peoplesoft ERP, same person can be Customer in SAP CRM, Can be an represented in different way in Oracle Financial. But when we develop reports on some parameters across functional areas then categorisation into a single entity can be achieved through CDI. How this is linked to Ontology will explain further. – MDM, Master data Management (Managing data (meta data)about data) – Federated data management. several Data Marts leading to a universal single data warehouse one design But in Data Federation the data from various data mart can be integrated virtually to create single view of Data from various disparate sources can also be used. This relationship would be further expanded its not complete now..

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When the opportunity presents itself, glance up at the ceiling. Do you ever wonder who the responsible parties were for the design and construction of the roof above? If you’re involved in the truss industry, there is no doubt you have. If not, it never hurts to be in the know. Since we spend a significant portion of our life under a roof, it helps to know a few facts about what’s over our heads. Roofs built from prefabricated wood trusses used in light-frame and residential construction will be the focus of this blog post. The current national design standard for metal plate connected wood truss construction is ANSI/TPI 1-2007, which is the referenced standard in the 2009 and 2012 IBC and IRC. So what are design responsibilities for wood trusses and why are they important? They are a series of responsibilities required by key parties for applications of trusses in the construction of a building. These key parties (Owner, Building Designer, Registered Design Professional, etc.) are important because each is required to produce pertinent information about the truss and truss system from its inception to erection and long in-service life. As wood trusses have evolved, so have publications about their construction, quality and use. The first standard was published in 1960, with subsequent standards published periodically. In 1995, the Truss Plate Institute (TPI) published ANSI/TPI 1-1995, which served as the first ANSI consensus-based national design standard for metal-plate connected wood truss construction. One of many new chapters established in ANSI/TPI 1-1995 was chapter 2, identifying design responsibilities. While early versions of ANSI/TPI 1 introduced design responsibilities, chapter 2 of ANSI/TPI -2007 has clarified and added areas of responsibility that are vital for today’s component industry. In addition, the 2007 edition defined responsibilities regarding temporary and permanent restraint and bracing, and special inspection requirements to long span trusses (any truss with a span of 60 feet or greater). These are just a few, yet critical additions to the standard. Without clear definitions of responsibility, how would the industry know who specifies truss connections, or who provides bracing locations necessary to a roof assembly and its duration of service? Additionally, who determines if a project requires a truss submittal package, or the type of information it must provide? While these questions and more are answered in ANSI/TPI 1-2007, any provisions of the TPI 1 Design Responsibilities can be changed in the contract documents for a given project, so long as all parties are made aware of and agree to the revisions. Ensuring all parties’ know and follow the design standard can help ensure a properly designed, manufactured and erected truss that will lead to a safe roof system. If you’re a component manufacturer, knowing what you’re responsible for and required to produce can get you out of a jam or better yet, help you avoid one altogether. Communication is key to the industry. The Commentary and Appendices of ANSI/TPI 1-2007 is available for web review: http://www.tpinst.org/technical-downloads Do you know or want to know the answers to the above questions? Or perhaps think there are responsibilities that need to be clarified or added to future publications of ANSI/TPI 1? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Republican lawmakers have had their sights set on the Endangered Species Act for years, and now see an opportunity with the Trump administration to reduce much of the law's influence. They've long claimed it is a hindrance to economic development, including mining and logging. The proposed reforms would place a cap on how many species could be protected, put limits on lawsuits used to maintain protections, and allow states to have a greater leverage on the process. This landmark 1973 law has protected thousands of species over the decades, and is essential to fighting back against mass extinctions caused by climate change and environmental degradation. Changes to the Endangered Species Act could potentially cause the removal of vulnerable species from the list to pave the way for development in their habitats. It could make it more difficult to add species experiencing habitat loss due to climate change. Take action now to stand in opposition to the gutting of the Endangered Species Act! By clicking continue, you will also receive periodic communications from the Sierra Club. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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In the year of the 30th anniversary of its Manifesto, Slow Food renews its commitment: skills, visions and abilities which demonstrate that access to good, clean and fair food for all is possible. On October 16th, World Food Day, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) is calling for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible for everyone. Furthermore, today the SOFA 2019 (State of Food and Agriculture) has been released. The report highlights that “reducing food loss and waste also has the potential to contribute to other Sustainable Development Goals, including the Zero Hunger goal. […] In lower-income countries, where food insecurity is often severe, increasing access to food is critical; and access itself is likely to be closely associated with availability. Preventing food losses at the local level in smallholder production can both alleviate food shortages and increase farmers’ incomes, thus improving access. At the other extreme, in high-income countries, the priority is nutrition and quality of diet”. “The SOFA report highlights how the problem of food waste is a global problem with extremely complex interconnections. A challenge that Slow Food has taken up over the years and that has led us to work with rural communities in low-income countries to improve their food security, is helping small-scale farmers keep the culture of their traditional foods alive and improve the local distribution chain through gardens and farmers’ markets” Edie Mukiibi, member of the Slow Food International Executive Committee says. “At the same time, it is essential to continue to raise awareness among consumers with good incomes, so that through their choices they can contribute to the change towards a more sustainable system, and to improve access to healthy food for everyone”. In a world with an unfair and unsustainable system of food production, the importance of the two pillars of the Slow Food commitment, Education and Protection of Biodiversity, is increasingly topical. A diverse variety of crops is crucial for providing healthy diets and safeguarding the environment. The richness of biodiversity in nature can help us to improve the nutritional quality of food, and on this the network of Slow Food communities around the world possesses extraordinary knowledge and skills. An example comes from the Indigenous Terra Madre Asia and Pan-Pacific gathering that just came to a close today in Ainu Mosir (Hokkaido, Japan). “Indigenous peoples’ food systems create biodiverse diets and practices, contributing to a healthy life and have many benefits: diverse and healthy foods, physical activity, contact with nature, sharing, community and cultural identity” Remi Ie, Slow Food International Councillor for Japan and indigenous Ryukyu woman, says. “In order to ensure the survival and the future health of these indigenous food systems we must be mindful of the lessons of our elders who practiced a slow, sustainable lifestyle for generations, and we must empower our youth by involving them, believing in them and trusting them to reaffirm the legacy of the ancient traditions we are passing on. The successful transfer of traditional knowledge is the key to a fulfilling, nutritious, and sustainable future not just for indigenous communities but all humanity.” Slow Food Presidia products, thanks to production practices that avoid the use of chemical products, preservatives and synthetic additives, maintain the fertility of the soils in which the plants grow, as well as the quality of the feed given to livestock, which is richer in nutritional value than similar conventional products. Cooks have also taken on the educational mission and are committed to spreading awareness about good, clean and fair ingredients. The chefs of the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance in Uganda and Kenya are committed to using and promoting alternatives to vegetable margarine and stock cubes, such as dried Moringa oleifera leaves, which are very rich in vitamin C, or the toasted peanut paste called binyebwa, high in nutrients. Medicinal properties are a feature of many traditional products: the Wamiti Herbal Clinic in Nairobi (Kenya) uses the Ogiek Honey Presidium for the preparation of natural medicines, and in Arusha (Tanzania), TRMEGA (Training, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation on Gender and AIDS) in collaboration with the local Slow Food groups involved in nutrition education for AIDS patients through the creation of gardens. Another example comes from Mexico, where Slow Food is involved in a project to treat malnutrition in children with products from the Xunankab bee honey Presidium in the Yucatán peninsula. Meanwhile, Slow Food USA is pairing up with the FAO to highlight World Food Day. As obesity rates escalate in the developed world, this year Slow Food USA responded to the FAO’s call to action to make healthy and sustainable diets available and affordable for everyone. Countries, decision makers, private businesses, and civil society have all addressed the goal of achieving healthier diets and #ZeroHunger. The Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance members will submit healthy recipes for kids, then Slow Food USA will create a simple recipe booklet, distributing it within school gardens networks and among Slow Food members.

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The History and Philosophy of Ketupat Lebaran In the 15th and 16th century, Sunan Kalijaga was known as one of the walisongo members who spread Islam in the land of Java using culture and tradition to spread the Islam and also its kindness. Sunan Kalijaga was considered successful to spread Islam in Java because he used the special approach that could get attention from the society. According to the history, Ketupat is so identical with the people who lived near the paddy field so Sunan Kalijaga created the food as the typicalculinary for Lebaran. This way was considered so interesting for people so they were interested to learn Islam more. The important point of it happened when Sunan Kalijaga spread Islam in the middle of Javanese society where at that time, people who lived there were still in the transition era from Hindu to Islam. There are many proofs and also verbal story developed and said that Sunan Kalijaga was the first person who used Ketupat as the typical accessory for Lebaran. In each region of Nusantara, the people had their own way to name this food. While in Melayu, this food was named as Ketupat. The Balinese people also knew about this food and they called it as Tipat. In other places, this food is also known as Ketumpat. Eid Fitri is not complete without Ketupat and in every house, you can find this as the main course along with other typical food in Lebaran such as Opor Ayam. Basically, Sunan Kalijaga actually made it as culture at the same time with Bakda Lebaran and Bakda Ketupat. In Javanese language, Ngaku Lepat means admit the mistake. Meanwhile, Laku Papat means four actions. Beside that, Ketupat also has deep philosophy behind it. It can be seen from the complicated wrap or known as “Anyaman Ketupat". After opening Ketupat, it will look like the white rice. It is reflected as cleanness and also holiness of heart after asking for apology from all mistakes. The shape of Ketupat is so perfect and it is connected with the victory of Islam people after fasting for a month and celebrate Eid Fitri at the end. There is another philosophy of Ketupat. Ketupat is always served with the other side dishes made of coconut milk and in the Javanese term, it is called as “Kupat Santen” which means as I apologize. That is the history and also philosophy of Ketupat and thanks to Walisongo who spread and introduces Islam to Java, people has the deep tradition and culture related to it and Ketupat is still kept until now.

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A Complete Guide How Simple What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 Free tutorial them at Home. In this Guide, We'll Show You Free tutorials DIY What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1. Step by Step Guide to easily Your type 1 diabetes. Video How Simple What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 showing you Can I your type 1 diabetes instead of replacing it. Written by an experienced mechanic. + Is can type 1 diabetics get pregnant genetic? In some cases, there are no symptoms — this happens at times with type 2 What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1. In this case, people can live for months, even years without knowing they have the disease. This form of What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 comes on so gradually that symptoms may not even be recognized. + Can can you play sports with type 1 diabetes eat honey? 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In fact, of the 29 million people in the U.S. who have What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1, 8 million are undiagnosed, according to the American Diabetes Association. However, you don't know just by your symptoms if you have What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1. + What are how to take care of type 1 diabetes shoes ? Diabetes insipidus is a rare condition that causes your body to make a lot of urine that is 'insipid,' or colorless and odorless. Most people pee out 1 to 2 quarts of urine a day. People with What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 insipidus can pass between 3 and 20 quarts a day. Be A Better Business With Better Internet What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 on the internet has become a favorite method to promote a business. However, in order to achieve success, you've got to learn the ways to approach it. 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Provide the consumer the option of clicking on a button to listen to it if you choose to add audio to your website. A customer who is visiting with your store while at work or one who is with a baby in earshot, is not likely to love. To help your business grow with internet What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1, think about hosting a giveaway. Giveaways will bring visitors and people will look around to learn about your goods and services before going to win. The excitement of a giveaway will create a enjoyable buzz. Transferring the email route in What Percentage Of People With Diabetes Have Type 1 can backfire on you and in a hurry. Ensure that is brief, informative, and introduces a call to action to the potential customer. The idea is for people to see your message and feel the desire to click, not to read a long story and click from your messageout of boredom. 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You have to understand what works for your business and what doesn't. The only way is by trying different methods and monitoring the results. Continue reading to learn by reading articles and talking to specialists. If you work hard on your internet business, you can benefit from the fruits of your labour.

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10 Ways AAC Can Help Improve Slurred Speech in Dysarthria 8 min read While some people with communication impairments are non-verbal, producing no speech to communicate, many others have use of their natural speech, but it sounds slurred or unclear. They don’t need a device to communicate for them, but they do need some help. Enter speech supplementation. Speech supplementation is the “augmentative” part of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication). By pointing to letters or topics on an alphabet board or a topic board, people can make their unclear speech easier to understand. Many scientific studies have been done to examine the effects of using a letter and topic board by people with dysarthria, and the results nearly universally suggest a strong benefit. Before we start, let me mention AlphaTopics – AAC. This is an app with a design similar to the low-tech boards used in the studies featured here. It adds optional sounds, accessibility settings, visual feedback, convenience, and customization to bring this tried and true method to the modern age. Get your FREE printable letter and topic board from AlphaTopics Without further ado, here are 10 benefits of using letter boards and topic boards to help with speech difficulties: 1) Gives the listener context By indicating the first letter of the word being said, listeners understand the word better.1 An indistinct “ay” sound made while pointing to “M” tells us the word is “May” instead of “Kay,” “hey,” “bay,” “way,” or “yea.” FYI: Many text abbreviations use just the first letter of each word, and we can often figure out what they mean given the conversational context. WDYT? AlphaTopics – AAC offers a letter board in alphabetical order with vowels aligned down the side for faster navigation. There are also 2 alternative layouts based on letter frequency to help those who use scanning to be more efficient. By indicating the topic, the range of possibilities is narrowed.2 When discussing “transportation” as the topic, an unclear “ar” is clearly “car.” AlphaTopics – AAC offers a topic board with choice of 12 or 24 topics. The topics can be customized, re-arranged, and spoken aloud. 2) Slows down speech When the speaker must point to the first letter of each word, they naturally speak slower. This rate reduction makes the dysarthric speech easier to understand by marking the word boundaries and giving the listener more time to process the sounds.3 This slowing feature is particularly useful for people with Parkinson’s disease or who otherwise speak very quickly. 3) Improves articulation Not only does touching each letter slow down the rate of speech, it also improves the actual production of the sounds.4 By taking more time to say each word, the muscles of the mouth may have more time to move to the right position to make clearer sounds. 4) Raises listener’s opinion of the speaker The better a listener can understand a speaker, the higher their estimation of the person’s abilities.5 When dysarthric speakers use speech supplementation, they are showing that they are trying to help their listeners understand while making themselves easier to understand. Everybody wins! AlphaTopics – AAC is an app, so it may be socially more acceptable than a laminated paper board. When a listener sees the speaker using a high-tech device, they may also recognize more quickly that the person is intelligent and capable. 5) Faster than typing whole messages Touching just the first letter while speaking is much faster than typing out whole messages, even with text prediction. Because so much attention is being paid to finding each letter, many people with communication disorders don’t take advantage of predicted text anyway. Typing out each word, correcting typographic errors, and having an app speak the message – pronouncing typos and all – can be frustrating and time-consuming for both the listener and the speaker. AlphaTopics – AAC has the option of saying each letter aloud. Once the listener thinks they know what the word is, they can say it aloud for the speaker to verify. Even for someone with almost no intelligible speech, spelling in a way that the listener can guess before the word is completed can move the conversation faster than typing whole messages. 6) Helps even when only some words are supplemented Pointing to the first letter can be done for every word, but it’s also effective for some speakers with dysarthria when done only for key words or when there’s a communication breakdown.6 AlphaTopics – AAC is always there on your smartphone or tablet, so even if it’s not being used all the time, it’s there in a pinch when there’s a communication breakdown. No wi-fi or subscription required. Likewise, listeners don’t need to see the first letter of every single word to understand better. Just touching it may be enough.7 7) Allows for improved interpersonal connection When a person uses an app or device to communicate, the listener is often drawn to look at the communication aid to see the message come together. If the speaker prefers to assemble the message without someone looking, the listener often doesn’t know where to look or what to do while waiting. With an app like AlphaTopics – AAC that shows and/or speaks the first letter or topic, the listener can spend more time engaged directly with the speaker. The interaction doesn’t need to focus on the communication aid – it focuses on the people involved. Eye contact is easier, and there’s no confusion who is talking – the person or the device. 8) Can be used over the phone Even without seeing or hearing it, telephone conversation partners can reportedly tell whether the speaker is using an alphabet board on the other end.8 This is likely attributable to rate being slower and speech being clearer. With sounds included in AlphaTopics – AAC, the app can be used to let the person on the other end of the phone hear each of the letters or topics touched. 9) Not (too) complicated Touching the first letter of each word or starting with the topic isn’t very complicated, but it does take some practice. Users of speech supplementation need to have basic literacy or sound-letter knowledge (known as phonological awareness). They also need relatively strong cognitive skills to be able to hold the message in mind while pointing to letters and monitoring whether their communication partner is understanding. However, for speakers with strong literacy and cognition, it’s possible to pick up the technique on the first try. Remembering to use the technique might be the hardest part! AlphaTopics – AAC has a setting to choose which board, letters or topics, comes up first when the app is opened. For those who have difficulty remembering to indicate the topic first, making the default board the topic board can be a great reminder. 10) Can also be used for aphasia Establishing the topic, or indicating when the topic changes, is a useful strategy when communicating with a person with aphasia. If the person has difficulty reading, the topics on a topic board can be read aloud to them until they indicate it is correct. AlphaTopics – AAC has a customizable topic board that will use the text-to-speech voice of the device to read each topic aloud. Use the Emoji keyboard to add relevant symbols to each topic if extra support is needed. For times when you’re looking for a word on the tip of your tongue, having access to the alphabet can help with the search. A person with aphasia with word finding difficulties, or anomia, can reference the alphabet board to think whether the word they are trying to say begins with each letter. Who Benefits Most from Speech Supplementation? Stroke and brain injury9 survivors commonly have dysarthria. The slurred speech strikes suddenly, but can improve over time as the brain heals. Degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease10 and MND/ALS11 (aka amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease) come on more gradually, making speech harder to understand as they progress. Developmental disorders such as cerebral palsy12 also impact speech intelligibility throughout the lifespan. People with moderate-severe dysarthria tend to benefit more from speech supplementation than those with more mild impairments, but knowing the strategy, practicing the technique, and having ready access to a letter board can help anyone when communication breakdowns occur. There are many systematic reviews, published studies, and chapters in books about speech supplementation in the AAC, dysarthria, and adult communication disorders literature. Here are some excellent sources of information: Hanson, E. Beukelman, D. Yorkston, K. (2013). Communication support through multimodal supplementation: A scoping review. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 29, 310– 321 Hanson, E. K. (2014). My Client Talks! Do I Still Need to Consider AAC in my Treatment Planning? Speech Supplementation Strategies: AAC for Clients Who Talk!. SIG 12 Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 23(3), 124-131. 1. Hustad, K. C. Garcia, J. (2005). Aided and unaided speech supplementation strategies: Effect of alphabet cues and iconic hand gestures on dysarthric speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 48, 996– 1012. 2. Hustad, K. C Beukelman, D. R. (2001). Effects of linguistic cues and stimulus cohesion on intelligibility of severely dysarthric speech. Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 44, 497– 510. 3 & 4. Hustad, K. C. Lee, J. (2008). Changes in speech production associated with alphabet supplementation. Journal Of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 1438– 1450. 5. Hustad, K. C., & Gearhart, K. J. (2004). Listener attitudes toward individuals with cerebral palsy who use speech supplementation strategies. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(2), 168-181. 6. Hustad, K. C. Beukelman, D. R. (2000). Integrating AAC strategies with natural speech in adults. In Beukelman, D. R. Yorkston, K. M. Reichle, J. (Eds.), Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Adults with Acquired Neurologic Disorders. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes. 7. Hanson, E. K. Beukelman, D. R. (2006). Effect of omitted cues on alphabet supplemented speech intelligibility. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 14, 185– 196. 8. Michael, K. Kielhold, B. Deelstra, E. Wilson, S. Bettelyoun, H. Hanson, E. K. (2013, November). Alphabet supplementation for telephone communication: Parts I, II, & III. Poster presented at the meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Chicago, IL. 9. Nordness, A. Beukelman, D. Ullman, C. (2010). Impact of alphabet supplementation on speech and pause durations of dysarthric speakers with traumatic brain injury: A research note. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 18, 35– 44 10. Tjaden, K. (2008). Speech and swallowing in Parkinson’s disease. Topics in geriatric rehabilitation, 24(2), 115. 11. Hanson, E. K. Yorkston, K. M. Britton, D. (2011). Dysarthria in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A systematic review of characteristics, speech treatment, and augmentative and alternative communication options. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 19, 12– 30. 12. Hustad, K. C. Auker, J. Natale, N. Carlson, R. (2003). Improving intelligibility of speakers with profound dysarthria and cerebral palsy. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 19, 187– 198.

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The origins of body piercing date back thousands of years. As an ancient style of body adornment, body piercing practices have been integral for cultural rituals and as manifestations of beauty. Although contemporary body piercings may be obtained via different methods due to technological advancements, it's clear that desires for these physical modifications resound through time. Ancient Origins of Body Piercing Listed below are some of the most popular contemporary body piercings. Each design is expressed in terms of its origin. Ear piercings have been popularized and accepted within Western society as normal ornamental jewelry among women (and more recently among men since the punk rock era) since the early twentieth century. However, some of the earlier signs of ear piercing were found in association with mummified corpses that were frozen in hidden locations from over 50 centuries past. Another ancient source of earrings is found within ancient Persian artistry; carved in the walls of Persepolis, male figures were depicted with ornaments on their ear lobes. India's custom of ear piercing is still practiced as a cultural tradition among women, entailing that they get their ears pierced before the age of five. Today you wouldn't be surprised to see a friend decorating her nostril with a pretty stud. In fact, this style has been around much longer than many people realize. In the Book of Genesis 24:22, Abraham's servant is sent to find a wife for Isaac. Upon discovering Rebekah, the servant offers her a golden piece of jewelry meant to adorn her nose. This body piercing is seen very commonly in India as well, often adorning the left nostril of females. This location is associated with Ayurvedic medicinal beliefs and practices, meant to assist female health and wellness during reproduction and child birth. Tongue piercings have been used in rituals and as rites of passage among many tribal communities. This form of body piercing very is common in Maya and Aztec traditions, indicating one's hierarchical position in life and as an inducement to create an alternate state of mental awareness. Additionally, Middle Eastern cultures such as the Sufis have practiced tongue piercing to exemplify the power of trance states they enter into during certain rituals. Many tribal societies around the globe have been recorded to wear some form of lip piercing. Specifically in African and South American tribes, there have been anthropologic recordings of individuals who receive lip piercings as symbols of seniority and status among their people. Naval piercings are attributed to ancient Egyptian royalty. It is said that this style of body piercing was designed as solely exclusive to the sovereign rulers of the land. Punishment by death was the consequence for anyone who opted to wear a belly piercing and was not of royal decent. Body Piercing Today Comparing the various origins of body piercings to contemporary body modifications makes for a fascinating study of cultural practices. In today's Western society, body piercings are most often used as expressions of beauty, individuality, and expressive fashion statements. Alongside with tattoos, body piercings have been popularized in modern society as a method of body art. You might say that these body adornments aren't original, but they are certainly historical.

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By James Conca In a news briefing in Tokyo earlier this week, Japan’s Minister of the Environment, Yoshiaki Harada, told reporters that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will have to dump radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants into the Pacific Ocean. Tanks of water at Fukushima that have been scrubbed of all radioactive materials except mildly radioactive tritium, and which can be slowly released to the ocean with no environmental harm. GETTY IMAGES He went so far as to say it is “the only option”. Which is actually true. They just don’t have any room left to store it. And storing it is the wrong strategy anyway. TEPCO has collected more than 250 million gallons of contaminated water from the cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting since the plant was destroyed by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The funny thing is that putting this water in the ocean is actually the best way to handle it. And that’s because it’s contaminated mainly with tritium, the least radioactive, and least harmful, of all radioactive elements. All of the other radioactive elements have been removed from the water by chemical treatment and the amount of other elements in the water is relatively small and wouldn’t pose a hazard. The Japanese government awaits a report from an expert panel before making a final decision, and quickly pointed out that Harada’s opinion was his alone and did not indicate a policy decision. TEPCO will abide by whatever the government decides. Critics, like Greenpeace, weighed with the usual every-atom-is-dangerous and this water should be stored and treated forever. They don’t seem to understand the radiation or chemistry for tritium. But few do. Those of us who do understand have suggested slowly releasing the tritium-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean over about a ten-year period. The water is stored on-site in almost By James Conca

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This week, The Art Fix is focusing on Georgia O’Keeffe and her legacy to Art. Georgia O’Keeffe was an American painter born in 1887. Strict and self-disciplined, she knew that she was going to be a painter since she was a kid. Her formal art training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago was not ideal. “I was taught to paint like other people and I knew that I’d never paint as well as the person that I was taught to paint like. ”Georgia O’Keeffe It’s hard to find this level of self-knowledge, let alone in a young artist. Georgia O’Keeffe was self-assured and hard-working. No wonder she was so successful. Her large scale flower paintings like Light Iris (pictured above) are little (or should I say big?) modernist miracles.Embed from Getty Images Even though, flowers were a very common theme for women artists at the time, Georgia O’Keeffe would have hated to be limited by her female identity. In fact, the constant sexualization of her paintings by many art critics and her own peers, including her life companion, Alfred Stieglitz, drove her decision to start expanding her work to themes such as New York. As you can see in Light Iris, O’Keeffe was a master of colouring. Along with that, she was excellent at transforming a simple subject matter such as a flower to impressive abstracts who transcend the basic reproduction of an image often found in nature that most of us would have tried to create. This is only one of the three works by Georgia O’Keeffe that we are going to showcase this week. Stay tuned for the other two, coming on Wednesday and Friday. If you like our content, make sure to subscribe by filling in the form below so that you can be notified for every new article we post!

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Most engineers his age have settled down at mid-level positions in companies. Tabrez Ahmed of Chennai quit his job eight years ago and initiated a startup. His company is a one-man show and its aim is not to make money. It seeks to disprove the second law of thermodynamics. It’s a project that engineering students sometimes imagine in the second year of their college when they are exposed to the depressing law that when energy is transferred or transformed, it inevitably gets wasted. They are told that when they need to produce power, they need to burn fuel and the products of combustion will have energy that can never be recovered. It’s not even a zero sum, it’s a losing proposition, they are told. Most students give up after a few flights of imagination to disprove the law. But Tabrez apparently hasn’t, 25 years later. He is trying to construct a machine that would disprove the law, which engineering calls a perpetual motion machine – one that derives energy out of nothing. While Tabrez may be dismissed more easily as a crank tinkering at his garage, there are scientists with credentials and peer reviewed published papers to their credit who are working on less implausible but equally daunting projects. They are unfettered by the constraints of laws and seek to disprove them. From concepts bordering on the wacky to those that evoke a “well, maybe” reaction, they are all being probed somewhere in the country. Producing energy magically Tabrez explains what a perpetual motion machine is. He says a motor and a generator coupled together and providing power to run a bulb would be a perpetual motion machine. In the real world, a motor rotates if provided with electricity. The generator, if it is rotated by a diesel engine, it generates electricity. But what if the motor runs the generator and the power produced by the generator is fed back to the motor? The second law says this is a closed loop from which no energy can be extracted, and the system may die down after frictional losses eat up the initial energy supplied. “Well, not really! You can keep running the machine without providing energy and take some energy out of it to use elsewhere, too,” Tabarez adds. Many people – established scientists and serious enthusiasts alike – claim to have built perpetual motion machines. A quick search on the internet for “free energy” generates a slew of videos that depict a simple setup involving a DC motor and a set of magnets. With an infinitesimal amount of energy (that is disproportionate to the output that will be generated), the machine is set in motion. “There is heavy skepticism around the concept of free energy as it goes against the basic concepts of science,” says Tabrez Ahmed. “But that doesn’t mean it will not work,” remarks Tabrez, who claims to have set up a free energy generator at home using a motor and a set of gears. “I have been working on this for the past seven years and have done the required R&D at home,” he says, adding that he was able to harness energy. “I am waiting for like-minded people to join me in this project to make its functionality mainstream,” he adds. Scientist Mahadeva Srinivasan echoes Tabrez’s sentiment as far as free energy is concerned. M Srinivasan is no amateur. He played a key role in India’s nuclear programme as a scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. Among his jobs were writing the equations for the Pokhran II blast. Free energy, he says, if realized, has the potential to change the face of science and industries. Towards the later part of his career, Srinivasan became a champion of a controversial topic – dismissed as crank science by some. Cold fusion is a hypothetical nuclear reaction where hydrogen fusion takes place at room temperature. The results of an experiment by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in 1989 caused widespread intrigue in the scientific community because cold fusion would be a cost-effective way to generate clean energy. However, scientists were unable to replicate the experiment and achieve similar results, and since then, the phenomenon has remained elusive. What is cold fusion? Nuclear fusion is a process in which multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus, which in turn will lead to the release of energy. Fusion typically occurs only under extreme heat and pressure. It occurs naturally in the sun and in other stars and is the primary process through which elements are created. Cold fusion attempts to release energy without any radiation and without use of complex equipment. However, there are no conclusive theories explaining the phenomenon. Research in India In India, after a hiatus, three research groups began experiments in 2018 to research ways to produce nuclear energy without radiation. A research group in IIT Kanpur is working on transmutation of elements at lower temperatures, while another in IIT Bombay was working on an apparatus that produced energy spikes. However, Kannan Iyer, professor with the mechanical engineering department, said, “We could not get any sustained energy release. Hence we have closed the project.” Another group at the Center for Energy Research of the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samasthana (S-Vyasa) in Bengaluru is working on triggering fusion in hydrogen on the surface of nickel, which has hydrogen-soaking properties. As of January 2019, they have upgraded their equipment and are still working on the experiment, said Shree Varaprasad, a researcher. Meanwhile Google embarked on a project to develop “rigorous experiments” and protocols that could be reproduced in similar conditions helping to recreate cold fusion. The group was aiming to develop an experiment that could act as a benchmark for the scientific community. The USD 10 million project looked at three set-ups to generate cold fusion. Two used palladium and hydrogen, and one used metallic powders and hydrogen. However, none of the experiments could prove cold fusion. The results were published across 12 papers — nine in peer-reviewed journals and three on arXiv – a preprint portal, according to Nature magazine. Nuclear scientist Srinivasan had in 1990 helped validate the original Fleischmann-Pons cold fusion experiment in BARC. He has consistently pushed for results and has advocated the idea of cold fusion among researchers. “Even though efforts are going on internationally, it has cooled down in the country. Both the government and the department of atomic research have resisted efforts on cold fusion,” he said. When asked if this means if it is the end of the road for cold fusion in India, he says, “Probably”. Superconductivity – at room temperature If cold fusion was the holy grail of scientists and chemists in the 1990s, superconductivity is the hot topic of today. In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kemerlingh Onnes discovered the phenomenon while working with mercury. When he cooled the metal to -269°C, he was surprised to find that its resistance dropped to zero. A conductor is any metal that is capable of carrying electrical current. The current provides energy which in turn helps power a host of appliances. Conductors like copper and steel offer resistance to the current passing through, resulting in a loss of electricity. A superconductor, however, conducts electricity without offering any resistance, meaning the electricity will flow forever without dissipating. This means there will be no loss of current. However, superconductors work only in extremely low temperatures, often close to absolute zero (0K or -273 degrees Celsius), and the best superconductor still needs to be cooled to 90K (-183 degrees Celsius). Constant cooling and achieving such temperatures has proven to be very expensive, thus serving as a deterrent for scientists. Since its discovery, in the subsequent decades, scientists have concluded that superconductivity can be achieved only at very cold temperatures. However, that has not stopped them from trying to achieve the phenomenon at room temperature. Rumours of a breakthrough In July 2018, two researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) published a preprint that claimed to have observed superconductivity at room temperature. The findings by Anshu Pandey and Dev Kumar Thapa stirred up furious debate in the scientific community because achieving superconductivity at room temperature has been consistently eluding scientists for years now. In August that year, an MIT scientist, Brian Skinner, discovered an anomaly in the Thapa and Pandey’s findings. In a now-viral Twitter thread, Skinner pointed out that the data from the findings, when plotted on a graph, showed the same patterns of noise. Noise, in the context of an experiment, is a disturbance or fluctuation. It is by nature is random, uncontrollable and cannot be replicated. Scientists found the exactly duplicated noise pattern suspicious and called it improbable. While a faction of scientists called the data “fabricated”, another faction said the data could have misrepresented or mis-presented. However, nearly a year later, Thapa and Pandey have submitted a revised preprint. With eight additional authors and new data, the revised paper has made a few modifications to the study including a significantly higher number of samples (125), details on methods and processes used. Interestingly, the issue of noise — which was part of the original controversy — has not been resolved yet. The original data for “repeated noise” is still unchanged. The paper is pending review and is yet to be published in a scientific journal. If true, the Superconductors are currently used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and in particle accelerators. If superconductivity can be achieved at room temperature, it will change the way electricity is generated and consumed, and can be eventually used in power grids, telecommunication and magnetic levitation such as the Hyperloop. If Pandey and Thapa’s findings are indeed what they claim to be, it could be potentially the biggest breakthrough the field of physics has seen in a while.

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Working Principles of Ceramic Heating Elements Millenia after it was first discovered, mankind is still obsessed with fire. We rely on combustion fuels for countless industrial and everyday processes, from domestic heating to thermal processing. Yet it can be an inconvenient method of generating heat – particularly in industrial markets. Natural gas furnaces are still broadly used in heat treatment markets, but manufacturers more commonly rely on the comparatively sophisticated method of generating heat from electricity. Metal and ceramic heating elements operate on the principle of electric resistance heating, which is defined as the heat generated by a material with high electrical resistance as a current are passed through it. When a current flows through metal or ceramic heating elements, the material resists the flow of electricity and generates heat. This is a basic explanation of a complex concept, but the principle generally holds true for common metal and ceramic heating elements in industrial furnaces. In this blog post, Thermcraft explores the basic working principles of ceramic heating elements in more detail. Ceramic Heating Elements and Resistance Heating While there are myriad heating element types available to furnace designers, ceramic heaters generally fall into one of two groups: exposed ceramic rods; or coils, ribbons, and wires of an alloy embedded in a plate of ceramic insulation. At the simplest level, these heating element types operate on the same principle. The material’s coefficient of electrical resistance determines its ability to generate heat proportional to the amount of current flowing through it. A ceramic heating element’s thermal output, therefore, is determined by its electrical load and its intrinsic resistive properties. Under ideal conditions, the element will resist the flow of current and generate heat which will radiate outwards into the heat treatment chamber. The primary benefit of this compared to combustion is vastly increased efficacy, as 100% of electricity supplied is theoretically converted into heat. Yet there are numerous interconnected factors that can affect these two underlying properties. Alloy composition, element dimensions, watt loading, voltage, and device architecture are just a selection of these fundamentally important properties. For example a typical exposed ceramic heating element material is high-purity silicon carbide (SiC), which can be arranged in rods, multi-leg, and spiral-cut heaters. The lengths and diameters of these elements can be customized to specific furnace dimensions, while the outstanding thermomechanical stability of the material means it always retains its rigidity. This simplifies installation of the heater, as it does not need to be mounted on nor embedded into the furnace wall. This reduces the risk that that generated heat will propagate through the furnace to damage sensitive equipment. Silicon carbide ceramic heating elements also boast improved electrical efficiency, converting 100% of all electricity supplied into heat with a shallow drop-off in terms of watt loading. The drawback of exposed ceramic heating elements comprised of silicon carbide is that the material is not fully densified, which makes it susceptible to cross-reactivity with atmospheric gases at elevated temperatures. These reactions can affect the conductive cross-section of the element, which gradually causes an increase in electrical resistance over time. In fact, the resistance of a silicon carbide ceramic heating element could increase by up to 300% before the end of its service life. Ceramic Heating Elements from Thermcraft The performance of industrial heating elements varies significantly, not just based on the architecture of the device, but the operating conditions of the furnace itself. Designing an appropriate heating element subsequently requires an intrinsic knowledge of material performance under given conditions, and how best to optimize that performance for desired specifications.

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The Strait of Hormuz is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, but it’s once again the biggest waterway in the news headlines, after Iran seized a British oil tanker in what is widely regarded as the world’s most strategically important passage for international trade. Twenty percent of the global oil supply flows through the Strait, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. And though it is technically regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS), Iran has signed but not ratified that convention and has historically acted to protect its interests in the passage. The Strait’s geopolitical significance means it has long been a focal point of international tensions between Tehran and the West, which have increased in recent months. In the latest escalation on July 19, Iranian authorities seized the British-flagged Stena Impero oil tanker, claiming that it was “violating international maritime rules.” Former Iranian Prime Minister Hoveida once called the Strait of Hormuz “our jugular vein,” and in April 1959, Iran attempted to alter the legal status of the Strait by expanding the country’s territorial sea and declaring that only “innocent passage” was permitted through the area. In July 1972, Oman did the same thing, meaning that the Strait was “closed” and was essentially a self-declared combination of Iran’s and Oman’s territorial waters. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, both Iran and Oman made several declarations and claims over the Strait that were inconsistent with international maritime law, despite both countries having signed UNCLOS (only Oman has ratified the convention). Here’s more on the dramatic recent history of the world’s most crucial oil choke point. The 1980s Tanker War For most of the 1980s, Iran and Iraq were embroiled in conflict, as Iraq sought to become the dominant power in the Gulf following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. As TIME reported in a cover story about the Persian Gulf conflict in October 1980, the war wasn’t just pitting Iraq against Iran, but also the U.S. against the former Soviet Union. President Jimmy Carter had in 1980 committed to keeping the Strait open for transport, and the Soviet Union was prepared for the American military to step in to enforce that position — but officials in Washington feared the USSR would have an advantage if that happened, given that it shared a border with Iran and supplied arms to Iraq. In 1984, the conflict between the two countries moved to the Strait, in what was dubbed the Tanker War. Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, Iraq started targeting Iran’s oil tankers. As TIME reported in April that year, Iran at the time was exporting 2.6 billion barrels of oil per day through the waterway. By targeting the tankers, Iraq hoped to cripple Iran economically and force the closure of the choke point. The danger of the Strait closing had reached such a level in 1987 that a U.S.-led naval intervention began, to protect the tankers. As historian Martin S. Navias has written, that U.S. intervention “ensured freedom of movement for international shipping in the Gulf and eventually also increased pressure on Tehran to seek peace with its neighbor,” leading to the end of the Iran-Iraq conflict in 1988. Iran Air Flight 655 But in July 1988, a month prior to the end of the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. warship Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran Air Flight 655 was traveling en route from the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas to Dubai, and was said to have “exploded in the sky” after being targeted by two surface-to-air missiles, according to TIME’s report on the incident. Officers on board the Vincennes mistakenly identified the Airbus 300 as an Iranian F-14 fighter jet that they perceived to be attacking the U.S. ship. All 290 people on board, most of them Iranian citizens, died. Against the tense atmosphere of the ongoing conflict affecting the Strait, the incident elicited fury in Iran. “America’s crime today in downing an Iranian Airbus is…new evidence of American crimes and mischiefs, crimes which expose American’s nature more than ever before,” said Radio Tehran. The same day of the incident, President Reagan dispatched a five-paragraph note to Iran expressing “deep regret” over what happened, but publicly called the tragedy an “understandable accident.” Despite seeking international condemnation of the U.S. at the U.N., Iran failed, eventually settling for a statement that “deplored” the incident and promised an investigation. The following month, the Pentagon declared that no one would be punished for the incident, including the captain of the USS Vincennes, because “these mistakes were not due to negligence or culpability.” Although the U.S. and Iran reached a settlement at the International Court of Justice in 1996, requiring the U.S. to pay $61.8 million to the families of the Iranian victims, there has to date been no public or official admission of responsibility or apology from the U.S. 2011-2012 U.S.-Iran Naval Dispute Today’s tensions can be traced back to a serious flashpoint in the dispute between Iran and the U.S., starting at the end of 2011 and stretching into 2012. In December 2011, Iran’s navy chief told state television that it would be “very easy” for the country’s forces to shut down the choke point, declaring that “Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway.” Just a month later, Iran again threatened to formally block the Strait as retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions targeting its oil revenue, aimed at deterring the country’s pursuit of their nuclear program. Dual naval exercises by the U.S. and Iran took place in the Strait over this period, with both sides trading barbs over the other’s presence throughout 2012. Seizure of the Stena Impero Last year, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed more sanctions on the regime. The deal, which had been implemented in 2015, was designed to restrict Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for ending severe sanctions. In August 2018, the Trump administration imposed a first round of new sanctions on Iran, and then a second round in November that targeted the country’s banking and oil sectors. Since then, fiery rhetoric has come from both sides, escalating to Trump’s declaration of an emergency over “the malign influence” of Iran in May this year and the deployment of 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said in May that the country would begin stockpiling extra low-enriched uranium in response to the U.S.’ campaign of “maximum pressure.” Against this backdrop, activity in the Strait of Hormuz too has increased in recent months, culminating in the seizure of the Stena Impero. On May 12, four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were attacked in the Gulf just outside the Strait. U.S. officials said Iran was responsible for the attack, which Tehran denied. Just a month later on June 13, a similar incident happened involving two tankers, one Norwegian and the other Japanese. Iranian officials suggested that the seizure of the Stena Impero was a response to the U.K.’s role in seizing an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier in the month. Britain’s foreign secretary has announced plans to deploy a Europe-led “maritime protection mission” in response, but was clear to distance London’s policy from Washington’s campaign of “maximum pressure.” Whatever form that protection mission takes, the tension it brings to those waters won’t be new.

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TOBET Seminar Topics General TOB fundamentals—The “Language of the Body”, Holiness and “Gift of Self”, tailored to any age range or audience. Great introduction for a series or TOB week. TOB Talks for Children Presentations for children are fun, interactive and engaging! - The Body Has Meaning: Setting A TOB Basis for Lifelong Love - The Body of Christ: The Body Is Integral To Christianity - My Body as a Teacher: Learning to listen to the body, and whether, how and when to respond Most TOB talks for children explore foundational concepts without directly addressing sexuality. Example: in My Body as a Teacher, speaker would use examples like: “How do you know you are hungry? Your body tells you! How do you know you’re sleepy? Your body!” Middle School Topics Culture of Social Media—C.S. Lewis says that we enslave a generation when we give advanced technology to the young without guidelines and limits regarding its use. This talk guides and challenges young people to consider the body as a guide for face-to-face encounters. Confirmation—What’s the point? Is it real that it changes us? Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Theology of the Body say about life in the Spirit? Sacrament prep classes (8th grade-high school) preparing for Confirmation will be engaged and excited about receiving this Sacrament. Cliques and Gossip—The two vices bring division and sadness. Kids will discover the union and joy that are present when principles of TOB are applied to friendships. Catholic All Your Life!—Why the middle schooler should stay Catholic—a free and fun adventure! This talk covers general catechesis. Chastity: A Path for True Love Chastity—Why this virtue is under attack and how it protects true love and brings deep joy. Masculinity and Femininity—Our bodies are like the best teachers, helping us understand life so that we can love. Find out what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, taught to you by none other than your own body! Dating—When is it right? What is it for? How far is too far? This talk challenges teens not only regarding sexual chastity but also emotional modesty. Social Media, Bullying, and the Incarnation—A person-to-person encounter in the flesh is what all humans desire, but technology is beginning to usurp such a face-to-face experience. This talk presents guidelines as well as addressing bullying. The Mass—Answering common question about Mass: Why do I have to go to something so boring? What difference does it mean in my life? Can’t I skip Sunday every now and then? Why can’t Catholics have exciting praise and worship instead of Mass? Do we really eat Jesus’ flesh? Vocations for Love—A look at marriage and celibacy for the Kingdom (priesthood and consecrated life) as complementary, meaningful commitments which afford love, and the process of discernment of one’s vocation. Includes funny and compelling stories from priests and religious which show the joy of consecrated life and priesthood, as well as the wonders of marriage. Why do Catholics do that?—General catechesis from a TOB perspective. The inviting youth minister or teacher can decide on which topics ought to be covered. Controversial Issues—Monica Ashour, expert national speaker and former teacher, presents the truth of the human person, made in God’s image and likeness, followed by the logical consequences regarding tough contemporary issues surrounding today’s society. Potential topics can include: - Gender Identity - Euthanasia and assisted suicide - In-vitro fertilization - All-male priesthood, Purgatory, confession and other Catholic teachings This talk topic requires plenty of time and an openness to and receptivity to the truth of the Body, backed by the Church’s teachings. We recommend that it be part 2 or 3 of several sessions of explaining TOB. When presented to teens, parent permission is required. Click here for a sample permission form. What is the Theology of The Body and Why Should I Care? Marriage, Sex, and God’s Design Renewing and Improving Your Marriage Teaching TOB to Tots, Tweens and Teens The Violation of the Feminine and TOB’s Response True Christian Humanism: TOB’s Balance The Catholic Faith from a TOB Perspective TOB and Prayer Life—St. John of the Cross influenced St. John Paul in a profound way. This talk relates John of the Cross’ mysticism with John Paul’s TOB. This challenging spirituality is then brought down to an accessible level for growth in one’s prayer life. TOB and the “Catholic AND’s”—The breathtaking perspective of TOB forms a holistic mosaic of the Catholic faith. So often, we think that God only has the power, but God wants our cooperation, and all of us, Body AND Soul, Reason AND Faith. This talk elaborates and changes lives by its sheer, immense vision. For more mature teens and adults.

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He is an unconventional man, who goes in the opposite direction from the rest of society in most matters. Indeed, he is impatient with high society, forgetful in his public graces, and poorly considerate of normal social niceties--the only reason the world has not turned against him is because he is at heart a good and harmless man. His biggest fault is that he can be a bully. Everything about Eliza Doolittle seems to defy any conventional notions we might have about the romantic heroine. Shaw was reluctant to allow a film adaptation of Pygmalion owing to the low quality of previous film adaptations of his works, but Pascal managed to convince him on the condition Shaw retained constant personal supervision of the adaptation and later went on to also adapt Major BarbaraCaesar and Cleopatra and Androcles and the Lion. The resulting Pygmalion scenario by Cecil Lewis and W. Lipscomb removed exposition unnecessary outside a theatrical context and added new scenes and dialogue by Shaw himself. Ian DalrympleAnatole de Grunwald and Kay Walsh also made uncredited contributions to the screenplay. A long ballroom sequence was added, introducing an entirely new character, Count Aristid Karpathy seen both here and in the musical My Fair Lady, named as Professor Zoltan Karpathy — mentioned in the final scene of the original play, but with no name or onstage appearancewritten wholly by Shaw himself. Shaw and his fellow writers did, however, retain the controversial line "Not bloody likely! The movie also includes the very first film appearance brief and uncredited of Anthony Quayleas an Italian wigmaker. Higgins in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady 18 years later.Educating Rita. The following notes are a starting point for you to look at some of the issues that are raised in Russell's play. You should remember that they are not intended to be set in concrete. Another important study which attempted to assess the strength of the self-fulfilling prophesies generated by positive and negative labelling was entitled Pygmalion in the Classroom[ R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobson].The study relates to all pupils in Grades [aged approximately ] in an elementary school a large American town. Turnitin provides instructors with the tools to prevent plagiarism, engage students in the writing process, and provide personalized feedback. Pygmalion study guide contains a biography of George Bernard Shaw, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and . Before your reading; The title; Pygmalion: In Ovid's Metamophosis, Pygmalion is a sculptor who is not interested in women. Pygmalion, however, finds himself in love with his sculpture, Galatea, and he caresses her and offers her with all the gifts women like. This essay is an "A range" response, composed by myself for a practice assessment task under timed exam conditions during class. It focuses solely on Run Lola Run, rather than the related text as at this point, I had not yet chosen my related text.

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The violin is a traditional Italian wooden stringed instrument that is the archetype of the entire violin family. It produces a beautiful, high-pitched sound, and it’s considered to be one of the hardest instruments to play. The first violin was crafted in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century, and it was used in its original state and form for two hundred years before it received significant modifications in its design and form. The violin trend caught on throughout Europe, and halls were filled with violin music shortly after its arrival. The 18th and the 19th centuries are known for violin-oriented music – it’s safe to say that musicians those days preferred the sound of this magnificent little instrument. Some of the most famous violin brands created back then were Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, Brescia, and Cremona. The Violin Family The violin was so famous that it was used as a model for many other instruments. Educated musicians and teachers from Renaissance Italy invented the term violin family (violas da braccio) so that it could be easily distinguished from the viola family (violas da gamba). Since then, these families have merged, forming the list of the most used violin-based instruments: - Large Form Cello - Small Form Cello - Tenor viola - Contralto Viola (Counter-Alt) - Large Violin - Small Violin - Piccolo Violin - Double Bass Violin is traditionally a 4 Stringed instrument, but you can also see it in the variation where it has 5 strings. Usually, the tuning of these strings is the same as the traditional bass guitar – E, A, D, G. Originally, violinist prefer synthetic strings over those steel strings. The “standard E” tuning is a matter of preference, but there are various others, including the violin open tuning, standard A, standard C, and many more. The Violin’s Sound Describing a sound with words is very hard, mainly because everyone perceives music differently. It’s hard to imagine that there are two people who can experience a song in the same way, with the same chills, thrill, and enthusiasm, but we could try to explain the tone in several situations: - The violin sounds bright - The violin has the highest pitch of any of the string instruments in an ensemble which makes it sound bright in comparison to any other string instrument. - The violin sounds important It doesn’t matter what genre it is, or what function the violin has – you can’t ignore the sound of the violin in a song. Even if it’s just an easy melody, you will hear it, and you will remember it because of its higher pitch. - The violin is often a synonym for beautiful sadness Did you ever hear of the phrase “And the world’s smallest violin played”? It often portrays a funeral or intense depression. The violin can literally weep when you play it, and that’s the beauty of it. - The violin can also sound epic Apart from classical music, the violin is often used in various electronic and pop music, even heavy metal. In these settings, the violin sounds pretty epic – fast-paced rhythms and high-pitched squeals sound epic all the way. Originally, the violin came from Italy where it got the name violin. Nowadays there are different names which people use to refer to the violin, such as Violon (French), Geige (Germany), Violina (Balkan States), Keman (Turkey), and Fiddle (when used in folk music genres). There’s no real significance in naming it differently apart from the fact that you might hear people from various nationalities calling the violin by a different name. The violin became famous in the 16th century when it dominated the classical music scene. It was used to create mellow melodies when played in rhythm sections and to create a vivid atmosphere when it was used in the lead section, but that’s not all the violin can be used for. With the insurgence of the violin into the dominant music genres of the 50s, 60s, and later, people used the violin in various music genres for various different roles: - Jazz Music – Jazz musicians often used violin for complex sections, creating a tense, but comfortable atmosphere; - Rock Music – Violins were often used in rock to accentuate refrains and bridges; - Blues Music – Blues players often focus on sad melodies which violins play very well; - Electronic Music – It is commonplace in electronic music to make intros with violin instruments; - Metal Music – Since metal music has various sub-genres, violin’s versatility is pretty hard to describe. Ranging from alternative progressive metal where the violin was used with extreme skill, over power metal where it was used as a lead, ending with doom and black metal where musicians used violin to create a haunting, dark atmosphere;

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Description– Malignant lymphoma or lymphosarcoma is one of the most common neoplasms (tumor) in dogs. They usually originate in lymphoid tissues, like the lymph nodes, spleen, and bone marrow. However, they can arise in any tissues in the body. Lymphoma accounts for approximately 7-24% of all canine neoplasia (formation of a new tissue) and 83% of all canine hematopoietic (blood cells) malignancies. Lymphoma is generally seen in middle aged to older dogs (median age, 6-9 years). Breeds that are believed to have a higher incidence of lymphoma comprise Boxers, Bull Mastiffs, Basset Hounds, Saint Bernards, Scottish Terriers, Airedales and Bull dogs. Dogs with a lower risk include Dachshunds and Pomerians. Neutered females tend to have a better prognosis. World Health Organization (WHO) has classified different stages of lymphoma based on its degree of metastasis and invasiveness. They are as follow: - Stage I: Ailment restricted to a single lymph node. - Stage II: Regional lymphadenopathy (restricted to one side of diaphragm). - Stage III: Generalized lymphadenopathy (enlargement of lymph nodes) - Stage IV: Enlargement of the liver and spleen or hepatosplenomegaly (with or without lymphadenopathy) - Stage V: Bone marrow, CNS (Central Nervous System), or involvement of other extranodal sites Generic causes- The etiology is largely unknown and likely multi factorial. Current investigations are going on to ascertain some definitive causes. Chromosomal aberrations (change in the normal structure of chromosomes) have been reported in canine lymphoma. Though the involvement of a retrovirus (any of a group of viruses, many of which cause tumor) in the pathogenesis (development of a diseased or morbid condition) of canine lymphoma has not been confirmed, certain viral particles with properties similar to retroviruses have been detected in the short-term cultures of canine lymphoma tissue. Certain environmental factors are also believed to trigger the disease. A hospital based case control study of dogs indicated that owners in households that developed malignancy sprayed 24-D herbicides in their lawns. Dogs living in industrial areas are believed to be at an increased risk of lymphoma. Moreover, households where owners use more chemicals like paints and solvents, dogs have been found to be slightly predisposed. Weak immune system has also been identified in dogs with lymphoma. Types of lymphoma- There are basically 5 types of lymphoma like multi-centric, mediastinal, gastro-intestinal, cutaneous, extra nodal and central nervous system. Multi centric lymphoma- Multicentric lymphoma mostly affects the external lymph nodes. They may or may not involve other organs. But in a vast majority of cases it has been observed that lymphoma eventually invades the organs and the healthy tissues are replaced by the diseased ones. Death occurs mostly due to organ failure as the organ becomes dysfunctional under the impact of the disease. Symptoms- Multicentric lymphoma is the most common type of lymphoma found in dogs. It is characterized by painless swelling of the lymph nodes. Hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of spleen and liver) and bone marrow involvement are common. Most of the dogs do not show any distinctive signs of illness. But symptoms like anorexia, weight loss, ascites (abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), dyspnea (difficulty in breathing), polydipsia (abnormal thirst), polyuria (excessive passage of urine), fever, anemia, hemorrhage, sepsis (inflammation of the whole body) might be palpable. Diagnostics and Clinical Staging – For most dogs suspected of having lymphoma a thorough physical examination should entail a complete blood count with a differential cell count, a platelet count, serum biochemistry profile and urinanalysis. Finally, obtaining tissue or cytologic specimens for a definitive diagnosis is essential. In multi centric lymphoma there should be a thorough physical and rectal (relating to the rectum) examination including palpation of all assessable lymph nodes. The mucous membranes should be examined closely for pallor (extreme or unnatural paleness), icterus (jaundice), petechiae (pinpoint flat round red spots under the skin surface caused by intradermal hemorrhage), and ulceration, because these indications could be of anemia or thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count) secondary to myelophthisis or immune mediated disease or may be evidence of a major organ failure. Abdominal palpation is also essential for it may reveal organomegaly, intestinal wall thickening, or mesenteric lymphadenopathy (swelling of the mesenteric nodes). In animals with anemia or evidence of bleeding, a reticulocyte (young red blood cells) count and coagulation studies may be indicated. If some dogs have a high total protein evidence or evidence of an increased globulin fraction (globulin is one of the two types of serum proteins, the other being albumin) on a biochemistry profile, serum proteins should be examined by serum electrophoresis. Morphologic examination of the tissue and cells that comprise the tumor is essential for the diagnosis of lymphoma. In most cases, a diagnosis of lymphoma can be made through fine needle aspirates of affected lymph nodes or other tissues. Diagnostic ultrasonography and ultra sound guided fine needle aspiration or needle biopsy may be helpful in the evaluation of the involvement of liver, spleen, or abdominal lymph nodes. Treatment- The treatment approach is determined by the stage of the disease. In the absence of treatment, most of the dogs with lymphoma succumb to the disease in 4-6 weeks. Systemic chemotherapy continues to be the treatment of choice for most patients. The standard chemotherapy protocol combines cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone. Currently the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for lymphoma are doxorubicin, L-asparaginase, polyethylene, glycol, (PEG)-L- asparaginase, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and prednisone. Other singe-agent drugs that are considered secondary include vinblastine, actinomycin-D, mitoxantrone, chlorambucil, methotrexate, DTIC, 9-aminocamptothecin, ifosfamide, cytosine, arabinoside, gemcitabine, lomustine, and dolastatin-10. Of these, cytosine, arabinoside, ifosfamide, dolastin-10 and gemcitabine appear to be the least effective. With the sole exception of doxirubicin, induction with single agent chemotherapy does not result in durable remission durations compared with standard combination protocols. With increase in the availability of generic drugs, protocols are becoming readily available to a broad section of veterinary clients. In the instances where lymphoma recurs, reinduction is attempted by reintroducing the re induction protocol that was successful initially. In most of the cases, the response and length of reinduction are half of those seen in the initial therapy. Some animals certainly enjoy long-term re inductions, especially if the patient had good response in the first therapy and was off it when the recurrence occurred. If reinduction fails or the dog does not respond, the use of so-called rescue agents or rescue protocols can be attempted. These are drugs that are not found in the standard chemotherapy protocol. They are kept in reserve for later use. The most common rescue protocol include single agent or combination use of actinomycin D, mitoxantrone, doxorubicin (if it was not part of the initial protocol), a doxorubicin/dacarbazine combination, lomustine, L-asparaginase, and the combination mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine and prednisone. Approximately, 40-50% of dogs respond, but their median survival rate is 1.5 to 2.5 months. It has been observed that in some cases, the cancer patients become resistant to certain drugs. They are subjected to long-term continuous infusions, increasing the frequency of treatments, or enhancing the drugs’ circulation time. But no improvement in survival rate has been found. Among other alternative treatments, autologous vaccines combined with chemotherapy have been shown to have positive effects in dogs. A tumor vaccine extract using killed lymphoma cells combined with Freund’s adjuvant (freund’s adjuvant is an antigen solution emulsified in mineral oil, used as an immunopotentiator [booster of the immune system]) was injected in dogs after remission induction with combination chemotherapy. Dogs with multicentric lymphoma mostly undergo chemotherapy. However, surgery can be carried out in a couple of cases where the disease is in its initial phase. In such instances, careful staging is important to rule out multicentric involvement. Sometimes splenectomy is recommended only if the disease is receding in other sites and if the splenic enlargement is caused by lymphoma that is not responsive to chemotherapy. It can also be considered as a treatment for hemolytic anemia (anemia due to destruction rather than underproduction of red blood cells) and persistent thrombocytopenia. Radiation therapy given to patients either after the completion of chemotherapy or during ongoing sessions have been found to be safe and therefore calls for further investigation. Prognosis– Conventional chemotherapy results in total remission in approximately 60-90% of cases with a median survival time of 6-12 months. In approximately 20-25% cases, dogs live 2 years or longer after initiation of this treatment. In cases, where the disease recurs and a second round of chemo has to be initiated, the median survival rate is approximately 336 days. Dogs treated with rescue protocols have a survival rate of 1.5-2.5 months. Studies indicated that dogs which underwent splenectomy showed a median survival rate of 14 months. Alimentary lymphoma- It occurs in the gastrointestinal tract of dogs. It can become fatal if the tumor is situated near the small or large intestine, since it can restrict the passage of bowel and pose health hazards. Symptoms– Alimentary lymphoma accounts for approximately 5% of cases and is less easily diagnosed than the more common multicentric form. In alimentary lymphoma the clinical signs are those of vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, polyuria/polydipsia, anorexia, lethargy and malabsorption (impaired absorption by the intestines of nutrients from food). Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma in dogs occurs over a wide range of ages and breeds. Males have a higher predilection compared to females. Diagnostic techniques and clinical staging- The diagnostic techniques include fecal flotation, complete blood count (CBC), serum biochemical profile and urinanalysis. Ultrasonography is also very useful in this case. Lateral and ventrodorsal abdominal radiographs are taken to assess the liver and verify the source of the abdominal distension, and check for foreign bodies. Radiographs can also reveal large amounts of foreign bodies in the gastro intestinal tract. Treatment– Alimentary lymphoma, if focal, can be treated effectively with surgical resection and combination chemotherapy. The involvement of local lymph nodes and liver is very common in this case. No standard protocol has been identified for the treatment of lymphoma. But, multiple-agent therapies appear to generate the most favorable results. Three types of protocols are of importance in treating lymphoma: the induction protocol, the maintenance protocol, and the rescue protocol (used when the patient comes out of remission). The combination of L-asparginase, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxyrubicin is commonly used. Solitary lymphosarcomas are rare in dogs. But if the tumor is localized, it can be removed surgically. Prognosis– Multiple-agent therapies appear to generate the most favorable results. The response rates are 88-96% with median survival times of 350 to 356 days. But with diffuse involvement of the intestinal tract, low constitutional reserve and severe malabsorption of nutrients and loss of proteins often results in poor clinical responses and short survival times of less than 3 months. The addition of doxyrubicin to a regime appears to significantly increase the rate of survival. Mediastinal lymphoma- Medistinal lymphoma usually develops in the lymphoid tissues of the chest. They are present around the cardiothoracic region. If left untreated, they can restrict the function of lungs, resulting in death. Symptoms– This form of lymphoma comprises only a fraction of all cases of lymphosarcomas. It is typically characterized by enlargement of the cranial mediastinal lymph nodes, thymus, or both. Dogs suffering from mediastinal lymphoma encounter respiratory distress, polydipsia, polyuria, pitting edema of the head, necks and forelimbs. Cutaneous lymphoma- It originates in the skin and can take the form of reddened lumps that can be itchy at times and also cause extreme discomfiture in dogs. Symptoms– They appear as ulcers, nodules, plaques, ulcers, and erythremic or exfoliative dermatitis. In the early phases scaling, alopecia (loss of hair), and pruritus (itching) are seen. As the disease advances the skin becomes more erythematous, thickened, ulcerated, and exudative (relating to the oozing of fluid). There may also be oral involvement that can appear as multicentric erythematous, plaque like lesions or nodules on the gums and lips. Diagnostic technique and clinical staging- For cutaneous lymphoma, punch biopsies (3-4mm) should be taken from the most representative and infiltrated, but not infected skin lesions. Staging procedures vary and stage does not hold any prognostic importance. Treatment- The treatment of cutaneous lymphoma depends on the extent of the disease. Solitary lesions may be treated with surgical excision or radiation therapy. Fractionated radiotherapy has been associated with long term control. Diffuse non-T-cell lymphoma is best treated with combination chemotherapy. Retinoids, (chemical compounds related to Vitamin A) like isotretinoin (Accutane) and etretinate (Tegison) have yielded gratifying results in canine T-cell cutaneous lymphoma. A combination of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-L-asparaginase, (30mg/kg given intramuscularly weekly) have proved to be effective on dogs with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. However, remissions are not long-standing. Prednisone may also be useful in controlling pruritus. Studies have indicated that pegylated-liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil) has produced remissions. As a basis of experimental studies dogs were treated with CCNU (50 mg/m2 given orally every 3 weeks). Mechlorethamine (Mustargen) can be applied on the skin as an aqueous solution or an ointment base. The solution is prepared by mixing 10 mg of mechlorethamine with 50 ml of tap water. For preparing 900 mg of ointment, 90 mg of mechlorethamine is mixed with 10 ml of absolute alcohol and sufficient xipamide (Aquaphor). It is essential to remove hair before applying the ointment. Gloves must be used, since mechlorethamine is carcinogenic (cancer causing) and can cause contact hypersensitivity in humans. Prognosis- Dogs suffering from canine T- cell lymphoma were treated successfully with Isotretinoin for upto 13 months. Dogs treated with Doxil have been found to produce remissions in 40% cases. Although most of these were short-lived responses, remissions of 1 year or longer have occurred. Dogs treated with CCNU showed complete response and two of those responses were relatively durable (7 and 15 months). Dogs with diffuse T-cell lymphoma under the impact of combination chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, cytosine, arabinoside and prednisone (COAP) attained a median remission duration of longer than 250 days and a median survival of longer than 399 days. Extranodal lymphoma– It is the rarest among all lymphomas and can affect areas like the breast tissue, cutaneous tissue (skin), hepatic tissue (liver), ocular or orbital tissue (eyes), osteo tissue (bone) and oral tissue (mouth). Patients with extranodal lymphoma show degeneration of the organs involved (0rganomegaly). Diagnostic techniques and clinical staging- Tissues and cells from peripheral blood, lymph nodes or other sites can be examined by histochemical, and immunocytochemical, flow cytometric and PCR (polymerase chain reaction, this is a method by which scientists create large quantities of a piece of DNA artificially) techniques. In cases where the diagnosis of lymphoma and differentiation between malignant and benign tumors is impossible based on cytologic and histologic criteria, advanced molecular analyses like clonality become useful. After a diagnosis has been established, the extent of disease should be determined. Some type of imaging and assessment of bone marrow involvement may be indicated for staging. The determination of stage depends on factors like whether the staging will determine the course of treatment, what will be the outcome and whether the client needs to know. A bone marrow aspirate or biopsy is indicated for complete staging. Abdominal and thoracic radiographs are helpful. In addition ultrasnography may be important for obtaining ultrasound-guided intra-abdominal samples for diagnosis. Treatment- For the treatment refer to multicentric lymphoma. Prognosis- Extranodal forms of lymphoma has not been thoroughly investigated with respect to the prognosis. Central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma- It occurs due to the metastasis of multi centric lymphoma. Symptoms– They result from metastasis of multicentric lymphoma. Symptoms may vary from paralysis, seizures to paresis (condition typified by partial loss of movement). Treatment- If tumors are localized local radiation therapy should be considered. Chemotherapy is also sometimes combined with CNS irradiation. Prognosis- Overall the response rates are low and of short duration. Thank you for utilizing our Canine Cancer Library. Please help us keep this ever evolving resource as current and informative as possible with a donation. Tumors in Domestic Animals- Donald J. Meuten, DVM, PhD, is a professor of pathology in the Department of Microbiology, Pathology, and Parasitology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh Withrow and MacEwen’s Small Animal Clinical Oncology– Stephen J. Withrow, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), Director; Animal Cancer Center Stuart Chair In Oncology, University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado; David M. Vail, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) Professor of Oncology, Director of Clinical Research, School of Veterinary Medicine University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin

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While science, math, literature, and technology are core building blocks of education, there are some life skills that can’t be learned from textbooks. One of the biggest examples of this is the Home Economics class as it teaches students essential life skills and structure. Not only should home economic classes be required in school, but they should also be required to cover topics like cooking and nutrition, budgeting and taxes, the basics of childcare, sewing, cleaning hacks, and so much more that will be of real benefit to a child’s future. These permanent life skills will allow for a more organized and efficient household as the students grow older, and will empower them to know their capabilities and become active members of society! As for those who may think that teaching home economics in schools can take away from a student’s education, it is important to realize that the life skills learned in home economics can make for a smoother transition from teenagers to young adults, allowing students to have more time to focus on their education during the college years. Classes like this provide students with a basic understanding of what an effective house system looks like, and in return, minimize the stress young adults first feel when dealing with the ‘real world,’ giving them more time to clearly focus on their studies. There has been a lot of attention drawn to the importance of school lunches and school gardens, but not many people are focusing on the simple curriculum elective of home economics. Home economics classes can empower students across the globe by teaching fundamental life skills that, at times, can’t be learned from textbooks or parents. Most importantly, skills learned in the home economics class provide for positive stimulants and confidence that every student needs!

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|n.||1.||The transcript, image, or picture of a visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual.| |2.||A general notion, or a conception formed by generalization.| |3.||Hence: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of.| |4.||A belief, option, or doctrine; a characteristic or controlling principle; | What is now "idea" for us? How infinite the fall of this word, since the time where Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly-created world, - "how it showed . . . Answering his great idea," - to its present use, when this person "has an idea that the train has started," and the other "had no idea that the dinner would be so bad!" |5.||A plan or purpose of action; intention; design.| |6.||A rational conception; the complete conception of an object when thought of in all its essential elements or constituents; the necessary metaphysical or constituent attributes and relations, when conceived in the abstract.| |7.||A fiction object or picture created by the imagination; the same when proposed as a pattern to be copied, or a standard to be reached; one of the archetypes or patterns of created things, conceived by the Platonists to have excited objectively from eternity in the mind of the Deity.| Thence to behold this new-created world, The addition of his empire, how it showed In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, Answering his great idea. |Noun||1.||idea - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind"| |2.||idea - a personal view; "he has an idea that we don't like him"| |3.||idea - an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take"| |4.||idea - your intention; what you intend to do; "he had in mind to see his old teacher"; "the idea of the game is to capture all the pieces"| |5.||idea - (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it"| |1.||(language)||IDEA - Interactive Data Entry/Access.| |2.||(algorithm)||IDEA - International Data Encryption Algorithm.|

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In the throes of a betrayal, it may seem impossible to even think about forgiveness. You may feel as though your heart has been broken and that you can never even be close to your betrayer again. This initial reaction is a normal part of the grief process that accompanies any betrayal experiences. Once the anger stage of the grief process passes and you move toward acceptance of the betrayal, you can begin to think about forgiveness. Compassionate forgiveness can help you heal accumulations of past physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual wounds from previous betrayals and other kinds of developmental trauma. It can also help you open your heart again so that you can begin rebuilding the fracture in your relationship. The goal is to repair the trust, empathy, reciprocity, and love you once had with this person. However, your motive for wanting to forgive should not be to help the other person. It should be about helping yourself and freeing yourself of the anger and resentment that can, if not healed, continue to hurt your body and mind. Weinhold and Andresen (1979) wrote, “Forgiveness is basic to all change and growth.” The tension from self-judgment and judging others produces a chronic level of stress in your body that depresses your immune system and causes illness (Borysenko, 1996). You have the power to end this kind of destructive cycle by moving beyond the acceptance stage of grieving and work toward forgiving your betrayer and yourself. Forgiveness is a attitude that only sets the forgiver free. The healthiest choice in a betrayal trauma is to forgive yourself and the other person for creating the betrayal situation. The word forgive is often misunderstood. To some people, it means to rise above your feelings or to deny or passively condone the act of betrayal. To forgive actually means to “give back, give before, or for-give.” What are you willing to give back or take back in a betrayal situation What responsibility do you have in this betrayal This approach will help you give back or take back your projections and misperceptions about the other person’s behavior. You may find the other person feels shocked to hear your perceptions about them or the situation. Perhaps you were not fully truthful with the other person in ways that contributed to his or her misperceptions about you. Perhaps you need to give back the full truth to this person. You may also have unconsciously set up the betrayal by pretending to like something the other person said or did, when in truth you didn’t like it. Compassion is a companion tool to forgiveness. Both are necessary for clearing betrayal traumas. Compassion doesn’t necessarily help the person who betrayed you, but it will surely help you heal your own wounds. If you cannot feel compassion for those who betray you, you may continue to draw people into your life that play into your pattern of betrayal. To heal your developmental traumas and stresses related to betrayals, it is important to practice compassion toward yourself. An excellent way to develop self-compassion is to eliminate the word mistake from your vocabulary. Mistakes imply judgment and failure, that something went wrong, and that you or someone else is bad, all of which can create intrapsychic splitting. A more compassionate framework is to see everything, including your betrayal traumas, as learning experiences rather than as mistakes. Learning how to heal your developmental traumas and stresses involves you in the process of discovery, exploration, and adventure, all of which are fun and exciting. When you try something new and it turns out the way that you expected, you probably dont learn very much. Rather, it just reinforces your previous learning. When you try something new and it turns out to be different from what you expected, you have an opportunity to learn something new. This unexpected turn of events stimulates your thinking, activates your curiosity, and promotes more exploration and discovery. An attitude of learning fosters synthesis or unitive thinking and increased self-esteem, which help immensely in being able to move on. Borysenko, J. (1996) Seventy times seven: On the spiritual art of forgiveness. Audiotape, Boulder, CO: Sounds True. Weinhold, B. & Andresen, G. (1979). Threads: Unraveling the mysteries of adult life. New York: Richard Marek Publishers.

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Whether you're a recent graduate or a worker seeking a new career path, you may need some help identifying your skills and interests as you pursue new career goals. People are generally happiest when they're doing something they find rewarding and fulfilling, so there's nothing wrong with choosing a career that suits your interests. It's best to research job descriptions, qualifications, responsibilites and salary ranges before you decide on a permanent career path. Many universities, technical colleges, community colleges, job centers and high school guidance counseling offices have career assessments that can help you identify your skills and interests. In many states, high school students are required to take standardized tests that help match interests, academic strengths and skill sets with potential career paths. If you've already graduated from high school or college, career assessments are also available online or at local job centers. A career assessment doesn't usually pinpoint one specific career path, but it provides a spectrum of career opportunities that complement your interests. College job fairs and community job fairs are valuable venues for analyzing future career goals. Representatives from specific industries are available to discuss how your skills might relate to their job offerings. It's advisable to visit as many interest-related job fair booths as possible to gain a better understanding of how your skills complement various career paths. For example, an interest in math could lead you down a career path as an accountant or financial adviser or it could lead you to establish career goals as a statistician or actuary. Job fairs present career options for a wide variety of interests. Academic Advisers and Internships If you're still a student, you can discuss your interests with an academic adviser. Academic advisers and guidance counselors are trained to find careers that harmonize with your talents. Advisers are knowledgeable of the academic requirements, skill sets and personality traits that are best-suited for specific careers. They can help set career goals that will guide you as you pursue your occupational dreams. Guidance counselors and academic advisers can also help secure an internship in your desired field of interest. Internships often provide clarity as to whether the profession is one you want to pursue long term. Get involved with industry-related social networking sites to discover how your skills and interests relate to various occupations. Learning how others accomplished their career goals can give you ideas for your own career path. For example, there are social networking sites for veterinarians, lawyers, teachers, doctors, bankers and many other professions. These sites offer first-hand knowledge about necessary steps to achieving certification, licensure or experience in the industry. As you connect with people of like-minded interest, you can seek advice for planning your career goals. Friends and family can also heip you recognize talents, skills and personality traits that are beneficial to determining a career path. - Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

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A new British documentary, Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New Evidence, has revealed that the Great Pyramid, Khufu, was built using an intricate system of waterways which allowed thousands of workers to transport 170,000 tonnes of limestone in wooden boats along the Nile River. The 2.5-tonne blocks were ferried through a system of specially designed canals before arriving at an inland port built just yards away from the base of the Great Pyramid, the documentary says. Experts had long recognized that the stones from the pyramid’s chambers were transported from Luxor to Giza, the location of the Great Pyramid, but had never agreed how they got there. The discovery of an ancient papyrus diary in a cave at the ancient Red Sea port of Wadi el-Jarf, the unearthing of a lost waterway beneath the Giza plateau and the finding of a ceremonial boat, now strongly suggests that thousands of laborers transported tons of limestone along the Nile River Nile wooden boats. The papyrus scroll is the only first-hand record of how the pyramid was built, and was written by an overseer named Merer. He explained in detail how the limestone was moved from the quarry in Tura to Giza using the Bronze Age waterways. The ancient text described how Merer’s team dug huge canals to channel the water of the Nile to the pyramid. By renovating the wooden planks from the ceremonial boat and then scanning them with a 3D laser, they archaeologists could figure out how they were first assembled, the documentary explains.

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In this stunning video, Theoretical Physicist David Kaplan, of John Hopkins University, travels to Z Corporation to see for his own eyes the fantastical claims of the company to be able to “copy” fully functioning, three dimensional objects. At Z Corp he meets with Vice President of Product Management Jeff Titlow, who begins the meeting by giving Dr. Kaplan a quick tour of some of the output from the incredible, commercial 3D printers they make. These machines “print” objects in three dimensions; the final product does not need to be a static object, but can be a complex structure with moving parts. And it comes out of the 3D printer in one piece, fully assembled. And get a load of the colors. Dr. Kaplan brings along something he’s like to see replicated — a large adjustable wrench. We won’t give the process away; just watch the video, it will blow your mind. Update on 9/17/2011: I was searching the web for something on 3D Printing today and noticed a search result entry for “3D Wrench” on Snopes.com. The reason that there is a Snopes page on this is not only because the concept is too incredulous for some, but some people noticed some discrepancies between the scanned wrench and the printed wrench. In this video, David Kaplan from the original video, explains the issues, primarily caused by the poor editing of National Geographic:

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Music can improve the mood of those who suffer from Alzheimer's and boost cognitive skills. En español | "I've been a bad girl. Am I in trouble?" asks an obviously distraught Naomi. Tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes. She wrings her hands as she sits in her wheelchair in the lobby of an Alzheimer's disease care facility. "No, you're not in trouble," says recreational therapist Mindy Smith. But nothing seems to help Naomi's mood. "I've been a bad girl," she repeats over and over. Then Mindy says, "Do you want your music?" Naomi's face brightens as headphones are gently placed over her ears. And as a big band arrangement of George Gershwin's " 'S Wonderful" flows from her iPod, Naomi begins to smile. Scenes like this are being repeated in nursing facilities and homes across America. New research is confirming and expanding an idea long held by those who work with dementia patients: Music can not only improve the mood of people with neurological diseases, it can boost cognitive skills and reduce the need for antipsychotic drugs. Music therapists who work with Alzheimer's patients describe seeing people "wake up" when the sounds of loved and familiar music fills their heads. Often, after months or even years of not speaking at all, they begin to talk again, become more social and seem more engaged by their surroundings. Some begin to remember names long forgotten. Some even do what Alzheimer's patients often cannot do as their disease worsens: They remember who they are. Neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote in his book Musicophilia that for Alzheimer's patients, music can be very much like medicine. "Music is no luxury to them, but a necessity, and it can have a power beyond anything else to restore them to themselves, and to others, at least for a while." More than 5 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's, a disease for which there is no cure. One in 8 boomers will get the disease, according to estimates. About 15 million family members in the U.S. are locked in what can become a heartbreaking nightmare of taking care of a loved one with whom they can't communicate. For many, music can be an important part of easing that suffering. Researchers are finding new ways to use music as part of the treatment of dementia. Jane Flinn, a behavioral neuroscientist at George Mason University, and graduate student Linda Maguire tested the effects of singing on people with Alzheimer's disease with songs like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Isn't It Romantic?" Flinn and Maguire followed a group of 45 people impaired with Alzheimer's or other dementia who regularly sang. They tested the group constantly with the Mini Mental State Examination, a cognitive diagnostic test. Flinn and Maguire showed that the mental acuity of those people who regularly sang went up sharply over a four-month period. "Twenty-one drugs to treat Alzheimer's have failed in the last nine years," Flinn says. "I do believe they will eventually find the right drug. But it's going so slowly. In the meantime, these non-pharmaceutical approaches are helpful." Connie Tomaino is one of music therapy's pioneers. More than 37 years ago, she walked into a dementia unit carrying her guitar and looked at the patients. "Many were overmedicated. Half of them were catatonic and had feeding tubes. The ones that were agitated had mitts on their hands and were tied to wheelchairs," she says. "I just started singing 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart.' Many of the people who were considered to be catatonic lifted up their heads and looked at me. And the people who were agitated stopped being upset. Most of them started singing the words to the song." She founded the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function to encourage study of the effects of music on the brain. "Music is very complex," she says. "The auditory nerve has an immediate contact to part of the brain called the amygdala — what's often called the 'fight or flight' area of the brain. So the immediate thing with sound is arousal. The person becomes startled or suddenly pays attention." Tomaino found that even some late-stage Alzheimer's sufferers could respond to songs meaningful to them. "One woman who was nonverbal — after one month, she started speaking again. She said things like, 'The kids are coming, I have to get home to make dinner.' They were memories and words elicited by the songs." Her advice: If someone you know is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, start associating key songs with family members or important ideas. Later, those songs may trigger that association. A father's pain eased I have seen the healing power of music up close. When I quit my job as a radio news anchor in New York to come home to help my mother care for my father, who had Alzheimer's, we used music in every aspect of caregiving. I sang or played Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" to wake him up. Instead of being lost and confused in the mornings, as often happens for people with Alzheimer's, the song made him realize where he was and who my mother and I were. My father loved jazz and had been an accomplished singer. Jazz classics like George Gershwin's "Summertime" and Cole Porter's "Night and Day" were great for showering, brushing teeth and getting dressed. I used the songs to distract him during these tasks. In the afternoons, when what's called "sundowning" sometimes occurs and Alzheimer's patients get anxious or angry, Diana Krall's version of "I Get Along Without You Very Well" would calm him down. As his disease progressed, when he would become almost catatonic, all I had to do was start singing the words to the fight song of his alma mater, the University of Michigan — and his eyes would engage and he would sing along. When my father died in 2010 at age 83, our sadness was relieved a bit by the sense that his last years of life were less isolated and dark than they might have been otherwise. Programs spread nationwide Music therapy programs are a critical part of care in several states and cities. In Wisconsin, two-thirds of the state's nursing homes use personalized playlists of music as part of daily caregiving routines. Tom Hlavacek, director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, says something unexpected happened when the program began: a drastic reduction in the use of psychotropic drugs. "Three years ago, when they started ranking states' use of psychotropic drugs in nursing homes, Wisconsin came in 14th," he said. "Now we're fourth in the country. We're way ahead of the curve." A choir has been formed in Minneapolis from people living with Alzheimer's and other brain diseases and their caregivers. The cofounder of the Giving Voice Chorus, Mary Lenard, says so much of the disease involves "things they can no longer do or navigate. So the choir is something they can do. They can be joyful and laugh and sing and be part of this new community." One choir member told Lenard, "When I'm here, it's like I don't have Alzheimer's." Jewish Family Services in Utah hopes personalized music can help keep Alzheimer's patients at home with their loved ones longer. "We're one of just a few agencies in the U.S. that's doing this more home-based than institution-based," executive director Ellen Silver says. Alzheimer's hits married couples particularly hard. "Some other kinds of intimacy are lost," she said. "What I've seen this music do is create an intimacy that is so meaningful to the caregiver." 'An absolute lifesaver' Dan Cohen, who was trained as a social worker in New York, runs a program called Music and Memory. He uses webinars to teach elder-care professionals how to set up personalized playlists delivered to patients on digital devices. Cohen says, "Unfortunately, as a society, we view persons with advanced dementia as no longer being able to experience pleasure. Music obliterates that misconception." Cohen's program now operates in more than 1,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada and in a dozen caregiving facilities in eight other countries. While waiting for a cure, he says, "we must focus on maximizing the quality of life for persons with the disease. "We must use tools at our disposal, such as music, to help us keep in touch with those we care about and for." For many, those tools can mean the difference between tender interactions with loved ones and losing them completely. Kathleen Keller uses iPods and headsets to help take care of her 93-year-old father and mother, who both have dementia. They listen to Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page and Louis Armstrong. She plays personalized music for them during caregiving, and calms her father during long doctor visits with his iPod. "For us, this gift of music has been an absolute delight," she says. "And for me as a caregiver, it has been an absolute lifesaver."

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(last update: January 2014) The term gene therapy applies to approaches to treat diseases based on the transfer of genetic material (DNA, or RNA) into the genome of targeted cells or tissues of an individual to either complement or replace the function of a defective gene. Various modulatory and interfering RNA molecules can be used in addition, to obtain a more sophisticated regulation at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level of gene expression (e.g., exon skipping approach). The concept of gene therapy was inspired by major discoveries made in basic genetic research since the 1950’s, strategies for gene delivery were matured through the 1980’s and the first clinical trials undertaken at the end of the 1980’s. Today’s gene therapy research may be seen as pursuing intelligent drug design through a logical extension of fundamental biomedical research outcomes on the molecular basis of a disease. Since its beginning, a few thousand of patients participated in clinical trials for gene therapy. In the early 2000’s one of the most important success was the gene therapy trial for X-linked severe combined immune deficiency (conducted by Drs. M. Cavazzana-Calvo and A. Fischer from the Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades in Paris, France). The trial resulted in effective and life-saving immune reconstitution in 10 out of 11 patients, although it revealed also the potential toxicity of this treatment (see section on adverse events). Other accomplishments in gene therapy include: - a successful hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy based on the use of oncoretroviral vectors (i.e., murine leukemia virus, MLV) for the treatment of adenosine deaminase – severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID), in which 29 out of the 40 treated patients (treated in different centres in Italy, UK and USA) no longer required a replacement therapy with pegademase bovine (PEG-ADA); - a therapy for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) based on lentiviral vectors, in which 4 patients have been treated up to now, and - a therapy for β-thalassemia also based on the use of lentiviral vectors. Further clinical trials ongoing in the domain of blood disorders using lentiviral vectors, include therapies against the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and the chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Successes have also been achieved using adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV vectors) for the treatment of hemophilia B and for RPE65, a retinal disorder leading to blindness, with encouraging perspectives for the treatment of other metabolic as well as retinal diseases. In particular, the treatment of a very rare metabolic disorder, the familial lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) using an AAV vector developed by AMT/uniQure (i.e., Glybera®), represents the first gene therapy treatment receiving marketing authorization in 2012 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In the field of non-rare diseases, promising developments have occurred for e.g., the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In the field of cancer treatment, the following non-exhaustive advances took place: - the first ever authorized gene therapy treatment was approved in China in 2003 (Gendicine, a recombinant Ad-p53 applied via intratumoral injection) for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC); - recent studies conducted at different clinical centres in the USA showed that blood cancers such as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) can be efficiently treated with gene-modified T-cells rendered specific for antigens expressed on tumour cells, in order to attack and remove malignant B-cells after reinfusion. Of 27 ALL treated patients (young and adults), 22 didn’t have a relapse up to today. Similar treatments are in development for other blood or solid cancers. In the field of cardiovascular diseases, clinical trials and preclinical studies have been conducted for the treatment of coronary heart disease, heart failure, and arrhythmia. Studies targeting heart failure (HF) have the most advanced findings showing decrease in HF symptoms, increased functional status, and reversal of the negative left ventricular remodelling (i.e., the CUPID trial using AAV1 vector and targeting the SERCA2 sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pump, essential for calcium homeostasis, which is decreased in heart failure), and improvement in the 6-minute walk test and quality of life (i.e., a trial using DNA-plasmid vector and targeting the Stromal-Derived Factor-1 (SDF-1) with the proposed mechanism that SDF-1 activates endogenous stem cells via the SDF-1 chemokine receptor type 4 pathway). However, considerable more efforts will be needed before achieving routine gene therapy treatment of heart diseases in the clinic. Finally, significant advances were also achieved regarding the exon skipping approach using viral vectors (see also paragraph on gene therapy strategies). Using such an approach in an animal model for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, showed that defective dystrophine could be repaired by expression of a functional but shorter form of the dystrophine molecule (1) Such an approach can be performed either via a viral vector (AAV) as above-mentioned, which has to be administered loco-regionally or systemically, or via antisense oligonucleotides which are administered systemically at regular intervals. The latter approach, although not being a gene therapy approach, is far advanced in clinical studies using different oligonucleotide chemistries. Despite these successes, gene therapy is still in its infancy and a long way has still to be undertaken in order to offer gene therapy as a regular treatment for rare and non-rare diseases. (1) Goyenvalle et al. (2004) Rescue of Dystrophic Muscle Through U7 snRNA-Mediated Exon Skipping. Science 306, 1796-1799 While initially focussing on inherited single-gene disorders, gene therapy research is nowadays directed towards a diverse group of human diseases possibly amenable to therapy by gene transfer. Under current investigation at the preclinical or clinical stage are gene therapy strategies for acquired diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, or cardiovascular diseases (restenosis, familial hypercholesterolemia, peripheral artery disease) and inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia A and various severe combined immunodeficiencies, Gaucher disease, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, obesity, various ocular diseases, and others. Gene therapy strategies Any gene therapy strategy must be based upon the identification or design of a gene that may aid in the management or correction of a disease. The termination of the Human Genome Project as well as new proteomic and metabolomic approaches increase the availability of molecular targets and contribute to the understanding of genetic but also regulatory components of human diseases, thus aiding the identification of candidate therapeutic targets (i.e. genes). However, to go from the identification of a gene to the proposal of a gene therapy strategy requires a detailed knowledge of disease pathophysiology and the biology of relevant target cells. In principle, gene therapy can be performed as ex vivo and as in vivo approaches. In the case of an ex vivo gene therapy patient cells are explanted into culture, eventually amplified, treated with the gene transfer vector and implanted into the host (locally or systemically). By the in vivo gene transfer principle, genetic material is transferred directly to cells located within the host. Vectors used for in vivo gene therapy approaches have higher quality assessment requirements for regulatory and biosafety purposes than ex vivo gene therapy approaches. However, major challenges remain for both types of gene delivery strategies in terms of efficient gene transfer to the desired cell types and of proper control of expression of the inserted gene. Such issues mostly require to be addressed specifically for each individual disease or target cell/ target tissue. The initially developed clinical applications of gene therapy are based on relatively ‘simple’ gene replacement or gene complementation approaches. More advanced approaches like exon skipping and the transfer of siRNA (small interfering RNA) are very promising, because they allow a natural regulation or a more sophisticated regulation of gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. To avoid issues related to insertional mutagenesis, a known problem for all classical integrative viral vectors, and to maintain the natural regulatory networks, intensive efforts have been invested into methods for in situ gene repair, using for instance, zinc finger nucleases or TALENs, in order to directly target the defective gene sequence and repair the specific gene defect (genome editing approach which is presently one of the most important developments in the field of gene therapy). Vectors for gene delivery To allow transfer and proper function in a patient the therapeutic gene must be built into a vector. The most efficient gene delivery systems currently available are based upon the gene transfer machinery used in nature by animal viruses. These viral vector systems either allow the integration of the gene to be transferred into the genome of the target cells (e.g., retroviral and lentiviral vectors), or the transient transfer of the new gene function to the target cells (e.g., adenoviral vectors, AAV vectors) in which the transgene will not be integrated. Whereas integrative vectors are associated with the potential risk of insertional mutagenesis when the expression cassette is integrated close to proliferation inducing genes, this is not the case for the non-integrative vector systems. However, in the latter case, the new function is only maintained in non-dividing tissues else it will be rapidly lost. In addition, in the case of adenoviral vectors, the expression of viral antigens by the transduced cells will lead to the induction of an immune response finally leading to the elimination of these cells. Thus today such vectors are essentially developed for vaccine purposes and cancer therapy (- oncolytic viruses). Other existing gene transfer systems make use of naked DNA or DNA coupled to ligands that may facilitate the various steps of entry of DNA into cells. Interference with immune system One of the major issues of current gene therapy research is the reaction of the immune system of the treated individual. While some gene therapy strategies, such as cancer immunotherapy, attempt to stimulate the reactivity of the individual’s immune system towards eliminating the cancer cells, other strategies require that the genetically modified cells be protected from destruction by the immune system, signifying that a functional and well developed gene therapy approach for gene repair or the expression of correct/corrected proteins in patients with inherited disease associated with a missing or a truncated form of a protein will obligatorily be associated with a sophisticated manipulation of the immune system (e.g., induction of immune tolerance). Only in the cases of the different forms of SCID, the activation of the immune response is no problem because the patients are devoid of a functional immune system. Based on the results of several clinical studies it has been found that the immune-response against vector proteins (e.g. capside proteins of AAV) and antigen (i.e. transgene) presenting cells can jeopardize gene therapy because of the elimination of the target cells. Intensive work is ongoing in order to avoid such problems, for instance, via temporal immune suppression. Clinical trials in gene therapy Between 1989 and 2014, 1996 gene therapy clinical trials have been worldwide approved. Figures 1 to 3 show the indications of such trials, the vectors used and the gene types transferred respectively (source: www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/genmed/clinical). Furthermore their distribution according to the clinical phases addressed were as follows: - 59.3% in phase I clinical trial, in which the new drug or treatment is tested in a small group of people (20-80) for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects; - 19.2% in phase I/II clinical trials; - 16.5% in phase II clinical trials, in which the drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people (100-300) to evaluate its efficacy and to further evaluate its safety; - 1.0% in phase II/III clinical trials; - 3.7% in phase III clinical trial, in which the drug or treatment is given to large groups of people (1,000-3,000) to confirm its efficacy, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely. It is to be noted that for clinical trials of rare diseases, the number of patients per phase is considerably reduced, for instance, for a phase I or I/II clinical trial of a rare disease 5 to 10 patients are enrolled. In addition, due to the very small number of patients phase I/II clinical trials are often sufficient for submitting a dossier for obtaining a marketing authorization. Based on the number of trials undertaken, a solid database of clinical experience has been built and clinical research has moved away from the proof of concept stage. Figure 1: Indications of gene therapy clinical trials approved between 1989 and 2014 (n=1996) Figure 2: Vectors used in gene therapy clinical trials approved between 1989 and 2014 (n=1979 protocols) Figure 3: Genes transferred in gene therapy clinical trials approved between 1989 and 2014 (n=1996 protocols) (Severe) adverse events observed in clinical trials for gene therapy Phase I clinical trials primarily assess safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects. In the case of experimental protocols such as gene therapy protocols, in which a variety of new biological systems are tested for the first time in humans, (severe) adverse events can occur despite the preclinical tests and toxicology tests conducted in animals to predict the safe dose range and assess potential side effects. However, an animal model is only a model and cannot replace the final test in human beings. In this context, severe adverse events have been reported in relation to gene therapy trials. In 1999, 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger died from multiple organ failure 4 days after treatment for ornithine transcarboxylase deficiency. His death was triggered by a fulgurate immune response to the very high dose of adenovirus used as the vehicle, a vehicle that is nowadays replaced by AAVs far less immunogenic. This incident slowed down the field of gene therapy for some years. The very successful oncoretroviral vector based gene therapy trials for X-linked severe combined immune deficiency (the first one, conducted by Drs. M. Cavazzana-Calvo and A. Fischer from the Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades in Paris, France and the second one conducted by Dr. A. Thrasher from the University College in London, UK) resulted in the effective and life-saving immune reconstitution in 10 out of 11 patients (by end of 2005). These patients have been able to lead a normal life, indicating, that from a clinical point of view they should be considered as cured. However, very sadly, three of the treated patients were found to have a T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder, two of which having the retroviral vector integrated in the proximity of the LMO-2 gene in the proliferating T-cells (known as insertional mutagenesis). Subsequently the patients have been treated by chemotherapy. By 2010, 20 children have been treated, 5 of which have developed leukemia-like adverse effects. To date 18 out of 20 treated SCID-X1 children are alive with full reconstitution of T-cell immune functions, revealing a superior success rate (10%) than conventional allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (25% mortality rate). From a clinical point of view, patients, who have been able to lead a normal life for up to 3 years should be considered cured by this pioneering gene therapy treatment. None of these children would be alive today, ten years later, without the gene therapy. Similar adverse events have been observed for other clinical trials (WAS, CGD) performed using oncoretroviral vectors. These adverse effects led to a considerable rethinking on the safety issues of viral vectors used for gene therapy purposes, and led to the decision to replace oncoretroviral vectors by lentiviral vectors for these indications. However, more pre-clinical investigations are required to assess the risk of gene therapy, including more basic research in the development of safer gene transfer vectors. A further severe adverse event was reported in the press in 2007 on the death of a woman who received a modified gene in an arthritis trial run using AAV vectors. Of high importance for the field however, investigations showed that a fungal disorder was the cause of the death and not the genetic therapy. Furthermore, apart from this severe adverse event, review of AAV-mediated in vivo gene therapies reveals a remarkable safety (and efficacy) record. These setbacks demonstrate the difficulties and misconceptions that the field of gene therapy can face. Despite the adverse events, both, the public attitude towards gene therapy and international regulatory requirements have evolved. Furthermore, hurdles to clinical success have been identified, indicating the basic issues to be resolved and how to best have an iterative process between the laboratory and the clinic. ACTIP and gene therapy While major problems need to be solved for gene therapy to become a standard way of treating patients, the field is maturing with the first marketing authorization in the EU for a viral vector for the treatment of LPLD (in 2012) and continues to attract strong attention from researchers, clinicians and industry including large pharmaceutical companies, having rediscovered this field probably due to the recent successes. Gene therapy and the production of gene therapy products make use of molecular and cell biological techniques similar to those used for in vitro cultivation of cells in the manufacture of biologicals. It seems therefore logical that ACTIP monitors developments in gene therapy technology and applies its expertise on issues such as regulatory requirements, guidelines and public perception. Otto-Wilhelm Merten, Crespières, 04.01.14

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Are lectins really the next gluten? Learn more about what lectins are ... and whether we should avoid lectin-containing foods or take this advice with a grain of salt. Have you heard it said recently that lectins are the next gluten? There has been a lot of talk about lectins and the harm they may cause, suggesting they might be toxic and they might promote inflammation in the body. First question: what are lectins; second: why are they not the next gluten? What are lectins, anyway? In the simplest terms, lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that you can find in most plant-based foods, including potatoes, beans/legumes, wheat, tomatoes, eggs, dairy, and peanuts. Plants produce toxic lectins to survive in nature, as they protect the plant against insects, fungi, molds, and diseases. In our bodies Lectins allow molecules to stick together, which can influence cell-to-cell interaction. When they enter our body unbound, they can’t be digested (similar to fibre), allowing them to cross into our bloodstream. In small amounts, lectins are important to our bodies, as they’re involved in our immune functioning, cell growth, cell death, and much more. However, large amounts can create some problems. How can lectins be harmful to our bodies? Research has suggested that lectins that haven’t been hydrolyzed by cooking can cause acute gastrointestinal distress, which can lead to gut-related issues such as bloating, abnormal stool passing, and stomach pain. When consumed, uncooked, in excess by someone with dysfunctional digestive enzymes, there can be intestinal damage (leaky gut), which ultimately can lead to a variety of autoimmune diseases. The autoimmune effects depend on the interaction between lectins in our diets and our gut microbiota, which determines bacterial growth and toxin release. If the lectins enter our circulation, they have the potential to create autoimmune responses in our bodies, inducing inflammation and potentially disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, gut disorders, and celiac disease. Preliminary research suggests that eliminating foods containing lectins can potentially diminish disease symptoms in some patients with existing autoimmune disorders. Did you know? Leaky gut happens when the intestine’s tight junctions (which control what passes in and out of our intestines) aren’t working properly. Leaky gut is usually associated with bloating, food sensitivities, aches, pains, and gas. Will eating foods with lectins harm us? Eating large amounts of foods in which lectins haven’t been hydrolyzed by cooking can create toxic reactions in the body, but we eat most lectin-containing foods only after they’ve been cooked, meaning the lectins have been inactivated. So, for most people, eating whole grains, legumes, and other vegetables such as potatoes will not create adverse health effects. How can we reduce lectin content in our food? Cooking, soaking, sprouting, and fermentation have all been linked to the reduction and elimination of lectins from the foods we eat. Kidney beans and soybeans contain very high amounts of lectins, which, if eaten without soaking and cooking first, can cause toxicity in the body, leading to nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. However, when cooked, the amount of lectin is significantly reduced, allowing for safe consumption levels. In addition, fermentation of soybeans (tempeh and miso) can reduce lectin content by 95 percent. Wheat products, when eaten raw, have high lectin content. However, when cooked, lectin content is almost completely eliminated. For example, research studies have found almost no lectin activity in pasta likely due to the cooking process involved. Ensure you’re consuming wheat that has been cooked (pretty much any type of bread you find) or sprouted. What should you do? Lectins are found in some of the foods we eat, but not all of them. Some of the foods containing lectins are excellent plant-based sources of nutrients. Make sure your beans are soaked overnight and then cooked in boiling water prior to consuming them. Avoid consuming raw kidney beans or soybeans (see Soaking and Cooking Tips). Don’t eliminate them Legumes and wheat provide our body with complex carbohydrates, fibre, antioxidants, protein, and other nutrients important to our health and well-being. Eliminating these foods can also lead to the elimination of several important nutrients from our diet. Cook them before you eat them Lectin content is often reduced or eliminated through various cooking processes. Most of the lectin-containing foods are consumed after they’ve been cooked, not eaten as raw foods (see Soaking and Cooking Tips). This means that the majority of people should be able to consume lectins without adverse health effects. There isn’t enough human-based research to suggest we should completely avoid foods containing lectins; however, some individuals with specific autoimmune conditions may benefit from eliminating lectins from their diet. The lectin bottom line Cooking foods that contain lectin usually reduces or eliminates most of the lectin activity, making them safe to eat. Most healthy individuals can consume lectin-containing foods without causing harm. Lectin-containing foods are high in fibre and other important vitamins and minerals, so including them in your diet has many health benefits. Did you know? Sprouted bread is made from wheat kernels that have been sprouted and baked into bread. This process allows the bread to retain more nutrients. You can find different types of sprouted breads at your local grocery store. Soaking and cooking tips If you purchase dried beans and legumes, they must be soaked and cooked before consuming to avoid the problems associated with excess lectin consumption. Canned beans and legumes are already cooked, but they should be rinsed first to remove some of the salt added during processing. First, dried beans and legumes, with the exceptions of black-eyed peas and lentils, should be rinsed well and then soaked in room-temperature water to rehydrate them for quicker, more even cooking. To slow soak, cover 1 lb (450 g) dried beans with 10 cups (2.5 L) water and refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight. To quick soak, leave the covered pot at room temperature for 1 to 4 hours. After soaking, drain and rinse the beans and add to a stockpot, then cover them with three times their volume of fresh water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally until tender, for at least 45 minutes, depending on the type of bean. Add more water to keep the beans from becoming dry.

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Thermal insulationis the reduction ofheat transfer(i.e., the transfer ofthermal energybetween objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials. Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of differenttemperature. Thermal insulation provides a region of insulation in whichthermal conductionis reduced orthermal radiationis reflected rather than absorbed by the lower-temperature body. The insulating capability of a material is measured as the inverse ofthermal conductivity (k). Low thermal conductivity is equivalent to high insulating capability (Resistance value). Inthermal engineering, other important properties of insulating materials are productdensity (ρ)andspecific heat capacity Types of Thermal insulaion material LOOSE WHITE GLASS WOOL FIBER GLASS WOOL RESIN BONDED MATTRESS LIGHT RESIN BONDED MATRESS NITRILE RUBBER NSULATION NBR INSULATION SHEETS |Minimum Order Quantity||150 Bag| |Packaging Size||25 kg| |Size||25 kg bags| |Thermal Conductivity||0.035 w/mk| |Max Temperature Resistance||0-200 degree Celsius| |Dry Density||38-80 Kg/m3| |Bond strength||Less Then 1.7 kpa| The use of Glass wool for the thermal insulation of external walls and ceiling has been shown to reduce energy consumption by 20% to 30%. Glass wool is manufactured from widely available and renewable raw materials and provides environmental benefits in terms of resource saving and energy saving in every stage from pre manufacturing to end use. used in Boilers , ovens , Geysers , chimneys , silencers etc also known as loose Glass wool or insulation wool |Minimum Order Quantity||24 Square Meter| |Packaging Type||Vaccume packed Rolls| |Moisture Rate||Less Then 5%| Soundproofing solutions for just about everything! Our soundproofing and acoustic insulation products Fiber Glass Wool offer homeowners affordable sound insulation from the common problem of domestic noise pollution and noisy neighbours. Without adequate acoustic insulation or soundproofing many people have their privacy constantly invaded by noisy neighbours. This soundproofing problem can occur in any type of attached house, but most commonly:- In flats converted from large houses where no attempt has been made to provide soundproofing. Where the sound or acoustic insulation in their building is poor. People are bothered by their neighbours for a number of reasons, but the most common reasons are They are unusually sensitive to noise Their noisy neighbour behaves unreasonably We provide expert advice on domestic sound proofing issues for flat conversions & offices. We sell all the materials necessary for all the solutions with the sole aim of making your home & work place a more peaceful place. |Packaging Size (ex. 1L or 1Kg)||20 Ltr| |Shelf Life||12 Months| |Flash Point||40 Degree C| |Service Temperature||-10 - 75 Degree C| |Minimum Order Quantity||50 Meter| |Usage/Application||ROOF INSULATION,SHED INSULATION| |Thickness||6mm to 50mm| |Density In Kg Cubic-Meter||33/ CU MTR| A versatile range of extruded, closed-cell, Supreme XLPE Foam Insulation. Protecxlc is a range of extruded, closed cell, Supreme XLPE Foam Insulation. The product can be offered in various densities, thickness & laminates options in standard roll forms or sheet forms or in customized cut pieces. Supreme XLPE Foam Insulation is suitable for various industrial applications that require high performance foam in roll form. |Minimum Order Quantity||2000 Square Meter| |Size||AS PER CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT| |Is It Water Resistant||Water Resistant| |Compressive strength||180-350 kPa| |Minimum Order Quantity||200 Square Meter|

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Know your work partner more to avoid conflict. Washington: Everyone shares different goals, which can lead to conflict when working together. A recent study revealed that acquiring more knowledge about your partner and their actions influences how quickly and optimally they learn to collaborate. Previously, most researches touched upon issues where they studied human's ability to coordinate actions with others but a few have addressed how to collaborate when subjected to a situation of conflict. However, a new study designed by Chackochan and Sanguineti, did an experimental task where two participants are assigned to perform different sets of movements but using the same mechanical apparatus at the same time. Basically, putting the people in similar partner situations. When analysed of such a situation, by applying 'Game Theory', it came across that when one person knows more about how the other partner is going to tackle such a situation, they tend to develop optimal strategies that could be fruitful for both the teams. Given less understanding of the other person's action, the other partner develops strategies that minimize the need for that information. Understanding such a mechanism of human to human interaction could aid the development of robots that can interact with people in a more natural, human-like manner. Not just understanding human behaviour, game theory also had a huge impact in fields like economics, political, science, linguistics, and more. "Application of game theory in human joint action may have far-reaching potential, especially in the area of human-robot interaction", said Chackochan. Next, the researchers are planning to explore how they can gain information and represent knowledge about a partner's ongoing actions and goals. Vinil Chackochan and Vittorio Sanguineti of the University of Genoa, Italy, present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.

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A problem with self-driving cars doesn’t have to do with technology but the human body. Some people riding in self-driving autonomous cars experience motion sickness and nausea. Motion sickness is caused by factors that are increased in self-driving cars, according to a new report, “Motion Sickness in Self-driving Vehicles” by Michael Sivak, Ph.D and Brandon Schoettle. Motion sickness will be more prevalent in self-driving vehicles than in human-driven vehicles, because there conflict between vestibular (balance and spatial orientation) and visual inputs, inability to anticipate the direction of motion and lack of control over the direction of motion. The frequency and severity of motion sickness is influenced by the activity that the person is doing instead of driving. Thereport calculated the expected frequency and severity of motion sickness in fully self-driving vehicles based on the expected frequencies of different activities - 6%-10% of American adults riding in fully self-driving vehicles would be expected to often, usually, or always experience some level of motion sickness. - 6%-12% of American adults riding in fully self-driving vehicles would be expected to experience moderate or severe motion sickness at some time. - People reading books are more prone to motion sickness than watching video. A way to reduce motion sickness is to design driverless cars where the passengers can lie completely flat on their backs. For those able to sleep in moving vehicles, sleeping reduces the frequency and severity of motion sickness, as well as being awake with the eyes closed. Other options to avoid motions sickness are to maximize passengers’ ability to see outside the vehicle, placing video screens straight ahead, keeping seats from swiveling and limiting head motion. Therefore, it may not be good idea to eat before going for a drive in a self-driving car not eat too much.

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~ Sent, how to preserve, how to produce can change the flavor~ Contains a lot of starch? Azuki is deeply ingrained in Japanese society and it has been used as medicine for many years. Now we eat them as Wagashi and Seki-han. The majority of Azuki’s component is carb (59%) and most of them are starch. The next largest part of Azuki’s component is protein, which makes up 20 %. However, it contains only 2% fat, which is one tenth of fats that soybeans contain. This is why Azuki are classified as starch beans. Ann’s grain is separated from cotyledon cells. In the process of cooking, starch has saccharification but it doesn’t transform into liquid. It’s captured into the cotyledon cells. Ann’s grain is pulverized the cell, which contain starch. The size and quality of Ann’s grain is what determine the taste perception when you eat Wagashi that has Anko. The size of Ann’s grain determine the taste perception Taste perception plays pivotal roles in deciding whether you find this sweet delicious or not, especially when you eat Anko. Generally, the average size of Ann’s grain is around 50~250 micron. The optimal size is around 75~150 micron. You can make Ann that has 100 micron diameter from the small Azuki. This is called Koshi-ann and has smooth taste. On the other hand, you can make Ann that has 120 micron diameter from big Azuki, such as Dainagon. It tastes rather rough. Our tongue is very sophisticated and can perceive the difference of 10 micron. From many years ago, we have eaten small Azuki as Koshi-ann and large Azuki ;Dainagon as Ogura-ann. When you get down to it, it is the most rational way to enjoy Anko. In the process of cooking, various kind of component elute from Azuki. Among all of them, unwanted component, such as tannin is included. Generally tannins are get rid of by disposing the water that are used to boil Azuki. Tannin; the cause of astringent taste are different from each other based off of where and when those Azuki are made. When you compare each Azuki’s amount of tannin, it is said that Dainagon has less tannin than small Azuki. On the other hand, the imported Azuki from China has a large amount of tannin, especially Tonbei-honto(chinese northeast azuki) and Hoafei-honto(Chinese north area azuki). The amount of tannin fluctuates depends on where and when those beans are made. Even though those beans are same kind, it is not unusual that there is more than 10 % difference between them. The duration of grain filling and climate are the contributing factor in this difference. The longer they are subjected to the sun light, the more tannin they include. What determine Azuki’s flavor? Flavor is also important factor in deciding the deliciousness of Azuki. Volatile component that exist under the skin of Azuki produce various kind of scent. Azuki has maltol/ that dispense sweet scent. However, the amount to those scents is not the only factor in deciding flavor but the condition of preservation or the process of cooking are. Azuki that has a lot of tannin, such as Chinese Azuki require twice Shibunuki(removing astringent taste) and therefore has less flavor. It goes without saying that what kind those bean are and where they are made are also main factor in variety of flavor. The deliciousness of Azuki consists of taste perception, components, scent and color. Flavor is the result of all of them. Editor Naoko Okada. Morita Farm（A-Net Farm Tokachi Co.,Ltd ）Rie Morita.

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Human Rights or Health? How Paid Healthcare Could Be Illegal The following article was kindly provided to BAB by Portia Vincent-Kirby, Legal PA & Public Relations, Hudson McKenzie Paid for medicine is a global business that impacts individuals worldwide. This is to the point that most are faced with a threatening ultimatum that either they fork out the expenses associated to healthcare or they risk worsening their condition by not purchasing any healthcare at all. Therefore, is the act of paying for healthcare a detrimental obstruction to an individuals Human Right to health? How is Human Rights law affiliated with health? The United Nations has stated that “Health is a Fundamental Human Right”, that should be protected and provided for, specifically by governing nation states. However, with the majority of healthcare associated drugs and medicines coming from private companies within the pharmaceutical industry, the pricing associated with obtaining the necessary healthcare has become extortionate. This is to the point that no longer is it just a case of developing third-world countries being without access to medical care, but the citizens of richer developing countries, like the United States, having millions of sick people without access to the correct healthcare that is required, due to the costs associated. Thus, is the pharmaceutical industry decreasing a governing nations’ capability to preserve Human Rights? Admittedly, the United Nations acknowledges that “non-state actors”, such as pharmaceutical companies, are playing a major role in the implementation of Human Right obligations that should be mandatory by all nation states. However, evidently it is problematic to ensure that this industry abides with the same obligations as a nations’, being that they are “non-state” actors. This is because the pharmaceutical industry is heavily loaded with protections gained from Patent law, giving private companies power over the governing state to decide when, where and at what price specific healthcare can be exposed to the public. Thus, as a result, the citizens of nations, rich or poor, are being targeted against not only in relation to their access to healthcare, but also to their Human Right protections. So, how can this be resolved? As one of the major determinations of the access to healthcare is decided not by the government predominately, but by the pharmaceutical industry itself, it may become evident that Patent law is a major factor in this determination as well. This is because the protections provided by Patent law takes the power out of the government and the people and into the hands of privately-owned businesses whose interests appear to be more wealth than health, when it comes to ensuring that access to healthcare for the sake of the protection of Human Rights is maintained. Therefore, for governments to regain control and ensure that they are maintaining their Human Rights obligations, Patent law may be required to be amended, especially in relation to private healthcare, so that less powers are given to industries which are supposedly to serve humanity as a whole, such as the access to healthcare. If you would like to discuss this article further or have any general legal enquiries, please contact one of our highly qualified solicitors on 020 3318 5794 or via email at email@example.com About the Author Portia Vincent-Kirby is the Legal PA and Public Relations Co-Ordinator at Hudson McKenzie (www.hudsonmckenzie.com) Portia specialises in handling the firm’s articles and newsletter, as well as managing the general PR of the firm overall. You may contact Portia via email on firstname.lastname@example.org or call 020 3318 5799.

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Iberian Identities on Screen Run by School of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics 20 Credits or 10 ECTS Credits Organiser: Dr Eva Bru-Dominguez Overall aims and purpose The module explores the construction of cultural identity in visual culture, through analysis of a range of contemporary Iberian films (Basque, Catalan, Spanish, Galician), from the mid 1960s to present day. Through a combination of visual and critical methodologies, the module helps students engage with some of the most topical issues shaping contemporary Iberia, including enduring forms of national conflict, rural vs urban identity and spaces; sexual politics; memory politics and trauma. The film also functions as an introduction to key areas of twentieth-century Iberian film studies, including specific components on the Catalan cinematic tradition, the second avant-gardes and the Barcelona School of Film, Spanish documentary film and cinema blockbusters. The module explores the construction of cultural identity in visual culture, through analysis of a range of contemporary Catalan, Basque and Galician films, from the mid 1960s to present day. It draws on theories of the nation and nationalism and how these can be applied to film studies and national cinema in particular, through a variety of topics including a) the Catalan cinematic tradition, the second avant-gardes and the Barcelona School of Film; b) the multiplicity of identities on the screen (gender, sexuality, racial, ethnic, regional, urban and transnational); c) memory and the recovery and reconstruction of history; d) trauma and territory; and e) post-ETA films. D- - D+: For the award of credit, students should demonstrate a satisfactory comprehension of the various topics studied, with some understanding of the correlations and interrelations highlighted. C- - B+: For the award of higher grades, students should demonstrate a solid comprehension of the various topics studied, with clear understanding of the correlations and interrelations highlighted, having also analysed and evaluated key sources. A- - A*: For the award of the highest grade, students should demonstrate a detailed comprehension of the various topics studied, with a nuanced understanding of the correlations and interrelations highlighted, having also analysed and evaluated key sources thoroughly. Conduct close textual reading of core films. Analysis should draw on film studies theory and cinematic techniques as well as on historical contextual studies of contemporary Spain and its nations. Conduct in-depth critical analysis of Catalan, Basque and Galician socio-political contexts. Evaluate deployment of key cinematic genres, concepts and techniques in the films studied. Engage critically with historical and cultural processes as well as artistic movements relevant to the period spanning from mid-1960s to early twenty-first century Spain and its nations. The review has to get the reader hooked immediately , use catchy language. Consider aspects such as actors, directors, cinematography and/or special effects. Give a clear and concise opinion of the film earlier on, move beyond obvious scene analysis and bring your review full-circle in the ending. Remember, this is not a piece of academic writing. |EXAM||Analysis of Scene|| After three viewings of a scene studied in the course of the module, provide an analysis of its main aspects. Focus on elements such as aesthetics, cinematic techniques, image composition, acting and/or use of music. Use technical language (bridging shot, close-up, voice over narration, etc.). Answer one of the set essay questions about one the core films studied. If you wish to write your own essay question, get in touch with the module coordinator by the end of S2 to agree on the title of the assignment. Teaching and Learning Strategy Self study includes viewing of core films and background reading prior to each of the lectures as outlined in module dossier, this includes articles on film theory and cinematic movements particular to each of the cultural spaces discussed as well as socio-historical context. - Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media - Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives - Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others - Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity. - Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely. - Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting Subject specific skills - Critical skills in the close reading, description, reasoning and analysis of primary and secondary sources in the target language and/or English or Welsh (incl. filmic, literary and other sources). (Benchmark statement 5.13, 5.14, 5.15) - Competence in the planning and execution of essays, presentations and other written and project work; bibliographic skills, including the accurate citation of sources and consistent use of conventions and appropriate style in the presentation of scholarly work. (Benchmark statement 5.10, 5.14, 5.15) - The ability to gather information, analyse, interpret and discuss different viewpoints and to place these in a wider socio-cultural and/or geo-historical and political and/or socio-linguistic context and to revise and re-evaluate judgements in light of those of the course leader, certain individuals or groups studied and/or fellow students. (Benchmark statement 5.13, 5.15 and 5.16) - The ability to grasp and discuss how films reflect objective or subjective positions in their treatment of their subject matter. (Benchmark statement 5.7 and 5.10) - The ability to engage in analytical, evaluative and original thinking. (Benchmark statement 5.14) - The ability to organise and present ideas and arguments in presentations, classroom discussions and debates. (Benchmark statement 5.14, 5.16) - The ability to analyse, interpret and historically contextualise a range of films in the target language using different forms of critical analysis (cultural, historical, socio-political, literary etc.). (Benchmark statement 5.7, 5.10 and 5.14) - Sensitivity to and critical evaluation of key cinematic techniques and the use of cinematic imagery and language. (Benchmark statement 5.10) - The ability to critically understand, analyse and interpret the main events shaping Spanish history and culture (benchmark statement 5.7, 5.10 and 5.11) - The ability to critically understand Spanish and Hispanic culture and its relationship to other cultures. (Benchmark statement 5.7) - The ability to critically understand a specific aspect of Spanish or Latin American culture. (Benchmark statement 5.7, 5.10) - The ability to analyse Spanish-language texts (incl. films, visual materials and ideas) and place them in a wider historical-political and socio-cultural context. (Benchmark statement 5.4, 5.7, and 5.11) - The ability to write an analytical film and/or book review in English / Welsh. - The ability to critically understand the impact and effects of the Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship in Spanish contemporary society (Benchmark statement 5.7) - The ability to critically understand the on-going debates about the role played by memory and forgetting in Spanish contemporary history (Benchmark statement 5.7) - The ability to analyse, interpret and historically contextualise a range of Spanish, Galician and Catalan films using different forms of critical analysis (cultural, historical, socio-political and literary). (Benchmark statement 5.7, 5.10 and 5.14) - 11, The ability to analyse key cinematic techniques and to provide a critical evaluation of cinematic imagery and language in Catalan cinema (Benchmark statements 5.7, 5.10) - The ability to write a film review about a Catalan film (Benchmark statement 5.15) Talis Reading listhttp://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/lxs-3041.html Courses including this module Compulsory in courses: - Q3WP: BA Eng Lang with Film Studs year 3 (BA/ELFS) - W620: BA Film Studies year 3 (BA/FLM) - W62B: BA Film Studies (4 year with Incorporated Foundation) year 3 (BA/FLM1) - P3V1: BA Film Studies and History year 3 (BA/FSH) - 2W89: BA Film Studies (with International Experience) year 3 (BA/FSIE) - R2P4: BA German with Media Studies year 4 (BA/GMST) - V1W6: BA History with Film Studies year 3 (BA/HFS) - V1W7: BA History with Film Studies with International Experience year 4 (BA/HFSIE) Optional in courses: - NR44: BA Accounting/Spanish year 4 (BA/ASP) - NR34: BA Banking/Spanish year 4 (BA/BSP) - NR1K: BA Business Studies and Spanish year 4 (BA/BUSSS) - T107: BA Chinese and Spanish year 4 (BA/CHSP) - MR94: BA Criminology/Spanish year 4 (BA/CRSP) - WR94: BA Spanish & Creative Studies year 4 (BA/CSTSP) - LR14: BA Economics/Spanish year 4 (BA/ECSP) - 3YT5: BA English Literature and Spanish year 4 (BA/ELIS) - QR3K: BA English Language and Spanish year 4 (BA/ELSP) - RR14: BA French and Spanish year 4 (BA/FS4#) - T125: BA Film Studies and Chinese year 4 (BA/FSCH) - P3W8: BA Film Studies and Creative Writing year 3 (BA/FSCW) - 3P3Q: BA Film Studies and English Literature year 3 (BA/FSEL) - PQ3J: BA Film Studies and English Language year 3 (BA/FSELAN) - PR31: BA Film Studies and French year 4 (BA/FSFR4) - W622: BA Film Studies with Game Design year 3 (BA/FSGD) - PR32: BA Film Studies and German year 4 (BA/FSGER) - P0R3: BA Film Studies and Italian year 4 (BA/FSI) - PR34: BA Film Studies and Spanish year 4 (BA/FSSPAN4) - P3W5: BA Film Studies with Theatre and Performance year 3 (BA/FSTP) - RR24: BA German/Spanish (4 years) year 4 (BA/GS) - 8Y64: BA German and Spanish (with International Experience) year 4 (BA/GSIE) - RV41: BA History/Spanish year 4 (BA/HSP) - QR14: BA Linguistics/Spanish year 4 (BA/LSP) - NR54: BA Marketing and Spanish (4 year) year 4 (BA/MKTSP) - WW36: BA Music and Film Studies year 3 (BA/MUSFS) - WR34: BA Music/Spanish year 4 (BA/MUSP) - VVR4: BA Philosophy and Religion and Spanish year 4 (BA/PRS) - W6W8: BA Professional Writing & Film year 3 (BA/PWF) - RR43: BA Spanish/Italian year 4 (BA/SI) - R400: BA Spanish year 4 (BA/SP4) - R4N1: BA Spanish with Business Studies year 4 (BA/SPBS) - T110: BA Spanish with Chinese year 4 (BA/SPCH) - R4W8: BA Spanish with Creative Writing year 4 (BA/SPCW) - QR54: BA Spanish/Cymraeg year 4 (BA/SPCY) - R4R1: BA Spanish with French year 4 (BA/SPFR) - R4R2: BA Spanish with German year 4 (BA/SPG) - R4R3: BA Spanish with Italian year 4 (BA/SPI) - R4P5: BA Spanish with Journalism year 4 (BA/SPJO) - R4N5: BA Spanish with Marketing year 4 (BA/SPMKT) - R4P3: BA Spanish with Media Studies year 4 (BA/SPMS) - CR6K: BA Spanish/Sports Science year 4 (BA/SPSSC) - VP23: BA Welsh History and Film Studies year 3 (BA/WHFS)

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This article, which has been prepared mainly by P W Stanyer and Mrs J A Whitley of the Bank's International Division, describes the pattern of current account surpluses and deficits in the world economy and the changing importance of different types of capital flow in financing them. - Since the first oil shock in 1973-74, the absolute sum of world current account surpluses and deficits (without regard to sign) has doubled from 1%-1½% of the GNP of market economies to 2%-3%. - Before the early 1970s, surpluses and deficits were financed largely by flows of direct investment and concessionary capital; since then, the larger imbalances have been financed principally through the capital markets. - The banks have played an important role, but their lending has not always grown fastest when financing needs appear to have been greatest. - The changing pattern of financing and the increased size of surpluses and deficits have led to a rapid expansion in international financial assets and liabilities. Their real value has been substantially reduced by inflation; this has to some extent been offset by high interest rates, which in turn have altered the pattern of current account surpluses and deficits. - The structural current account surplus of the oil exporters tends to be reduced by their rapidly expanding demand for imports and as their customers find ways of economising on relatively expensive oil. - Although the pattern in which increased current account deficits have been financed has exerted certain contractionary pressures on the international economy, the extent to which those deficits have nevertheless increased reflects the ability of the international financial system to respond rapidly to increased financing needs: without such flexibility, further deflation would have been unavoidable.

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VagrantA bird which wanders to a particular area if its orientation is at fault or adverse winds drive it off course but in normal circumstances would not be found there at all. Vagrants are also called 'accidentals' or 'casuals', and in the British Isles are usually defined as species which have been recorded less than 20 times. These islands are well placed to receive vagrants from various directions and a large proportion of the British List is made up of them. Search Bird Dictionary From Peter Weaver's Birdwatcher's Dictionary Copyright © 1981 by Peter Weaver

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Showing the single result Far from being a melting pot, multi-racial Singapore prides itself on the richness of its ethnic communities and cultures. This volume provides an updated account of the heterogeneity within each of the main communities — the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Others. It also documents the ethnic cultures of these communities by discussing their histories, celebrations, cultural symbols, life cycle rituals, cultural icons and attempts to preserve culture. While chapters are written by scholars drawing insight from a variety of sources ranging from academic publications to discussions with community experts, it is written in an accessible way. This volume seeks to increase intercultural understanding through presenting ample insights into the cultural beliefs and practices of the different ethnic communities. While this book is about diversity, a closer examination of the peoples and cultures of Singapore demonstrates the many similarities communities share in this Singaporean space.

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Society & Lifestyle |Spirituality||Share This Page| Time and Mind! |by Dr. Varanasi Ramabrahmam| Time plays a significant, influential and useful role in our lives. Our daily routine is time-based and time-bound. The origin, being and cessation of things, objects, events, thoughts and life systems are time-related. All natural, man-made and man-initiated processes take place according to Time and its Passage. In all disciplines of learning Time has a prominent role to play. We ‘know’ what Time is. Earth spins around itself and simultaneously revolves round the Sun. Based on these movements, day and night are created and the Passage of Time is experienced and measured by us. We have knowledge of the extent of Passage of Time by referring to watches, clocks, various time-measuring devices, calendars, almanacs etc. The awareness of Time through these measures is only a facet of nature Time and is not comprehensive and complete. Awareness of nature of Time is varied and is not unique. Like the understanding of Divinity, the understanding about Time is multiple. Time has many forms, structures, natures and has been viewed, defined and understood variedly as movement, change or becoming. We are all leading stressful personal and professional lives with the associated pulls and pushes straining ourselves; sometimes beyond our ability, capacity and capability. We long for calmness to fill in our minds and we have peace of mind. We pray the Almighty for peace of mind. Some of us who do not believe in God have our own ways of de-stressing ourselves. Thus we, the seekers of peace of mind desire and attempt to know the nature of mind and the way to relax. Some of us take refuge in our Protector. We follow the path of spirituality. We listen to (sravana), meditate on (manana) and convert the insight thus gained by contemplation into experience (nididhyasana) about Almighty or Self. Almighty and Self are synonyms representing Divinity, our original self. Self can also be taken as the natural or normal or original state of mind. We then can know about the Self and merge our self in a chosen quality of the Self. We can get Self-Realization and dwell in it and with it. As part of this we now try to know and be aware of the nature of time, time-flow as past, present and future, and time-transcendence. It is known to us through our beloved Srikrishnaparamatma that He is both Time and Time-transcendence. Srikrishna famously said: “Aham kaalah asmi” (I am Time). To realize the nature of time-transcendence we must know about Time-its nature, structure, form and flow. Time is of two kinds: physical and psychological. Time eternally flows transforming seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into months, months into years, years into decades, decades into centuries, centuries into millenniums and like that. All this is physical time and its flow. We get tuned to this physical time and happenings in it by attaching ourselves to these happenings with an egoistic mind as I, me and mine. Our tuning and attachment through the egoistic mind creates another time and time-consciousness in us. This creation takes place in the wakeful conscious state of mind and is experienced in wakeful and dream conscious states of mind. This is called psychological time or time-space. The eternal Self (paramatma) transcends both these physical and psychological times and their flows. Self exists in us as prajnanam (Witness) and makes us be aware of physical and psychological times and their passages. During those phases of awareness, Prajnaam as seer makes us experience the respective experiences. We can not stop the flow of physical time. The psychological time is experienced by us as past, present and future in different phases or conscious states of mind. It creates time-whirlpool in us and spins us in it. Our mental time and its flow is the series of rising and setting of various phases of mind- wakeful, dream and deep sleep - and the acquiring of knowledge, skills, thoughts, feelings, experiences etc., or cessation of thought process happening during those phases. “I, I am doing, it is mine, it has happened to me, I am hurt, I am happy, I am experiencing, etc.,” thoughts, feelings and experiences exist in our awareness and create in us moods. When we are learning, knowing, these acquisitions create in us experiences and these will from our memory. These memories will be within us in a long-standing way. These memories of happenings though happened long time back in view of physical time flow or passage, get stirred and activated in the present causing happiness or unhappiness respectively. According to these we will get anger, lust, jealousy, arrogance etc,. We get thoughts and feelings accordingly and we will be disturbed in the present. Thus the remembrances and thoughts about past happenings and their impression on us form our psychological past. Because we do not have enough mental strength we can not come out of this past which is just psychological and torture ourselves and live mentally in the past only. Future disturbs us equally as our past. We fear, become anxious and wildly or romantically imagine about future happenings based on what has happened to us in the past, what we know and experienced. Thus the future which we feel will happen to us, is our mere thoughts in the present as imaginations, doubts, fears or anxieties. Thus when we carefully observe we become aware that both our past and future are our thoughts in the present. If somehow we can manage to arrest these unpleasant thoughts we will easily come out of this vicious circle of yesterday and tomorrow and live in the present. We need to submit ourselves before Divinity by thought, word and deed. We then offer our self-consciousness and ego to the Lord and submerge our selves in Him. When we do like this, we will avoid the thoughts relating to I, me and mine. These thoughts not only stop but will permanently cease to arise in us. This cessation of thoughts forms is time-or mind-transcendence. By God’s Grace we can transcend the psychological time-flow which exists in us in the form of thought-flow. Mind becomes calm and peaceful when we shed our ego and fill it with the insight about Divinity. Then we can live attributing every thing and happening to God’s will and take everything with equanimity in our stride. Then we have more pleasantness and mind acquires strength to face life. We will tackle all problems with courage and calmness. We will be rid of thoughts about past or future. We live peacefully and blissfully not getting reminded of ego transcending time. We live in the present. We live in tranquility. |More by : Dr. Varanasi Ramabrahmam| |Views: 1424 Comments: 0| |Top | Spirituality|

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Skin burns are often thought of as some of the most painful injuries a person can sustain, with the stronger the burn, the more painful the injury. However, some of the worst burns do not necessarily produce severe pain. A person who suffers a burn at home or in an Alabama workplace might not feel pain in the afflicted area at all. This is not a good thing and is likely an indicator of severe nerve damage. According to Heathline, the most severe burns can penetrate through all layers of the skin and reach down to the nerves. Third degree burns or worse can damage nerves so severely that they cannot transmit pain signals to the brain. So even though an area of the skin is ravaged, the injury victim does not feel any pain resulting from the injury. Severe burns, even if they do not hurt, pose dangerous health risks. Since the skin is penetrated by the burn, bacteria can infiltrate the wound and infect the body. Tetanus and sepsis are two possible infections a burn victim can contract. Burns can also cause bleeding and dangerously deplete the body of blood, possibly causing hypovolemia. Harsh burns can also result in shock which can be fatal. A lack of pain does not mean you should underestimate the impact of a burn. Organs, bones and nerves may suffer damage when you get burned and require surgery or other treatment. Even after the initial treatment, a burn victim may require long term rehabilitation. Some people require skin grafts to help restore a burned area. There are also burn victims who take severe damage to a limb and require it to be amputated. This article is written to provide general information on personal injury topics. Do not interpret it as legal or medical advice.

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Chilblains, also known as "pernio" or "chill burns", is a medical condition which occurs when an individual is exposed to extreme cold and suffers tissue damage. It is often wrongly confused with frostbite or trench foot. Chilblains can occur in silos, without being indicative of another disease. The main symptoms for Chilblains include damage to the capillary beds in the skin, which causes redness, itching, inflammation and blisters. Chilblains can be reduced by keeping feet and hands warm in cold weather and avoiding extreme temperature changes. When chilblains occur in infants along with neurological diseases and unexplained fevers, it is called the Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome, a rare inherited condition. Ulcerated chilblains are referred to as "kibbes". The occurrence of Chilblains is about one million cases a year and it is medically treatable. So, who is susceptible to Chilblains? People who work outside in cold conditions or damp environments, have a family history of chilblains, have a bad diet, have a low body weight, suffer from lupus and those who smoke. Chilblains usually heals within 7-14 days. It causes blistering of the affected area, burning and itching sensation in extremities, dermatitis in extremities, ulceration (severe cases only), erythema (blanchable redness of the skin), pain in affected area and skin discolouration (from red to dark blue) Chilblains is not something that people are aware of. It tends to occur very quickly, is painful and causes long term tissue damage. It isn't as bad as frost bite but should be treated with caution. Usually it can occur even if one is exposed to harsh winter weather for a short period of time. During re-warming, the pain factor is extremely high, and it takes several hours for the swelling to go down. Chilblains can cause itching, red patches, swelling, blistering on your hands feet, toes, fingers, heels, ears and nose. In order to ensure prevention one must avoid rapid changes in temperature (including from cold to hot), wear warm shoes, socks and gloves, wear a hat and a scarf to protect the ears and the nose, avoid tight fitting socks and shoes and exercise at least four times a week to improve blood circulation. To ensure treatment, a course of vitamin B, especially nicotinic acid, helps improve circulation and may completely treat the chilblains. Soaking the feet in warm water with Epsom salts for 15 to 20 minutes, three to four times a day will help in thawing the chill. Keeping the affected area warm and avoiding any extreme temperature changes (including very hot water). One can also use a topical steroid cream to relieve itch. A vasodilator may help in more severe or recurrent cases. Vasodilation helps reduce pain, facilitate healing and prevent recurrences. The best way to avoid chilblains is to make sure gloves and boots fit well and are dry and clean. The best treatment is to warn the affected area with tepid but not hot, water, as sudden temperature change may worsen it. Consultant, Dermatology Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad

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The meaning of the color Pastel Green and color combinations to inspire your next design. Pastel green is pale, delicate shade of green. To make pastel green paint, first mix blue and yellow together. Next, stir in some white paint to lighten the color—there’s no exact ratio for how much white paint to add, just keep mixing until you reach pastel green’s soft hue. On the hex chart used by web designers and developers, the pastel green color code is #77DD77. Pastel green takes its name from the art medium of pastels, a powdered pigment that typically creates soft, low saturation hues. The word “pastel” first appeared in 1662, while pastels became a popular medium with artists in the 1700s. Pastels were also a popular color palette for fashion, furniture and architecture in the 18th century, during what’s now known as the Rococo era—think Marie Antoinette. More recently, pastel hues like pastel green, lilac, lavender, mauve, periwinkle and lemon found favor in the 1980s, when the muted hues were popularised by the hit show Miami Vice. Minty hues like pastel green were particularly popular in the 1950s when they were commonly used in women’s clothing and interior design. Pastel shades have enjoyed a new wave of popularity in fashion and design since around 2014. Pastel green is a soothing, peaceful color. In color psychology, green is thought to help promote a sense of serenity and help balance emotions; pastel green’s gentle appearance makes it a particularly calming shade. As the color of trees and grass, green also has strong links with the environment. It’s seen as the color of luck, optimism, renewal and freshness—all associations likely to be extended to pastel green. All pastel shades are said to be reminiscent of springtime and because of its link to the natural world, pastel green is especially likely to remind audiences of the season. Pastel shades often appear soft and romantic. But their current widespread popularity in design means the muted hues aren’t necessarily considered feminine—pastel green, in particular, looks gender neutral. Pastel green’s subdued appearance makes it easy on the eyes and suitable for use in large amounts. It’s particularly popular in interior design, where its association with the 1950s can give a room a refined, vintage feel. This shade is a great choice when you want to promote relaxation or associations with health and freshness. Greens like pastel green are commonly used by supermarket chains for this reason. For a cool, modern design, you could use the hue alongside other pastel shades. Pastel green can be matched with many different shades. It looks great alongside other pastel hues, particularly lilac, which is its complementary color on the color wheel. Pastel green can appear retro and reminiscent of the 1950s alongside cream, or could be freshened up next to a crisp white. It also pairs well with soft greys and works with neutrals like beige and nude. It even looks nice alongside analogous shades of green. You might avoid pairing pastel green with vivid shades of red or orange, where it could look washed out. The colors that match well with pastel green include: With 60,000+ templates, Canva is the easiest way to create beautiful designs.

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental disorder affecting 8.4% of children and 2.5% of adults, according to the American Psychiatric Association. While ADHD most often occurs in children, 2 out of 3 children with ADHD will continue to have symptoms into adulthood. Research shows that ADHD is the result of a deficiency in norepinephrine, a brain neurotransmitter. Symptoms of ADHD can include: - trouble concentrating and paying attention - difficulty staying organized - hyperactivity or excessive restlessness - low self esteem - struggle with time management skills With a 42% increase in the number of ADHD diagnoses in the last 15 years, there is a lot of debate about the validity of an ADHD diagnosis. At Charleston Counseling Center, we understand many parent’s hesitancy to label their kids with ADHD. We are here to help you and your child learn tools that will help them at school and at home, as well as manage behaviors that may be impacting relationships within your family.

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Overview of Breast Cancer The cells of our bodies normally grow and divide in an orderly, highly controlled way governed by multiple genes contained within each cell. Cancer occurs when mutations, or abnormal changes, occur in the genes which control cell growth and division. Mutated cells grow and multiply in an uncontrolled disorganized way, forming a tumor. Although breast cancer is always caused by genetic abnormalities, only 5-10% of these genetic alterations are inherited from one’s mother or father. 90-95% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of hormonal, environmental and/or other acquired factors. Multiple “genetic hits” must occur for a cancer cell to develop. Breast tissue is composed of glandular tissue, the ducts and lobules, which are surrounded by stroma (supporting tissue) comprised of connective and fatty tissue. The ducts are tubular, branching structures which transport milk from the lobules to the nipple. The lobules are glandular tissue capable of producing milk. The stroma contains blood vessels and lymphatic channels. Breast cancer most commonly originates in the cells lining the breast ducts. Less commonly, breast cancer can arise from the cells lining the lobules. When the cancer cells are confined to the ducts, the cancer is ductal carcinoma in-situ. These in-situ or non-invasive cancers have a < 2% chance of metastasizing (spreading) to other parts of the body. Some cancers develop the ability to grow through the membrane of the ducts or lobules and microscopically invade into the stroma. These are invasive or infiltrating carcinoma. Once the breast cancer cells invade the stroma where lymphatic channels and blood vessels are, the cancer has the potential to spread (metastasize) to the lymph nodes in the under- arm (via the lymphatic channels) or to other organs (via the blood vessels). The most common sites for distant metastasis are bone, liver, lung or brain. Breast cancer can also spread by growing directly into surrounding structures such as the skin, chest wall, or muscles. Most breast cancers are detected at early stages when they are confined to the breast with or without involvement of the lymph nodes in the underarm (axillary lymph nodes). (Based on American Cancer Society estimates) Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States except for skin cancer. Slightly less than 30% of cancers in women are breast cancers. Fortunately, breast cancer incidence has been steadily decreasing from its peak in 1999. Breast cancer mortality, the death rate, has been dropping by 2% per year since 1990. The 5 year survival for breast cancer has increased to 90%, and is 98% for women with cancer only in the breast and not the lymph nodes. Based on the most recent data, the 5–year, 10–year and 15–year survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer are 91%, 86% and 80% respectively. The overall 5-year relative survival rate is 99% for localized disease, 85% for regional disease, and 27% for distant-stage disease. The lifetime risk for breast cancer in US women is 1 in 8 (about 12.4%). In 2019, it is estimated that 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer will be diagnosed in US women. From 2000 to 2009, the incidence of breast cancer decreased by 0.9% per year among US women. The decrease was seen only in women > 50, at least in part because fewer women were using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after the Women’s Health Initiative study, published in 2002, suggested a link between HRT and breast cancer risk. In recent years the incidence has been increasing by 0.4% per year. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths (mortality) in US women. Approximately 41,760 women in the U.S. will die from breast cancer in 2019. Breast cancer mortality has been decreasing since 1990. The breast cancer death rate decreased by 40% from 1989 to 2016. From 2000 to 2009, breast cancer deaths decreased by 2.1% per year in US women. Since 2007 breast cancer mortality in women under 50 has been stable, but it has continued to decrease in women over 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of more effective treatments, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness. In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women. Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer. For Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women, the risk of developing and dying from breast cancer is lower. A US man’s lifetime risk for breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. About 2,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected in men in 2018 and 480 male breast cancer deaths. About 5-10% of breast cancers can be linked to gene mutations inherited from one’s mother or father, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. Only 1-20% of women with breast cancer have a family history of breast cancer. In 2018, there were more than 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

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Do you ever feel kind of down and stressed about your money sitch? If you nodded along, you’re not alone. In fact, the American Psychological Association stated in its recent report that 61 percent of people consider money a significant source of stress in their life. While it’s normal to have some money stress from time to time, those who experience significant stress from money may be putting their mental health at risk. A look at financial wellness When it comes to health, many of you probably think about your physical health. For instance, if you’re sick, you go see a doctor. To a lesser extent, you might also think that your overall health means your mental health as well, especially if stress is taking a toll on your daily life. But one area you may not consider or talk about when it comes to health is your financial health — also called financial wellness. Financial wellness is all about having your money in balance. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines financial well-being as: - Being in control of your day-to-day and monthly expenses - Being able to handle unexpected financial situations (such as your car breaking down) - Being on a path to meet your financial goals - Being able to use money as a tool in order to make choices and get the most out of life As it turns out, many people aren’t doing too hot in the financial wellness department. According to the Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2016, three out of 10 adults are struggling just to get by financially. And, only 29 percent of adults surveyed stated that they are living comfortably. The link between financial wellness and mental health As noted above, many people already experience significant stress from money. Long-term stress, in turn, can have a big impact on your mental health (and of course, your physical health too). In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health notes that long-term stress can lead to depression, anxiety, anger, and irritability. What’s more concerning is the effect of debt on mental health – even leading some to commit suicide. Studies show that people who commit suicide are more likely to be in debt — eight times more likely, actually. As you can see, a lack of financial wellness can directly affect your mental health. While many suffer in silence. all is not lost. If you’re not financially fit at the moment, there are ways to work toward financial wellness. There are also places to go for help. Pursuing financial wellness If you’re unsure where to start and need some help pursuing financial wellness, consider contacting a National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) accredited counselor. They have free resources to help you get back on track financially. You can also help yourself by first recognizing what areas of your financial life are out of balance and causing you stress. Is it a debt issue? An income issue? Or are there underlying spending issues? Once you identify what areas of your financial life are causing you stress, you can take steps toward financial wellness. The keys to financial wellness are: - Living within your means (not spending more than you make) - Having a savings plan in place (pro tip: you can save automatically with Chime’s Automatic Savings program) - Working toward debt payoff - Setting realistic short-term and long-term financial goals and working toward them - Using credit responsibly (paying off credit cards, making payments on time, keeping balances low) - Having a healthy relationship with money Financial wellness is all about getting your financial life in order and taking a balanced approach with your money. After all, you want to control your money. You don’t want your money to control you. Financial wellness = less stress Pursuing financial wellness can improve other areas of your life, too. Just think about the weight that will be lifted off your shoulders when you get a handle on your finances. Although money technically can’t buy happiness — it comes pretty close when you change your spending habits, pay all your bills and live the life you want.

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Every year, the WHO European Region marks European Immunisation Week (EIW) to promote immunisation as vital to preventing diseases and protecting life. This year, on 24–30 April 2019, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the benefits of vaccination and to celebrate the “vaccine heroes” who contribute in so many ways to protecting lives through vaccination. Vaccine heroes include health workers who administer vaccines, parents who choose vaccination for their children, and everyone who seeks evidence-based information and passes it on to empower others. This concept is further embedded in the larger framework of World Immunisation Week, which will focus on the theme “Protected Together, #Vaccines Work”. Click here to view a short film from Public Health England on vaccinations.

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Laboratory Response Network The Laboratory Response Network (LRN) is a network of U.S. laboratories that can respond to biological and chemical threats, and other public health emergencies, established by the Centers for Disease Control. Our lab is part of that network, and our scientists are trained to respond to these concerns and threats. Our microbiology program is designated by the Centers for Disease Control as an advanced level laboratory in the national network. We provide testing for potential agents of bioterrorism that are sent to our lab from other labs within the network (typically clinical and hospital labs). Scientists are trained to identify bacteria that cause anthrax, plague, and other diseases of public health concern. - National Laboratory Response Network for biological threats - Colorado Laboratory Forum - Biothreat agent bench cards for the Sentinel Clinical Laboratory Our Chemistry program is also a part of the national network. Our chemists are trained to detect human exposure to various toxic chemicals, including cyanide, toxic metals, nerve agents and other toxins. - Environmental incidents response manual - CDC specimen collection protocol for a chemical exposure event - Collecting/labeling, packaging/shipping patient specimens from a chemical exposure event - Shipping blood specimens to CDC after a chemical exposure event - Blood specimen collection and shipping manifest To report a public health or environmental concern or emergency

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Public relations and propaganda are not that far apart. Sometimes the two are so intertwined it's impossible to know where one starts and the other leaves off. Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Public Relations: is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) and the public. After the Nazi Seizure of Power in 1933, Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry quickly gained and exerted controlling supervision over the news media, arts, and information in Germany. What resulted was pure propaganda. Today America is the home of more lobbying firms than any other country on the earth. Even more troubling;

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The ‘lover of art’, or liefhebber, was a well-recognized figure in the artistic culture of the seventeenth-century Netherlands, functioning as a patron, collector, connoisseur, and an amateur practitioner of the arts. The liefhebber’s representation in the artist’s studio developed from the Flemish pictorial tradition of the art lover in the konstkamer, or collector’s cabinet, where his elite social status, intellectual values, and knowledge of art were put on display.2 In the privileged space of the studio, however, artists shifted the focus and meaning of the liefhebber’s interests to the making of art.3 In these works, knowledge passed between the artist and the art lover, gained through the direct familiarity with the artist’s working methods and practice, and through the contents of the studio itself. The subject reflected the value placed in artistic practice, but as this article argues, it also intersected with developments in the liefhebber’s own practice of art, which became increasingly relevant and attainable in the middle decades of the seventeenth century. The rise of drawing academies, pedagogical drawing manuals, and art theoretical treatises allowed liefhebbers to acquire firsthand knowledge of artistic practice that expanded their role in and outside of the artist’s space. This article examines how painters ‘pictured’ the relationship between artists and art lovers, and in doing so confronted a larger cultural discourse of connoisseurship, amateurship, and artistic practice in the early modern Netherlands. The nature of this relationship derived meaning from images of the collector’s cabinet. Flemish paintings of the konstkamer amassed knowledge of the world through the display of objects, including naturalia and artificilia, and above all, paintings and sculpture. The emergence of the genre in Antwerp at the turn of the seventeenth century reflected the city’s economic and cultural wealth, embodied in its burgeoning mercantile classes and collecting habits.4 Works such as Hieronymus Francken II and Jan Brueghel the Elder’s The Archdukes Albert and Isabella Visiting the Collection of Pierre Roose show the artistic and scientific variety of objects germane to these scenes and the expansion of that tradition into Brussels (fig. 1). The artists depict the Archdukes Albert and Isabella seated prominently in the foreground of an expansive room surrounded by a near encyclopedic array of objects, natural and manmade, as well as elegantly dressed art lovers who converse and admire the luxuries before them. The figures’ interaction with the objects depicted – and each other – elevated the social status and virtue of the art collector himself, in turn creating an environment of intellectualism and inspiring conversation among virtuosi.5 The liefhebber in the studio reshaped this iconographic tradition by situating the art lover in the artist’s place of creation.6 The focus of value thus shifted from object to practice, or from knowledge embodied to knowledge performed. Dutch representations of this subject by Pieter Codde (1599–1678) and Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635–1681), in which art lovers examine painters’ works on their easels, demonstrate these changing ideas. The artist’s presence in the studio informs the art lover’s engagement with the object of his attention – the artist’s painting – but the artist’s passive role is often secondary to the work and contents of the studio. The Flemish artist Michael Sweerts (1618–1664), who executed a number of paintings of artist’s studios and academies in Rome and Brussels in the late 1640s and 1650s, further transformed the representation of the liefhebber from a learned observer to a participant. Sweerts’ liefhebbers, still informed by the intellectual virtues of the konstkamer, demonstrate their knowledge of the practice and learning of art by assuming a more active presence in artist’s space. Although certain differences arise between Dutch and Flemish depictions of this subject from their respective iconographic traditions – images of the collector’s cabinet, for instance, simply did not thrive outside of Antwerp – this article investigates the representation of the liefhebber from the konstkamer to the studio, and ultimately, the academy, as part of a larger and inclusive Netherlandish context.7 It seeks to demonstrate the ways in which contemporary attitudes towards the art lover informed these images, and how his knowledge of art and connoisseurship could be enhanced by becoming an active practitioner of art.8 By relocating the values associated with the collector’s cabinet to these new pictorial spaces, artists modernized an iconographic tradition. The liefhebber’s image coalesced with these changes, giving him a more significant role alongside the artist, and in turn elevating the status of artist and art lover alike. The liefhebber in Antwerp: real and ideal In the late sixteenth century, the liefhebber was defined alternatively as a ‘lover, favorer, maintainer, patron, or amateur’ of art.9 He was not usually involved in the trade of pictures – though he could be – so much as one who displayed a keen interest in art and its collecting.10 By the early decades of the seventeenth century, contemporaries used the term in a more specialized way, designating themselves as ‘liefhebbers der schilderijen’ (lovers of painting). The phrase signified the ability to make judgments about pictures as a connoisseur, to discern among artists’ hands, and to engage in intellectual exchange among peers.11 The ‘lover of painting’, as Zirka Filipczak has pointed out, could be considered a worshipper of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and the arts.12 Such ‘liefhebbers der schilderijen’ converse in the foreground of Cognoscenti in a Room hung with Pictures executed in Antwerp around 1620 (fig. 2). Iconographically consistent with the work by Hieronymus Francken II and Jan Brueghel the Elder, the artist of this painting depicted a palatial room decorated from floor to ceiling with paintings, and tables covered with sculpture, prints, scientific instruments, and a globe. As the men discuss an Allegory of the Elements perched on the chair before them, they show their connoisseurial skills and high social rank through gesture, gaze, and elegant dress.13 The image evokes idealized forms of universal knowledge as well as Antwerp’s local artistic culture, elements that would have been recognizable to contemporary viewers. As Elizabeth Honig has expressed, the relationship between viewer and viewed is mutual: ‘the eye not only judges value [in these works], but it brings valuable status to the one who has the “eye”’.14 A new category of membership in Antwerp’s Guild of St. Luke reflected the importance of the liefhebber in the seventeenth century. By the end of 1610, five people had registered in the guild as liefhebbers der schilderijen, a term which, until that point, had never before existed in the official guild registers.15 The number of registrants continued into the middle decades of the century.16 Among those who joined were the well-known Antwerp art collectors Philips van Valckenisse and Cornelis van der Geest. Anthony van Dyck portrayed the latter figure as a kunstliefhebber in the Icongraphy, the print series of famous men he produced in the mid-1630s.17 Van der Geest’s portrait, along with those of two other ‘art lovers’ portrayed in the first edition of the series, Antoon Cornelissen and Jacomo de Cachopin, gave further definition to their esteemed role in the mid-seventeenth century by placing them on the same level as rulers, diplomats, humanists – and artists.18 The inscription of liefhebbers in the Dutch guilds came several decades later in Haarlem and The Hague, making their official status a phenomenon across the Netherlands.19 The reasons for liefhebbers’ registration in the guild were likely varied; it may have allowed them to purchase and sell paintings more easily, or to make contacts in the art world. The use of the term in the guild demonstrated that collectors and lovers of paintings sought formal recognition within the artistic community.20 The situation, however, was not widespread: the guilds in Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels did not denote this separate category. This evidence does not rule out the presence of a liefhebber culture in these cities (as discussed below in Brussels), but it indicates the inconsistencies and difficulties in assigning meaning to a so-called official status. The liefhebber in the studio The visit to the artist’s studio by an art lover or patron was a well-established topos in the seventeenth century. It had a venerable antique precedent in Alexander the Great’s visit to the studio of his court painter, Apelles, and studio visits occurred with regularity in the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.21 Notable examples include Otto Speerling’s visit to Peter Paul Rubens’ studio in 1621 and Constantijn Huygens’ visit to Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan Lievens’ studio in Leiden in 1628. In his Essay des merveilles de nature, et des plus nobles artifices written in 1621, the French author Etienne Binet explained the importance of visiting the studio for the gentleman:22 When you speak of painting […], one of the most noble arts of the world […] [to do so] you must have visited the studio and disputed with the masters, have seen the magic marks of the pencil, and the unerring judgment with which the details are worked out.23 While the studio visit thus had a real-life counterpart, its representation reflected the ideal values associated with paintings of collector’s cabinets by displaying the knowledge, interests, and taste of the liefhebber.24 And while indicative of the art lover’s intellectual and discerning character, these images partook in a different kind of performance: the artist at work. The liefhebber became privy to the process of making, and ultimately, the artist’s finished product. Moreover, once inside the painter’s studio, the liefhebber affirmed the esteemed status of the artist himself.25 The representation of the art lover in the artist’s studio has been typically associated with the Northern Netherlands, yet a previously unpublished anonymous Flemish drawing from a private collection, dated to around 1600, suggests that this theme also originated in Antwerp (fig. 3).26 The finely executed drawing depicts a working studio: the artist paints at his easel, while an assistant grinds pigments at a table in the background. Plaster fragments of heads, arms, and feet hang on the wall near an open window. A monkey behind the painter examines his reflection in a mirror, an action paralleled by the woman and child across the room who gaze into a mirror held by a young man. He peers over the woman’s shoulder, his leg placed atop a chest and his hand confidently on his thigh. His belted robe bears some similarities to the painter’s dress, but his fanciful hat, ornamented and topped by a long feather, suggests that he is instead a visitor to the studio. His presence and participation in the activities here give added value to the artist’s practice – the studio is worthy of his visit – but they also demonstrate the visitor’s interest in the act of art’s making and the value of looking (sight). Pieter Codde’s Art Lovers in a Painter’s Studio reflects another stage in an art lover’s engagement with the artist and his studio (fig. 4). Inside Codde’s modest space, three liefhebbers carefully examine the painter’s finished works, including one still stretched on the easel. The men are absorbed in the act of looking and judging the painter’s works, and through gaze and gesture they exhibit different degrees of discernment. The painter stands in the middle of the room holding his palette and brushes with an expression of concern. Although the art lovers have come to the studio to see the artist ‘at work’, their presence produces the opposite effect: the artist has stopped painting in order to accommodate his visitors. The studio has become a site of connoisseurship, but one mediated by the materiality of painting(s) and the role of the artist himself in that process. Similarly to Codde, Frans van Mieris represented a studio scene defined by the silent exchange between artist and visitor (fig. 5). In a cavernous interior, illuminated only by light from arched windows, a painter leans against the easel with his palette, brushes, and mahlstick in hand. His practice, too, has been interrupted. A visitor, whose identity as an art lover is signaled by his fine dress and hat perched atop his knee, sits before a nearly finished painting of a Resting Traveler. Yet rather than looking at the canvas, he gazes toward a table arranged with various objects. The large musical instrument, sculpture of Hercules Wrestling with a Serpent, as well as the globe tucked into the lower left corner of the room, inform the liefhebber of the nobility of the artist and his art.27 In a work attributed to Job Adriaensz. Berckheyde (1630–1693) from 1659, the artist closely followed this iconographic model (fig. 6).28 Two visitors are present in this studio, with one man seated before the easel examining the painting as his companion and the artist look out at the viewer. Their direct engagement with us, as well as the illusionistic curtain pulled to the side, emphasizes the immediacy of the moment, but this carefully constructed scene is a fictive reality. Like Van Mieris’ painting, the display of objects on the table to the right reinforces the painter’s learned status, visually joining the iconographic traditions of the konstkamer and the studio to create a site of intellectual and manual practice. As these paintings demonstrate, the visit to the studio allowed the artist to exhibit his work in more than one way (through the painting in the painting), and it served as a display of his artistic values. In portraying the exchange between artists and art lovers, however, Codde, Van Mieris, and Berckheyde also emphasized the important role of the studio for the making of art and for the judgment of the art lover. While related to earlier modes of connoisseurship, the dynamic pictured between artist and liefhebber conveyed the value of the finished object and the artist’s process. In the mid-seventeenth century, this judgment gained added meaning as the art lover became increasingly interested and involved in artistic practice himself. The amateur, the academy, and Michael Sweerts The value bestowed upon a gentleman’s knowledge of drawing had been addressed by authors and theorists since the Renaissance. Codified in Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier in the sixteenth century, seventeenth-century authors continued to rehearse the benefits of drawing for the elite, as well as its usefulness for judging pictures.29 In his Het Schilder-boeck of 1604, which was dedicated to artists and art lovers alike, Karel van Mander expressed the usefulness of drawing for all, especially when speaking about art.30 The English author Henry Peacham devoted a chapter of his popular treatise from 1622, The Compleat Gentleman, to drawing, describing it as ‘a quality most commendable, so many ways useful to a Gentleman.’31 And Constantijn Huygens, secretary to the Prince of Orange, recounted in his diaries from around 1630 that he had learned how to draw as a boy because his father viewed it as an essential part of his education.32 By the middle decades of the seventeenth century, pedagogical drawing manuals and informal academies for drawing naer het leven in the Northern and Southern Netherlands shifted the landscape of artistic practice and learning by making options for drawing available in different and readily accessible forms. While many of these efforts were naturally devoted to artists, both young and experienced, they similarly allowed the art lover to learn and develop the skill of draftsmanship alongside the artist himself.33 One of the earliest examples of this phenomenon in the Netherlands appeared in Amsterdam in 1636. The little-known Cornelis Pietersz. Biens published a small treatise intended for beginners and liefhebbers as a practical guide to drawing, De Teecken-Const: ofte Een korte ende klaere aen-leydinghe tot die lofelijcke Const van Teeckenen tot Dienst ende behulp van de eerstbeghinnende Jeucht ende liefhebbers, in Elf Capittelen vervat. Much of the treatise described well-known advice based on Biens’ familiarity with Karel van Mander’s HetSchilder-boeck, but Biens’ modest manual suggested a broader audience interested in the learning and making of art.34 Less than a decade later, Crispijn van de Passe published his substantial drawing book, ’t Light der teken en schilder konst, in Amsterdam in 1643 (fig. 7). The manual included studies of anatomy, proportion and perspective, academic studies of male and female nudes, and the works of established masters.35 Artists were expected to copy these models in a gradual process and learn from the ideal example. Van de Passe did not specify his intended audience, but the comprehensive and accessible nature of the manual indicates that it was intended for young artists and amateurs alike.36 With this progressive and detailed course of study, the liefhebber intersected with the world of the artist. The drawing book codified artistic knowledge for the amateur, while allowing him to join that knowledge with the practice and refinement of connoisseurship. Michael Sweerts’ images of the studio engaged this changing discourse in a way unlike his contemporaries.37 In A Painter’s Studio, executed while the artist was in Rome, students draw after plaster casts of antique sculpture and an artist paints from a nude model posed beside his easel (fig. 8). Two gentlemen tucked into the shadows at the left respond to the activities taking place around them. Their contemporary dress, which includes black hats and doublets with fashionably slashed sleeves, distinguishes them from the rest of the studio. One man points towards the painter and the nude model, directing the viewer’s gaze from the early stages of artistic practice, embodied in the fragmented forms of antique sculpture in the foreground, to its more mature execution by the master painter. The other visitor looks either towards the boy in the foreground drawing an écorché model, which was used to teach students how to render human anatomy, or perhaps more tellingly, directly at the viewer. The ambiguity of his gaze draws attention to the relationship between viewer and viewed, recalling Honig’s point that the exchange of value in such works was mutual.38 Sweerts’ visitors have no clear reason to be in this working studio, yet their presence fundamentally changes its dynamic. Unlike the art lovers in Codde or Van Mieris’ images, the men in A Painter’s Studio do not readily observe finished works or contemplate a potential purchase of a work of art. Even if they have come to see Sweerts’ Roman Wrestlers, which hangs on the back wall of the studio, their interest lays in the artistic practice taking place around them. Sweerts’ figures look intensely and gesture directly, following the patterns of informed and sophisticated discourse depicted in the collector’s cabinet. The focus of their attention, however, has shifted from object to practice. They demonstrate that they are capable of discussing art and its production in the immediate and tangible space of the studio, and in the presence of the artist. Sweerts’ representation gives value to this new relationship, and at the same time reflects – in its emphasis on the progressive training in the artist’s studio – an awareness of the drawing method presented in De Passe’s manual. Sweerts’ Artist’s Studio with a Woman Sewing heightens the prominence of the liefhebber in this context (fig. 9). Gathered near the artist at his easel are a group of well-dressed men, each absorbed in the activities of the studio or those of their music-making companions. Another painter and visitor are visible through a doorway in the background, where a liefhebber closely watches the artist at work. Paintings line the back wall and plaster casts of antique sculpture lie in a carefully constructed pile between the artist and model, recalling the display of objects in works by Sweerts’ Dutch and Flemish predecessors. Most interestingly in our context, however, is the man in the yellow jacket in the foreground. He conspicuously lacks the painter’s cap that identifies a working artist, yet he holds a pen in his left hand and leans over to pick up a piece of paper resting near his feet. No longer just a ‘lover of painting’, he is about to draw, and in this way becomes a participant in the artist’s studio. He gains – and shows – his knowledge through eye and hand. These ideas coalesce in Sweerts’ painting of TheDrawing School, which he produced following his return to Brussels in the mid-1650s (fig. 10). During this decade, Sweerts established an academy for life drawing, which was the first of its kind in the Southern Netherlands and intended to serve young artists, tapestry designers, and likely amateurs.39TheDrawing School is related to Sweerts’ academic endeavors in Brussels, as well as one informed by his close associations with the academy in Rome. More broadly, the painting demonstrates the value that Sweerts placed in the fundamental practice of life drawing. Here, the young men have gathered to draw from a nude male model, so deep in concentration that they are unaware of the arrival of a visitor. Only the young boy in the foreground, who conspicuously points toward him, has noticed his presence – and is keen to point him out to his fellow artists. The master of the academy turns to welcome the gentleman and echoes the gesture of the boy by pointing to the model. The man, dressed in a white blouse and a black doublet and cloak, has entered the academy through the doorway in the back corner. As he removes his glove, he pauses to observe the model. The directness of gazes and gestures in this scene creates a dynamic performance around life drawing. The academy has replaced the studio, and by depicting the art lover in this space, Sweerts indicates the significance of drawing, learning, and working from life, which deserve equal admiration alongside the artist and his finished work. But has this art lover come to join the drawing session instead? Such a possibility would reflect the art lover’s increasing interest in drawing in this period, and in turn, the artist’s interest in its representation. The scope and nature of Sweerts’ academic activities may make this scenario even more likely.40 In 1656 Sweerts published a series of didactic prints entitled Diversae facies in vsvm iuvenvm et aliorvm delineatae (Diverse faces for the use of the young and others), which consists of twelve etchings of half-length figures in various forms of dress and expression (fig. 11).41 While Sweerts must have intended the etchings to be used by the students who attended his academy, especially as they offered young artists exercises in the handling of light and shadow, the prints possess an accessibility in format, subject, and style that made them equally suitable for a broader audience. Knowledgeable art lovers could benefit from the practice of copying the prints as well as enjoy collecting them.42 The men depicted in The Drawing School reflect these varied intentions. A number of them are dressed in simple, working costume, but others are more elegantly clothed to distinguish them from the group. This distinction is evident in the youth depicted in the left foreground who wears a yellow vest and sits atop a gold-trimmed, red cloak. Sweerts executed several portraits of fashionably dressed men in Brussels during this same period, which indicate his familiarity with figures of elevated status in Brussels’ cultural milieu.43 In The Drawing School, the man entering the room bears a strong resemblance to Portrait of a Man, particularly in the facial features, hair, and costume, suggesting that this art lover may have served as the model for this work (fig. 12). Even if this possibility remains speculative, Sweerts clearly sought to ‘picture’ the art lover in the space of the academy, reflecting his own awareness of, and response to, a cultural discourse around the art lover. Changing tastes: the liefhebber in Brussels and Antwerp Unfortunately, we know relatively little – in comparison to Antwerp – about the standing of the liefhebber in Brussels during this period, but as the work of scholars like Veerle De Laet have shown, art played an important role in the life of the city’s residents, both within and outside of the court.44 In the seventeenth century, nearly every household in Brussels owned at least one painting, if not more, and the interest in art collecting for the urban class continued to grow after mid-century.45 Group portraits in private interiors by Sweerts’ younger Brussels contemporary Gillis van Tilborgh (1625–1678) demonstrate a class of patrons concerned with exhibiting their status as collectors – as a sign of their nobilité and civilité as described by De Laet – but also their knowledge of art reconfigured in the domestic space.46 In Tilborgh’s painting of A Picture Gallery, the room serves as konstkamer and studio, a site of display, practice, and the exchange of knowledge between the artist and his visitors (fig. 13).47 The artist, paused from painting, holds his palette and brushes as he turns away from the easel. The other figures, as elegantly dressed as the artist himself, gesture and gaze around the room. The man on the left looks out at the viewer directly. As a group, they engage painting(s) and practice, knowledge embodied and performed through the objects displayed in the room and the activity taking place around them. This informed judgment takes on another meaning in Tilborgh’s interior: the painting serves as a representation of local artistic culture, comparable to the Antwerp konstkamers that preceded it. The paintings in this room closely resemble the work of Brussels painters, including the landscape artists Lodewijck de Vadder (1605–1655) and Jacques d’Arthois (1613–1686), and the battle painter, Pieter Snayers (1592–1666).48 The representation of these works shows a sophisticated knowledge of artistic tradition in a Brussels context, one that met an interest in the practice of art.49 Less than a decade later, the liefhebber’s role in the academy was institutionalized in the Southern Netherlands. In 1663 liefhebbers were admitted as members of the recently founded Antwerp Academy of Art, the first state-sponsored academy to exist in the Netherlands.50 Their inclusion may be seen as a further formalization of the process that had begun in the guild earlier in the century.51 In place of the relative informality of Sweerts’ Brussels school, the institutionalized nature of the Antwerp academy (though slow to implement its comprehensive aims of instruction)52 marked a significant shift in how the liefhebber’s pastime of drawing found new expression in a defined pedagogical context.53 Life drawing was the only course offered in the academy’s first thirty years of existence, which must have been desirable for the city’s art lovers. Records in the Guild of St. Luke, conceived as an extension of the academy, indicate that liefhebbers did register for drawing lessons. In the last few decades of the century, a Jacobus Engels Vercouter registered to ‘leert teeckenen’ in 1674, as did a Jacobus Martens in 1695 (under the guidance of Abraham Genoels II), and Fransus-Xaverius Cras, Jan-Carel van Bugem, and Jan-Frans Herreberti in 1697.54 By the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the amateur art lover increasingly attended drawing schools to showcase his cultivation and refined education and manners, including in those recently established academies in The Hague and Amsterdam.55 Treatises published in this period, such as Willem Goeree’s drawing book of 1678, Inleydinge tot de Al-ghemeene Teycken-Konst, as well as Gerard de Lairesse’s Grondlegginge ter Teekenkonst (1701), paralleled these developments, as they, too, were directed toward an audience of artists and liefhebbers within a classically oriented artistic culture. As Goeree explained in the second printing of his manual, his rules were not only for beginners, but also for ‘alle die lust hebben’ to be proficient in drawing and painting.56 Joining the Dutch and Flemish liefhebber Paintings of the liefhebber in the studio and academy reveal certain patterns: dress, gesture, and gaze serve as markers of sophistication, informed judgment, and virtuosity. To maintain these iconographic elements, artists depicted the ideal: the art lover who expresses a ‘love’ for art, an interest in the object, and a desired exchange with the artist. These images were tied to the genre of the collector’s cabinet, but they also offered a profound response to the cultural moment that produced them. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the connoisseur merged with the amateur practitioner of art. The publication of drawing manuals and the discourse that arose around drawing, artistic practice, and the academy established a framework under which the art lover could adapt and grow his role and relationship to the artist and his art. The representation of the liefhebber was part of a larger tradition that codified his artistic knowledge. The value placed in the art lover’s ability to practice art resulted in a modern image of connoisseurship and the mutual affirmation of the art lover and artist’s significance. This discourse resonated in a Dutch and Flemish context. It reveals the continuity, adaptability, and circulation of these cultural ideals and practices, and the ways in which artists and art lovers responded to them in meaningful ways. The display of one of Sweerts’ artist’s studios in Amsterdam in the last quarter of the seventeenth century demonstrates, in closing, how these ideas could take shape in an actual collector’s cabinet. In a large, classically designed home on the Herengracht canal, Joseph Deutz, a member of a prominent merchant family and one of the Flemish artist’s most important patrons, displayed Sweerts’ Schilders-academetje in his grand purple salon.57 The now unidentified work hung in the showroom of Joseph’s collection alongside paintings by Rembrandt and Jacob Jordaens, among others, and pieces of antique sculpture.58 Knowledgeable about art and antiquities in a way consistent with the values of a Flemish tradition, and possibly practiced in the art of drawing himself, a figure like Joseph Deutz may be seen as a new kind of seventeenth-century liefhebber. His ownership of Sweerts’ academy painting demonstrates an interest in art that developed along the lines of its making and learning in a classicizing context, rather than just its display as a form of knowledge. Within this grand purple salon – Deutz’s own ‘Dutch konstkamer’ – we can imagine the informed discourse that would have taken place before Sweerts’ painting, where Deutz embraced his role as a modern art lover.

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Mental illness is a diagnosable condition that affects a person's thinking, emotions and behaviour and disrupts their ability to work or carry out other daily activities. The experience of mental illness in Australia is common, with one in five, or 20% of Australians aged 16-85 experiencing a common mental illness in any one year. Early warning signs that someone may be developing a mental illness include: - withdrawing from social situations - loss of interest or concentration in study - less attention to hygiene and grooming - unusual behaviour - uncharacteristic emotional responses. There are a variety of evidenced based treatments available to treat mental illness. Such treatments include, lifestyle changes, counselling and medication. The earlier the treatment, the better chance of recovery. - obtain adequate amount of, and good quality sleep - maintain a balance between study, work and social activities - minimise alcohol and other drug use - manage time effectively - eat well - study smart - stay connected with your treatment providers (GP, Health professionals)

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What is CCSVI In 2009, Italian researchers, led by Dr Paolo Zamboni, discovered that, in many persons with multiple sclerosis, the veins which act as the main drainage pathways for blood flowing from the brain are substantially narrowed and even blocked. These include the jugular veins, veins along the spinal column, and other veins such as the azygous vein. They labeled this compromised venous drainage as “chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency” or CCSVI. The researchers also documented that impaired venous drainage from the brain caused venous blood to flow back into the brain which resulted in iron deposition and inflammation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). A compromised BBB has long been known to be part of the MS disease process. On the basis of these findings, the researchers reasonably concluded that CCSVI was quite possibly a causal factor of MS and that the restoration of proper blood flow from the brain may well be of significant therapeutic value. Can CCSVI be treated? The Italian researchers developed a treatment to relieve the venous drainage problems. The problematic veins are first identified by venography. Then, balloon angioplasty is used to open up the problematic veins. The procedure is relatively non-invasive and is done in day hospital under local anesthesia. Unfortunately, it was found that, for many patients, the impaired venous drainage returned within a few months. At this time, an effective treatment which resolves and maintains proper flow for all patients has not yet been developed. Is CCSVI Treatment of value? The critical question of the benefit of restoring proper blood flow for persons with MS has not been answered. A few small trials have been performed but the results did not answer the question of benefit because many of the treated persons did not have proper blood flow established for very long. Notably, there are many well documented accounts of persons with MS experiencing major benefits once their blood flow was restored and maintained. Further clinical research on CCSVI resolution is required using techniques that both restore and maintain proper blood flow from the brain. Unfortunately, non-drug treatments for MS, such as CCSVI resolution, have always been marginalized by the medical-pharmaceutic complex, mainly for financial reasons. Undoubtedly it will be a very long, hard fight to get the necessary clinical research done given the strong opposition to such research by the financially-compromised neurological community. Is it worth testing for and possibly treating CCSVI? Given the likely lack of proper research in the foreseeable future, persons with MS are faced with the question of “should they have their venous drainage from the brain evaluated and treated if found to be impaired?”. There is no easy answer to this obvious dilemma which is being forced on PwMS due to the current lack of a patient-centred approach to MS research. Abundant empirical data demonstrate that most persons with MS have impaired venous drainage from the brain. Furthermore, there are solid, theoretical arguments that impaired venous drainage contributes to the MS disease process. Given the above, it is likely restoration and maintenance of proper venous drainage is of some value. The main problem is the maintenance of proper flow over the long term and currently there is no procedure which has a high likelihood of achieving this. Thus, having venous angioplasty to resolve CCSVI is a gamble as the current data indicate 50% or less of those having the procedure will have proper blood flow restored and maintained over the long term.

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Earthquake if one of the disastrous natural calamities that have a great impact on the earth and its living beings. Let’s discuss what are the causes of earthquake, but before that, let know briefly what is the earthquake. Table of Contents What is Earthquake? Earthquake is basically a sudden tremor of the earth caused by the sudden movement of the tectonic plates. It is a natural calamity which is out of human control. Higher the intensity of the earthquake higher will be the rate of casualties and devastation. An earthquake is the sudden movement of the tectonic plates that results in the shaking of the earth’s surface. It can be extremely destructive or sometimes so slight that it cannot be felt. The study of an earthquake is known as seismology to find out the causes of earthquake. In layman’s language, an earthquake is the shaking of the earth by some sudden underground activities. The most of the earthquakes take place along the Pacific Ring of Fire which is basically covers the coastal region of the Pacific. Causes of Earthquake The tectonic plates in the earth’s crust are the main reason behind the occurrence of Earthquake. Tectonic plates are also known as lithospheric plates. These plates are basically a slab of solid rocks which are massive and irregular in shape. Tectonic plates keep on moving over each other under the earth. The plates under the oceans are known as Oceanic plates and plates found in continents are called as continental plates. The continuous movement of Tectonic plates sometimes leads to the formation of structure like a valley, plateau, mountains, etc. As these plates ride over the other it forms a fault line in the earth’s crust, which is also known as a fracture. When these plates move, the energy stored in the fault lines is released and ultimately results in an Earthquake. The energy released from the fault line travel through the earth in various directions and causes a sudden tremor to the earth. This energy is known as seismic waves which are the result of the earthquake. The magnitude and intensity of an earthquake are measured by Richter scale. An Earthquake of high intensity has very devastating effects on life, property and also to the environment. Types of Earthquake Earthquake is divided into four types. They are- The crust is the outer most layer of the earth which consists of various ruptured fragments of land. These fragments of land are known as tectonic plates. Tectonic plates keep on moving under the surface of Earth. The collision of these tectonic plates results in the release of a massive energy due to high pressure that eventually shakes the earth and results in a sudden tremor known as Earthquake. This kind of earthquake is most prevalent in the world. A volcanic earthquake is much smaller as compared to the Tectonic earthquake. The earthquake caused by the excessive pressure of the gas in the earth’s crust, sudden changes in the motion of magma, any kind of opening or occurrence of space between the rocks, etc is known as Volcanic earthquakes. Volcanic Earthquakes are of two forms- Volcano-Tectonic Earthquakes and long period volcanic earthquake. This kind of earthquake can occur before or after of a volcanic eruption. The small earthquake that occurs in the area of underground caverns and mines is known as Collapse Earthquake. These kinds of earthquake usually occur in areas where there are underground mines and are also known as mine bursts. Sometimes massive landsides also result in collapse earthquake. Explosion earthquakes are caused by a nuclear explosion. These kinds of earthquakes are a result of human activities and hence we can call them a man-made earthquake. Effects / Impacts of Earthquake on Earth The effects of an earthquake are very destructing for each and everything that exists on this earth including the natural environment of earth. There are lots of examples of the earthquake and the dramatic changes it has brought to the surface of the earth. Some of the major impacts of Earthquake on Earth are- - Damage to the life Every year a large number of people die only because of the earthquake. An earthquake of high intensity that means more than 7 on a Richter scale is enough to destroy a whole town. - Damage to infrastructure Earthquakes have a devastating effect on buildings, roads, bridges, water pipelines, gas lines, electricity lines etc. The open and exposed pipelines are too dangerous. The cracking or collapsing of a dam by an earthquake of high magnitude can create a situation of a massive flood in the nearby areas. Landslides, rockslides, avalanches, slumps are very common after the shaking of the ground. These are the secondary hazards that trigger after the earthquake. Landslides caused by the slope failure are triggered by a strong movement that occurs under the ground and causes damage to infrastructure and life. - Ground rupture Ground rupture is another impact of the earthquake on the natural environment. It refers to the cracks that occur on the surface after to the displacement of the faults which is known as an earthquake. These ground ruptures can extend up to hundreds of kilometers. San Andreas Fault is one of the biggest examples of earthquake ground ruptures. It is one of the disastrous by-products of Earthquake. Tsunami is a Japanese term that refers to “harbor wave”. The earthquake caused by the oceanic plates triggers a tsunami and cause a severe damage to the nearby areas. Liquefaction is one of the major side effects of the earthquake. It is a phenomenon when the sediments are shaken by the earthquake and are transformed into a flowing liquid mass. Fire is also a hazardous impact of Earthquake that results in more destruction than ground shaking. Earthquake exposed electricity/power lines and leaking gas pipelines are a major cause of fire after an earthquake. The maximum damage during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was reported to be caused by fire. So, these were the major impact of the Earthquake on Earth. Impacts of Earthquake on the natural environment of the earth are known as earthquake environmental effects. Earthquakes are natural and cannot be predicted. The knowledge of scientists about the earthquake is limited but they are working on ways to find the ways to predict the earthquake and ways to reduce the damage. However, we can reduce the effect of the earthquake to an extent by taking some precautionary measure and an effective disaster management system. Comment below if you have faced any earthquake and how you come out of the situation. And what should we do to control the causes of earthquake.

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The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter! See the World's Newest Marine Park in the Pacific Ocean By Matt Rand For the health of the ocean and all who depend on it, this is big news: In November, Mexico became the latest nation to create a large, fully protected marine reserve. The Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park, the country's largest marine protected area, is larger than the state of New York and protects 57,176 square miles (148,087 square kilometers) from fishing and other extractive activities. The Revillagigedo Islands and their system of seamounts are a critical waypoint for large migratory species traversing the Pacific Ocean, including whales, dolphins, sea turtles, tunas, billfish and 37 types of shark and ray. The islands are also home to more than 360 species of fish, 26 of which are found nowhere else on the planet. Take a dive beneath the surface with us and check out some of the natural treasures that are now safeguarded in Revillagigedo. The Revillagigedo Archipelago is a critical waypoint for migratory species such as dolphins, whales, sharks, tunas, and sea turtles.Pelagic Life Humpback whales, which seek warmer waters for their calving grounds, make their winter home in Revillagigedo.Pelagic Life At least 366 species of fish, including 26 found nowhere else on the planet, call the Revillagigedo Archipelago home.Pelagic Life In May and June, large schools of silky, Galapagos, and silver tip sharks frequent Revillagigedo's warm waters.Pelagic Life Matt Rand directs the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project. He works with citizens, governments and scientists around the world to protect and conserve some of the Earth's most important and unspoiled marine environments. EcoWatch Daily Newsletter Burrowing owls, which make their homes in small holes in the ground, are having a rough time in Florida. That's why Marco Island on the Gulf Coast passed a resolution to pay residents $250 to start an owl burrow in their front yard, as the Marco Eagle reported. Hundreds of Amazon workers publicly criticized the company's climate policies Sunday, showing open defiance of the company following its threats earlier this month to fire workers who speak out on climate change. East Africa is facing its worst locust infestation in decades, and the climate crisis is partly to blame. 200 Years of Exploring Antarctica — the World’s Coldest, Most Forbidding and Most Peaceful Continent By Dan Morgan Antarctica is the remotest part of the world, but it is a hub of scientific discovery, international diplomacy and environmental change. It was officially discovered 200 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1820, when members of a Russian expedition sighted land in what is now known as the Fimbul Ice Shelf on the continent's east side.

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Multiple recent reports on serious security vulnerabilities in cable modems and routers paint a dire picture of the state of security of the devices that millions of users depend upon to connect to the Internet. Such vulnerabilities can be exploited to disable our access, snoop on our personal information, or launch malicious attacks on third parties. Other devices that are equally important for our security, or even to our physical health and safety—such as home alarm systems and, terrifyingly, a cardio server used in hospitals—have also been the subject of recent vulnerability disclosures. One tool that security researchers can use to more quickly uncover and eliminate such vulnerabilities is having access to the source code of the software embedded in these devices. Of course, that can usually only be done if the source code is made available to them by the supplier. Many router manufacturers do make at least some of their devices' source code available, and often they do so because they are legally compelled to do this by the terms of the GNU General Public License, which applies to some of the core software upon which such devices are frequently based. But that's not the only way that the manufacturers of critical devices could be compelled to release their code for public or peer review. There's also the option that a law or regulation could be made requiring the disclosure of such code, perhaps as a condition of the licensing of the products under applicable law. In fact, in October, 260 cybersecurity experts called upon the Federal Communications Commission to impose just such a requirement. The TPP's Ban on Code Audit Which brings us to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement—which would prohibit such open source or code audit mandates being introduced in the future. Article 14.17 of the text of the Electronic Commerce chapter provides, “No Party shall require the transfer of, or access to, source code of software owned by a person of another Party, as a condition for the import, distribution, sale or use of such software, or of products containing such software, in its territory.” As indicated above, this isn't just an issue confined to routers and modems. It could also apply to medical devices, smoke alarms, drink mixers, motor vehicles such as cars and tractors, wearables, and not to mention a myriad of pure software applications running on smartphones and PCs. Only devices and software used in bespoke applications (not for a mass market) or in critical infrastructure would be exempt under the terms of the TPP language, though the precise ambit of these exemptions remains unclear. The provision would do more than merely outlaw open source code mandates. It would also prohibit any requirement that code be submitted for private review by regulatory authorities. Although we love free and open source software, it's not for everyone. So an alternative to requiring the vendors of proprietary software to release their code to the general public would be for them to have it audited by the responsible licensing authority, health and safety watchdog, or consumer protection agency. This possibility is also foreclosed by the TPP's strict language. And the bad keeps on coming. Not only does the TPP foreclose rules that could require code to be open sourced or audited, it could also make it impossible for competition authorities to open up the market for the repair of products with embedded software. If the manufacturer of a car can't be required to give others access to the source code of the software that runs on its embedded computer systems, this seriously hinders an entire market for independent repair mechanics who could compete with its authorized repairers to work on that code, as well as markets for entrepreneurs to use their understanding of that code to make new devices that interoperate with vehicles, such as diagnostic tools and smartphone applications. This carries significant competition implications that the TPP negotiators, so far as we know, didn't even consider during their closed door negotiations in luxury hotels around the world. What Was the USTR Thinking? Why would the United States wish to tie its own hands in this way? On the face of it, in an environment where the Internet of Things is burgeoning and software quality is headline news, this restriction to our future regulatory capacity seems to make no sense at all. The answer is found in this year's edition of the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) Special 301 Report, in which the USTR calls out China for measures requiring the disclosure of source code to the Chinese government (though oddly this complaint is only levied in the accompanying press release, and not in the PDF report itself). Although described by the USTR as “new,” these requirements actually date from 2007 and are part of China's framework regulations for information security in critical infrastructure, known as the Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS). The MLPS regulations limit products from being sold for use in Chinese information systems above a certain security level, unless their source code is disclosed to the government. Although this measure is presented as protection against security flaws and deliberate backdoors being inserted into critical software, it is also seen by U.S. companies as an impingement upon their ability to keep their code proprietary. Assuming that this Chinese regulation is, in fact, a legitimate problem for U.S. companies, does the TPP actually address this very narrow problem? Not at all. First and most obviously, China is not a party to the TPP, and isn't likely to become one any time soon. But even if it were, the MLPS regulations only apply to software used in critical infrastructure—which is expressly exempted from the TPP provision anyway. So if anything, the provision makes even less sense than it seems to make at first glance. No matter what you may think of the wisdom of laws or regulations requiring the disclosure of audit of source code in particular cases, we should all be able to agree that this is a complicated issue, and one that, as the Washington Post points out, shouldn't be resolved through a trade agreement negotiated behind closed doors. Since this controversial provision is actually touted by the USTR as a benefit to the tech industry from the deal, it goes to show once again what a mess they have made of this agreement by keeping actual users and innovators locked out of the negotiating room. If you're in the United States, urge your lawmakers to call a hearing on the contents of the TPP that will impact your digital rights, and more importantly, to vote this deal down when it comes to them for ratification:

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Quality studies could push yoga into mainstream medical care Johns Hopkins and Harvard researchers recently reviewed yoga benefits for treating a variety of diseases. The results suggest more studies are needed to push yoga into mainstream medicine as an alternative therapy that could help treat respiratory and mental illnesses and cardiovascular disease. ue/sAn analysis of published clinical trials showed there has been a 3-fold increase in studies related to yoga therapy, published from 1996 to 2013. Findings published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine suggest practicing yoga could have many health benefits, but quality, controlled studies are needed. The study authors write: "In light of the growing interest in the therapeutic benefits and cost-effectiveness of yoga for prevention and alleviation of symptoms related to disease, the need for more evidence has never been more pressing." The researcher team explored all styles of yoga and yoga based techniques, concentrating on management of mental illness and heart related and respiratory ailments. Yoga therapy studies sharply increased between 2009 and 20013, almost tripling from previous years, conducted in all parts of the world, with India accounting for almost fifty-percent of publications. Key findings from the study authors include: - Yoga studies in India were difficult to access and evaluate for adherence to reporting standards, bias and overall validity. - Sixty-five percent of studies included 50 participants or less. The study authors acknowledge limitations in conducting yoga therapy research from lack of funding, time and difficulty finding participants. - Good quality studies that were reviewed. showed consistently positive results for yoga therapy as a treatment for depression and cardiovascular disease. A review of yoga for treating respiratory disorders showed the ancient practice could possibly help people with asthma, combined with usual medical care, but more studies are needed. Little information was available for yoga therapy as treatment for musckuloskeletal disorders, despite widespread attention given to yoga for treating low back pain. Yoga study challenges "Despite the promising increase in yoga publications in the last decade, the research field faces a formidable challenge. Good study design dictates the use of a standardized yoga protocol for the treatment arm in an RCT to determine efficacy/effectiveness and in most cases is applied to a homogenous study population, limiting generalizability to the population at large." What types of diseases yoga could treat remains an open question. The Harvard and Johns Hopkins researchers suggest the need for quality studies that would "effect changes in health care policy." Based on their review,yoga might help treat a variety of health conditions. Jeter Pamela E., Slutsky Jeremiah, Singh Nilkamal, and Khalsa Sat Bir S.. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. -Not available-, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0057.

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Ear Infection Symptoms and Treatment Sometimes it is hard to know what exactly is causing a person to feel ill. There are many signs that can be confusing when trying to determine the source of one’s problems. This is especially true when it comes to an ear infection. More than any other ailment, these infections cause a wide variety of symptoms that can often be very difficult to pinpoint. However, there are a few specific things to watch for that can verify the existence of an ear infection. What to Watch Out For If someone begins exhibiting any of the following ear infection symptoms, they should seek advice from a doctor: - ear pain - drainage from the ear - loss of appetite - trouble sleeping - trouble hearing - balance issues - ringing in the ear – tinnitus In some instances, an individual may exhibit only one or two of these symptoms, while others may experience the entire list, or even none at all. This makes it often difficult for an inexperienced person to diagnose an ear infection. Because many of the listed symptoms can also be caused by other illnesses or infections, it is important to see a trained doctor if it looks like the individual may have some type of infection, as antibiotics will most likely be needed to cure it. Though most of the signs of an ear infection are possible indicators for other things, a few of them are more prominent and easier to spot. For example pain, drainage from the ear and trouble hearing, are common indicators of an ear infection. Ear Drainage and Trouble Hearing Ear drainage is not a very common symptom unless a person is suffering from an ear infection or other ear related issue. There are not many other problems that can cause ear drainage, making it pretty easy to narrow down the list of possible ailments. The type of fluid draining from the ear can also say a lot about what is going on inside of the ear. If the ear is leaking blood, this is a much more serious situation that should be immediately evaluated, but most other kinds of ear drainage are definitely symptoms of some sort of ear infection. The same is true of hearing trouble. If someone is having difficulty hearing, most often this means something is going on within his or her ears. It is not likely that hearing loss would be associated with the flu or an asthma attack, for instance. So, this particular sign should typically be viewed as an ear infection symptom and the person should go to a doctor as soon as possible. If you have questions about ear infection symptoms and treatment, contact your local doctor who will arrange for you to see an ear nose throat specialist.

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(and the need for 20 year old scratch ‘n sniff stickers) As I tour existing schools everyone asks for classroom space but then I ask them if those cabinets full of holiday decorations are a necessity. Do they need 42 chairs in the room if there are only 23 students? Are the filing cabinets full of 20-year-old scratch ‘n sniff stickers still needed? I don’t make many friends on these tours, but my goal is to raise awareness. “Why should you care about Utilization?” Maybe you hear that the band room is too small or you need more academic rooms. Is it possible to use a different space during the one week you need to fit 120 band students? Can the room used one period per day be used for something else the rest of the day? To help clients plan for the future, we like to start by analyzing the utilization of the existing schools. The tool we use is a rather simple spreadsheet that looks at each educational space for its size, several capacity calculations, and how many students are in the space for each period of the day. The result reveals two very important numbers: - The actual number of students per room vs how many the space is sized for - The percentage of room use during the day Without fail we find our clients are surprised to see the results because the data removes emotion from the equation. Principals too often think of rooms as being associated to a specific teacher and not how the rooms are actually being used. Core subject classrooms (math, social studies, science, and language arts) are often filled near capacity and used 80% of the day or more. It’s all of the other rooms that tell the real story. - If the room is over capacity but only occupied two periods per day, maybe that subject should move to a more appropriately sized room. - If the room consistently has 15 fewer students than it’s sized for, could a smaller room be used? - If the room sits empty six periods of the day because the teacher travels between buildings, is there a shared use for that room? - If an exploratory subject (family and consumer education, technical education, agriculture, etc.) has a consistently low student population and room usage, should the subject be offered or is there a way to make the subject matter more attractive to students? Many times we have found there is a true need for more space, and this analysis provides a calculated and visual proof of the need. I often challenge our clients to consider a combination of being more efficient with the space they have and strategically add what is really necessary. So the next time you hear about the lack of space in a school, consider taking a closer look at the building utilization. You may find there are simple and creative solutions that could benefit everyone. And those 20-year-old scratch ‘n sniff stickers can be recycled (I think). Eric Dufek, RA, LEED AP

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de Duve, Christian de Duve, Christian (Christian Renē Maria Joseph de Duve), 1917–2013, Belgian cell biologist, b. England, M.D., Catholic Univ. of Louvain, 1941. He joined the faculty at Louvain in 1947 and at the Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller Univ.) in New York in 1962, splitting his time between the two institutions until he retired (1985 and 1988, respectively). He founded (1974) the International Institute of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Brussels. In 1974 de Duve received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Albert Claude and George Palade for their pioneering work on cellular structure and function, which established modern cell biology. Using differential centrifuging, a technique refined and applied by Claude, de Duve identified a new organelle, the lysosome, which contains enzymes that aid in particle digestion and promote disintegration of cells after they die. Lysosomes are critical to the body's ability to defend against bacteria, and de Duve's discovery has had important implications in medicine, as Tay-Says and a number of other hereditary diseases are caused by deficiencies in lysosomal enzymes. He wrote A Guided Tour of the Living Cell (1984) and other works. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: Cell Biology: Biographies

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6 of the Oldest Trees in the World Roughly 3,500 years ago—right about the time the Ancient Phoenicians were hitting their stride—a tiny cypress tree, no bigger than a fist, sprouted in the swamplands of Central Florida. 3,500 years later, on January 17 this year, that very same cypress burned to the ground. Known as “The Senator,” this majestic, 118-foot tall tree was one of the oldest organisms in the world. Over the course of its long life, it survived hurricanes, disease and logging sprees, serving as a landmark for Seminole Indians, a tourist attraction for curious Victorians, and a spiritual epicenter for pilgrims hoping to bask, literally, in the shade of history. Investigators don’t know exactly what caused the ancient tree to burn down two weeks ago, but arson and lightning are both possibilities. In tribute to The Senator, here is a list of some of the world’s oldest and most amazing remaining trees. Full post: 6 of the Oldest Trees in the World

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Earthquake 3: The Legend of the Thunderbird "Many years ago, T’ist’ilal was a giant, a thunderbird that lived in an ice cave at the base of the Blue Glacier on Mount Olympus. This was the headwaters of the Hoh River. When this bird blinked, lightning flashed from its eyes. His wings were larger than two Hoh or Quillayute war canoes. He shook the mountains with the flapping of his wings. Thunderbird could carry a whale in his talons, and great battles waged between them in the ocean, on Mount Olympus and in the prairies along the Hoh and Quillayute rivers." (1)This is an oral history, an ancient story recounted by generations of Hoh and Quileute people who live on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Sagas describing great battles between Thunderbird and the whale are told from Vancouver Island to the Tillamook in Oregon. Additional stories about earthquakes and tsunamis are found among the Yurok and Wiyot, coastal peoples of northern California. These locations, coincidentally, define the region of the Cascadia Subduction Zone discussed in previous posts here. Yes, the Quileute are the native people in the Twilight series of books and movies. "The noise that Thunderbird made when he flapped his wings shook the mountains. They stripped the timber there. They tore the trees out by their roots." (2) "You know Forks Prairie, Quillayute Prairie, Little Prairie, Beaver Prairie, Tyee Prairie and all the other prairies of our country. Well, these are the places where the great, elder Thunderbird had terrible battles with the whale of the deep." (2) "There was a great storm and hail and flashes of lightning in the darkened, blackened sky and a great and crashing "thunder-noise" everywhere... There were also a great shaking, jumping up and trembling of the earth beneath, and a rolling up of the great waters." (2) "He caused the ocean to rise. When the water began to cover things, the Quileute got into their boats. The waters rose for four days. They rose until the very tops of the mountains were covered with water. The Quileute in their boats sailed wherever the wind currents carried them. They had no way to direct themselves. There was no sun. There was no land. For four days the water receded. But now the people were much scattered. When they reached land, some of the people were at Hoh; so they lived there from that time on. Others landed at Chemakum and stayed there. Only a few succeeded in finding their way back to Quileute." (2) "Each time that the waters rose, the people took to their canoes and floated off as the winds and currents wafted them. Many canoes also came down in trees and were destroyed, and numerous lives were lost. And the survivors were scattered over the whole earth." (2) The stories are now known to describe a massive earthquake and tidal wave that occurred before European settlement. In the 1990's, earthquake researchers recognized their value. The story of "Thunderbird and the Whale" is now considered documentation of a Cascadia megathrust earthquake and the tsunamis that followed. The epic may specifically relate to the January 26, 1700 event when an "orphan tsunami" was concurrently documented in Japan. It is also a beautiful creation-flood story joining those told by people around the world. The history of the Pacific Northwest did not begin with the arrival of Europeans. We know there were people living here some 15,000 years before European settlement. They were people of wealth and technology and accomplished artisans. They were whalers and seafarers on a par with the Vikings and they lived in settled communities. A rich tradition of storytelling has been their gift to us. This gift not only reveals our local history, but may predict our future as well. Sources and Links: 1. The Hoh Forever 2. Quileute, Hoh, Makah and Klallam Material 3. Yurok Material 4. Prehistoric and Historic Tsunamis - Oral Traditions 5. Tall Tales May Be True - Seismically Speaking 6. The Quileute Nation 7. Chalá·at: People of the Hoh River This illustration depicts a late-19th century interior ceremonial screen from Port Alberni, on British Columbia's Vancouver Island. It shows Thunderbird carrying Whale in its talons, a common native depiction of seismic activity. The original screen is in the American Museum of Natural History. The image is taken from Northwest Coast Indian Painting: House Fronts and Interior Screens, by Edward Malin, © Copyright 1999, Timber Press, Portland, OR. The image and attribution source is UW News, but it is also seen elsewhere. A good faith effort to acquire explicit permission to post the image here is ongoing. In this attempt, I have been passed around from party to party. So far, no one is accepting responsibility. If and when anyone with standing objects, I will remove it. I make no claim of ownership whatsoever.

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With the failure of the G30M and G30R to lead to any military orders (American or otherwise), the Winchester company took the advice of the Ordnance Department to scale the design up to an automatic rifle. The BAR had a number of known shortcomings in WWII, and the military was interested in replacing it. The Winchester Automatic Rifle (WAR) offered the same basic set of features with a lighter weight and lower cost. The WAR used a 2-lug rotating bolt like the Garand’s, in combination with a Williams short stroke gas tappet action. Chambered for the standard .30-06 cartridge and using 20-round magazines, the WAR could be used as a semiautomatic rifle or in full automatic with a rate of fire of approximately 600 rpm (slightly more or less depending on whether a muzzle device was used). The WAR passed initial Ordnance inspection with flying colors, and a contract for 10 was placed, for more extensive testing. It passed these tests well, but they took place in the summer of 1945. By the time a major contract was a real possibility, World War II had ended, and the budget for new arms development was slashed. Had the war continued, the WAR likely would have begun to replace the BAR in US military service.

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The History of Shock Absorbers. The earliest form of shock absorber came into existence during the era of the horse-drawn carriage. Back then, simple leaf springs were mounted beneath the seats causing them to bounce as the carriage moved. This crude attempt to ease the constant bumping and shuddering, characteristic of this form of transport, had one very unfortunate "side effect" once the seats started bouncing, they didn't stop until the carriage did! Were it not for modern-day shock absorbers, we too would find ourselves in a very similar situation, bouncing and rocking in our vehicles from one bump to the next. Just imagine the feeling at 100km/h! Fortunately, today's shock absorbers convert the unwanted energy generated by bouncing into harmless heat energy, which is then dissipated into the atmosphere. This action makes safe, controlled motoring possible. While we may have come a long way from the earliest leaf springs, the transition to modern shock absorbers was neither a seamless nor a speedy one. The advent of the first cars did not bring with it immediate breakthroughs in the field of shock absorption. These vehicles sported unsophisticated suspension designs, without shock absorbers, where axle movement was controlled by leaf springs. This resulted in poor handling and road holding. However, as the speed and sophistication of cars increased, suspension design, and the need for a comfortable ride and easy handling, became paramount to engineers. The dawn of racing also hastened the development of more powerful, faster cars, and heralded the introduction of the first primitive shock absorbers. By 1902 Mors had pot-type fluid dampers and in 1906 Renault raced at the French Grand Prix with double-acting hydraulic units. These had lever-actuated cams, which bore upon dual opposed pistons in refillable cylinders. Despite these advancements in the shock absorber arena, most cars (including racing cars) still didn't have shock absorbers as such. They relied instead on primitive methods such as wrapping springs, designed solely to dampen impact. Around 1915, suspension-damping devices were being incorporated into the designs of large passenger cars. The Hartford Swivel type, a common choice, was used into the 1950s, particularly in stiffly sprung sporting cars. In the early 1900s, Gabriel entered the market with its then revolutionary Gabriel Snubber. While this rebound device was initially fitted as an optional extra to reduce spring and axle breakage, it eventually became standard equipment. Many of these early devices were single-acting units, effective only on rebound. The next major step towards better shock absorbers came in the late 1920s when the first double-acting lever arm shock absorbers were introduced on road vehicles/passenger cars. These were designed to dampen motion in both directions, providing previously unattainable characteristics. Despite its innovative design, this type of shock absorber failed to keep pace with the increasing demands of the motor Vehicles of the 1930s, and engineers were forced back to the drawing board to design a more efficient direct-acting shock absorber. The result: the double-acting telescopic shock absorber. The first telescopic shock absorbers were marketed in about 1932 (the same time that the cam-and-lever design reached its zenith). Gabriel's first telescopic shock absorber was designed in the early 30s. In the 1940s, Earle MacPherson designed the first MacPherson strut, a much heavier and more robust version of the telescopic shock absorber, for a General Motors prototype. Since the early 70s, the strut has shown a growing trend worldwide and is still the most popular design today. The late 70s also saw the development of the self-levelling shock absorber, a height-sensitive version of a conventional shock absorber. "Smart suspension" was the design pinnacle of the 1980s. A "smart" Of "active" suspension is a suspension controlled by a computer, which takes factors like height, speed, weight and roll from sensors, and decides the optimum setting for the suspension. In 1987 a Lotus with a "smart" suspension won its first Grand Prix. Gabriel shock absorbers were first sold in South Africa in 1935. In 1962, as a result of local content requirement for motor vehicles, a factory was established in Cape Town. In 1982, Gabriel moved to its present plant. At Gabriel we're proud of the firsts we've achieved in South Africa. Among them: Gabriel USA patented the first shock absorber called the “Snubber”. Development of the first hydraulic shocks Gabriel comes to South Africa Importing all products from USA Development of the first adjustable shocks Gabriel Production in South Africa starts Development of position and velocity sensitive shocks Development of gas-charged twin tube shocks Gabriel SA designs and manufactures the “gas spring” adopted by Gabriel plants worldwide. Development of velocity sensitive technology for shocks and struts Torre Industries Acquires Gabriel from Control Instruments Group Gabriel SA returns development and focus to OE Gabriel SA is acquired by Apex Partners and becomes an independent manufacturer

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WHO Launches Global Effort to Halve Medication-Related Errors in 5 Years 29 MARCH 2017 | GENEVA/BONN – WHO today launched a global initiative to reduce severe, avoidable medication-associated harm in all countries by 50% over the next 5 years. The Global Patient Safety Challenge on Medication Safety aims to address the weaknesses in health systems that lead to medication errors and the severe harm that results. It lays out ways to improve the way medicines are prescribed, distributed and consumed, and increase awareness among patients about the risks associated with the improper use of medication. Medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually in the United States of America alone. While low- and middle-income countries are estimated to have similar rates of medication-related adverse events to high-income countries, the impact is about twice as much in terms of the number of years of healthy life lost. Many countries lack good data, which will be gathered as part of the initiative. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$ 42 billion annually or almost 1% of total global health expenditure. “We all expect to be helped, not harmed, when we take medication,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “Apart from the human cost, medication errors place an enormous and unnecessary strain on health budgets. Preventing errors saves money and saves lives.” Every person around the world will at some point in their life take medicines to prevent or treat illness. However, medicines do sometimes cause serious harm if taken incorrectly, monitored insufficiently or as the result of an error, accident or communication problems. Both health workers and patients can make mistakes that result in severe harm, such as ordering, prescribing, dispensing, preparing, administering or consuming the wrong medication or the wrong dose at the wrong time. But all medication errors are potentially avoidable. Preventing errors and the harm that results requires putting systems and procedures in place to ensure the right patient receives the right medication at the right dose via the right route at the right time. Medication errors can be caused by health worker fatigue, overcrowding, staff shortages, poor training and the wrong information being given to patients, among other reasons. Any one of these, or a combination, can affect the prescribing, dispensing, consumption, and monitoring of medications, which can result in severe harm, disability and even death. Most harm arises from systems failures in the way care is organized and coordinated, especially when multiple health providers are involved in a patient’s care. An organizational culture that routinely implements best practices and that avoids blame when mistakes are made is the best environment for safe care. The Challenge calls on countries to take early priority action to address these key factors: including medicines with a high risk of harm if used improperly; patients who take multiple medications for different diseases and conditions; and patients going through transitions of care, in order to reduce medication errors and harm to patients. The actions planned in the Challenge will be focused on four areas: patients and the public; health care professionals; medicines as products; and systems and practices of medication. The Challenge aims to make improvements in each stage of the medication use process including prescribing, dispensing, administering, monitoring and use. WHO aims to provide guidance and develop strategies, plans and tools to ensure that the medication process has the safety of patients at its core, in all health care facilities. “Over the years, I have spoken to many people who have lost loved ones to medication-related errors,” said Sir Liam Donaldson, WHO Envoy for Patient Safety. “Their stories, their quiet dignity and their acceptance of situations that should never have arisen have moved me deeply. It is to the memories of all those who have died due to incidents of unsafe care that this Challenge should be dedicated.” This challenge is WHO’s third global patient safety challenge, following the Clean Care is Safe Care challenge on hand hygiene in 2005 and the Safe Surgery Saves Lives challenge in 2008.

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Cesium, or caesium, is an alkali metal and one of the five metals that are liquid near room temperature. The others are mercury, francium, gallium, rubidium, and bromine. Caesium is used in the oil industry as a drilling fluid, and it is also used in atomic clocks. Caesium is extremely pyrophoric, and the most electropositive of all the stable elements. It is found in pegmatite ores in the mineral pollucite. Domestic Production and Use: Pollucite, the principal ore mineral of cesium, is not mined in the United States; however, occurrences of cesium-bearing pollucite in pegmatites have been discovered in Maine and were mined in the past. Pollucite occurs in zoned pegmatites worldwide, associated with lepidolite, petalite, and spodumene; the largest deposit is at Bernic Lake in Canada. Canada is the leading producer and supplier of pollucite concentrate, which is imported for processing by one company in the United States. The principal end use of cesium is in formate brines, a high-density, low-viscosity fluid used for high-pressure/high-temperature (HPHT) oil and gas drilling and exploration. Cesium formate possesses anti-oxidant and water-structuring properties that protect drilling polymers from thermal degradation and has the required density needed to maintain well control. Other significant end uses are in biomedical, chemical, and electronic applications. Cesium is used as an atomic resonance frequency standard in atomic clocks, playing a vital role in global positioning satellite, Internet, and cell phone transmissions and aircraft guidance systems. Cesium clocks monitor the cycles of microwave radiation emitted by cesium’s electrons and use these cycles as a time reference. Owing to the high accuracy of the cesium atomic clock, the international definition of a second is based on the cesium atom. The U.S. primary time and frequency standard is based on a cesium fountain clock at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, CO. Cesium-131 and cesium-137 are used primarily to treat cancer. Both have been used in brachytherapy, where the radioactive source is placed within the cancerous area. With a shorter half-life and higher energy, cesium-131 is used as an alternative to iodine-125 and palladium-103 in the treatment of prostate cancer. Cesium-137 is also widely used in industrial gauges, in mining and geophysical instruments, and for sterilization of food, sewage, and surgical equipment. Cesium can be used in ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy to remove gases and other impurities. Salient Statistics—United States: Consumption, import, and export data for cesium have not been available since the late 1980s. Because cesium is not traded, no market price is available. Consumption of cesium in the United States is estimated to be only a few thousand kilograms per year. In 2010, one company offered 1-gram ampoules of 99.8% (metals basis) cesium for $52.00 each and 99.98% (metals basis) cesium for $64.00, an increase of 2.6% and 1.9% from that of 2009, respectively. The price for 50 grams of 99.8% (metals basis) cesium was $642.00, and 100 grams of 99.98% (metals basis) cesium was priced at $1,760.00, an increase of 2.1% and 2.0% from that of 2009, respectively. Recycling: Cesium formate brines are normally used by oil and gas exploration clients on a rental basis. After completion of the well, the used cesium formate is returned and reprocessed for subsequent drilling operations. Approximately 85% of the cesium formate can be retrieved and recycled for further use. There are no data available on the amounts used or recovered. Import Sources (2006–09): Canada is the chief source of pollucite concentrate imported by the United States, and the United States is 100% import reliant. Events, Trends, and Issues: Domestic cesium occurrences will remain uneconomic unless market conditions change, such as the discovery of new end uses or increased consumption for existing end uses. Commercially useful quantities of inexpensive cesium are available as a byproduct of the production of lithium. Increases in lithium exploration are expected to yield discoveries of additional cesium resources, which may lead to expanded commercial applications. There are no known human health issues associated with cesium, and its use has minimal environmental impact. Cesium’s cost and reactivity limit its viability in many applications; however, its use in cesium formate brines and nuclear medicine is showing steady growth. Cesium formate drilling operations are being undertaken in the Thar Desert in Pakistan, in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, and in Argentina. In addition to its use in drilling fluid, cesium formate brine is used as a fast-acting liquid pill for releasing drill pipes differentially stuck in oil-based mud (OBM) filter cakes. The pill of formate brine rapidly destroys the OBM filter cake and allows the pipe to be jarred free. The International Atomic Energy Agency has indicated that cesium-137 is one of several radioactive materials that may be used in radiological dispersion devices or “dirty bombs.” Cesium-137 is now regulated in the United States by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The NRC monitors devices containing cesium-137, requiring material holders to obtain specific licenses for these devices. The EPA places a maximum allowance of cesium-137 that can be released into the air by nuclear facilities and requires the cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater. The NRC agreed to encourage research into finding and implementing alternatives, but deemed that a near-term replacement was not practical and would be detrimental to current emergency medical capabilities. World Mine Production and Reserves: Pollucite, mainly formed in association with lithium-rich, lepidolite-bearing or petalite-bearing zoned granite pegmatites, is the principal cesium ore mineral. Cesium reserves are therefore estimated based on the occurrence of pollucite, which is mined as a byproduct of the lithium mineral lepidolite. Most pollucite contains 5% to 32% Cs2O. Data on cesium resources and mine production are either limited or not available. The main pollucite zone at Bernic Lake in Canada contains approximately 400,000 metric tons of pollucite with an average Cs2O content of 24%, and a secondary zone of approximately 100,000 metric tons of pollucite contains an average of 5% Cs2O. The next largest occurrence that may become economic is in Zimbabwe. World Resources: World resources of cesium have not been estimated. Cesium is associated with lithium-bearing pegmatites worldwide, and cesium resources have been identified in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Smaller concentrations are also known in brines in Chile and China and in geothermal systems in Germany, India, and Tibet. Substitutes: Cesium and rubidium can be used interchangeably in many applications because they have similar physical properties and atomic radii. Cesium, however, is more electropositive than rubidium, making it a preferred material in many applications. Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) – http://www.cabot-corp.com/Cesium-Fine-Chemicals – Their Tanco Mine in Bernic Lake, Manitoba, Canada has the world’s largest deposit of pollucite and is the largest producer of caesium. The company produces cesium carbonate, cesium fluoride, cesium hydroxide, cesium sulfate, cesium chloride, cesium formate, and cesium nitrate. Consolidated Abaddon Resouces (CVE: ABN) American Elements – http://www.americanelements.com/cs.html – Cesium acetate, cesium azide, cesium bromide, cesium carbide, cesium carbonate, cesium chloride, cesium dichromate, cesium fluoride, cesium fluoroaluminate, cesium hydrogencarbonate, cesium hydroxide monohydrate, cesium iodide, cesium metavanadate, cesium methanesulfonate, cesium nitrate, cesium orthovanadate, cesium oxalate, cesium oixde, cesium perchlorate, cesium permanganate, cesium phosphide, ceisum propionate, cesium selenide, and cesium sulfate, cesium telluride, cesium tetrachloroaluminate, cesium tetraphenylborate, cesium titanate, cesium tribromide, and cesium triiodide. IsoRay (AMEX: ISR) – Cesium-131 brachytherapy treatment

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With its invention in China in the 2nd century, paper has served as the support for an extraordinarily diverse body of work. When paper production was firmly established in Europe in the 15th century, the material was used widely for manuscripts and prints. During this time artists like Leonardo da Vinci developed drawings on paper to explore ideas in preparation for creating paintings and sculptures. At the outset of the 20th century, paper would become not only the support, but also the medium itself, as Picasso and Braque explored collage, layering numerous fragments of paper onto paper to create dense compositions. Contemporary works on paper show an inventive amalgamation of materials and techniques, featuring drawing over prints and interspersed collage elements with painting. Why works on paper? Encompassing a diverse range of media — from drawing and painting to collage and beyond — works on paper can offer a glimpse into an artist’s creative process. For many, the freedom and immediacy afforded by working on paper became instrumental to their practices, spawning new techniques and aesthetics, subjects and methods. Far from being confined to studies and experiments, works on paper represent important modes of art-making in their own right.

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Trawling the net you find a lot of car enthusiasts talking about horsepower and torque, what they are, and which one’s better. But, as a lot of you have surely realised, there’s a lot of fake science being spouted by people who think they know what they’re talking about. So on this page we’re going to answer this question once and for all. What is the difference between horsepower and torque, and which one is better? To answer this, we first need to define them. Very simply, torque is a twisting force. If you use a wrench to tighten a bolt, you’re applying a certain amount of torque, in the same way an engine turns a crankshaft. It’s usually measured in lb-ft, so let’s say you’re exerting 20lbs of pressure on a wrench that is 1ft long, you’re exerting 20lb ft of torque. That’s why if you use a longer wrench, it’s easier to tighten a loosen a bolt – you have more torque. How does this change a car, though? The more torque you have, the more push you have. Torque is the feeling that pushes you back into your seat and enables a car to accelerate. Ever heard someone say they have enough torque to not have to shift down a gear to overtake? A less ‘torquey’ car will need to be at higher revs to overtake like an MX5, a car with more torque, like a Chevy with a big American V8, doesn’t. So is more torque better? Yes, the more torque you have, the faster your car will accelerate. But of course there is the possibility that the car then becomes too powerful and will overcome its traction. Think Citroen 2CV with a bellowing V8 – can you see that ever going in a straight line? Torque can also affect front wheel-drive cars, too via torque steer. Under acceleration in a high powered FWD car, the sheer torque of the engine can pull on the steering wheel. This is due to uneven driveshafts and sometimes, uneven road surfaces (we’re looking at you, England). If torque is the push, then horsepower is the rate of the push or the speed at which it takes to apply torque. Because of that, we can define horsepower as the torque multiplied by the engine speed. Horsepower = Torque X Engine Speed Let me put this another way: You’ve turned a corner and want to accelerate onto a straight piece of road. If you have a lot of torque, the engine speed doesn’t have to be high to produce a large amount of horsepower. If you’ve only got a small cylinder, the engine has to be turning faster to reach the same amount of power. This theory is also reflected in the power curves that a dyno run can give you. I’ll whack one below, and note that torque and horsepower figures will always overlap at 5252rpm. I’ll get into why that happens now. The term ‘horsepower’ was invented by James Watt who was using ponies to lift coal. The average pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds of work per minute. He increased it by 50% for a horse and coined the standard 1 horsepower measurement as 33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute. So, the reason torque and horsepower are always equal at 5252rpm is down to this… So which is better – HP or Torque? From what we’ve learnt so far, we know that there can’t be one without the other, and that both horsepower and torque do very different things to push the car on its way. Horsepower takes the car to its top speed and is the measure of work the engine can do. Torque is the pulling power, or basically how easily the car can lug its weight around. So, wee’ll end this article by saying that it’s completely down to you, the driver. If you tow a caravan or go off-roading, then obviously a more torque-y car will o you well. If you want a car to take on the track, then you’ll want a mixture of horsepower and torque, and if you want to zip around the back roads on the rev-limiter, then horsepower might be the way for you.

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US Naval Era Governors: Contributions and Controversies Following the conclusion of the four-month long Spanish-American war in 1898, Guam was placed under the control of the United States Department of the Navy by Presidential Executive Order 108-A on 23 December 1898—just prior the ratification of the Treaty of Paris that officially ceded the island from Spain to the US. By 12 January 1899, the first naval governor of Guam was appointed by the Navy. For fifty-two years, from 1899 to 1950, the US Navy governed Guam. Three types of governors ruled during this period—interregnum local governors (June 1898-August 1899); US Naval Era mid-level ranking navy officers serving as commandant of the US Naval Station Guam (1899-1941); and Post-World War II Era higher ranking navy officers serving as the Island Commander and as commander of the US military forces in the Marianas and in the former Japanese mandated islands in Micronesia (1944-1950). The early tours of duty prior to World War II ranged from just a few months to two years or so. These short tours of duty were intentionally kept brief because of what were considered unhealthy conditions on the island at the time—a humid climate and, compared to much of the US mainland, less developed living conditions. Twenty-one US naval lieutenants, captains, lieutenant commanders, and commanders—and one vice-admiral—served as governor with some thirteen other naval officers serving as acting governors from time to time (one Postwar Era US Marine Corps Major General was, in effect, the governor of Guam as well). During the Naval Era, the naval governors were assigned to Guam for short tours of duty averaging just seventten months apiece, while the lone naval officer assigned as governor of Guam during the Postwar Era served that post for just under three and a half years. The change of command ceremony was a regular event. For the governors, this did not allow time to become knowledgeable with the island, the island’s people, or issues in Guam’s governance, although a few had prior experience with Guam. For example, Governor Willis W. Bradley commanded the station ship at Guam, the USS Gold Star, from 1924 to 1926 prior to his serving as Naval Station Commandant/Governor of Guam from 1929 to 1931. A few also maintained connections with Guam affairs after leaving their post. Bradley again serves as an example, continuing to work on behalf of the island and its people. As a California congressman after World War II, Bradley advocated for citizenship and later, civil government for Guam. However, with such short tours of duty, the officers were largely a “blur of…men in starched white uniforms,” according to one historian. Some naval governors were more capable than others and held a range of personal philosophies towards their duties and what constituted proper civil order, with some being more strict, liberal, invasive, or racist than others. These personal philosophies and capabilities are important to consider because, unlike civil government on the island today in which the people of Guam vote for political leaders and their governmental and personal philosophies, the people of Guam had no say in the selection of naval governors who were appointed to duty out of Washington, DC during the naval administration. The naval governors ruled Guam during several important periods of US history with the territory and its people often viewed as a strategic cog in the American machine. Guam became a territory during an era of US imperial expansion and emergence as a world power. The island remained under US control through World War I, as the Northern Marianas became territories of Japan, and through the Great Depression. Guam was temporarily removed from US control during the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1944, but returned to American occupation as the US established itself as a global superpower at the start of the Cold War Era. The Cold War caused the US military and government officials to maintain a strong presence near Asia through military bases on Guam. Strategic considerations were often used as reasons to support the virtually absolute authority vested in Guam’s naval governors and to withhold the granting of civil liberties and rights to the people of Guam. Some historians have said that the naval governors also reflected the views of race and the importance of being a white American of their time. Indeed, the US had gained Guam just three decades after the US Civil War (1861-1865), largely fought over slavery, and governed the island while Jim Crow laws were in effect (1876-1965) which required racial segregation (separation) between whites and “colored” peoples. In the US, the Navy limited enlistment of “colored” men to positions of mess attendants. For Chamorro men on Guam specifically, this did not occur until the last years of the first Naval Era in the late 1930s. Further, Europeans and Americans have a lengthy history in believing that other peoples were inherently and naturally inferior. Directly or indirectly, naval governors often considered themselves and the US as “parents” and Chamorros and other locals as “children.” Additionally, Chamorros were considered “Hispanicized Catholic natives” who no longer had a culture and language uniquely their own. Though the people of Guam were referred to as citizens of Guam at times, there was no definition nor rights or privileges attached to this casual label. Lack of US federal policy paved the way for a military dictatorship The lack of a formal US insular policy—including a lack of structure for the people within insular territories to have any real participation in their government—created a vacuum that allowed Guam’s naval governors to rule arbitrarily for fifty-two years. These naval governors had virtually absolute rule (answering only to the Secretary of the Navy) and governed based on their personal philosophies and individual sets of skills and abilities rather than the consent of the governed and without full application of the US Constitution. Naval governors had no training in civil government nor much, if any, prior experience in this field before being assigned as governor to Guam. During five decades of naval government, Guam was an “unorganized” possession (lacking an official permanent government), while Chamorros and other locals were considered wards of the US. As wards they were not provided a bill of rights, a citizenship status of any sort, or any other such protections despite the fact that Chamorros petitioned for these rights and protections after the arrival of the first naval governor and for decades thereafter. Further, Chamorros and other locals of Guam born after the island became US soil, continued to not be considered US citizens despite the fact that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution specifies that anyone born on US soil is entitled to US citizenship. These conditions added up to Guam being a military dictatorship. Rather than having three equal branches of government with checks and balances in place, the naval governor was head of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. All government administrative departments were created by and answerable to the naval governor. Guam’s government was reflective of classic military structure in which orders are imposed from above rather than by discussion between superordinate and subordinate. In addition, military security and other concerns, along with the American mission to develop local moral character, meant that naval governors issued orders, policies, proclamations, regulations, and other directives to regulate not only political life but social life and personal behavior. These directives had the force and effect of law. The naval governor even had the power of life and death, carrying out some rare executions on Guam by hanging. Guam’s situation contrasted sharply with the history of other insular territories such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The people of Guam were well aware that within a handful of years of being annexed by the US, non-military civil governments were established in those territories, the islands were formally organized, and US citizenship was conferred, while other areas such as Cuba, the Philippine islands, and neighboring Micronesian islands gained eventual independence. The naval governors of Guam made many contributions to the island though each is not without some controversy. Each contribution is complex with multiple objectives. Though Guam’s naval governors viewed themselves as providing enlightened rule and the pathway to a better life, in actuality, Chamorros and other locals lost many of the political rights previously allowed under Spanish administration (1668-1898). Indeed, one naval governor, Seaton Schroeder (1901-1903) noted that that the US’s presence appeared to be hurting the people of Guam economically as during the naval administration, “only those ships necessary to the mission of the Navy stopped at Guam,” as opposed to the number of supply ships that used to visit Guam during the Spanish administration. Some historians have argued that the rhetoric of American-style colonialism masks that it is the colonizer that needs the territory, instead making it appear “as if the colonized are the ones who need and who will truly benefit from the colonization of their lands.” Naval governors set out to “civilize” and Americanize the people of Guam. They assumed that civilization was achieved through building roads and bridges, bolstering public health and public education, promoting the English language and economic development (being self-sufficient by US standards), separating church and state, and teaching attitudes such as “fair play” that they felt were lacking—transforming the local standard of living as well as the peoples’ bodies and minds. While governors did make inroads in these areas, they placed priority on the needs of the Navy and navy personnel with what was often an inadequate budget provided them. Further, many of these goals were implemented without cultural sensitivity, challenging and devaluing cultural and traditional systems in place. For instance, while island health was improved in many ways and new health care facilities were built offering free services, these measures were instituted without input or consent of the people or respect for traditional health care systems and medicines. Naval governors ensured that hundreds of miles of road were paved—connecting military points, central and southern Guam, and farm lands to ports and markets. They encouraged economic development through such measures as back-to-the-farm campaigns; promoted education in agricultural industries, thus increasing the expense of town life; and at times, made agriculture compulsory for those not otherwise fully occupied, under penalty of vagrancy. However, these efforts were also self-serving and were aimed more at meeting the dietary needs of US navy personnel on-island and on navy supply ships. Naval governors also promoted the English language as necessary for progress. English was made the official language and used in education, government, business and other public spaces, while Chamorro was banned outside of private spaces such as the home or church. This resulted in a complex socio-cultural phenomenon in which Chamorros learned to feel ashamed of their cultural practices and language as being backward, while simultaneously resisting English and facilitating the continuity of their native language. In this way, Chamorro language and culture were maintained in various spaces and contexts, and for multiple purposes. Additionally, orders and actions by governors regarding religion—for example, removing Spanish priests, removing religion out of schools, and banning processions and the ringing of church bells—were met with protests. Perhaps most controversial of all were the different measures that alienated people from their land. This included increased taxes meant to subsidize the naval government as well as incentivize people to be more productive (but led to many foreclosures); restrictions of the sale or lease of land; the Postwar Era reconfigurement of Hagåtña, which ignored traditional allotments of land; and the WWII and Postwar Era military land-takings. During these land-takings, no one’s lands were beyond federal reach. Eventually, sixty-three percent of the island was in military hands, though by 2013 Department of Defense only controlled twenty-eight percent of lands on Guam. Some of these land issues continue to be battled out in court today. Funding for public schools was inadequate and schools were continually overcrowded. Fearing an unemployed scholarly group, education beyond sixth grade, when eventually offered by the naval government, was severely limited. Further, the promotion of education by the naval governors led students to draw contrasts between the democratic government as pictured in the textbooks and the institutions under which they themselves were governed. Certain governors are often used to illustrate the two extremes of the types of naval governors of Guam. Governor William W. Gilmer represents one extreme. During his two terms in office (November 1918 to November 1919, and December 1919 to July 1920) Gilmer issued more than fifty general orders—from prohibiting whistling, banning dancing after 10 pm, requiring males to turn in five dead rat heads to their district commissioner each month, to banning interracial marriages. At the other extreme was Governor Bradley. He recommended the granting of US citizenship to Chamorros and conferment of a bill of rights to protect the islanders from arbitrary decrees of naval governors; proclaimed a Guam Bill of Rights when Washington did not; and allowed for Guam Congress members to be elected for the first time in its history. However, measures he instituted had no protection and, as he feared, succeeding governors resumed old practices. Throughout the US Naval Era, some governors, such as Governor Seaton Schroeder forwarded requests by Guam local leaders for US citizenship and self-government while such petitions, resolutions, and requests given to other governors were thwarted, lost, or rejected outright. While some governors provided more opportunity for Chamorros and other locals to participate in the administration of the island, the opportunities were never substantial (even under Governor Bradley, for example, the Guam Congress remained advisory) and continued to be dependent upon the naval governor in charge deciding what degrees of opportunity would apply or not. US citizenship was never attained during the naval administration. In 1946, after four decades of naval administration American anthropologist Laura M. Thompson noted that if, the Navy Department’s assessment was that the Chamorros and other locals of Guam were not ready for citizenship or self-government, this is a reflection on the American regime and not on the Guamanians, as they had shown themselves to be capable during the interregnum period of the US Naval Era. Long lasting impacts The naval governors of the island have indeed impacted every phase of Chamorro life. Guam was the first full-scale American experiment in the governing of Micronesia and as noted by a US military officer, “[i]nternationally, it represents what the United States in reality stands for in the governing of dependent peoples.” Some of the tangible impacts include surviving infrastructure; buildings and places (re)named after naval governors; rebuilding Hagåtña based on a California model; and sizable military bases that still dominate much of the island. Intangible impacts include an Americanized social, cultural, and political identity; the primacy of English language usage; the American (vs. Spanish) system of family names; and the adoption of certain patrilineal customs. Just Another April Day, 1939 [Under US naval governorship] On most afternoons, young Jose Torres could be found in the village of Merizo helping his father and uncles plant ma’es or suni or dago at their lancho (that is, corn, taro, or yams at their ranch). On an ordinary day, he’d go straight to the lancho after school and help his older male and female relatives until early evening. However, this was a special day. After his noontime release from the Merlyn G Cook School, Jose’s teacher asked him to stay behind and help with a class project. With the annual Health Parade not far away, placards were needed for students to carry on their march through the village. So today Jose got a break from his routine at the ranch. On his walk home from school, Jose relaxed and played games with his cousins in the village. These were times to unwind, tell jokes, and enjoy the cool breeze of the late afternoon. Off in the distance, Jose could see and hear some of his female cousins and classmates helping Pale’ (from the Spanish Padre, Father) get the church grounds ready for the upcoming San Dimas fiesta. Jose enjoyed moments such as these leisurely breaks from the labor of the ranch or the work around the house. He knew that while his dad was working at the lancho, his mother had stayed home because of a fever. Today his mother and grandmother were busy at home, working with a few aunties, cousins, and his nina (godmother). Whether they were sewing their clothing, hand-washing the laundry, preparing the family dinner, planning for the fiesta, or tending the younger children, a flurry of activities always seemed to be going on. Though he was just a boy, as the eldest in his family, Jose had already learned to appreciate the hard work done by all of his relatives in providing for the family. He and his cousins were not far from home when one of the boys noticed someone walking far behind them. Squinting their eyes to make out the adult figure, the boys guessed that it was one of the Americans. It was definitely a man, as they could tell by the stranger’s pants. And it was definitely an American, as they could tell from the towering height. Realizing then who was walking in their direction, the boys looked at each other in silence for just a moment. Then one of them shouted, “Lachadek! Sigi ya in sangani I Sainan-miyu!” (Hurry! Go and tell your elders!) The boys split up, each sprinting in the direction of his home. One of the mothers happened to be in the outside kitchen, supervising some of the girls as they pounded the ma’es on the metati (millstone) for the evening’s tatiyas (tortillas). Hearing the news, she quickly grabbed a machete and began chopping some of the weeds that had shot up behind the house since her husband had fallen ill. The insular patrolman surely would not impose a fine on her for weeds now grown beyond the length regulated by the navy governor. Jose’s house was farther up the road, and he was panting by the time he made it home, “Nana, Nana,” he called out, “Mamamaila I sindalu” (Mother, Mother, the soldier is coming). “Ai, Jose, sinapatos! Lachadek!” (Jose put on your shoes! Hurry!), responded his mother, knowing full well that her eight-year-old could be ticketed for going barefoot. “Yan ayuda yu chumuli halom I finagasi” (And help me bring in the laundry), she further instructed. The governor had recently outlawed the laying of clothes on bushes or lawns, but since Jose’s parents could not yet afford to buy a clothesline and clothespins, they still hung their clothes on the hibiscus shrubs to dry. Jose and his mother quickly raced across the yard, pulling all of their nearly dry laundry off the shrubs and into the house. If they could move quickly, they might avoid the marine and his ticket book. Jose’s mom nervously grabbed her broom and began sweeping away the few leaves that had blown onto their front porch. “Buenas tatdes” (from the Spanish buenas tardes, good afternoon), she said calmly as the insular patrolman passed by, trying to hide the slight pant in her breath. With a bead of perspiration trickling down her brow as if to betray her anxiety, she asked, “Malagu hao gumimen, Siñot?” (Would you like a drink, Sir?) Politely tipping his hat as he walked by, the marine nonchalantly hid his unfamiliarity with the Chamorro language. Continuing on his rounds, he stared at the still-unopened ticked book in his hands. Surely he’d soon catch someone unprepared—perhaps barefoot or improperly clad, but certainly guilty of at least one of the navy’s many sanitary offenses. [Author’s Note: “This anecdote typifies a not uncommon occurrence on Guam in the period of naval rule from 1899-1941—the surveillance of village homes and gardens by members of the US Marine Corps. Assigned the title of Insular Patrolman, selected marines were sent to live in villages throughout the island in order to maintain “peace and order,” an assignment that included the enforcement of sanitary regulations(Corbett 1925, 74-75, as cited in Hattori 2004, pp. 2-3)] For further reading Bevacqua, Michael L. “American-Style Colonialism.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Campbell, Bruce L. “General Order No. 12.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Cox, Leonard M. 1904. The island of Guam. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, XXXVI(7), 385-395. Diaz, Vicente M. 1999. “…Paved with good intentions…Roads, citizenship and a century of American colonialism in Guam,” working draft. Originally prepared for the “Legacies of 1898” Seminar, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa, June 1998. Forbes, Mark. 1996. “Military.” In Catherine Sablan Gault (Ed.), Kinalamten Pulitikåt: Siñenten i Chamorro, Issues in Guam’s Political Development: The Chamorro perspective. Hagåtña, Guam: Political Status Education Coordinating Commission, pp. 39-44. Goetzfridt, Nicholas J. “Early American Period has Profound Implications.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Hattori, Anne Perez. 2004. Colonial dis-ease: US Navy health policies and the Chamorros of Guam, 1898-1941. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Hattori, Anne Perez. 1996. “Righting civil wrongs: The Guam Congress Walkout of 1949.” In Catherine Sablan Gault (Ed.), Kinalamten Pulitikåt: Siñenten i Chamorro, Issues in Guam’s Political Development: The Chamorro perspective. Hagåtña, Guam: Political Status Education Coordinating Commission. Leon Guerrero, Anthony. “Early American Economic History” (Entry adapted and reprinted with permission from Issues in Guam’s Political Development: The Chamorro perspective from the 1996 Political Status Education Coordinating Commission). Accessed 5 September 2013. Mayo, Larry W. 1988. “US administration and prospects for economic self-sufficiency: A comparison of Guam and select areas of Micronesia.” Pacific Studies, 11(3), 53-75. Micronesian Archaeology Research Services. “Resettlement Patterns Under American Rule.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Murphy, Shannon J. “Governor Willis W. Bradley.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Petersen, Glenn. 2011. “Differences, connections, and the colonial carousel in Micronesian history.” Pacific Asia Inquiry, 2(1), 9-20. Political Status Education Coordinating Commission (PSECC). 1994. Governing Guam before and after the wars, I ma gubetna-ña Guam (1st ed.). Hagåtña, Guam: Political Status Education Coordinating Commission. Sanchez, Pedro C. 1989. Guahan, Guam: The history of our island. Hong Kong: HM Capital Printers, Ltd. Saussotte, Marguerite. “US Naval Era: Development of the Code of Guam.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Saussotte, Marguerite. “US Naval Era: Island Court System.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Shuster, Donald M. “Guam and Its Three Empires.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Taitano, Carlos P. 1996. “Political development,” in Kinalamten Pulitikåt: Siñenten i Chamorro, Issues in Guam’s Political Development: The Chamorro Perspective (pp. 45-56). Hagåtña, Guam: Political Status Education Coordinating Commission, pp. 45-56. Thompson, Laura. 1944. “Guam: Study in military government.” Far Eastern Survey, 13(16), 149-154. Thompson, Laura. 1946a. “Crisis on Guam.” The Far Eastern Quarterly, 6(1), 5-11. Thompson, Laura. 1946b. “Guam: Study in Military Government.” (Document #52 – From a publication of Far Eastern Survey, 1944) Hoover Institute, School of Naval Administration. California: Stanford University. Thompson, Laura. 1947. “Guam’s bombed-out capital.” Far Eastern Survey, 16(6), 66-69. Underwood, Robert A. “Education During the US Naval Era.” Accessed 5 September 2013. Useem, John. 1946. “Americans as governors of natives in the Pacific.” Journal of Social Issues, 2(3), 39-49. Useem, John. 1947. “Book review: Guam and its People by Laura Thompson. Revised third edition.” Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947. Far Eastern Survey, 16(20), 237. Viernes, James Perez. 2009. “Won’t you please come back to Guam? Media discourse, military buildup, and Chamorros in the space between.” In Marata A Tamaira (Ed.), The space between: Negotiating culture, place, and identity in the Pacific. Honolulu: Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Hawaiʹi at Mānoa, pp. 103-118.

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Following the lead of the Egyptians who used glass fibre reinforcement in the fabric of clay jars to stop them breaking during transit, GRP or “Glass Reinforced Polyester” was developed for a wide range of applications by the British military during WW2. The initial aim was to use GRP for a number of applications such as minesweeping, because of its lack of magnetic footprint. The benefits of GRP were subsequently picked up for use outside of the military in the boat building, motor manufacturing and construction industries. As the name suggests, the material is produced by combining thermosetting polyester resin and glass fibres under strictly controlled factory conditions. Glass fibres are applied into the resin with each layer of fibres facing in different directions, enabling the stiffness and strength of the finished material to be controlled. GRP is a strong, lightweight material which is naturally watertight, aesthetically pleasing and has great longevity. Its bulk strength and weight being better than many metals mean that it can be readily moulded into complex shapes and can be used for a wide variety of roof coverings. As GRP benefits from being fire retardant, easy to handle and UV resistant, it is ideal for roofing installations. The flexible material is incredibly versatile and easy to repair, and providing it is offered by a responsible manufacturer, is fully recyclable at the end of its service life.

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The Criollo Horse is a breed of hardy and enduring horses that is native to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. Known for its astounding stamina and disease-resistant power, the very popular Criollo is widely adored for its style and refinement. These are small-sized horses but feature a muscularly strong structure and well-developed joints. They can easily endure racing long distances, and is often considered to be the best of its type. They are also good for trail riding, pleasure mounts, rodeo competitions, and polo. |Also known as||Argentine Criollo, Crioulo (Brazil), Costeño/Morochuco (Peru), Corralero (Chile), Llanero (Venezuela)| |Temperament||Independent, tenacious, strong, aloof| |Physical Characteristics||Medium-sized straight to convex head; medium stature, muscular neck; short back; well-sprung ribs; brawny quarters; little cannon bones; dense mane and tail hair| |Colors||Line-backed dun, buckskin, palomino, blue or strawberry roan, black, chestnut, grullo, bay, brown, gray and overo colors| |Common Use||Endurance riding; general riding; as saddle horse; work with livestock| |Life Expectancy||40 years| |Height (size)||14.3 hands (average)| |Health||Generally healthy, no known breed-specific diseases| |Gaited||Some are gaited while others not| |Popular Traits||Endurance capabilities, living in harsh conditions, disease-resistance| |Feeding/Diet||Frugal eaters; can thrive on little grass| |Country of Origin||Argentina, Uruguay| |Year/Time of Development||16th Century| In 1535, purebred Andalusian stallions were imported to South America by Pedro de Mendoza from Spain. During 1540s, the Spaniards were driven out of Argentina by the locals, releasing a few horses in the wild. The feral population of these horses thrived and spread all across the plains of the ‘Pampa’. Over the decades, these horses bred in the wild, thus adapting themselves to the harsh climatic conditions of the region, ready to withstand the rough winters and the dry summers. These horses were captured by Native Indians, the Gauchos and early European settlers to be used as pack animals. All through the 19th century, these horses were crossed with the imported European Thoroughbred and North American horses, resulting in a larger, hardier, multi-purpose breed at the cost of degeneration of the native breed. A breeders association was formed in 1923 after the breeders from Argentina planned to create a registry for the purebred criollos. In 1934, Dr. Solanet led the breeders association, developing a stud book (after much infighting) for this new breed. The new standard defined an individual’s characteristics with a much tall and leggy structure, a square body, and a more angular hock.

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History of the Face Vise The face vise (bench vise) began to replace the leg vise because of the need to adjust the peg in the beam and the narrow width of the jaw. A typical wooden face vise utilized a wooden screw placed in the center of the jaw and had wooden runners placed on either side of the screw. The runners would help limit racking and prevent sagging when the vise was extended. A variation of the single screw face vise was the twin screw vise which was characterized by having two widely spaced wooden screws placed in the jaw. This created space between the screws to allow clamping wide boards on end. Early twin screw face vises were probably mounted on top of the bench top as an appliance to temporarily allow clamping wide boards as shown in Joseph Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises (London 1703). When the twin screw face vise made its way to America it became an integral part of the workbench and was placed at the left front face of the bench. The twin screws were threaded directly into the bench top. A good example of this can be found at the Dominy workshop in East Hampton. The biggest issue with the single screw face vise (bench vise) is that the center portion of the vise is occupied by the screw and runners preventing drop through clamping. The twin screw vise solved this problem but required the arduous operation of two un-connected screws to clamp something. Later versions of twin screw vises incorporated a chain and sprocket to allow clamping by rotating only one handle. This eliminated the necessity of having a third arm but synchronizing the two handles is difficult. Advantages of Face Vise The biggest advantage to the face vise (bench vise) is the ability to clamp long work on end. The greater width of the face vise jaw makes it ideal for clamping longer work horizontally to allow the long edges to be worked. The twin handle face vise is ideally suited to dovetailing wider boards because it allows drop through clamping. It is also ideal for clamping boards horizontally although it’s rather shallow throat (throat is the dimension from the bench top to the vise screw) may position wider boards up to high to work effectively. Disadvantages of Face Vise The most common complaint about face vises (bench vise) is racking when clamping work that is not centered in the vise. Shims may be used to create even clamping pressure but this is an inconvenient solution at best. Another complaint about face vises is the metal screw requires grease for ease of operation which can soil the work piece and they require considerable cranking for gross adjustments. Face Vise | Bench Vise (Twin Screw Vise Alternative) - Quick action patented release handle - No oil or grease needed - Rack free clamping - Clear drop through, clamping up to 24″ - Metal or wooden handle options The VX20F Face Vise The Hovarter Custom face vise mechanism is the only quick action twin shaft mechanism on the market. It utilizes hardened steel smooth clamp shafts instead of threaded rods like other twin screw vise hardware. The smooth clamp shafts do not require oil or grease for lubrication and won’t soil your beautiful work. When unclamped the vise jaw may quickly and effortlessly be slid in and out to suit the width of the work that needs to be clamped. Once the vise jaw is placed against the work one handle is rotated to clamp the work. You can apply as much or as little force just like a traditional screw. Clamping pressure is applied evenly no matter where the work is placed – no racking. Installation of the VX20F could not be simpler. Just mount the vise mechanism under the bench top, install bearings in the rear jaw and install the vise jaw and handles. The VX20F can be outfitted with a single metal hand wheel, two hand wheels or a more traditional wooden hub and tommy bar style handle either singly or in tandem. You may also construct a handle of your own design to really give your vise and work bench the total custom treatment. The VX20F face vise is not only quick action it also features quick removal. By simply removing a quick release pin the entire vise jaw may be removed and the clamp shafts retracted flush with rear jaw. This feature may come in handy if you need to clamp a large door or other large panel to the front of the bench. You can also create special clamping jaws to handle special situations in your shop such as clamping tapered legs or round work.

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Manitowoc County, here's how to spark kids' interest in nature | Amanda Cordova Young children have a natural curiosity about the world around them. They love touching, hearing, tasting, smelling and seeing new things. Children use their senses to learn about the world around them. We have all heard giggles and seen smiles from a child picking up handfuls of dirt, jumping in puddles, following an ant or blowing dandelions. Moments like these are prime opportunities to nurture their interest in nature. As kids learn more about nature through their experiences, they develop a deep-rooted respect and appreciation for the land, water and wildlife. This will instill a personal lifelong commitment to protecting the environment and care for the land. Parents and caregivers can nurture their children’s natural interest in the environment in many ways. For example, taking your kids on an outdoor exploration can be a fun and low-cost way to learn more about the environment. No materials necessary. Let your child’s natural curiosity be the guide. Ask questions about what they are seeing: Why is the ant holding a piece of sand? Why does a spider have a web? What could be in that nest? Although you may be familiar with these concepts, it might be something new and exciting for your child. Recognize this. Talk about this. Nurture this. Another fun nature activity might be to guide your child through a scavenger hunt at a local park. Before you go, create a checklist of items they can search for, such as: pinecones, acorns, flowers, types of bugs and types of animals. As he or she finds each item, check it off the list and have a discussion about what it is, what it could be used for, what color(s) it is, how does it feel, and how does it smell? You could even reward them with a treat if they find all of them! Go to the library and check out children’s books about wild animals, trees, water, fish and plants. The library has thousands of books and environmental topics from which to choose. Research shows reading to children can dramatically improve their ability to learn. Read. Read. Read. Plant a vegetable seed and watch it grow. Teach your child about what a plant needs to grow (soil, water and sun). Help them water and care for the plant. When the vegetable is ready to harvest, be ready to witness their excitement when they bite into it! Pack a picnic lunch and go to one of our many beautiful beaches in Manitowoc County. Build turtles out of sand and teach them about turtles. Go fishing and talk to them about keeping our lakes clean for the fish. Fly a kite and teach them about wind patterns and weather. Let’s challenge ourselves to get outside with our children this summer. Spend good, quality time with your children by exploring the great outdoors. Your children are the future, and they will one day lead our nation. We must invest in them and nurture their interest in nature so they can become stewards of the land and, eventually, pass these values onto their children. Amanda Cordova is education coordinator for Manitowoc County Soil and Water Conservation Department.

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Obese people who are “metabolically healthy” have a greater risk of stroke, coronary heart disease and major heart failure than normal-weight people. To further confirm this, a research was carried out by the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) on data relating to 3.5 million adults and published on the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: ‘We cannot talk about “healthy obesity” or “fat and fit” and indicating individuals with extra body weight but still healthy. Even though there is a healthy metabolic profile, cardiovascular risk is still considerable’, adds Dr. Maddalena Lettino, Head of the Cardiology and Heart Failure Unit at Humanitas. The researchers divided the examined population into different groups based on the Body Mass Index (BMI) and the presence/absence of three metabolism abnormalities: diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension. Each alteration was associated to a different score, from zero to three. Those who scored zero points were considered metabolically healthy obese. This group was compared with normal-weight subjects to evaluate the risk of developing coronary artery disease, transient ischemic attack or stroke, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. Compared to those with a normal BMI, the metabolically healthy obese individuals had a 50% greater risk of developing coronary heart disease, 7% of strokes or “mini-strokes”, and doubled risk of developing heart failure. Excess weight is a risk element Furthermore, the risk of adverse events increased with increasing risk factors. With all three, the risk of coronary heart disease was 2.6 times than the one of normal-weight subjects and the risk of stroke was almost 60%: ‘This is scientific evidence that consolidates the importance of body weight control and the need to lose extra kilos to preserve the health of the cardio-cerebrovascular system’, warns Dr. Lettino. ‘Obesity itself is a risk factor and if it is associated with hypertension, diabetes or hypercholesterolemia, the risk for those conditions also increases. The coexistence of obesity and changes in metabolism is very likely for obese adults after forty, but even obese young people must still pay attention to their health. All the awareness campaigns related to these aspects are focused exactly on the young population, in order to prevent the risks associated with obesity’, concludes the specialist.

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