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Exercise & Injury Prevention Nutrition and supplements aren’t the only things that can benefit your joints. Physical activity and recovery play big roles in maintaining healthy tendons, ligaments, muscles, and more. Don’t know where to start? Click the topics below to jump to their sections. Most of us are aware that we should exercise…but where to start?? There are so many different ways to exercise that it can be overwhelming, especially if you haven’t worked out in a One way to break down the general category of “exercise” is by the way our bodies utilize energy when performing a workout. Simply put, the difference between the two is that aerobic exercise utilizes your energy system that requires oxygen to function, and anaerobic exercise taps into your energy system that (To clear up any confusion or doubts: it’s not a matter of holding your breath or not). Aerobic exercise is any form of exercise that improves your cardiovascular fitness or makes your heart work harder and faster evidenced by an increase in heart rate, blood flow, and respiratory rate. The most common aerobic exercises include walking, jogging, and other low-impact exercises. Aerobic exercise offers a number of health benefits including strengthening your heart, increasing mitochondrial functioning, which is necessary to perform at an optimal level, and helping to promote weight loss by training our bodies to use our fat stores to produce useable Anaerobic exercise differs from aerobic exercise primarily in terms of the amount of effort required. Anaerobic exercise is considered a high intensity workout compared to low intensity aerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercises have a number of health benefits including muscle building, bone and joint strengthening, and improved metabolism all of which make maintaining a healthy weight easier. Looking to add anaerobic exercise to your routine? Consider high-intensity interval training! In addition to the health benefits, others include: - Short workout duration. - A lot of variety when it comes to exercise type(s). - The ability to complete the workout nearly anywhere. - Exercise equipment isn’t mandatory. FLEXIBILITY & MOBILITY Do you feel like the Tin Man when you move? Joint stiffness and lack of range of motion are often attributed to inflexibility and pliability of the soft tissues of the joint. While exercise can get your blood flowing, sometimes a simpler and gentler approach is needed. This is when stretching and light mobility work can help! Here are some tips to add to your morning routine to ease into your day. Stretching before engaging in physical activity is a must whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just getting back into the groove after a long hiatus because it’s a great way to avoid injury especially if you have any underlying musculoskeletal conditions. Static stretching is what most of us think of when we think “stretch”: target one muscle and hold a stretched position for at least 20 seconds. Dynamic stretching, on the other hand, has been made popular by elite athletes and is designed to help “warm up” using active movements, such as performing a squat with a combination jump or skipping while performing large arm circles to get multiple muscles ready and primed to work. Learn more about the differences between static and dynamic stretching here. Back to Top Joints are complex structures and involve more than just muscle and bones. When any one of the above structures becomes injured, damaged, inflamed, overactive, or weak…problems often occur. Not only that, different joints have different functions and are more or less prone to certain injuries. In this section you’ll find our ever-growing list of Joint Knowledge articles. We know, it’s not very extensive now and only covers a few joints and structures/injuries associated with them…but stay tuned! While not a joint itself, your core plays an integral role in proper joint function. The muscles of the core perform vital functions for the body, specifically, they provide the supportive base necessary to carry out all body movements. A weak core can make you more susceptible to injury and/or chronic pain so it’s important to take the time necessary to build your core muscles the right way by incorporating some weight training or core specific exercises into your workout Recover & Rejuvenate It’s a good thing that exercising is popular these days but, the truth is, our bodies need to Keeping your joints healthy for the long haul can be accomplished in many ways, however, having a strong foundation in exercise, nutrition, and rest and recovery will give you an edge. Get started by reviewing these 7 joint tips for the lifelong athlete. (Don’t worry, you don’t have to consider yourself an athlete to benefit!) If you’re a new exerciser, rejuvenation is what your body is most likely needing. Not only does exercise help strength and improve fitness, it’s beneficial for mental health and helps to relieve Stress and anxiety that is not properly managed has been shown to have negative health effects. Adding exercise to your daily routine is one way to combat the havoc elevated stress hormones create within our bodies. Exercise lowers stress by regulating stress hormone levels, stimulating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity within the body, promotes better brain health, and helps relieve stress and anxiety in a healthy way. So, the next time you’re feeling worn down and overwhelmed consider exercising instead of relaxing in front of the television. Don’t know where to start? Here are 7 Signs You Need a Personal Trainer. As mentioned above, flexibility and mobility work as well as low-impact exercise are great ways to let your joints stay active and fluid without putting too much strain on them…but what if your joints are keeping you from exercising or even moving normally? One common fix is using heat or ice. Ice and heat are mainstay treatment options for acute and chronic musculoskeletal related injuries. If your joint becomes hot and swollen following a sports injury think ice to the rescue as this will decrease blood flow to the affected area and decrease overall pain and swelling. 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off is a good rule of thumb. However, if you’re suffering from a chronic injury (lasts several weeks, months, or years) with associated stiffness or muscle spasms reach for a hot pack to increase blood flow, loosen overactive muscles, and combat TYPES OF INJURIES & EXERCISES A joint can become injured or damaged a variety of ways, whether through overuse, accident, or by means of your genetics. Here, we cover common injuries as well as exercises by body part or by activity. Stay tuned as we will update this list as we publish articles to our blog! - The ACL - The Quick Start Guide to Exercising Safely with Troubled Knees - 2 Simple Exercises for Weak Knees The BackBack to Top

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Major League Baseball recognizes runs scored champions in the American League and National League each season. In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded. A player may score by hitting a home run or by any combination of plays that puts him safely "on base" (that is, on first, second, or third) as a runner and subsequently brings him home. The object of the game is for a team to score more runs than its opponent. In baseball statistics, a player who advances around all the bases to score is credited with a run (R), sometimes referred to as a "run scored." While runs scored is considered an important individual batting statistic, it is regarded as less significant than runs batted in (RBIs)—superiority in the latter, for instance, is one of the elements of the exceptional batting achievement known as the Triple Crown. Both individual runs scored and runs batted in are heavily context-dependent; for a more sophisticated assessment of a player's contribution toward producing runs for his team, see runs created.

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One could also ask why Microsoft and Google are excited about quantum computing. Do they know something that we don't? As I have often noted on this blog, quantum computing has been a colossal failure, and has no hope of any commercial applications in the foreseeable future. It is doubtful whether it is even physically possible. Cryptography professor Matthew Green writes: If you’re looking for a nice dose of crypto conspiracy theorizing and want to read a paper by some very knowledgeable cryptographers, I have just the paper for you. Titled “A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma” by Neal Koblitz and Alfred J. Menezes, it tackles one of the great mysteries of the year 2015. Namely: why did the NSA just freak out and throw its Suite B program down the toilet?These guys are leading experts in elliptic curve cryptography, and long-time NSA watchers. So their speculation is probably better than mine. The popular press has somehow convinced everyone that Snowden proved the NSA has tricked people into using elliptic curves in order to use a pseudorandom number generator that has an NSA trapdoor, thereby allowing the NSA to spy on everyone. This story is exaggerated. The so-called trapdoor was publicly known without Snowden, and no one had to use it. The basic elliptic curve technology remains sound. It is curious that the NSA has deprecated the P-256 elliptic curve, as it has no publicly known weaknesses, and is used for all Bitcoin transactions. The Bitcoin network is hugely successful and out of control, and maybe the NSA is trying to cast fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) on it. My guess is that either the NSA has been suckered by quantum computing hype like Microsoft and Google, or it wants to discourage elliptic curve cryptography because it is too secure.

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My friend Sue Gregg shares my passion for giving kids the chance to learn through everyday, real-life activities. In her cookbook, Lunches & Snacks, with Lessons for Children, Sue says, “Children want to start helping in the kitchen at a very young age. . . . Take the time to teach your children what they can and want to learn at each age. This will pay great time dividends for you as they gain these skills and can perform them independently. Don’t be a supermom who does it all; be a smart mom who liberally engages the assistance of well-trained children.” In my own family’s chore rotation, one child was designated as assistant cook for two months at a time, shadowing me in the kitchen to (a) learn cooking skills and (b) spend some one-on-one time with mom. I know it can be difficult to get dinner on the table with little helpers at every meal, but we can be purposeful to include them as little apprentices periodically, even if not three times a day. What Can They Do? Sue stresses that what your 4- or 5-year-old can do will depend on what he learned at ages 2 and 3; skills build on previous experience, so give them the opportunity to get started early. In Sue’s Lunches & Snacks cookbook, she shares some realistic, age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate expectations (provided below with permission): • Experience taste, texture, and shape differences in foods while sitting at the table. • Dip foods such as finger vegetables into a dip, or fish or chicken pieces into a crumb mixture. • Put selected utensils and bowls in sink of soapy water. • Scrub fresh vegetables with a vegetable brush (for example, potatoes). • Tear, snap, or break fresh vegetables (such as green beans). • Mix items such as salads or gelatin with a spoon. • Cut with a table knife, such as slicing a banana. • Spread with a table knife, such as peanut butter on crackers. • Roll foods with both hands, such as meat balls. • Peel with fingers (for example, bananas or hard-cooked eggs). • Crack raw eggs (be prepared to pick out a bit of shell!). • Do all of the above. • Juice with a non-electric citrus juicer. • Beat with an egg beater. • Put napkins or single items on the table. • Help clear the table. • Wipe off the table (don’t require perfection!). • Make table centerpieces (in his/her own way). • Learn the names of different fruits and vegetables. Four- and five-year-olds can: • Do all of the above. • Grate or shred with a hand grater. • Peel with a vegetable peeler. • Slice with sharp knives (under close supervision). • Help with most recipes and food preparation. • Fill a lunch bag with pre-made sandwiches and other items. • Set the table by himself. • Wash and rinse unbreakable dishes and load the dishwasher. • Identify various grains, beans, and breads. • Learn that a food cooked or raw is the same food in a different form. I really like these lists and I’ve found that older elementary children can learn basic cooking skills through using most basic recipes. My own children learned from our classic Betty Crocker and Better Homes & Garden’s cookbooks, as well as our Sue Gregg cookbook series (and more Hershey cookbooks than I should admit!). Later, they relied upon a compilation of our family’s favorite recipe adaptations in Everyday Cooking, which includes the “Basic Cooking Skills Checklist” that earned them their home economics credit and provided the foundation for their culinary experience. Family Meal Preparation Builds More Than Strong Bodies Not only can meal preparation time result in fun, delicious healthy meals to build stronger bodies, but it can also become positive family time, building stronger relationships and stronger independent living skills. What are some of your family’s favorite recipes to prepare together with little ones or to set your older kids free to create on their own? I’d love to hear about them below! Resources for Kids in the Kitchen: Lunches and Snacks, with Lessons for Children by Sue Gregg Family Favorites from the Homeschool Kitchen compiled by HSLDA/The Homeschool Foundation Everyday Cooking by Vicki Bentley Eating Better cookbook series from Sue Gregg (More than a cookbook series—this is a cooking and nutrition curriculum in spiral binding!) Streamlining Mealtime for the Homeschool Family by Sarah Avila, Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling Getting Dinner on the Table . . . The SAME Day You Homeschool by Vicki Bentley (e-book) Eat Your Way Across the U.S.A. by Loree Pettit Kids Cook Real Food by Katie Kimball (These fun streaming e-courses equip your kids with kitchen skills and the ability to prepare a wide variety of recipes.) Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini Cooking with Kids from PBS Kids Raddish Kids – a cooking club for kids! They learn basic skills, help prepare several themed dishes from each kit. Includes tool-of-the-month instruction card, recipes, and badge for mastering the month’s skill (you provide the food). May be used for multiple children (add-ons available). [NOTE: This post is adapted from HSLDA’s September 2013 Toddlers to Tweens newsletter by Vicki Bentley.] Photo Credit:First Graphic Design by Anna Soltis. Other pictures courtesy of Rebekah McBride.

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Report Examines Matching Free-Meal Eligibility to Geographic Cost Differences The federal poverty threshold—used to dictate which students qualify for free and reduced-price school meals—is the same in all of the contiguous United States, from Wichita, Kan., to New York City. And that's true despite drastic variations in cost-of-living between some areas that are fueled by wide differences in prices for housing, energy, and gasoline. Children with family incomes up to 130 percent of the federal poverty line qualify for free meals.The federal poverty level for a family of four is currently $23,850 in household income. While that's not a lot of money in any part of the country, it can seem like an especially low threshold in some high-cost-of-living areas, like major cities, for example. So what would happen if the U.S. Department of Agriculture made its eligible income levels and reimbursements for free and reduced-price meals sensitive to regional cost differences? A report released today by the U.S. Government Accountability Office explores that question, while not making any specific recommendations. From the report: "There are a number of measures by which income thresholds for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meal programs could be adjusted to account for geographic differences in the cost of living; doing so would likely lead to shifts in eligibility and program costs. For example, the Supplemental Poverty Measure or Regional Price Parities could be used to adjust for geographic price differences; each could result in fewer children qualifying for assistance in the South and Midwest and more children qualifying in the Northeast (see figure below). In general, the effects of any such cost-of-living adjustment are difficult to predict and would vary depending on their implementation, such as whether they were applied statewide or at the sub-state level, or whether children were kept from losing eligibility. Overall program costs could increase if more children participated." In short, using two commonly accepted regionally sensitive eligibility measures would lead to fewer students eligible in most states, with a few select high-cost areas seeing more eligible students. The study examines two measures—Regional Price Parities, a calculation by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that uses price data on things like housing to calculate geographic cost-of-living differences; and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which calculates housing costs at the level of a metropolitan statistical area and includes the cost necessary for "a household to purchase basic food, clothing, shelter, and utilities and an additional small amount for other needs." From the report: "If adjustments were made at the sub-state level, in general, more children would become eligible in metropolitan and other densely populated areas, as these areas tend to have a higher cost of living. Meanwhile, fewer children would be eligible in areas with a lower cost of living, such as nonmetropolitan areas and small cities. In some cases, the cost-of-living differences within states are greater than the cost-of-living differences between states. For example, RPP data indicate that the difference in price levels between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in New York is greater than the overall difference between New York and Connecticut." Here are two maps from the report that show the effects of using the measures to determine eligiblity. The report points to other levers states and districts can pull to help students with low family incomes that aren't quite low enough to qualify for free and reduced-price meals. For example, the new community eligibility option, available nationwide this year, will allow qualifying high-poverty schools to offer free meals to all students, even those whose family incomes are slightly too high to qualify for free or reduced-price meals in a traditional manner. It should be noted that switching meal eligibility criteria would have all sorts of other effects on schools. Schools use rates of free and reduced lunch qualifiers to qualify for and distribute federal funding, including Title I. The report also examines regional differences in the cost of preparing school meals to determine if regionally sensitive reimbursements would be appropriate. The existing data on regional cost differences don't fully account for differences between districts, such as labor costs and purchasing power, it says. Read the full report for a more detailed breakdown of the data.

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To each, their own definition and method of fostering justice, peace, equality etc. And it is true that with different conceptions of ways to continuously transform our societies for the better, there is a common ground. A common ground of fear. Having fear does not mean that there is an absence of courage. It just means that usually in the quest for change and a desire for a better society, there are those emotions, threats and doubts that transform into fear. I do not always want to seem as the advocate in the room. I will be honest with you that I have overheard racial slurs and stereotypes and did not react. It is indeed true that one does not have to respond to every ignorant or evil statement. However, most times, my decision to not react is as result of fear. Usually, the fear of alienation and/or the fear of attack. Some of us can agree that stereotypes tend to come out when people feel comfortable with each other. So, in terms of fear of alienation, I may keep quiet or address the issue in a different way than I feel that I should because I do not want to have a fall out with someone who’s relationship with me, I cherish. In public, I am very less likely to react because I want to safeguard myself from harm or verbal abuse. Sometimes, you may fear not mainly for yourself but for those that you cherish – family members, a spouse, friends etc. You may find yourself carefully selecting the approaches that you take towards social justice, for example, for the sake of the safety of your loved ones, especially if you do not reside in a democratic and free state. You could fear that benefits will be withdrawn from you and replaced with sanctions, if you decide to take a bold step towards what you think is the right move for your community. It is okay to be afraid and again, the feeling of fear does not mean that you are no longer courageous. I think that fear sometimes is a guide. It can help us choose our battles wisely because in truth, we cannot react to everyone and everything. However, there is a difference between letting fear guide you and letting it rule you. Sometimes, it takes trying to see that our fears were just a figment of our imagination. It takes trying even while feeling afraid, to discover that people are ready to support your quest for a better society and that their influence and numbers are more than those of your detractors.

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Read these 13 Body Jewelry Plugs Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Body Jewelry tips and hundreds of other topics. Gauging is an ear piercing method that is essentially ear stretching. Gauge refers to the diameter of your piercing. 18 - 20-gauge needles are used for standard ear piercing. The lower the gauge number of the needle, the larger the hole. Gauge sizes increase in increments of two. So if your ears were pierced with a 20-gauge needle, you would next purchase an 18-gauge ring or body jewelry ear plug to begin stretching your ear. Begin the stretching process slowly, waiting for your earlobe to heal before you step up in size. If you increase the size too fast, you could create unsightly scar tissue. Earlobe stretching has existed for centuries. Ancient earlobe stretching artifacts have been found in Mexico and Asia. Ancient body jewelry plugs ranged from one centimeter to one inch in diameter. In some cultures, it is common to stretch earlobes until they reach the shoulder. "Stretching" is a procedure by which the ear lobe is gradually enlarged so that a person may put in larger and larger ear plug jewelry. The lobe is stretched by means of a taper – a metal or acrylic device that is wider on one end. After lubricating the taper, the narrow end is inserted in the ear lobe. The entire taper is pushed through the ear lobe and then a larger ear plug is inserted. The ear lobe should be allowed to heal before the process is repeated. Wood plugs are hand crafted, making each piece unique. The hardwoods are from birch, maple, oak, walnut, and cherry trees, which are resilient woods. A perfect pair is nearly impossible to find since no two wood plugs are exactly alike. However, the wood's intricate grain is part of what makes wood plugs desirable. Wood body jewelry plugs are porous, making it easier for bacteria to grow. Hardwood plug jewelry is not recommended for piercings that are still healing. It is especially important to keep wood body jewelry plugs clean and sterile. A water buffalo horn is usually black and the bone is white. Horn is made from keratin, which is very different than bone, which is largely composed of the mineral calcium carbonate. Horn and bone body plugs are hand carved into intricate shapes. Some pieces are available with inlays, such as amber or coconut wood. Body jewelry plugs are made from many materials, including amber. Amber is a semi-translucent material that allows light to pass through it, which gives amber body jewelry plugs an ethereal quality. Some pieces of amber plug jewelry are sold with fossilized bugs in them. Gauging is a slow, delicate process and it's important to use high-quality rings while stretching your ear. Stainless steel rings work best because they don't absorb infection-causing bacteria and dirt. Once your ears are healed, you can choose from the wide variety of ear plug jewelry available, including stone body jewelry plugs, and wood body jewelry plugs. Stone body plugs come in many different colors and patterns. They are made either solid or hollow and can come with inlays of contrasting stone. For example, the Neolithic quartz is estimated to be 4,000 to 6,000 years old and is from the Tillemsi region of Mali. Stone body plugs come from all other the world, giving the jewelry owner an interesting conversation starter. The larger you stretch your earlobe, the less likely it is to return to its original shape. Though the hole will retract, it probably won't heal completely. Be sure that stretching your earlobe is something you can live with permanently before beginning the earlobe stretching process. |Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D.|

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Spam refers to the use of electronic messaging systems to send out unrequested or unwanted messages in bulk. The difficulty with stopping spam is that the economics of it are so compelling. While most would agree that spamming is unethical, the cost of delivering a message via spam is next to nothing. If even a tiny percentage of targets respond, a spam campaign can be successful economically. Ref:- Computer Dictionary Prepared by :- Hibatullah Jouhar

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Paul’s Classical Apologetics on Mars Hill in Acts 17:22 – 34 Natural Theology Centered on the Sovereignty of God Acts 17:22 – 34 is a Paul’s sermon to the philosophers in Athens. In this passage, as Luke describes, Paul stands in the midst of Areopagus and delivers a remarkable sermon to Athenians. As we sum up the Paul’s Areopagus speech, instantly we notice that his basic message remained unchanged but his approach to Athenian audiences was changed from other speeches. He framed his message within the given cultural and philosophical paradigm that befitted his audiences. Although we are living past two millenniums after this poignant event in Athens, the psychological, methodological, and theological aspects of Paul’s message is still relevant as an evangelistic model to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to pagan culture of our time. In order to understand why Paul’s approach to Athenians is so different on Mars Hill than his previous messages, the backdrop of this event should be understood in its historical context. Preceding passage (17:16-21) provides enough information for the readers to know people involved in the mounting plot that leads Paul to Mars Hill. Unless we take notice what was happening in Athens with Paul, we will most likely fail to grasp Paul’s rationale in the council of Areopagus. Paul was in Athens, reasoning with Jews in the Jewish synagogue and the God-fearing Greeks in the marketplace. Epicureans and Stoic philosophers happened to be his audience. That type of audience demands philosophical, intellectual, and persuasive reasoning. Paul was charged for introducing foreign deity. He was taken to the Areopagus to test that new teaching in the marketplace of Athens. Historically, Areopagus is closely connected with Greek mythology. Without further details of the myth, we know from history and archeology that it is a famous autonomous judicial council for “justice and impartially of its decision.” Adam Clarke affirms that it is located in hill nearby Acropolis, and it was “one of the most sacred and reputable courts that had ever existed in the Gentile world.” With this background, we have some overview that Paul’s message in the Areopagus was in defense of his proclamation of the foreign deity in the polytheistic city of Athens. Also, the overview also tells us who were involved in his hearing and testing of Paul’s teaching in the Areopagus. Once we know who they are and what they believe, Paul’s message on Mars Hill becomes clearer. TWO PRIMARY HELLENISTIC ANTAGONISTS IN ATHENS He was reasoning with two dominant Greek schools of Philosophy – Epicureans and Stoics – of his time. Paul was charged for introducing foreign deity (δαιμονιων). It is not necessarily a demon but a deified man. As Adam Clarke’s commentary on the Bible says: There was a difference, in the heathen theology, between θεος, god, and δαιμων, demon: the θεοι, were such as were gods by nature: the δαιμονια, were men who were deified. This distinction seems to be in the mind of these philosophers when they said that the apostles seemed to be setters forth of strange demons, because they preached unto them Jesus, whom they showed to be a man, suffering and dying, but afterwards raised to the throne of God. This would appear to them tantamount with the deification of heroes, etc., who had been thus honored for their especial services to mankind. In addition, Paul’s message of Jesus being God and his resurrection (τὴν ἀνάστασιν) from dead seemed to be misinterpreted due to the use of Greek feminine name. Walter A. Elwell thinks that Greek philosophers might have “confused the word resurrection for its Greek feminine name, Anastasia, taking it for a consort to Jesus, thus two gods”. Probably for this reason, Paul was described as an “idle babbler” who introduced strange deities namely: male god, Jesus and Anastasia, goddess or resurrection. Here, the English term does not reflect true meaning that Athenians referred to. The Greek word spermologos (σπερμολογος) is translated into “idle babbler” literally meaning “a seed collector,” or “one who picks up and retails scraps of information.” So, it can take two different meanings that are understood only from the context. In this case, they employed this word derogatively and obnoxiously to imply Paul “as a charlatan or plagiarist, whose learning is secondhand”. Paul was underrated, and they took no notice of his message. They probably found nothing appealing to them in his message, as schools of Greek philosophy had no concept of rising from the dead. WHO WERE EPICUREANS? Epicureans were the followers of a philosopher named Epicurus (340 – 272 B.C.). Epicurus was the proponent of the doctrine of pleasure as the sole good. We may summarize Epicurean philosophy, cosmology, and eschatology as succinctly as possible: i. Epicurean philosophy advocates individual pleasure seeking. “Whatever feels good is desirable; pain is undesirable.” Thus, pursuit of highest pleasure by avoiding pain is the utmost goal. ii. Epicurean cosmology was also very influenced by Democritus, ancient Greek philosopher’s “Atomic Theory” or “Theory of Atomism.” According to atomic theory, the universe was made of atoms. The entire entity in the world is material. There was nothing such as spiritual or immaterial but everything was constantly in motion and happened by chance. Thus the world is chaotic and out of orderliness. However, they did not deny the existence of gods. “These gods were remote from the world and did not care.” The gods, they believed to be the creators, were not interested in human affairs in this world. iii. Epicurean eschatology promoted death as the end of human existence; no immortality of soul. Therefore, there is not afterlife or judgment. WHO WERE STOICS? Zeno of Citium (335 – 263 B.C.) is considered to be the founder of Stoicism. It is believed that Zeno taught his disciples from the porch in Athens which eventually turned out to be “the most influential ethical doctrine in the ancient western world before Christianity.” Thus, Stoicism got their name from Greek word Stoa (stoa) meaning “portico.” Their epistemology, cosmology, and eschatology in a short note: i. Unlike Epicurean deism, stoics’ epistemology advocated that knowledge is attained through logic. It is the framework for their theology and physics. The metaphysical view of stoicism was to teach its disciples to be indifferent to outward emotions. They believed: Man becomes virtuous through knowledge, which enables him to live in harmony with nature and thereby achieve a profound sense of happiness and freedom from emotion which insulates him from vicissitude of life. The stoic epistemology says that indifference stimulates man to cultivate virtues through knowledge ii. They believed world is governed by natural law. “And this natural law was based on timeless human and universal reason, it did not alter with time and space.” This led to conclude that the universe has no beginning, and it is eternal. iii. For them, everything was God and the universe was his manifestation. Monistic or pantheistic theology described “God as the soul of the universe, the universe as the body of God,” and they cannot exist apart from each other. Therefore, they are principally identical. iv. In contrast to Epicureanism, stoics believed life is predetermined by fate. Whatever happens is motivated by fixed plan. They believed that God himself was subjected to fate. The notion of predestination was enforced as the necessity. Since God was also under the fate, no man could complain but accept the fate that was preordained. Thus, they held such a fatalistic view as consolatory philosophy. v. Stoics also rejected immortality of the soul. They believed that human soul returned to God when someone died. They had different views on the soul. Some viewed individual “soul would exist only until the destruction of the universe, and others that it would be absorbed into the divine essence and become a part of God.” As a result, there is no final judgment hereafter. The Hellenistic understanding of God and the universe, as we know by now lacked proper understanding of God and his relationship with his creation. So, they misinterpreted Paul’s proclamation of Jesus Christ and his resurrection as foreign deities. Preaching of strange God and worshiping such foreign deities was not lawful and strictly forbidden in the city of Athens and Rome (Acts 16:21). Due to their polytheistic worldview and idolatrous religiosity, they could not understand the concept of monotheism and resurrection of the dead. Luke has not included all details of Paul reasoning (διελέγετο) in 17:16-21 in Athens, but summary of the speech tells us what he preached was enough to provoke Athenians. That religious sentimental vibes was a catalyst for setting up a stage for Paul to address their misconception about God and the universe and counter their charge with persuasive arguments. THREE PARTS OF THE AREOPAGUS MESSAGE (ACTS 17:22-34) Paul presents his case with a logical sequence as a philosopher. His rhetoric was not merely to justify his “new teaching” in Athens by telling them who Jesus was and what he did but intended to counteract their skewed understanding of God, life, and the universe as a whole. The contents of the sermon can be classified in three individual parts. PSYCHOLOGY OF PAUL In verse 22 Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, addresses men of Athens as δεισιδαιμονεστερους. The translation of this ambiguous Greek word can have an immense impact on the theological concerns of the Bible. When we translate the word deisidaimonesterous, the root of this compound noun is δεος (fear) and δαιμων (deity), meaning “deity fearing,” “religious” etc. From the context of the Areopagus message seems to be friendlier rather than confrontational. However, the KJV interprets it as being conspicuously confrontational by inferring Athenians as “too superstitious” from the beginning of the speech. Having said that, we find Paul did not fail to identify his audience. He sought common ground by acknowledging the religiosity of Athenians. From his observation of the city, evidently Paul found an altar with inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD, of Athenian religions. Ancient writings also contained direct and explicit testimony of those altars in Athens. Being very distressed by those idols and altars, Paul used very respectful language in his address. Yet, he never endorsed their view of God and life. Paul identified his audiences and essentially established his credentials, he captured all their pathos by crediting them for being religious who were looking for something to worship. As G. Campbell Morgan comments, “He (Paul) found the open door to their mind in one of their own altars.” What we see here is not a typical Paul who would apply rhetoric but the one trying to draw attention of his audience in friendly speech. Knowing your audience and addressing their need makes one’s presence acceptable in other culture. THEOLOGY OF PAUL Once he tied his attention of his audience to his opening line, Paul remarked immediately to proclaim something significant that they did not know (see v. 23b). Paul started out with the biblical story other than redemptive history. For his Greek audiences did not have any knowledge of the redemptive history in the Old Testament. He proclaims Christian message in which God appears to be the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge who is Sovereign over the universe. He is in control. Such majestic God cannot be served by human hands, nor does he need our service. Now, Paul shifted from mere assertion of the fact that he saw and felt in the vicinity of Athens to reasoning out for God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ and their relationship with humankind. Paul asserted that God who was unknown to them could be known. Paul proclaimed that God unknown to them is not two but one and only. The contents of Paul’s sermon are counterarguments against the tenets of Epicureanism and Stoicism. Stephen Rost writes that “Paul’s sermon contains five doctrinal categories.” The sermon was laid on the biblical theology that was followed by five successive doctrines. FIVE DOCTRINAL CATEGORICAL CONTENTS IN THE AREOPAGUS MESSAGE - Theology Proper Paul took no time to clarify that God whom he was preaching is the Creator God. He explains that God created all things (Gen. 1:1) (see v. 24a) and his lordship over everything including heaven and earth. This statement answers Stoic understanding of God and the universe, since they believed that the universe is eternal and God and the universe or created things are identical. “God is distinct from the universe, not the same.” Hence, God is not a created being but the Creator who has an absolute control over the universe. Since he is not a created being, God is also independent on his own (v. 25a). He does not depend on human or his creation for anything. Above all, God is unfathomable and incomprehensible; he is the central and totality of the entire universe; hence he is governing this universe. And he put everything is in order. God made this universe as a dwelling place for us but no other way (v. 24). Mark D. Given writes that God makes a dwelling place (v. 24), sustains human beings (v. 25), and provides for human beings (v.26). Therefore, He is self-existing God from the eternity who cares work of his hands. He is personal and self-sufficient who is the source of all living beings. God is Sovereign over all. - Biblical Anthropology Verse 26 does not elaborate exclusively how God created human being but Paul did mention about human lineage though. People of every race and nation are from a common ancestor (v. 26a). The notion of common ancestor is a diametrical point of view on human origin for Athenians, because they believed that “they were originated from the soil of their Attic homeland and were thus superior to all other men.” Moreover, Paul tells Athenian philosophers that God is omniscient. He has assigned people of their life and boundaries in the world. Paul’s theological application was to impart the truth of the Gospel that we are to unite in worship of one true God. Also, it answers the questions of Epicurean idea of disorderly world and Stoics fatalistic philosophy that everything is predetermined by fate by positing that God is not God of chaos or nothing happens by chance. God knows what happened in the past, is happening in the present, and will happen in the future. For God does not live in time and space. Paul then turns to wish that people may seek and find God. He is not far from us. Natural theology is emphasized even more by quoting Isaiah 11:28 from the Old Testament (v. 27-28). The Greek word ψηλαφάω literally meaning “to feel after, touch, or handle.” Another Greek word εὑρίσκω means “to find, obtain, perceive, or see.” This idea seems to contradict Romans 1 where Paul stresses men are suppressing the truth of God. Here, he himself did not explain how to seek and find God but underline meaning in the text seems to suggest it as a mere wishing or hoping. On the other hand, Albert Barnes sees the other way that God can be sought diligently and accurately to be found. Paul shows their ignorance alongside God’s grace to them. He just proclaimed the illuminated light and truth of God to them. Then, he is making point that God forgave their past follies and now is the time to come to the saving knowledge of God, because he is near and revealed himself in his creation (see Rom. 1:19-25). - Soteriology – the Doctrine of Salvation After revealing God’s common grace, Paul directs his speech on salvation. He reinforces his arguments be emphasizing that we are the offspring of God (see v. 29-31). Epicureans and Stoics never came across the idea that God is near to each individual and interested in human affairs. Now, Paul is asserting, in contrary to their philosophical ideas, that we are offspring – borne of God who need to grope for God because we had very insufficient view of God. In addition, he has already showed them that they were worshipping creations than the Creator. The soteriology of Paul corrects Epicurean view of salvation. They denied the immortality of the soul. Rost also agrees that Paul’s soteriology was difficult for Epicureans because of their denial of the immortality of the soul. Dismissing Greek misconstrued philosophy of God, universe, and life, Paul declares that all Athenians should repent (v. 30). The buildup of Paul’s logical arguments for repentance has obviously progressed from previous verses where Athenians were exchanging the glory of eternal God with mortal and impermanent things of the world. Rost maintains: Humanity’s struggle in his search for God is not in vain. As the apostle explains, God is near and imminent, and his immense bridges the gap between man the finite, contingent, and created, and God the eternal, transcendent Creator. God seeks a relationship with humanity, which is ultimately accomplished through repentance. Need for seeking God genuinely, finding passionately, and repenting from their sins are the preliminary stages Paul sets forth before introducing whom they should repent to. This is the same message of repentance (see Acts 2:38) that John the Baptist, Peter in Pentecost, and Paul himself preached in other occasions. - Incarnational Christology – the Doctrine of Christ Paul shows sensitivity toward his pagan audience who did not know God. So, he first reveals them who God is and his attributive natures. Then, he introduces Jesus Christ that he had not mentioned earlier. He states to them that Jesus is a man appointed by God whom he raised from the dead (v. 31b). He bases his theology in the person and work of Jesus. Paul also reminds them that the Lord Jesus overlooked sinners’ premeditated ignorance with his immeasurable grace (v. 30). He is still waiting for sinner to come back to him. - Eschatology – the Doctrine of End-Time Paul’s, in the course of his sermon, nullifies Athenians understanding of life and death. They held a view that there is no life after death. There is no judgment of the dead. Contrary to their philosophy, Paul’s Christology confirms that God who appointed Jesus and raised him from the dead has also fixed a day to judge the world. Thence, the resurrection of Jesus is used as an argument for the judgment after death (see Heb. 9:27). Robert H. Gundry adds that Paul “identifies Jesus as the man whom God designed to judge on his behalf and whom he resurrected from among the dead.” Justice of God is inescapable and judgment is inevitable. And Paul is appealing to his audience to repent from their sins – past lives to be vindicated to receive every right to be the children of God. METHODOLOGY OF PAUL Taking into account of the contents in Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill, we can take many practical teachings for positive approach in evangelism. Paul observes the surrounding city in Athens and shows avid enthusiasm to learn about their culture, religions, and life and worldview. (see, Acts 17:16-18). Next, he finds common ground. He himself was a very religious man recognizes religiosity of Athenians. So, he looks for “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” inscription as a point of reference to share his faith in their context. Paul is aware of the situation there; he knows that direct attack on Athenians’ state guarded religion will prove to be counterproductive. As Spence and Excell comment: In his speech he heartily recognizes the worshipping instinct; he sees the dissatisfaction with all existing forms of worship which indicates an aching and yearning of soul to know the full truth of God… St. Paul admits a real worship in paganism. He admits that the incompleteness and imperfectness of the worship followed from their ignorance. He attempts to guide the worshipping faculty aright, by instructing their understanding, and by declaring positive truth of Divine revelation. Instead of confronting Athenians in belligerent tone, Paul forms relationship with them and be respectful without compromising his monotheistic faith (v. 22-23). He does shun people who beg to differ in their worldview. Rather he pursues philosophical reasoning which is logically consistent and thus followed. As a part of his apologetic fashion, Paul contextualizes his sermon in Greek philosophical setting. He backs up his logic for we are “God’s offspring” by quoting two Greek poets: Aratus (ca. 315-ca. 245 B.C.), Paul’s countryman who hailed from Soli in Cilicia and Cleanthes (331-233 B.C.). Citing their own poets will certainly earn him some credibility in his claims. Morgan argues that Paul, by quoting those pagan poets, defended their truth – men as Gods’ offspring – from its misuse. Paul might have thought that quoting the Bible would possibly turn his audience off. We see Paul is not hesitated to contextualize his sermon as needed. In light of the contextualization of Paul’s sermon, he does so in symmetry of philosophy and theology. In the sermon, he addresses Greeks from the philosophical point of view and proclaims sound doctrine that is followed by need and call of repentance. This method should help evangelical churches around the world to contextualize the truth of the Gospel in an appropriate way so that we would not lose the absolute truth in our pervasive culture. Paul’s message in the Areopagus (17:22-32) can serve as an evangelistic model in our present day time. It is an exceptional example of how we should approach people of intellectual world. Luke might have more than one particular purpose in editing this sermon and presented it the way it is. In this sermon, Paul is highly persuasive and convincing in his presentation. However, the outcome of his presentation is not satisfactory compared to his previous presentations. Could this be the worst failure of Paul’s ministry? Some might say “yes,” but Luke’s main concern, as Fernando states, seems to be Paul’s uncompromising faith, witnessing, and his methodology in the pagan culture. Luke did not leave out significant details of the Areopagus address, including result of the address. In this sense, Luke accomplished his purpose by recording this historical event. Another aspect of the Areopagus message is the contents. They are rich and sound doctrines which bear historical significance and mark of orthodoxy. These five doctrinal categories are the truth of the Gospel and cannot be compromised. They are the orthodox and universal truth. They are applicable throughout all ages. Nevertheless, we have to be very careful while contextualizing and communicating the revealed truth from the Bible. The same method of the Areopagus message cannot be effective in all situations. There lies an enormous challenge and risk in the contextualization in certain situations. On the other hand, it is an effective medium to share the Gospel to people of different culture. Therefore, we should not confuse universal truth from the contextual truth (applicable for a certain period of history). From observation and assessment of the passage, we can take, at least, one practical lesson for our lives. What we think and believe has a huge impact on what we do in our life. Our world and life view is shaped by our understanding of God and our relationship with him. Life is not only about self but also about others around us. Our attitude is the drive force behind our certain behavior. And this is also shaped by our view toward God how we think of ourselves before God. We are living in a time that the truth is understood in a relative term. Absolute moral value is interpreted as a subjective belief, and faith has become a trivial significance to people. God has been replaced by mere counterfeit spirituality. Our belief is under scrutiny. Our faith is under fire by bombarded misleading information in print and electronic media. In this situation, people are confused and do wonder what to believe and what not to. But doctrines in the Areopagus can be a good resource for edification of believers. God is Sovereign over heavens and earth. Jesus, our Lord is beginning and the end (see Rev. 22:13). He is from the beginning and independent of space and time (Jn. 1:1-4; Col. 1:15). We are work of his hands and bear his image (Gen. 1:26-27). We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ for his glory (Eph. 2:10). God longs for intimate relationship with us (Jn. 17:3), so he wants us to come into a right relationship with him (Jn. 14:6; Ps. 34:18). God does not hold vengeance against me, when I come to him (2 Chls. 7:13-14; Ps. 32:1-2; Isa. 1:18 etc.). His grace is enough for us. Through his righteousness, we are also reconciled with God (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Eph. 1:5-12; 2:1-10). The Areopagus message is an exemplary cross-cultural ministry approach that is still very relevant up to this date. Paul’s psychology, theology, and methodology are three distinct parts in the sermon that we need to pay attention, if we are going to ministry in diverse culture. Paul knows exactly what he is doing and going to say. His words are highly calculated and précised that bear witness of God. Ministers, especially who are into Apologetics and those who are going to be involved in apologetic ministry, can use this sermon as a template to present the Gospel in the pagan culture. I have been into ministry since 2003. Since then, I have come across people of different faith and background. Majority of them are Hindus. It has been always a huge challenge for me to carry on conversations with them. Their view of gods/goddesses, Spirit, creation, universe, salvation, afterlife, Karma etc. are so complex. More I talk to them about their metaphysical view on those terms, more it gets intertwined and overlapping. They have really complex system of belief. While looking for an opportunity to share the Gospel, I always find common ground, such as notion of God, heaven and hell, life and judgment, sin and righteousness etc. I present myself very humbly and show my respect to them. Though we have above mentioned terms for dialectical engagement, their view and understanding about them is utterly different. Karmic Law comes to be a part of the discussion. Completely two different accounts of creation story in Hinduism, unending cycle of rebirth, uncertainty of salvation is the major issues that I engage with them in discussion. Knowing them and developing relationship with them really opens up the door to share the gospel to them. When we give coherent reasons why Karmic law gets them nowhere, this makes them think seriously. In doing so, I always back up my arguments from the Scripture. Idol worship is a part of their everyday life. So, when someone reads from the Bible that idols are not gods, it is more like poking their conscience and wounding them badly. So, before we read such passage from the Scripture, we also should have very clear and convincing answer to that question. Otherwise, we will have already turned them off and shut the door of the Kingdom in their faces. And let’s do all of what we do for the glory of God in humility. - Barclay, William. The Acts of the Apostles. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1955. 140-44. Print. - Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Computer Software. - Barnhouse, Donald Grey, and Herbert Henry Ehrenstein. Acts, an Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979. Print. - Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Computer Software. - Criswell, W. A. Acts, an Exposition: Volume II, Chapters 9-18. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979. 274-307. Print. - Davis, D Mark. “Acts 17:16-34.” Interpretation 57.1 (2003): 64-66. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. - Elwell, Walter A., ed. Baker Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006. Print. - Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 10th ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994. Print. - Fernando, Ajith. The NIV Application Commentary. Acts. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. Print. - Given, Mark D. “Not Either/Or but Both/And in Paul’s Areopagus Speech.” Biblical Interpretation 3.3 (1995): 356-372. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. - Gundry, Robert Horton. Commentary on the New Testament: Verse-by-verse Explanations with a Literal Translation. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2010. Print. - Mounce, William D. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. Print. - Morgan, G. Campbell. The Acts of the Apostles,. New York, Chicago [etc.: Fleming H. Revell, 1924. Print. - Rost, Stephen. “Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.” Encountering New Religious Movements: a Holistic Evangelical Approach. Ed. Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost, and John Morehead. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004. 113-36. Print. - Smith, Robert H. Concordia Commentary: Acts. Saint Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1970. Print. - Spence, H. D. M., and Joseph S. Exell. The Pulpit Commentary. Vol. II. Chicago: Wilcox & Follett, 1983. Print. Ser. 42. - Strong, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, - Dictionary, Computer Software. - Vincent, Vincent’s Word Studies, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Computer Software. - Webster, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Dictionary, Computer Software. Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Acts 17:18. Computer Software. Baker Commentary on the Bible Based on the NIV, (Grand Rapids: Baker Bookhouse, 2006), p. 911. Print. William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), p. 1273. Print. George Arthur Buttrick, ed. The Interpreter’s Bible: the Holy Scriptures in the King James and Revised Standard Versions with General Articles and Introduction, Exegesis, Exposition for Each Book of the Bible. (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1954), p. 233. Print. Popkin, Richard H., and Avrum Stroll. “Ethics.” Philosophy made simple . 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Doubleday, 1993),11. Print. Hexham, Irving, Stephen Rost, and John Morehead. “Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.”Encountering new religious movements: a holistic evangelical approach. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004). 117. Print. William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostle. 1953. Reprint. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955), 141.Print. Richard H. Popkin, and Avrum Stroll. “Ethics.” Philosophy made simple . 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Doubleday, 1993), 18. Print. Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical dictionary of theology. 1984. Reprint. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1994), 1056. Print. Jostein Gaarder, “Hellenism.”Sophie’s world: a novel about the history of philosophy. 1994. Reprint. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996), 131. Print. Hexham, Irving, Stephen Rost, and John Morehead. “Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.”Encountering new religious movements: a holistic evangelical approach. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004. 117. Print. This was first quoted in Fuller’s History of Philosophy, 1:253. Vincent’s Word Study, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Acts 17:18. Computer Software. William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostle. 1953. Reprint. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1955), 141.Print. Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Acts:17:18, Computer Software. William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006). Print. The Greek word Δεισιδαιμονεστέρους can take two different meanings. It could mean, “Extremely religious; very devoted; god-fearing” in a positive sense, while it also carries negative meaning for “too superstitious.” There has been debate on the word and people have translated this word as either “extremely religious” or “too superstitious.” However, context support the previous interpretation over the later one. Spence, H. D. M., and Joseph S. Exell. The Pulpit Commentary. Vol. II. (Chicago: Wilcox & Follett, 1983), 61, Print. Ser. 42. Campbell G. Morgan, The Acts of the Apostles. 1946. Reprint. (New York: Fleming H Revell, 1965), 325, Print. Donald Grey Barnhouse, and Herbert Henry Ehrenstein. Acts, an Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1979), 151. Print. Rost. “Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.” Encountering New Religious Movements: a Holistic Evangelical Approach. Ed. Irving Hexham and John Morehead (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004(, 119. Print. Elwell, Walter A., ed. Baker Commentary on the Bible. 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006), 911. Print. Given, Mark D. “Not Either/Or but Both/And in Paul’s Areopagus Speech.” Biblical Interpretation 3.3 (1995): 356-372. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Baker Commentary on the Bible. 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006), 911. Print. Strong, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Dictionary, G5584, Computer Software. Ibid, G2147. Strong numbers G5584 and G2147 in Greek are in first aorist active optative and second aorist active optative mood respectively. Optative mood is usually used to wish or hope something. There is a divided opinion on these two words from school of Armenian theology and school of Calvinistic theology. Latter one sees the terms as mere wishing of Luke which is not possible if God has not chosen. However, the other group thinks that through God’s common grace makes it possible for people to grope him and find him. Barnes’, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, e-Sword, Ver. 9.8.3, Commentary, Acts 17:27, Computer Software. Rost,”Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.” Encountering New Religious Movements: a Holistic Evangelical Approach. Ed. Irving Hexham and John Morehead. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004. 124. Print. Ibid, 121. Robert Horton Gundry, Commentary on the New Testament: Verse-by-verse Explanations with a Literal Translation. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2010), 534. Print. Spence, H. D. M., and Joseph S. Exell. The Pulpit Commentary. Vol. II. (Chicago: Wilcox & Follett, 1983), 86, Print. Ser. 42. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Baker Commentary on the Bible. 4th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006), 911. Print. Campbell G. Morgan, The Acts of the Apostles, 1946. Reprint. (New York: Fleming H Revell, 1965), 328, Print. Rost,”Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Acts 17.” Encountering New Religious Movements: a Holistic Evangelical Approach. Ed. Irving Hexham and John Morehead. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2004. 131. Print. Ajith Fernando, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 477-88. Print.

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In 1950, Alan Turing's famous article "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" was published, which proposed what is now called the Turing test as a criterion of intelligence. This criterion depends on the ability of a computer program to impersonate a human in a real-time written conversation with a human judge, sufficiently well that the judge is unable to distinguish reliably—on the basis of the conversational content alone—between the program and a real human. The notoriety of Turing's proposed test stimulated great interest in Joseph Weizenbaum's program ELIZA, published in 1966, which seemed to be able to fool users into believing that they were conversing with a real human. However Weizenbaum himself did not claim that ELIZA was genuinely intelligent, and the Introduction to his paper presented it more as a debunking exercise: To inspire your first (or next) foray into the weird and wonderful world of chatbots, we've compiled a list of seven brands whose bot-based campaigns were fueled by an astute knowledge of their target audiences and solid copywriting. Check them out below, and start considering if a chatbot is the right move for your own company's next big marketing campaign. A chatbot works in a couple of ways: set guidelines and machine learning. A chatbot that functions with a set of guidelines in place is limited in its conversation. It can only respond to a set number of requests and vocabulary, and is only as intelligent as its programming code. An example of a limited bot is an automated banking bot that asks the caller some questions to understand what the caller wants done. The bot would make a command like “Please tell me what I can do for you by saying account balances, account transfer, or bill payment.” If the customer responds with "credit card balance," the bot would not understand the request and would proceed to either repeat the command or transfer the caller to a human assistant. It may be tempting to assume that users will navigate across dialogs, creating a dialog stack, and at some point will navigate back in the direction they came from, unstacking the dialogs one by one in a neat and orderly way. For example, the user will start at root dialog, invoke the new order dialog from there, and then invoke the product search dialog. Then the user will select a product and confirm, exiting the product search dialog, complete the order, exiting the new order dialog, and arrive back at the root dialog. Disney invited fans of the movie to solve crimes with Lieutenant Judy Hopps, the tenacious, long-eared protagonist of the movie. Children could help Lt. Hopps investigate mysteries like those in the movie by interacting with the bot, which explored avenues of inquiry based on user input. Users can make suggestions for Lt. Hopps’ investigations, to which the chatbot would respond. Shane Mac, CEO of San Francisco-based Assist,warned from challenges businesses face when trying to implement chatbots into their support teams: “Beware though, bots have the illusion of simplicity on the front end but there are many hurdles to overcome to create a great experience. So much work to be done. Analytics, flow optimization, keeping up with ever changing platforms that have no standard. The idea was to permit Tay to “learn” about the nuances of human conversation by monitoring and interacting with real people online. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Tay to figure out that Twitter is a towering garbage-fire of awfulness, which resulted in the Twitter bot claiming that “Hitler did nothing wrong,” using a wide range of colorful expletives, and encouraging casual drug use. While some of Tay’s tweets were “original,” in that Tay composed them itself, many were actually the result of the bot’s “repeat back to me” function, meaning users could literally make the poor bot say whatever disgusting remarks they wanted. Ursprünglich rein textbasiert, haben sich Chatbots durch immer stärker werdende Spracherkennung und Sprachsynthese weiterentwickelt und bieten neben reinen Textdialogen auch vollständig gesprochene Dialoge oder einen Mix aus beidem an. Zusätzlich können auch weitere Medien genutzt werden, beispielsweise Bilder und Videos. Gerade mit der starken Nutzung von mobilen Endgeräten (Smartphones, Wearables) wird diese Möglichkeit der Nutzung von Chatbots weiter zunehmen (Stand: Nov. 2016). Mit fortschreitender Verbesserung sind Chatbots dabei nicht nur auf wenige eingegrenzte Themenbereiche (Wettervorhersage, Nachrichten usw.) begrenzt, sondern ermöglichen erweiterte Dialoge und Dienstleistungen für den Nutzer. Diese entwickeln sich so zu Intelligenten Persönlichen Assistenten. NBC Politics Bot allowed users to engage with the conversational agent via Facebook to identify breaking news topics that would be of interest to the network’s various audience demographics. After beginning the initial interaction, the bot provided users with customized news results (prioritizing video content, a move that undoubtedly made Facebook happy) based on their preferences. Forrester just released a new report on mobile and new technology priorities for marketers, based on our latest global mobile executive survey. We found out that marketers: Fail to deliver on foundational mobile experiences. Consumers’ expectations of a brand’s mobile experience have never been higher. And yet, 58% of marketers agree that their mobile services […] Kunze recognises that chatbots are the vogue subject right now, saying: “We are in a hype cycle, and rising tides from entrants like Microsoft and Facebook have raised all ships. Pandorabots typically adds up to 2,000 developers monthly. In the past few weeks, we've seen a 275 percent spike in sign-ups, and an influx of interest from big, big brands.”

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BASIC GUIDE TO GENERAL ESSAYS, POSITION PAPERS, ARGUMENT AND OUTLINE FORM Forming a Very Basic Essay | To PAPER organization guide | About Signal phrases/tag lines | Step-by-step for an Argument Essay| Guidelines for Section Headings/Subheadings in MLA | Start with research question or possible topic to find a position through research/ brainstorming. THEN form an initial thesis sentence: 1 Topic: 2 Position/Opinion: 3 Main reason: 4 Counter Argument: For full argument thesis/claims add Counter Argument acknowledgement by using "although, even though, despite, recognizing" etc. with brief phrasing of opposing ideas at beginning or end of claim sentence. - SIMPLE Working/possible thesis statement/claim (single sentence, NOT as a question, no use of "I" or "YOU"--state topic directly not as "this or that") - [sample:Health care must be a personal responsibility, because government should not make decisions for people.] - Claim/thesis sentence with counter argument acknowledgement: - Although society should provide certain safety nets, health care must be a personal responsibility, because government should not make decisions for people. 7 Working 2-part title reflecting the thesis: (Topic) = Health Care : (Position/comment )= A Personal Responsibility VERY BASIC ESSAY AND THESIS FORMATION: The following is based on a sample topic: Tell about an outdoor experience. After Brainstorming or Loop Exploration to find a specific theme/topic and position, These five (journalistic) questions can help generate a thesis sentence and expand detail: - ONE EXAMPLE MIGHT BE: - who> main actors (my brother and I) - what > the subject (go camping) - where> the setting/place (the Blue mountains) - when> the time of year or maybe the day (every summer) - why> the reason (to hunt for arrowheads) A thesis sentence made of these 5 elements: - My brother and I go camping in the Blue Mountains every summer to hunt for arrowheads. - <THEN ADD INFORMATION IN A PARAGRAPH <[click here to review parts of a paragraph] ABOUT EACH OF THE 5 PARTS: - PARAGRAPH (<<review) 1--tell about my brother and me 2-5 SENTENCES - PARAGRAPH 2 -- tell about, camping gear, RV etc. 2-5SENTENCES - PARAGRAPH 3--tell about the Blue mountains, landscape, trees, stream, animals, etc. 2-5 SENTENCES - PARAGRAPH 4--tell about every summer, what month, the weather then, etc.--2-5 SENTENCES - PARAGRAPH 5--tell about hunting for arrowheads, what they look like, where you look 2-5 SENTENCES - PARAGRAPH 6 or LAST PARAGRAPH-- re-state the thesis and add an outcome or result of the experience. A GENERAL ESSAY FORMATION MIGHT GO LIKE THIS: - First form a short, clear and concise thesis sentence to go at the end of your first paragraph, - thesis= topic + positon +(because) reasoning (COULD USE THE 5 JOURNALISTIC QUESTIONS TO GENERATE) - Next write a brief opening paragraph that leads up to your thesis, - present reasoning and or an example that leads to thesis sentence - Next write four-five clear topic sentences supporting your thesis to begin paragraphs. - Next fill in the paragraphs by using clear examples to support your topic sentences, and only if they relate to your topic sentences. - IN LAST PARAGRAPH-- re-state the thesis and add an outcome or result of the experience. - READ ALOUD AND REVIEW FOR CLARITY AND CORRECTNESS, OFTEN! - AND PRESTO....AN ESSAY, or at least the main elements to build on.... MLA style for Titles, Headings and Subheadings/ Sub-sections Formatting Argument can be defined in several ways, especially in the legal field, in debate and in other specific professions or fields of study. For our purposes, argument is: Find a Main Claim: In planning an argument, the first step is to define your thesis/main claim or central argument. One of the best ways to do this is by free-writing or other brainstorming. The main claim and the essay title should reflect each other. Consider the Central Appeal: Choose ethos, pathos or logos as the primary "coloring" for presenting the material, even though logos will constitute the factual evidence. Write 3-5 Reasons for the Claim Find Solid Evidence for each main Reason: Keep a listing of sources in the appropriate documentation style, so the in-text citing of the sources match the bibliographic listing. Include a Main Opposing View (the counter-argument): Acknowledge and present the opposing view and why you disagree with it, including evidence that supports your position. Create a Rough Draft: Try various ways of presenting/organizing the material and weaving in the citing and signal phrases. Get Helpful Feedback: Develop a clear series of questions for a helper to focus on and answer as often as needed. Proof and Polish: | Proofing Gd. Read the drafts aloud to find areas that need clarifying, and scan for spelling, grammar and other usage issues. Be sure the main claim reflects the EVIDENCE even if the main claim changes from your first thinking. Be sure the title is thematic and reflects the main claim in its final form. Be sure all aspects of the documentation style are accurate. - GENERAL ORGANIZING OUTLINE OF DOCUMENTED POSITION (or personal view persuasion) PAPER - The following can be copy/pasted into a word doc. to use as a form to help "build" papers. Use Print Preview to resize for printing. (In First Paragraph with any sources cited--author last name and page # or domain name, if no author/page is available) - (These 3 elements NOT necessarily in this order...) Personal comment to introduce/set up topic/issue - Background of topic (as it may come from a primary focus text) or why it is interesting/important... - Example/anecdote to illustrate topic (In Second Paragraph--with sources cited) - Define key terms--Which are terms/ideas especially IN the title/thesis and any other important or repeated ones. - Brief etymology of the MOST important one--including the important root word and prefixes/suffixes - Explain the Idea/terms as used in paper topic II. BODY SECTION: presents the core of the thesis, the reasoning and key points of opposing views (In next 3-5 Body Paragraphs--1 for more detailed explanation of thesis and 1 for each key point+reason and evidence with sources cited. Each paragraph should start with one of the key points that supports the thesis, followed by the reasoning, cited evidence and any personal comment to connect to next point/papragraph ) - !st paragraph in body section: Explanation of topic/issue in more depth than in intro. - Presentation of clear reasoning that supports thesis - Cited evidence to support reasoning - Personal commentary as needed to interpret and make connections that create unity - 2nd paragraph in body section: Statement of 1st main point that supports the thesis, reasoning/evidence, etc. - 3rd paragraph in body section: Statement of 2nd main point that supports the thesis, reasoning/evidence, etc. - 4th paragraph in body section: Statement of 3rd main point that supports the thesis, reasoning/evidence, etc. - last paragraph in body section: (ANY key opposing points/evidence and why they don't stand up to the thesis) - Personal commentary as needed to interpret and make connections to conclusion. III. CONCLUSION SECTION: sums up the findings that prove the thesis (In Final 2-3 paragraphs--with sources cited) - Restates key thesis points, reasoning and evidence - Refers to opening points or examples to close the "circle" of writing - Personal comment that wraps up the thesis and writer's thinking - Ending that suggests a brief remedy, next "step" or "take-away" regarding the issues in the thesis IV. WORKS CITED: (FYI: EasyBib-citation maker to see how entry should look) On a separate page, headed WORKS CITED, an MLA listing of the 3-5 sources actually appearing in paper. Each source can be used more than once in the paper, but needs only one listing in the Works Cited. The Works Cited listing DOES NOT number the entries. About Signal Phrases and In-text Citing: - "Signal phrases mark the boundaries between source material and your own words; they can also tell readers why a source is trustworthy. . . . "Readers should not have to guess why a quotation appears in your paper. If you use another writer's words, you must explain how they contribute to your point. It's a good idea to embed a quotation--especially a long one--between sentences of your own. In addition to introducing it with a signal phrase, follow it with interpretive comments that link the quotation to your paper's argument." (Diana Hacker, The Bedford Handbook. Macmillan, 2005) - Sample signal phrases: Signal phrases handout - Chancellor Chase observed that "The Army is . . .." - According to Frito-Lay research, women snack only 14 percent . . . - The candidate insisted that the tariff must be reduced to a "competitive basis" and taxes . . . - Undernourished children have long been India’s scourge--“a national shame,” in the words of its prime minister . . .. - "If we mention the author's name in the text in a signal phrase ('According to Richard Lanham . . .'), then the parenthetical citation includes the page number only (18). If we use more than one work by an author, and we have identified his or her name in the text, our parenthetical citation must include a short title of the work cited and a page number (Style 18)." (Scott Rice, Right Words, Right Places. Wadsworth, 1993) - GENERAL CITING BASICS MORE NOTES ON WRITING THE PAPER: The topic sentence/focus of each paragraph should have at least one supporting reason and at least one cite for outside authoritative evidence to PROVE the claim in the paragraph's topic sentence/focus. The style of diction (word choice) for these papers should be semi-formal to formal, so there should be no careless use of "you," slang or ungrammatical usages for stylistic reasons, unless they are part of quoted material. Acronyms should be written out the first time they are presented, with the abbreviation in parenthesis just after it. There after, the acronym can be presented alone. Any technical terms or words used in some unusual way should be Italicized or placed in quotes, and if needed, briefly defined. All writing that is not the writer's own comment, observation, explanation, etc. MUST have a clear credit to the source, even when the writer is agreeing with or restating those ideas. Quoted material should constitute no more than 10% of the total wording in the paper, because this kind of writing should be primarily the writer's own thinking, supported by authoritative sources, not a "collage" of others' words. Any general information that can be be found in at least 3 outside sources, i.e. common knowledge----like, Pearl Harbor was attacked December 7, 1941--doesn't need a citation, but should be clarified by wording such as, it is commonly known...or ...as most everyone understands... or clearly, Subheadings may be used to clearly guide the reader through the sections of the paper, but should be content/subject focused, not just "Introduction, Body," etc. In-text cites, either, in the sentence wording or in parenthesis, must appear just as they are listed on the Works Cited page. That is, a source, "Smith" or "cnn.com," in an in-text citing, must be listed in the Works Cited by alphabetical order under that name. For any additional details or guidance for specific listings, usages, etc. please consult a current writer's guide, a verifiable instructor produced web page or web sites ending in .edu, .org, or gov. Beware of using/relying on information from any web site with a heavy advertising presence, or that my require registration or payment of any kind. Sources are only as useful as they are authoritative and credible. © copyright ~ Jane Thielsen ~2011~ all rights reserved

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rgeoapi connects R to the GéoAPI, in order to get information about french geography. rgeoapi is now on CRAN This package requests informations from the French GeoAPI inside R — https://api.gouv.fr/explorer/geoapi/ Developped by Etalab, with La Poste, l’INSEE and OpenStreetMap, the GeoAPI API is a JSON interface designed to make requests on the French geographic database. rgeoapi was developped to facilitate your geographic projects by giving you access to these informations straight inside R. With rgeoapi, you can get any coordinate, size and population of a French city, to be used in your maps. For an optimal compatibility, all the names (especially outputs) used in this package are the same as the ones used in the GeoAPI. Please note that this package works only with French cities. Install this package directly in R : How rgeoapi works The version 1.0.0 works with eleven functions. Which are : - `ComByCode` Get City by INSEE Code - `ComByCoord` Get City by Coordinates - `ComByDep` Get Cities by Department - `ComByName` Get City by Name - `ComByPostal` Get City by Postal Code - `ComByReg` Get Cities by Region - `DepByCode` Get Department by INSEE Code - `DepByName` Get Department by Name - `DepByReg` Get Departments by Region - `RegByCode` Get Region by INSEE Code - `RegByName` Get Region by Name How the functions are constructed In the GeoAPI, you can request for “Commune”, “Département” or “Région”. All the functions are constructed using this terminology : AByB. - A being the output you need -- Com for "Commune" (refering to French cities), Dep for Département (for Department) and Reg for Région. - B being the request parameter -- Code for INSEE Code, Coord for Coordinates (WGS-84), Dep for Department, Name for name, Postal for Postal Code and Reg for Region.

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The French Canadian Press in the United States The French Canadian press in the United States has not received sufficient attention. The most exhaustive accounts were published more than half a century ago and intertwine factual and moral considerations. To shed light on this ethnic press, this paper is divided into four sections. The first section describes the general features of the French Canadian press and how it differed from other francophone American presses. The following three sections sketch the history of the Franco-American press to show how its evolution followed the standard trajectory of other American ethnic presses from a pioneer era and a relatively influential period to its eventual demise. Despite its failure, much is to be gained from studying this phenomenon in order to better understand the history of French Canadians who migrated in massive numbers to the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and refine our comprehension of the particular dynamics of the American ethnic press in general, and the Franco-American press in particular. Warren, J-P. (2016). « The French Canadian Press in the United States », The Journal of Modern Periodical Studies, vol. 7, no 1-2, p. 74-95.

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Whether you have the yard space or not, it’s nice to include plants inside your home; however, many people are unsure of how to properly take care of their plants. A houseplant guide is important for learning how to maintain your plants. Indoor plants offer more than aesthetics to the space they’re in. Many indoor plants have major health benefits to consider as well. Maintaining healthy indoor plants can be tricky, however, especially if you’re away for long periods of time. It’s actually quite easy to kill a houseplant if you don’t know what you’re doing. That doesn’t mean you should shy away from them. If you’re looking to add some plants to the inside of your home, we have compiled this houseplant guide to provide a few good indoor houseplant options and tips for keeping them alive. Houseplant Options to Get You Started - Chinese Evergreen - Golden Phothos - Snake Plant - Heartleaf Philodendron - Peace Lily - Dracaena Office Plant - Lucky Bamboo Your Houseplant Guide 1Pick the Right Plant for Each Room As mentioned, many plants have health benefits and can even boost your mood. That is why when considering a houseplant guide you should think about where you’ll put the plant before purchasing it. What you would put in your office may not be the same plant you’d want in your bedroom. Living plants help to reduce carbon dioxide and fill the air with fresh oxygen. If you’re feeling tired and dragging to do some work, instead of buying coffee every morning, invest in a plant for your office. The added oxygen will give your mind a boost. READ MORE: How to Detoxify Your Home’s Air with Plants 2Clean Your Plants Everything inside your home will gather dust at some point, your plants included. It just happens. When a layer of dust forms on the leaves, it limits the amount of sunlight they can absorb. Not only that, but the dust can turn into a breeding ground for insects. As part of your regular cleaning routine, ensure that you add your plants to the list. Start with the leaves, gently wiping them down with a damp cloth. Be sure to hold the leaf, so you don’t break it. You can also fill a spray bottle with water and give the leaves a spritz to remove the dust. 3Prune Your Plants We often know that outdoor plants need pruning. Did you know that you should do the same to your indoor plants too? Any dead leaves or flowers on indoor plants can attract insects and even mold. So, every now and then you should trim away any dead parts of the plant. Plus, removing dead flowers will help encourage new ones to bloom. Timing is key for pruning. Make sure that all the buds have flowered, or you could prune off unopened buds. Flowers that are wilting and dead looking can be gently removed. The same goes for branches and leaves. Cut the branch as close to the stem, but not flush against the trunk. READ MORE: Natural Air Cleaning Tips 4Know When to Water Knowing when and how often you should water your houseplants can be challenging. You don’t want to over water them and end up flooding the plant. However, you also don’t want to limit their water supply and dry the plant up. Each plant will have its own water requirements to adhere to. Rather than having a set schedule, water on an as-needed basis. Push into the top inch of the soil to test it. If it feels dry, then it’s ready for watering. If you’re ever unsure, it’s best to err on the side of caution and not water it. If you’re going to be away for a while and can’t get anyone to come water your plants, there are a few tricks you can do. You can make a small greenhouse with a damp cloth and a plastic bag. The moisture will collect in the bag and drip back onto the plant. 5Watch for Diseases Even indoor plants can succumb to diseases. If you notice a plant that looks sick, you’ll want to remove the affected part to prevent it from spreading. Also, isolate it, so you avoid the spread of the disease to everything else. However, if the plant is too sick, then it’s best to get rid of it and destroy the plant. Pay attention to a few symptoms that could indicate a sick plant. If you notice a white fuzz forming on the plant, it’s telling you that it’s overwatered. Many diseases on indoor plants come from insects. So, just as it’s important to watch for pests and bugs in your yard, so too should you pay attention to any bugs flying around your plants. READ MORE: Houseplant Safety for Pets Indoor plants offer so much to any room that you put them in. It can be easy to forget about them though. So, make sure as part of your houseplant guide you put them in areas that are visible to remind yourself to maintain them. Keep track of when you water and use fertilizer to prevent overdoing it. After a while, you’ll notice that your indoor plants won’t just make your house or office look nice, but they will also boost the smell of the room and feel you have when you’re in the room. Plants have a powerful impact on humans. Taking care of your plants will allow you to benefit the most from them. WANT TO READ MORE? 💖 NEWSLETTER: DAILY READS IN YOUR INBOX 💖 Sign up to receive our picks for the best things to do, see and buy so you can relax and focus on more important tasks! Let us help you be the best version of yourself you can be! GET MORE FROM DAILY MOM, PARENTS PORTAL Newsletter: Daily Mom delivered to you Instagram: @DailyMomOfficial | @DailyMomTravel | @BestProductsClub

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This guide assumes that you are already familiar with concepts inherent in native programming and in Android development. This section provides a high-level explanation of how the NDK works. The Android NDK is a set of tools allowing you to embed C or C++ (“native code”) into your Android apps. The ability to use native code in Android apps can be particularly useful to developers who wish to do one or more of the following: - Port their apps between platforms. - Reuse existing libraries, or provide their own libraries for reuse. - Increase performance in certain cases, particularly computationally intensive ones like games. How it Works This section introduces the main components used in building a native application for Android, and goes on to describe the process of building and packaging. You should have an understanding of the following components as you build your app: - Native shared libraries: The NDK builds these libraries, or .sofiles, from your C/C++ source code. - Native static libraries: The NDK can also build static libraries, or .afiles, which you can link into other libraries. - Java Native Interface (JNI): The JNI is the interface via which the Java and C++ components talk to one another. This guide assumes knowledge of the JNI; for information about it, consult the Java Native Interface Specification. - Application Binary Interface (ABI): The ABI defines exactly how your app's machine code is expected to interact with the system at runtime. The NDK builds .sofiles against these definitions. Different ABIs correspond to different architectures: The NDK includes ABI support for 32-bit ARM, AArch64, x86, and x86-64. For more information, see ABI Management. - Manifest: If you are writing an app with no Java component to it, you must declare the NativeActivityclass in the manifest. Native Activities and Applications provides more detail on how to do this, under “Using the The general flow for developing a native app for Android is as follows: - Design your app, deciding which parts to implement in Java, and which parts to implement as Note: While it is possible to completely avoid Java, you are likely to find the Android Java framework useful for tasks including controlling the display and UI. - Create an Android app Project as you would for any other Android project. - If you are writing a native-only app, declare the AndroidManifest.xml. For more information, see the Native Activities and Applications. - Create an Android.mkfile describing the native library, including name, flags, linked libraries, and source files to be compiled in the "JNI" directory. - Optionally, you can create an Application.mkfile configuring the target ABIs, toolchain, release/debug mode, and STL. For any of these that you do not specify, the following default values are used, respectively: - ABI: all non-deprecated ABIs - Toolchain: Clang - Mode: Release - STL: system - Place your native source under the project's - Use ndk-build to compile the native ( - Build the Java component, producing the executable - Package everything into an APK file, containing .dex, and other files needed for your app to run. Native Activities and Applications The Android SDK provides a helper class, NativeActivity, that allows you to write a completely native activity. NativeActivity handles the communication between the Android framework and your native code, so you do not have to subclass it or call its methods. All you need to do is declare your application to be native in your AndroidManifest.xml file, and begin creating your native application. An Android application using NativeActivity still runs in its own virtual machine, sandboxed from other applications. You can therefore still access Android framework APIs through the JNI. In certain cases, however–such as for sensors, input events, and assets–the NDK provides native interfaces that you can use instead of having to call across the JNI. For more information about such support, see Android NDK Native APIs. Regardless of whether or not you are developing a native activity, we recommend that you create your projects with the traditional Android build tools. Doing so helps ensure building and packaging of Android applications with the correct structure. The Android NDK provides you with two choices to implement your native activity: native_activity.hheader defines the native version of the NativeActivityclass. It contains the callback interface and data structures that you need to create your native activity. Because the main thread of your application handles the callbacks, your callback implementations must not be blocking. If they block, you might receive ANR (Application Not Responding) errors because your main thread is unresponsive until the callback returns. android_native_app_glue.hfile defines a static helper library built on top of the native_activity.hinterface. It spawns another thread, which handles things such as callbacks or input events in an event loop. Moving these events to a separate thread prevents any callbacks from blocking your main thread. <ndk_root>/sources/android/native_app_glue/android_native_app_glue.c source is also available, allowing you to modify the implementation. For more information on how to use this static library, examine the native-activity sample application and its documentation. Further reading is also available in the comments in the Using the native_activity.h interface To implement a native activity with the - Create a jni/directory in your project's root directory. This directory stores all of your native code. - Declare your native activity in the - Create a file for your native activity, and implement the function named in the ANativeActivity_onCreatevariable. The app calls this function when the native activity starts. This function, analogous to mainin C/C++, receives a pointer to an ANativeActivitystructure, which contains function pointers to the various callback implementations that you need to write. Set the applicable callback function pointers in ANativeActivity->callbacksto the implementations of your callbacks. - Set the ANativeActivity->instancefield to the address of any instance of specific data that you want to use. - Implement anything else that you want your activity to do upon starting. - Implement the rest of the callbacks that you set in ANativeActivity->callbacks. For more information on when the callbacks are called, see Managing the Activity Lifecycle. - Develop the rest of your application. - Create an Android.mk filein the jni/directory of your project to describe your native module to the build system. For more information, see Android.mk. - Once you have an Android.mkfile, compile your native code using the - Build and install your Android project as usual. If your native code is in jni/directory, the build script automatically packages the .sofile(s) built from it into the APK. Because your application has no Java code, set <application android:label="@string/app_name" android:hasCode="false"> You must set the android:name attribute of the activity tag to <activity android:name="android.app.NativeActivity" android:label="@string/app_name"> android:value attribute of the meta-data tag specifies the name of the shared library containing the entry point to the application (such as C/C++ main), omitting the lib prefix and .so suffix from the library name. <meta-data android:name="android.app.lib_name" android:value="native-activity" /> <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /> </intent-filter> </activity> </application> </manifest> $ cd <path>/<to>/<project> $ <ndk>/ndk-build Additional sample code To download NDK samples, see NDK Samples.

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Our collection of children's picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) is available to the public. You can use the Search Tool below to find titles. *Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL recommendation.* See our related readings page for suggested tools for evaluating books. You can find titles by typing a keyword into the search bar below (e.g. adoption, birthday, holidays, princess, dinosaur, etc.), or by selecting one or a combo of filters on the left. First time here? Start here! 4 matching booksShow Filters After Mama takes a job in Chicago during World War II, Ada Ruth stays with Grandma but misses her mother who loves her more than rain and snow. A fifteen-year-old soldier in World War II meets a sweet young girl in the Philippines who helps him remember what he is fighting for as he helps her and others of her village avoid starvation, and many years later she returns his kindness "In this picture book, a young girl and her family are forced to flee their village to escape the civil war that has engulfed Syria and make their way toward freedom in Europe"--|cProvided by publisher A young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the U.S. border. They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn't know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. Sometimes she sees soldiers. She sleeps, dreaming that she is always on the move, although sometimes they are forced to stop and her father has to earn more money before they can continue their journey

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PUBLISHED19 Mar 2019 The Will To Fly Enriching students’ understanding of human experiences. The Will To Fly is about the desire to stay true to to your heart and achieve the goals you’ve always dreamt about. It is a story about a woman who maintained a loyalty to her younger self, by conquering the ambitious goals she set with a fire she never let die down. The film is a historic portrayal of the life and tumultuous sporting career of Lydia Lassila, an Australian aerial ski champion. With a classical story construction of the ‘hero’s journey’, showcasing the spectacles of Lydia’s entire career in 99 minutes, Lydia inspires us all with The Will To Fly. The Will To Fly is currently offering a special rate for school screenings with a Q&A with Lydia Lassila. The film also has a downloadable ATOM Study Guide for students in Years 7-12. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in English, Health and Physical Education, Media, and Sport and Recreation. In addition, the G-rated film is also appropriate for Primary School Students studying PDHPE and English. As a curriculum resource, the film expands and enriches students’ understanding of human experiences. Students can discuss how individuals with commitment and vision such as Lydia can make a difference in their life, in their chosen field and in the lives of others. The Will to Fly also offers students the opportunity to develop a knowledge and understanding of the physical, mental, social and emotional health benefits of embracing sport as a participant and/or a spectator. In particular, the film endorses gender equality and the need for level playing fields, and encourages conversations about empowerment. |Year Level||Primary and Secondary (study guide available for Years 7-10)| |Subjects||PDHPE, English, Media, Sport & Recreation| |Topics||Sport, Australian society, Aerial skiing, Women in sport, Gender perspectives, Wellbeing, Exploring risk, Personal goals, Discovery, Journey, Belonging, Resilience|

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Sometimes I notice a relationship between two words that do not in fact share etymology or morphology. When I make such a connection, I worry about whether I should persist in using it to help me increase my vocabulary or avoid using it because it doesn’t reflect reality. Today’s example involves noticing that both verwirrt and geirrt have »irr« inside them. To me, the meanings of “confused” and “mistaken” seem quite similar and so it made sense for these words to have a common morpheme. That is not, however, the case. The »irr« in verwirrt comes from the stem wirr which also means “confused,” while the »irr« in geirrt comes from irre, which means “mad” (in the sense of “insane”), via the verb irren – “to err.” According to Duden online, the roots of these two words are also different. So, what do I do with this discovery? It feels helpful to me to see them as related and yet I worry what confusion it might bring or what mistakes I might be led to make, given the relationship exists in my head and not in the structure or history of German. And mistakes are probably very likely as according to dict.cc, there are 371 words which have »irr« as a component and 61 of these contain »wirr.« Many of the words with »irr« are unrelated to the concepts of confusion and error, for example, das Geschirr – “dishes” – while others like der Irrgarten – “maze” – do share some components. And the same goes for »wirr.« Das Geschwirr is a “buzz” or a “whirring” sound, while wirrköpfig means “muddleheaded.” My sense is, therefore, that I should tread somewhat carefully when the commonalities I notice comprise only a few letters/sounds – as in the case of »irr« – while feeling on firmer ground with those such as (der) Zufall appearing in the adjective zufällig – in this latter case, it is no “accident” that “coincidence” and “random” share components.

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In our culture it is very easy to consume toxic foods that are man made and offer NO NUTRIENTS in return to nourish baby during these critical times. Also beware of your chemical exposure to foods or drugs while with child! 80,000 approved FDA chemicals in our food and environment are turning up in counts of over 200 in umbilical cords of newborns! Never before in history have our infants been under assault with heavy metal chemicals that can cause brain inflammation and auto immune diseases! We must protect our skin, hair and sustenance with only life giving nutrients during this critical time. All the way until about 2006-2010 no health professional would advise pregnant moms to get a vaccine. NOW, even though the package insert warns there are no studies proving safety or efficacy; they are pushing this toxic cocktail on the infant in utero! Some experts state spontaneous abortion went up over 4000% since the practice began! Then upon minutes after birth they try to inject vaccines for sexually transmitted disease (Hepatitis B) on our babies. (what?@#$#@?) Vaccines historically are only effective perhaps 10 years! This makes NO SENSE! Then they push baby formula made from GMO SOY and HIGH FRUCTOSE corn syrup on our babies! (Known hormone/endocrine disruptor!) Please consider how we made it for thousands of years having healthy babies without these new mandates perpetuated by pharmaceutical companies making 100's of billions of $$$ as we obey! Save the children!. Breastfeed or make your own organic baby formula to supplement. Currently, there is a escalation of obesity, cancer, diabetes, autism and learning disabilities in our young USA children in crisis. There is a sharp rise since they tripled the vaccine schedule for kids in the mid 1990's. We cannot blame bad family genes on this issue of preventable chronic diseases! More drugs will never be the answer but rather eliminating the causes that exacerbate inflammatory conditions! For healthy babies in utero and while nursing: BEWARE and Do NOT fall for food choices containing: - Artificial colorings or flavors or chemicals - GMO foods for adults or GMO soy baby formula's - High fructose corn syrup - White sugar, white flour products - Hydrogenated/partial oils - Animal products fed steroids and growth hormones or GMO feed! - Soda's; 'phosphoric acid' leaches the calcium from bones = brittle bones! - DUH!! Say NO to alcohol and tobacco and most ALL DRUGS! - If it was a baby I was carrying: NO chemicals, drugs or vaccines of any kind containing neurotoxins and carcinogens and other inflammatory ingredients for baby in utero like those in the FLU vaccine! Guess what??? If its NOT good for baby, then it is NOT good for us either! Keeping it simple!

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Nouns are words that name people, places, things, ideas and states of being. Certain nouns refer to things that are able to be counted for example, ten toys. Some nouns refer to uncountable things, for example, air, research, happiness, snow, hair, traffic and so on. There are different types of nouns: - common nouns (the vast majority) are the names of classes of things and begin with a lower-case letter, for example, boy, girl, name, verb, biography, computer. - proper nouns name specific people, places, things and acronyms and begin with a capital letter, for example, Cathy Freeman, Sydney Harbour, Olympic Games. - abstract nouns name concepts or things that cannot be seen, for example, democracy, hate, joy, honesty, hypothesis. - collective nouns name groups of things, for example, team, family, committee, flock, bunch. - mass nouns name things that you cannot count, for example, gold, milk, sunshine, furniture, traffic, information. A noun group is a group of words relating to, or building on, a noun. Noun groups usually consist of a pointer (the, a, an, this, that, these, those, my, your, his, her, its, our, mum‘s, Mr Smith’s) plus one or more adjectives or adverbs and are an important language resource for building up descriptions. These should be taught to be seen as a chunk of information rather than a list or string of individual words. In factual texts, noun groups contain the ‘content’ across key learning areas. In literary texts they develop creative expression, important for building the story world, characterisation and imagery. The dry, windswept, desert region has an extremely low level of rainfall. (Noun groups both before – pre-modifiers, and after the noun – post-modifier, need to be explored). Noun groups can also have adjectival phrases or adjectival clauses embedded in them: - the regions with low rainfalls are uninhabited. ('with low rainfalls' is an adjectival phrase). - the regions which have higher rainfalls are inhabited. ('which have higher rainfalls' is an adjectival clause). View noun groups on YouTube. A pronoun stands in place of a noun, noun group or name. The purpose of pronouns is to avoid repetition and make sentences easier to understand. Pronouns generally need to have a clear reference, referring to something that has been identified or named elsewhere in the text. Pronouns generally refer back to words mentioned earlier in the text; however, sometimes a pronoun can be used and referenced to a word that is forward in the text. For example: - Lucy may seem shy but she loves making friends (refers back). - although it was late, the train finally arrived (refers forwards). Pronouns help to give cohesion to a text and prevent it from becoming repetitious. An informal rule in the use of pronouns is sometimes taught as ;a pronoun is used no more than twice before the noun is again named. A second noun in the line requires the first noun to be repeated before the next use of another pronoun.' This is important in less sophisticated writing. (Showing a direct reference line controls confusion). Different types of pronouns include: - personal: I, we, he, she, you, it, they, me, us, her, him, them (nominative case: subject of the sentence, objective case: object of the sentence, or possessive case: see below) Personal pronouns can indicate a singular or plural noun, which person the pronoun is and the gender. This information is often stated in a simple pronoun. - possessive: mine, ours, yours, hers, his, its, theirs - reflexive: myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, themselves - demonstrative: this, that, these, those - indefinite: each, any, some, all, one, none, anybody, anything, nobody, nothing, (indefinite negative pronouns) somebody, something, everybody - relative: who, whom, whose, which, that - interrogative: who, which, what, whose, whom. - reciprocal: each other, one another

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The Cambridge Dictionary provides different definitions of waking as a noun and as an adjective. The noun meaning relates to the moment of waking. In this context, the word is used as an adjective, and so the adjectival definition is relevant: used to refer to a period of time or an experience during which you are awake. According to this definition, waking means marked by full consciousness, awareness, and alertness. To quote further from the link: This adjective most often occurs in phrases such as “every waking moment", “every waking hour", “every waking breath", and so on, the sense being roughly “at all times". Such phrases are often used together with possessives, such as in “her every waking moment" or “my every waking thought". So, waking thoughts refers to anything that you think about when you are not asleep. The expression can be used to describe what you are always thinking about: this might be relevant in this context, but it is more likely to simply be a contrast with the reference earlier in the paragraph to in his dreams.

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Audio therapy is the clinical use of recorded sound, music, or spoken words, or a combination thereof, recorded on a physical medium such as a compact disc (CD), or a digital file, including those formatted as MP3, which patients or participants play on a suitable device, and to which they listen with intent to experience a subsequent beneficial physiological, psychological, or social effect. Synthesis of multiple disciplines Audio therapy synthesises elements from a number of discrete areas of research and practice, including receptive music therapy, bibliotherapy, creative visualization, guided imagery, guided meditation, sound healing, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Receptive music therapy The term "receptive music therapy" denotes a process by which patients or participants listen to music with specific intent to therapeutically benefit; and is a term used by therapists to distinguish it from "active music therapy" by which patients or participants engage in producing vocal or instrumental music. Audio therapy inherits from receptive music therapy the process by which listening to sound benefits a listener, but departs from it in three significant ways. Firstly, whilst receptive music therapy provides musical sound, to which the patient or participant listens, audio therapy also uses other kinds of acoustic content, including the spoken word and ambient noise. Secondly, practitioners of receptive music therapy allege that its effective application requires the presence of a therapist, emphasizing the relationship between the client and the therapist, between the client and the music, and between the client and therapist interacting with the music. In contrast and by distinction, audio therapy is provided as a self-service modality, through which the listener is purported to experience a therapeutic benefit in consequence to listening, without input or guidance form a third party. Bibliotherapy is the process by which a patient or participant reads fiction, poetry, and other creative with intent to experience a therapeutic outcome that manifests most commonly as the relief of psychological pain or mental distress as well as an increased introspective insight into himself or herself. Bibliotherapy is often situated in a context where it is one of multiple interventions, and is usually grounded in a specific psychotherapeutic or psychological discipline. One such discipline is cognitive behavioral therapy. Unlike music therapy, but similar to audio therapy, the most important aspect of cognitive bibliotherapy is the content of the recording, and not the individual interactions with a therapist. Creative visualization is the cognitive process of purposefully generating visual mental imagery, with eyes open or closed, simulating or recreating visual perception, in order to maintain, inspect, and transform those images, consequently modifying their associated emotions or feelings, with intent to experience a subsequent beneficial physiological, psychological, or social effect, such as expediting the healing of wounds to the body, minimizing physical pain, alleviating psychological pain including anxiety, sadness, and low mood, improving self-esteem or self-confidence, and enhancing the capacity to cope when interacting with others. Creative visualization can be facilitated in person by a teacher or practitioner, or provided on recorded media. Whether provided in person, or delivered via media, as it is in audio therapy the verbal instruction consists of words, often pre-scripted, intended to direct the participant's attention to intentionally generated visual mental images that precipitate a positive psychologic and physiologic response, incorporating increased mental and physical relaxation and decreased mental and physical stress. Guided imagery is a mind-body intervention by which a trained practitioner or teacher helps a participant or patient to evoke and generate mental images that simulate or re-create the sensory perception of sights, sounds, tastes, smells, movements, and images associated with touch, such as texture, temperature, and pressure, as well as imaginative or mental content that the participant or patient experiences as defying conventional sensory categories, and that may precipitate strong emotions or feelings. in the absence of the stimuli to which correlating sensory receptors are receptive. The practitioner or teacher may facilitate this process in person to an individual or a group. Alternatively, the participant or patient may follow guidance provided by a recording of spoken instruction that may be accompanied by music or sound, as it is in audio therapy. Guided meditation is a process by which one or more participants meditate in response to the guidance provided by a trained practitioner or teacher, either in person or via a written text, sound recording, video, or audiovisual media comprising music or verbal instruction, or a combination of both. Audio therapy facilitates guided meditation for therapeutic benefit through the provision of recordings. The term "guided meditation" is most commonly used in clinical practice, scholarly research, and scientific investigation to signify an aggregate of integrated techniques. The most common and frequently used combination or synthesis comprises meditation music and receptive music therapy, guided imagery, relaxation, some form of meditative practice, and journaling. Less commonly, hypnosis, or hypnotherapeutic procedures are included as part of the multifaceted intervention denoted by the term "guided meditation". Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that can be delivered effectively to a range of patients through the provision of audio recordings, as it is in audio therapy, which provide the patient with instruction pertaining to the management of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Audio therapy is predicated on the hypothesis that attentively listening to recorded sound, such as music, spoken words, or ambient noise, affects thoughts and feelings, which in turn affects brain electrochemistry and body physiology. It may therefore be considered as a mind-body intervention, as defined by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). The NCCIH defines mind–body interventions as those practices that "employ a variety of techniques designed to facilitate the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms", and include guided imagery, guided meditation and forms of meditative activity, hypnosis and hypnotherapy, prayer, as well as art therapy, music therapy, and dance therapy. Although the means by which the mind affects the body is largely unknown, it is explained to a significant degree by psychoneuroimmunology. The fundamental hypothesis of psychoneuroimmunology is concisely that the way people think and how they feel directly influences the electrochemistry of the brain and central nervous system, which in turn has a significant influence on the immune system and its capacity to defend the body against disease infection, and ill health. Meanwhile, the immune system affects brain chemistry and its electrical activity, which in turn has a considerable effect on the way we think and feel. Because of this interplay, a person's negative thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, such as pessimistic predictions about the future, regretful ruminations upon the past, low self-esteem, and depleted belief in self-determination and a capacity to cope can undermine the efficiency of the immune system, increasing vulnerability to ill health. Simultaneously, the biochemical indicators of ill health monitored by the immune system feeds back to the brain via the nervous system, which exacerbates thoughts and feelings of a negative nature. That is to say, we feel and think of ourselves as unwell, which contributes to physical conditions of ill health, which in turn cause us to feel and think of ourselves as unwell. However, the interplay between cognitive and emotional, neurological, and immunological processes also provides for the possibility of positively influencing the body and enhancing physical health by changing the way we think and feel. For example, people who are able to deconstruct the cognitive distortions that precipitate perpetual pessimism and hopelessness and further develop the capacity to perceive themselves as having a significant degree of self-determination and capacity to cope are more likely to avoid and recover from ill health more quickly than those who remain engaged in negative thoughts and feelings. - Blenkiron, P., Coping with depression: A pilot study to assess the efficacy of a self-help audio cassette. British Journal of General Practice, Vol. 51, 2001, pp366-370. - Suresh, B. S., De Oliveira Jr, G. S., and Suresh, S., The effect of audio therapy to treat postoperative pain in children undergoing major surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatric surgery international, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2015, pp197-201. - Rodriguez, R. M., Taylor, O., Shah, S., and Urstein, S., A Prospective, Randomized Trial in the Emergency Department of Suggestive Audio-Therapy under Deep Sedation for Smoking Cessation. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2007, p79. - Zaini, N., Latip, M. F. A., Omar, H., Mazalan, L., and Norhazman, H., Online personalized audio therapy recommender based on community ratings. In Computer Applications and Industrial Electronics (ISCAIE), IEEE Symposium, 2012. - Bruscia, K. (1998). Defining music therapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona. - Grocke, D., and Wigram, T. (2007). Receptive methods in music therapy: Techniques and clinical applications for music therapy clinicians, educators, and students. London, England: Jessica Kingsley, 2007. - Kämpfe, J., Sedlmeier, P., and Renkewitz, F., The impact of background music on adult listeners: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Music, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2011, pp424-448. - Morris, C., The use of self-service technologies in stress management: A pilot project. Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers. Saint Catherine University, St. Paul, MN, 2012. - Carter, E., Pre-packaged guided imagery for stress reduction: Initial results. Counselling, Psychotherapy and Health, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2006, pp27-39. - Naik, M. N. S., Effect of guided imagery on life style among alcoholics. Sinhgad e-Journal of Nursing, Vol. 11, 2013. - Dunn, J. A., An examination of effectiveness of a sleep induction audiotape in conjunction with a standardized behavioral treatment protocol on anxiety, depression, psychosocial functioning, and sleep among a clinical population with insomnia. Doctoral Dissertation, Florida State University, Tallahassee. FL, USA, 2002. - Lehr, F., Bibliotherapy. Journal of Reading, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1981, pp76-79 - McKenna, G., Hevey, D., & Martin, E., Patients' and providers' perspectives on bibliotherapy in primary care. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Vol. 17, 2010, pp497-509. - Campbell, L. F., and Smith, T. P., Integrating self-help into psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology In Session, Vol. 59, 2003, pp177–186. - Cuijpers, P., Donker, T., van Straten, A., Li, J., and Andersson, G., Is guided self-help as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy for depression and anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative outcome studies. Psychological Medicine, Vol. 40, No. 12, 2010, pp1943-1957. - Scogin, F., Hamblin, D., & Beutler, L., Bibliotherapy for depressed older adults: A self- help alternative. The Gerontologist, Vol 27, 1987 pp383–387. - Isaac, A. R., and Marks, D. F. (1994). Individual differences in mental imagery experience: Developmental changes and specialization. British Journal of Psychology, Vol. 85, 1994, pp479–500. - McKelvie, S. J. (1995). The VVIQ as a psychometric test of individual differences in visual imagery vividness: A critical quantitative review and plea for direction. Journal of Mental Imagery, Vol. 19, Nos. 3-4,1995, pp1–106. - McAvinue, L. P., and Robertson, I. H., Measuring visual imagery ability: A review. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2007, pp191–211. - Cocude, M., and Denis, M., Measuring the temporal characteristics of visual images. Journal of Mental Imagery, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1988, pp89–101. - Kosslyn, S. M., Image and mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. - Kosslyn, S. M. (1987). Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres—A computational approach. Psychological Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, 1987, pp148–175. - Kosslyn, S. M., Thompson, W. L., and Ganis, G., The case for mental imagery. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2006. - Marr, D. C., Vision: A computational investigation into the human representation and processing of visual information. New York: Freeman, 1982. - Kosslyn, S. M., Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres—A computational approach. Psychological Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, 1987, pp148–175. - Cichy, R. M., Heinzle, J., and Haynes, J. -D., Imagery and perception share cortical representations of content and location. Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2012, pp372–380. - Slotnick, S. D., Thompson, W. L., and Kosslyn, S. M., Visual memory and visual mental imagery recruit common control and sensory regions of the brain. Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2012, pp14–20. - Lang, P. J., Levin, D. N., Miller, G. A., and Kozak, M. J., Fear behavior, fear imagery, and the psychophysiology of emotion: The problem of affective response integration. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 92, No. 3,1983, pp276–306. - Holmes, E. A., Coughtrey, A. E., and Connor, A., Looking at or through rose-tinted glasses? Imagery perspective and positive mood. Emotion, Vol. 8, No. 6, 2008, pp875–879. - Holmes, E. A., and Mathews, A., Mental imagery in emotion and emotional disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2010, pp349–362. - Wientjes, K. A., Mind-body techniques in wound healing. Ostomy/wound management, Vol 48, 11, 2002, pp62-67. - Baird, C. L., and Sands, L., A pilot study of the effectiveness of guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation to reduce chronic pain and mobility difficulties of osteoarthritis. Pain Management Nursing, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2004, pp97-104. - Schaffer, S. D., and Yucha, C. B., Relaxation and Pain Management: The relaxation response can play a role in managing chronic and acute pain. American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 104, No. 8, 2004, pp75-82. - Syrjala, K. L., Donaldson, G. W., Davis, M. W., Kippes, M. E., and Carr, J. E., Relaxation and imagery and cognitive-behavioral training reduce pain during cancer treatment: a controlled clinical trial. Pain, Vol. 63, No. 2, 1995, pp189-198. - Turner, J. A., and Jensen, M. P., Efficacy of cognitive therapy for chronic low back pain. Pain, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1993, pp169-177. - Manyande, A., Berg, S., Gettins, D., Stanford, S. C., Mazhero, S., Marks, D. F., and Salmon, P., Preoperative rehearsal of active coping imagery influences subjective and hormonal responses to abdominal surgery. Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 57, No. 2, 1995, pp177-182. - Eller, L. S., Guided imagery interventions for symptom management. Annual Review of Nursing Research, Vol.17, No.1, 1999, pp57-84. - Margolin, I., Pierce, J., and Wiley, A. (2011). Wellness Through a Creative Lens: Mediation and Visualization. Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 2011, Vol 30, No. 3, pp234-252. - Rees, B. L., An exploratory study of the effectiveness of a relaxation with guided imagery protocol. Journal of Holistic Nursing, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1993, pp271-276. - the Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., and Mathews, A., Imagery and interpretations in social phobia: Support for the combined cognitive biases hypothesis. Behavior Therapy, Vol. 37, 2006, No. 3, pp223–236. - Libby, L. K., Valenti, G., Pfent, A., and Eibach, R. P., Seeing failure in your life: Imagery perspective determines whether self-esteem shapes reactions to recalled and imagined failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 6, 2011, pp1157– 1173. - Lang P. J., A bio-informational theory of emotional imagery. Psychophysiology, Vo.17, 1979, pp179–192. - Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name? US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. National Institutes of Health. NIH Publication No. D347. Online Version. Retrieved 31 July 2015. - Kosslyn S. M., Ganis G., and Thompson W. L., Neural foundations of imagery. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol. 2, No. 9, 2001, pp635–642. - Zatorre, R. J., Halpern, A. R., and Bouffard, M., Mental reversal of imagined melodies: A role for the posterior parietal cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2010, pp775-789. - Tiggemann, M., and Kemps, E., The phenomenology of food cravings: The role of mental imagery. Appetite, Vol. 45, No. 3, 2005, pp305–313. - Stevenson, R. J., and Case, T. I., Olfactory imagery: A review. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2005, pp244–264. - McAvinue, L. P., and Robertson, I. H., Measuring motor imagery ability: A review. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2008, pp232–251. - Juttner, M., and Rentschler, I., Imagery in multi-modal object learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2002, pp197–198. - Banissy, M. J., Walsh, V., and Ward, J., Enhanced sensory perception in synesthesia. 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An introduction to copyright terms and a discussion of Bridgeman vs Corel This page was last edited on 1 November 2008. Greetings, kind visitors. My name is Marilee Mongello and I created this page in 1999 as a common sense introduction to copyright terms. It also discusses the Bridgeman vs Corel decision and public domain issues. As of the last edit on 1 November 2008, the page remains an accurate assessment of current copyright law. If anything changes, I will of course update this page and note the specific updates in this space. The issue of copyright was most eloquently discussed – and the concept of public domain most eloquently defended – by the historian Thomas Macaulay in 1841. Please read his speeches. update – 1 October 2004: I had to share this news with public domain advocates. I was reading through some of the Congressional speeches regarding copyright and came across this gem – Congresswoman Mary Bono (whose late husband pushed through one of the most disastrous copyright laws ever) was reminded that the US Constitution prohibits perpetual intellectual property rights. Her response? The copyright term should be “forever minus one day”. If that doesn’t offend and alarm you, what will? If she had her way, you wouldn’t be able to read The Bible for free. Please consider this issue when you vote. This is one of the great unreported stories in the US, Europe and now, sadly, Australia. Yes, the Aussies signed (August 2004) a free-trade agreement with the US which required that Australia accept our draconian copyright laws. Definition of terms used on this page – COPYRIGHT – The legal right given to a writer, composer, artist, or a distributor to exclusive production, sale, or distribution of their work. Why does COPYRIGHT exist? It allows artists to profit from their work. Profit, in turn, creates an incentive to work and distribute the work. PUBLIC DOMAIN – the status of publications, products, and processes that are not protected under patent or copyright. All images at this site are in the public domain, and have been for several hundred years. Why does PUBLIC DOMAIN exist? It exists to allow the free exchange of knowledge. If it did not, museums would be allowed to keep images under perpetual copyright, thus denying everyone the opportunity to view, critique, or otherwise examine works. Please note that most 20th century works of art are not yet considered part of the PUBLIC DOMAIN. Click here to view a chart of when works pass into the public domain. FAIR USE – Fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of the copyright owner; in other words, it allows reasonable public access to copyrighted works. The idea is an important part of the English common-law tradition. Why does FAIR USE exist? FAIR USE allows people to use images and written works without compensating the original writer/creator, as long as they act in good faith and do not profit from reproducing the work. Education, parody, criticism, news reporting, etc are all examples of fair use. The idea of FAIR USE has guided the use of reproductions of works for years. In most cases, the lack of commercial gain is necessary for a claim of fair use. If you are a non-profit website designed for educational purposes, you are in the perfect position to claim FAIR USE of images which are already in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. Wm Scrots’s portrait of 13 year old Princess Elizabeth, c1546 Yes, we live in a world where the Scrots portrait of the future Queen Elizabeth I is considered to be under copyright – but Elizabeth’s own letters / speeches / poetry have been in the public domain for centuries…. Funny. For a long time, the FAIR USE doctrine occupied a grey area of law, usually decided on a case-by-case basis. Typically, if someone were profiting from another person’s work which was not in the PUBLIC DOMAIN, it was not considered fair use. Museums typically did not sue non-profit websites which reproduced images for educational purposes. If they had, the court would have forced them to prove a substantial loss of profit from the use. Understandably, such proof would not exist and the court would not look favorably upon such a vindictive case, particularly since the images were already in the public domain. However, on 18th February 1999, the grey area was cleared considerably. Fair Use was no longer a murky legal issue to be debated by webmasters and museums. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York decided the following case – The Bridgeman Art Library, Ltd., Plaintiff, – versus – Corel Corporation, et ano., Defendants. 97 Civ. 6232 (LAK) Their decision was one of the most important copyright decision affecting museums ever filed. The decision was based on both US and UK copyright law. WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE CASE & WHAT WAS IT ABOUT? The Bridgeman Art Library had made photographic reproductions of famous works of art from museums around the world (works already in the public domain.) The Corel Corporation used those reproductions for an educational CD-ROM without paying Bridgeman. Bridgeman claimed copyright infringement. WHAT DID THE COURT DECIDE? The Court ruled that reproductions of images in the public domain are not protected by copyright if the reproductions are slavish or lacking in originality. In their opinion, the Court noted: ”There is little doubt that many photographs, probably the overwhelming majority, reflect at least the modest amount of originality required for copyright protection…. But ‘slavish copying’, although doubtless requiring technical skill and effort, does not qualify.” In other words, an exact reproduction of an image in the public domain does not possess creativity itself. Therefore, the reproduction is not protected under copyright law. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? It’s important to me because it allows me to share the beautiful images at my sites. But it’s important to everyone because it means that museums cannot assert perpetual copyright to works. In other words, museums cannot take a picture of an old painting about to become part of the public domain, claim a new copyright through the reproduction, and do the same process over and over so that the painting never truly enters the public domain. They would simply be taking the work from one private domain to another, thus invalidating the spirit of copyright law. In short, simply transferring an exact image from one medium to another does not create a new copyright. WHAT DOES THE DECISION COVER? This decision concerns only reproductions of two-dimensional works (like paintings or drawings.) Reproductions of three-dimensional works, such as sculpture, possess the necessary creativity for a separate copyright – after all, the photographer must choose an angle to shoot from, lighting, backdrop, etc In other words, he is not merely reproducing an exact image. Also, please note that a non-exact reproduction of an image is not covered. This is an important point – only EXACT COPIES of the paintings are affected by the decision. The decision is based upon the correct premise that ‘slavish copies’ do not possess any originality or creativity of their own, and are thus ineligible for copyright. The Court explained this point further: ”There has been no independent creation, no distinguishable variation from pre-existing works, nothing recognizably the author’s own contribution”…. This merely reflected an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court which stated that “sweat of the brow” (for example, the act of reproducing a work) is not the “creative spark” which deserves copyright. THE ENTIRE TEXT OF THE COURT’S RULING IS AVAILABLE ONLINE at the First Amendment Law Library – I encourage visitors to read the decision. Judge Kaplan is remarkably concise, particularly when compared to other jurists. (Note: the original decision has been replaced by Judge Kaplan’s memorandum opinion after Bridgeman moved for reargument and reconsideration following his summary judgment.) It is interesting to note that many museums, and the American Association of Museums, were unhappy that Bridgeman brought the case against Corel, surmising (correctly, it turned out) that the Court would not rule in their favor. In fact, the Court quoted a former general counsel from the Museum of Modern Art, New York in rendering its decision. Museum directors, like everyone else, knew that exact reproductions did not possess the necessary creativity to have their own copyright. After all, if such a standard did exist, I could copy out John Keats’s poetry word-for-word and then claim I was entitled to a copyright to the poems. Such an idea is ludicrous. Keats’s poetry is in the public domain. And if his original poems are in the public domain, why aren’t portraits of him painted at the same time? Exactly. They are – museums would just prefer otherwise. In closing, I would like to point out three things – First, the Bridgeman vs Corel decision will not bankrupt museums. It is true that museums make money selling reproductions of the images in their collections. However, commercial publishers will still want a high quality reproduction of the image which can only truly be provided by the museum which controls access to the painting; publishers don’t care much about copyright, only the best-looking image. Webmasters, at best, can only scan reproductions and even the best scanner cannot capture the quality of a museum-approved reproduction. And webmasters are not selling reproductions which claim to be made by the museums which own the original work; that would be fraudulent and illegal. Second, most museums hold their collections in the public trust and exist primarily as educational/cultural facilities. The public domain images in their collections are exactly that – in the public domain, and we are the public. Most museums also receive money and special tax breaks from the cities/states/countries in which they are located. Why? Because they are public institutions. Third – and perhaps most importantly – copyrights and public domain and fair use are all terms which exist together for a reason. Copyrights are necessary because they allow artists/writers to profit from their own work. And profit, of course, provides incentive to create more work. Public Domain is necessary because it allows for the free exchange of ideas, a necessary part of life in a free society. Fair Use is necessary because it allows the public some access to copyrighted work, as long as they do not profit from it. After all, you should not be allowed to essentially steal money for another person’s hard work. However, fair use allows news reporting, book reviews, research reports, educational works, etc to discuss the work. Or, as the US Supreme Court put it: “Creative work is to be encouraged and rewarded, but private motivation must ultimately serve the cause of promoting broad public availability of literature, music, and the other arts. The immediate effect of our copyright law is to secure a fair return for an “author’s” creative labor. But the ultimate aim is, by this incentive, to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good.” Or, as I put it: Why should a museum’s copyright exceed the artist’s personal copyright? Yes, that’s right – artists and their descendants do not receive money from museums making reproductions of their works. Why? Because the works are in the public domain. Copyright has passed for the artist! They can no longer profit from their work. Yet museums are claiming they possess an endless copyright of the work simply because they own the original (which is in the public domain.) If it sounds absurd, well, it is absurd. It’s absurd and offensive and illegal. Take a moment to imagine Van Gogh’s heirs suing over all those coffee mugs with his famous sunflowers, or the endless posters of his starry skies. Exactly. You would laugh at the news. Now take a moment to laugh at museums. In a perfect world, the artist profits from their work for a very lengthy period of time and then the work becomes part of our cultural heritage. In our imperfect world, however, museums often attempt to intimidate webmasters and others into either paying large sums for reproduction rights, or to remove the images entirely. They count upon webmasters having neither the legal knowledge to defend their rights or having money to hire legal counsel. Most museums, of course, have large budgets and numerous attorneys. And they know it’s far easier to intimidate the ‘little guy’ rather than a wealthy company which can tie a case up in court for many expensive years. They also know that Bridgeman vs Corel has clarified the formerly vague concept of fair use. Before, they could shape fair use to their own needs. Now, however, fair use has been quite clearly defined. It is important to remember that museums were first created in the 18th century to allow the public free access to their cultural treasures, not to make money selling t-shirts, mugs, posters, etc I understand that they wish to raise funds for their work, but – as I explained earlier – Bridgeman vs Corel will not bankrupt museums. After all, in the early 1980s, the movie industry believed VCRs would destroy Hollywood. Obviously, that hasn’t happened. In light of the Bridgeman vs Corel decision, museums have decided to focus on controlling access rather than subverting the concept of public domain. This, too, has led to some rather questionable practices. Think about it for a moment – if a unique work of art is in the public domain and the museum willfully disallows access to the work (for reproduction purposes), aren’t they guilty of creating a monopoly? And of attempting to create an illegal perpetual copyright? Just a few points to ponder, among many others. I have (very quickly) created this page to help webmasters understand their rights. I apologize if something is explained badly, or not at all. Please keep in mind that the all-important Bridgeman vs Corel decision applies only to exact reproductions of two-dimensional works of art already in the public domain. And so drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh, for example, which are still under copyright, cannot be reproduced on your webpage; neither can a book written in 1970, or a song recorded in 1950, or painting made in 1945. Unfortunately, copyright extensions are a fact of life throughout most of the world. In the US, for example, copyright has been extended 11 times in the last 40 years. However, all works prior to the 20th century are in the public domain. Check the charts for 20th century works. Remember – when in doubt, ask. Nolo.com has a great legal advice section. And give thanks to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In our age of increasing mergers between large, global multi-media companies and the pre-eminence of a few large museums, it’s possible that – one day – a handful of companies/museums could control access to most of the great works of art in human history. Public domain guarantees us access to those works, and without it we would be…. Well, we would be stuck at the table of mediocrity, denied our right to explore the best parts of our heritage. Updates and Links For now (October 2004), the Bridgeman decision stands. If anything changes, I will post it here. Please note that recent EU-sponsored copyright changes further extend copyright terms of 20th century works. Books, music, etc which might have been scheduled to pass into the public domain are now protected for several more decades. (Yet another sell-out to the growing ‘content industry’….) If you live in Europe, please research the new terms. If the above link has expired, simply type ‘EU copyright law 2003’ into a search engine and start exploring. Though most articles focus on digital music and film, the law applies to all creative works. It’s even worse than the DMCA. Egads! I never thought a law could be worse than the DMCA. Please click here to read an interesting ‘question and answer’ about Bridgeman. Professor Ochoa’s response is reasonable and apt, particularly this comment: ‘Where the public does not have access to the original painting, the ONLY way it has to reproduce the painting itself is to reproduce a reproduction of it. Unless we hold that the Bridgeman photographs can be freely copied, the painting, as a practical matter, is not in the public domain.’ In other words, unless museums are willing to allow people to photograph the original work, the paintings are not truly in the public domain. I do disagree with his closing comment, in which he attempts to distinguish between US copyright law and other nations. The concepts of ‘fair use’ and ‘public domain’ are recognized on an international level. Also, is a person making a slavish photographic reproduction of a work of art truly the author of the photograph? This point was discussed in the Bridgeman decision. The term copyist is far more appropriate, despite the amount of work involved in taking the photograph. An apt comparison is this (earlier discussed with the example of Keats’s poetry) – if a photographer who merely reproduces a work of art is the author of the reproduction, then someone who copies a novel out word-for-word is also its author. Clearly, this cannot be the case. Yet the amount of work required to photograph the painting is the same as the work involved in copying out a book by hand. Therefore, labor does not imply originality, or a creative spark. You can take three minutes or three days to make a reproduction. You can use a camera or Martian technology. It doesn’t matter. You are merely copying the work. If it seems as though I’m being simplistic here, rest assured that I am – and it is deliberate. This issue is very simple and analogies help reveal the simplicity. In any case, Bridgeman vs Corel was not concerned with the processes of reproduction since those are covered by patent law. It was concerned with copyright. Copyright exists to reward the creative spark / originality. It does not exist to reward labor. You may wonder why I’m going on and on about the photography angle. It’s because museums have made it their new argument for copyright protection and against Bridgeman. They claim the court did not fully understand or appreciate the labor involved in making photographic reproductions. But they are being disingenuous, as my above paragraph demonstrates. Also, Judge Kaplan most assuredly considered the labor involved. No one is denying that photographers labor to create the reproduction. But why should that work be used to create a perpetual copyright for something in the public domain?! Museums are mute on that point. The photographers are paid for their labor. The museums deny the public access to the works and therefore control the ‘licensing’ of the best reproductions. They are paid for the licenses. Who suffers in this situation? The public! By law, we should be able to go to a museum and demand access to a painting in the public domain so we can take photographs. But museums won’t let us! I know this because I’ve tried it. Museums simply don’t want competition for their ‘officially-licensed’ merchandise. It’s all about profit, – if they were concerned with ‘artistic integrity’, they would allow the public right of access or provide an approved, high-quality reproduction to anyone who asked. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen…. If the concept of public domain is to have any meaning at all, then exact photographic reproductions cannot be given copyright. It’s a matter of principle – and common sense – and public interest.

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The Danube River is a great watery ribbon that acts as a connecting thread through a large swath of Europe. It connects Central with Eastern Europe, the capital cities of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade, the Black Forest from its beginning to the Black Sea at its end. The river is a natural phenomenon that has a unifying effect on disparate peoples. Germans, Magyars and Slavs can all identify with the river they respectively refer to as the Donau, Duna and Dunaj. Where else in Europe can a river be found that touches the lives of both Bavarians and Bulgars? Only the Danube has a foothold that ranges from Mitteleuropa to the Balkans with the Carpathian Basin squeezed in between for good measure. A Fluid Border – The Natural Dividing Line I never thought of the Danube as a divider, at least not until I arrived on its southern shore in the Hungarian town of Komarom (pop. 18,000). Just across the river in Slovakia stands what might be called its bigger brother, Komarno (pop. 33,000). During the late 19th century, Ujszony (present day Komarom, Hungary) was the town located on the south side of the river while Komarom (present day Komarno, Slovakia) was a small city on the northern side of the river. In 1896, the two were combined into a single municipality. This was logical since both sides of the river were part of the Kingdom of Hungary. That would change radically after the First World War. The Danube suddenly became the southern border of Czechoslovakia, leaving 750,000 Hungarians who lived north of it in what they considered a foreign nation. Either side of the Danube became a controlled border. The river made a natural dividing line to demarcate the boundary between the two nations. That division, though much softer than it was during most of the 20th century, can still be felt today. The only reason I felt it necessary to pay a visit Komarom was due to the massive fortress, the largest in Hungary and one of the largest in all of Europe, which stands on its outskirts. It is part of a militarized complex built by the Austrians during the mid-19th century that once straddled the Danube in this area. Before visiting the fortress, I could not help but walk across the elegant four span, steel truss, Elisabeth-Danube bridge which connects the northern and southern banks of the river. The fact that I could saunter across the bridge uninhibited was one of those miracles of post-Cold War history now taken for granted. Hungary and Slovakia might still have their differences, but accession to the European Union in 2002 collapsed border controls between the two nations. This had the effect of reconnecting Komarom and Komarno in a way they had not been since the early 20th century. It also allowed me to walk across the bridge, crossing over from one nation to the next in a mere five minutes. This would have been unimaginable only twenty-five years before. What some might call unrestricted access is what I would call progress. Downside Up – All That You Can’t Leave Behind Once I had set foot on the Slovak side, it was not long before the two town’s dueling identities were on display. The first sign I saw after crossing the bridge was trilingual. First there was Vitame Vas! (Slovak), then Udvozoljuk Ononket! (Hungarian) and below that Welcome! A few paces further down the road were signs with the town’s name. The top one of course was in Slovak (Komarno), the lower one in Hungarian (Komarom). It was the exact opposite on the Hungarian side of the bridge. Besides the signs in Slovak, I had an eerie feeling of still being in the same country that I had just left behind. Komarno was like landing in an Eastern European version of the Twilight Zone brought to the modern world courtesy of the Treaty of Trianon. It was only a short, but fascinating walk through the historic heart of Komarno. I was impressed with how everything was tidily kept with not a speck of rubbish to be found anywhere. The town could have been Koszeg or Kaposvar rather than Komarno, such was its resemblance to other downtowns in provincial Hungary. The most memorable area was Klapka Square, located in front of the deliciously vanilla coated Town Hall. On the western side of the square was the delicate splendor of the Zichy Palace. In the center of the square stood the statue of Gyorgy Klapka, a military hero who gained notoriety for his fearless fight beyond the finish during the Hungarian Revolution. Klapka led his troops to victory in the Fourth Battle of Komarno, the last Hungarian victory of the conflict. While all the other Hungarian forces had been defeated, Klapka held out long enough to get decent terms of surrender for his soldiers. General Klapka managed to escape into exile. Later he would return to Hungary after the Compromise that created Austria-Hungary in 1867. An Inherent Irony – The Shifting Tides Of History Klapka was now immortalized in bronze while soaring over everything except for the beautiful buildings that flanked three sides of the square. The statue, with the Komarno Town Hall’s tower rising directly behind, managed to make Klapka look just as heroic as his exploits. It portrayed him with a sword at the ready in one hand, while his other was balled into a fist. Klapka’s upper torso jutted out as he struck a charismatic pose of defiance. From the statue, I ascertained that Klapka was selected both for his martial exploits as well as his long record of heroic deeds. His presence evoked pride, courage and honor. Traits That I suspected the town’s Hungarian inhabitants must have seen as unique to themselves. The statue was riveting, but also a distraction from its own inherent irony. Here was a famous Hungarian military commander towering over a town in Slovakia. This was history in more ways than someone who did not come from Hungary or Slovakia could possibly imagine. Klapka signaled the town’s ethnic Hungarian majority as much in the present as the past. He was a stand in for an era of perceived greatness. He also represented staying power. Hungary’s rule over this region long since slipped south of the Danube. Nevertheless, Hungarians still had their feet firmly planted on Slovakian soil, the shifting tides of history have yet to fully dislodge them or their history.

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The Five Canons of Rhetoric. The study of rhetoric was traditionally divided into five parts: 1 . Aristotle teaches that the conclusion ought to do four things. Taken mostly from Aristotle, Rhetoric I: A Commentary/William M.A. Grimaldi +my additions) Chapter 1: Dialectic/Rhetoric counterparts; each. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Along with grammar and logic it is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the capacities of writers or speakers needed to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. Aristotle defines rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the ), in his brief Overview of the. Rhetoric aristotle summary - apologise, but Academic Tools How to cite this entry. Board of Education. Roberts' translation was https://excelerateyourfamilyresearch.com/essays-model.html and republished in Avicenna Averroes. This is why there are also remarkable differences between the two disciplines:. Fortenbaugh, Article source W. Rhetoric aristotle summary, Arthur B. Email required Address never made public. Raphael, Sally. Why the chapters on the argumentative means of persuasion are separated by the treatment of emotions and character in II. Captain Hotlicks Jamming all up and down your business. According to Aristotle, the old are distrustful, cynical, and small-minded for unlike the young their past is long and their future short Book 2. Rapp lmu. Rhetorica: The Works of Aristotle, Vol. Not until the s did another major translation of the Rhetoric appear. Influences on Peripatetic Rhetoric. Whereas most modern authors agree that at least the core of Rhet. But if the latter rhetorc which has rhetorix parallel in An. Example welcome speech political speech should generally be simple and direct, for the audience is unlikely rhetoric aristotle summary be swayed by rhetorical jabberwocky by carroll. But if he displays all of them, Aristotle concludes, it cannot rhetoric aristotle summary be suummary that his suggestions are credible. Sristotle capacity can be used for good or bad purposes; it can cause great benefits as well as great harms. It could be either, as some say, the premise of a propositional scheme such as the modus ponens, or, as others assume, as the conditional premise of a hypothetical syllogism. Rubinelli, Sara R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. New York: Oxford University, Book III introduces the elements of style word choice, metaphor, and sentence structure and arrangement organization. It is true that the Rhetoric refers to historical events that fall in the time of Aristotle's exile and his second stay in Athens, but most of them can be found in the chapters II. Gross and Walzer further say that "There is no comparable situation in any other discipline: No other discipline would claim that a single ancient text so usefully informs current deliberations on practice and theory. In saying that rhetoric is a counterpart to dialectic, Aristotle obviously alludes to Plato's Gorgias bff. Sign Up. In order arisgotle make the speech pleasant and dignified and in order to avoid banality the orator must make moderate use of non-familiar elements. Rhetoruc, the epilogue has traditionally been used to writing assignment expository emotions like pity or anger; but as soon as the epilogue recalls the conclusions reached, it will make the speech more understandable. This analogy between rhetoric and dialectic can be substantiated by several common features of both disciplines:. Allen, Danielle S. Accordingly, there are two uses of topoi : they can either prove or disprove a given sentence; some can be used for both purposes, others for only one of them. Rhetoric aristotle summary, arlstotle opposed to well-trained dialecticians the audience of public speech is characterized by an intellectual insufficiency; above all, the members of see more jury or assembly are not accustomed https://excelerateyourfamilyresearch.com/marijuana-essay-titles.html following a longer chain of inferences. Thus, the speaker's effect on the audience serves as a key theme throughout Book II. II — Examples a and b obey the optional instruction that metaphors can be qualified by adding the term to which the proper word is relative cp. And this situation becomes even worse if the constitution, the laws, and the rhetorical habits in a city are bad. Hildesheim: Olms. As the Adjunctiverse Turns cheeky, no respect for academia. Whereas most modern authors agree that at least the core of Rhet. Most examples that Aristotle gives of this latter class are taken from the different Greek dialects, and most examples of rhetoric aristotle summary type are in turn taken from the language of the Homeric epos. Originally the discussion of rhetoric aristotle summary belongs to the art of poetry rather than to rhetoric; the poets were the first, as Aristotle observes, to give an impulse for the study of style. Berlin: Weidmann. It does not seem, however, that Continue reading himself saw a major conflict between these diverse tools of persuasion—presumably for the following reasons: i He leaves no doubt that the subject that is treated see more a speech has the highest priority e. In this respect the definition of stylistic virtue follows the same scheme as the definition of ethical virtues in Aristotle's ethical writings, insofar as both the stylistic virtue and the virtue of character are format postcard in terms of a mean that lies between two opposed excesses. This is especially important in cases where there is no exact knowledge but room for doubt. Supplement on The Brevity of the Enthymeme 6. In a well known passage Rhet. Correspondingly, an analogous metaphor uses the fourth term for the second or the second for the fourth. Bitzer, L. It is quite understandable that the authenticity of this ad hoc composition has been questioned: we cannot exclude the possibility that these two parts of the Rhetoric were not put together until the first edition of Aristotle's works completed by Andronicus in the first century. First, he describes the young as creatures of desire, easily changeable and swiftly satisfied. Metaphors are closely related to similes; but as opposed to the later tradition, Aristotle does not define the metaphor as an abbreviated simile, but, the other way around, the simile as a metaphor. Hence, the basic idea of a rhetorical demonstration seems to be this: In order to make a target group believe that qthe orator must first select a sentence p or some sentences p 1 … p n that are already accepted by the target group; secondly he has to show that q can be derived from p or p 1 … p nusing p or p 1 … p n as premises. Rhetoric and dialectic rely on accepted sentences endoxa. Now, if rhetoric is nothing but the counterpart to dialectic in the domain of public speech, it must be grounded in an investigation of what is persuasive and what is not, and this, in turn, qualifies rhetoric as an art. Dialectic is a tool for philosophical debate; it is a means for skilled audiences to test probable knowledge in order to learn. Book III introduces the elements of style word choice, metaphor, and sentence structure and arrangement organization. With this equipment, the orator will be able, for example, to highlight such characteristics of a case as are likely to provoke anger in the audience. Note that neither classification interferes with the idea that premises have to be accepted opinions: with respect to rgetoric signs, the audience must ariatotle that they summar and accept that they indicate the existence of something else, and with skmmary to the probabilities, people must accept that something is likely to rhetoric aristotle summary. Metaphor plays an important role for prose style, eummary metaphors contribute, https://excelerateyourfamilyresearch.com/use-of-commas-in-a-sentence.html Aristotle says, clarity as well as the unfamiliar, surprising see more that avoids banality and tediousness. Though the following chapters II. Book I offers a general overview, presenting the purposes of rhetoric and a working definition; it also offers a detailed discussion of the major contexts and types of rhetoric. Roberts' translation was edited and republished in But how does the speaker manage to appear a credible person? As the rhetorician's chief concern is not the truth but being persuasive, he must be aware of all the ways in which people are convinced of an argument. Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric. Rhetoric and dialectic are concerned with both sides of an opposition. Political Theory. Cicero, Brutus46—48 and Isocrates. She cites Aristotle to persuade her audience of the characteristics of deliberative rhetoric's influential nature. Kennedy, George A. Part of a series on the. Bitzer, L. Dow, Jamie. But there are several types of sign-arguments too; Aristotle offers the following examples:.

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William Wordsworth, in several of his creations, foresees quite a few common metaphorical works, such as the perception of abstraction; a work that can possibly be discerned in his Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. Wordsworth presents a fascinating statement of the concrete importance of abstracting or time-preserving his memories of those countless moments when his rural, outlandish, peaceful recollections of the Wye River Valley had strengthened and supported him throughout the five previous years when he had lived in an apparently harsh, dissonant, and quite monotonous urban scenery. By means of time-preserving, Wordsworth can ‘store’ those prized experiences, carrying ‘preserved’ bliss and serenity to other places and circumstances largely deficient of these attributes. First, Wordsworth sensed a powerful desire to preserve time, packaging it, and stocking it up for a time when the circumstances in his life would not give the happiness or delight he gets from trips in rustic Wye River Valley and the Lake District. Thinking about his time ‘stocks’, he ponders (Wordsworth 1832, 100): These beauteous forms, Through a long absence, have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along with the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration Second, the colorful time ‘stocks’ had strengthened the deteriorating will of Wordsworth in the dull of a colorless gloomy urban frost (Wordsworth 1832, 101): In darkness and amid the many shapes Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir Unprofitable, and the fever of the world, Have hung upon the beatings of my heart— How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee, O sylvan Wye! Thou wanderer thro’ the woods, How often has my spirit turned to thee! Preserving time aid Wordsworth in sustaining psychological and emotional wellbeing, strengthening him in difficult times. Conscious of the likelihood of extended intervals between emotional and psychological rejuvenation, Wordsworth sense an impulse to produce time ‘stocks’ that will support him in the future. Third, Wordsworth displays a wholehearted understanding that his wellbeing has considerably changed throughout the years, yet the preserved memories from experiences have sustained the intensity and freshness of the first assessments. Luckily, time-preserving allows people to maintain a connection while possibly getting pleasure from something vividly, like what Wordsworth had achieved in witnessing himself, or witnessing his previous responses, in the point of view of Dorothy, his sister (Wordsworth 1832, 103): And in thy voice I catch The language of my former heart, and read My former pleasures in the shooting lights Of thy wild eyes. Oh! Yet a little while May I behold in thee what I was once, My dear, dear Sister! As proven by Wordsworth, our reserves of memories can make our current views more pleasant and optimistic. The grownup Wordsworth did not stop experiencing a deep sense of happiness, but devoid of the recklessness of adolescence or the desire-motivated satisfaction of a young adult, he, as a matured person, feels a peaceful presence of the transcendent fostered by the perfected capabilities of reflection and thought. Wordsworth, William. The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth. London: A& R Spottiswoode, 1832.

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- Africa (220) - Americas (422) - Archive (1,032) - Asia (334) - Australia (45) - AZE (Alliance for Zero Extinction) (16) - Europe & Central Asia (90) - Illegal killing of birds (2) - Middle East (61) - Pacific (164) - Species Group (257) - Taxonomy (176) Five most recent topics - Pampas Meadowlark (Leistes defilippii): request for information. - Cipo Canastero (Asthenes luizae): revise global status? - Plumbeous Antvireo (Dysithamnus plumbeus): uplist from Vulnerable to Endangered? - Helmeted Woodpecker (Hylatomus galeatus): uplist from VU to EN? - Black-capped Piprites (Piprites pileata): downlist from Vulnerable to Near Threatened? Tag Archives: La Réunion BirdLife species factsheet for Mascarene Swiftlet: http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mascarene-swiftlet-aerodramus-francicus Mascarene Swiftlet (Aerodramus francicus) has recently been split into two subspecies (Kirwan et al. 2018). The nominate subspecies is found on Mauritius, where the species has, at the very least, undergone historical declines … Continue reading

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English Words that Used To Have Vastly Different Meanings To What We Understand Today How would you rate your vocabulary ? Average; Better than Average ; Exceptional ? It may not matter how good you think your command of English is because in this article we reveal some surprising revelations about some of the words, you may have thought you had a thorough understanding of, had, in point of fact, some VERY different meanings in the past. It’s not just modern “youf speak” that is changing words meanings. As you will see any word might be knocked and buffeted and subjected to many twists and turns over the centuries they have been in use. Here’s 5 of them … Originally meant ‘duplicitous’ The word ambidextrous literally means ‘right-handed on both sides’ but in its use today we obviously use it to mean someone is able to use their left hand as proficiently as their right. However, when it originally emerged in the language back in the 16th century, ambidextrous meant ‘deceitful’ or ‘double-dealing’, while an ambidexter was a dishonest lawyer or juror who would accept a payment (literally, one in each hand) from both parties in a legal dispute. The more familiar use of ambidextrous to mean ‘capable of using both hands equally well’ emerged much later in the 1500s. For a while, these two meanings – one carrying connotations of duplicity and double-dealing, the other dexterity and intelligence – coexisted in the language until the current meaning finally took precedence in the early 19th century. Originally referred to a man The word Bimbo is actually derived from an Italian word for a baby boy (a baby girl would be a bimba), when it first emerged in American slang in the early 1900s, bimbo was used both of an unimportant or insignificant man, and a menacing, brutish dolt or bully. No one is entirely sure how or why it came to be adopted into English. In 1920, American songwriters Grant Clarke and Walter Donaldson collaborated on a song called “My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle”. The song’s portrayal of a bimbo as little more than a beautiful, voluptuous woman, however, soon led to the word being associated with emptyheadedness, vacuousness and eventually promiscuity. For a time, both the male and female versions of the bimbo co-existed; P. G. Wodehouse was still using bimbo to refer to a man as late as the 1940s, writing of ‘bimbos who went about the place making passes at innocent girls after discarding their wives like old tubes of toothpaste’ in his comic novel Full Moon (1947). But by the later 20th century the male version had all but vanished, thanks largely to a number of high profile scandals involving beautiful young women and older businessmen. Originally meant ‘table’ A cupboard has not always been a cupboard. Back when the word first emerged in the late 1300s, a cupboard was actually a table: a literal ‘cup-board’ or flat table-top used for serving, storing or displaying cups and crockery. (Likewise a sideboard too was originally a table, only one kept literally at the ‘side’ of a room.) No one is entirely sure why, but by the early sixteenth century that meaning had altered so that a cupboard was no long a table used to display crockery, but a closed cabinet or recess in which cups, plates, dishes and other vessels could be displayed or stored until required. By the 17th century, people were also using these newly defined cupboards to store food. Originally meant ‘to embrace’ As a noun, the word fathom refers to a length or depth of precisely six feet. As a verb, it means ‘to comprehend’ or ‘to understand’. But despite these apparently dissimilar definitions, both these senses of the word are actually related. The Old English ancestor of fathom was fæðm, but unlike either of the meanings above it was used to mean ‘a person’s outstretched arms’. This definition survived for a time in English in the old expression to make a fathom, meaning ‘to stretch your arms out as wide as possible’, but has long since fallen out of use. Both the meanings that have survived, however, can trace their origins back to here. The size of a man’s outstretched arms, from fingertip to fingertip, originally formed the basis of the measurement we now call a fathom. Today, that measurement is standardised to precisely six feet, but back in Old English things weren’t quite so fixed and there was a considerable amount of flexibility (not least because arms tend to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes). So what about the verb fathom? That too can be traced back to that Anglo-Saxon man with his arms outstretched. By the early fourteenth century, fathom was being used to mean ‘to hug’ or ‘to embrace with the arms’, while if two people fathomed together, then they cuddled one another. But as the use of a fathom as a measurement became more established, the verb fathom followed suit: soon it came to be used to mean ‘to measure the size of something’, either using your outstretched arms as a guide, or else a ‘fathom line’, a 6 foot weighted plumb-line used to measure depth. From there, it didn’t take long for more figurative uses of the verb to emerge, and by the mid 17th century fathom had come to mean ‘to get to the bottom of something’, and ultimately, ‘to thoroughly understand’. Originally meant ‘lust’ Back in the mid 1200s heartburn did not mean what it means today, but instead meant something like ‘intense passion’, ‘desire’ or ‘lustfulness’; the heart was seen as the seat of all human emotion, and so a ‘burning’ in the heart implied a burning, passionate love or lust. By the early Middle Ages, however, all that had changed : For þe hertbryne. Tak wormode & sethe it in water & drynk it. That is an extract from a 15th century medical textbook, Liber de Diversis Medicinis or ‘The Book of Diverse Medicines’, that recommends a draught of boiled wormwood as a medical treatment for heartburn. So, the romantic connotations of heartburn did not last long and had already disappeared by the time this textbook was compiled in the mid 1400s. Heartburn has remained purely a medical term ever since.

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The next part is to figure out how the protocol works, and the format of the data. I started with taking some live captures in a running system (A MATE connected to an MX charge controller), and looking at what kind of packets were being exchanged. The MATE behaves as a master, and all communication is initiated by it. No data is sent from the MX by itself. On start-up, the following packet is exchanged (presumably some sort of scan/ID packet): TX: 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 02 RX: 03 00 03 00 06 (TX is what the MATE sends, RX is what the MX sends back) And while on the status panel, the following packet is sent every second: TX: 00 04 00 01 00 00 00 05 RX: 03 81 80 82 00 6A 3F 01 00 1D 00 FF 02 40 03 8E It's worth noting that the first byte in both TX and RX actually have bit 9 set. I wasn't able to capture this on my PC, which just treated the 9th bit as a parity bit. This is how they denote the start of a packet After observing a few packets, it became clear that the last two bytes were a checksum - but not a proper checksum - it was literally just the sum of all the bytes in the packet! (03+00+03 == 00 06) There were also some obvious patterns in the TX packet, like the second byte which seems to correspond to some kind of command or packet type (02 for start-up, 04 for requesting a status packet) I then tried matching the received status packet with the information that was currently on the screen, and was able to pick out some of the fields (status, battery voltage, pv voltage). Unfortunately the rest of the data proved elusive, but it was definitely encoded somewhere within the packet! I decided a different plan of attack was in order, since I couldn't see any other obvious patterns in the data. I started writing a simple MX emulator in python, communicating through my MATE adapter mentioned in the last progress log. It was able to spoof packets to the MATE, and I could then see the result on the screen and figure out what each byte did (or at least every byte that was visible on the LCD). By doing this I was able to figure out almost all of the status packet so I could correctly decode one sent from the MX unit itself. (Since the goal of this project is to replace the MATE and talk directly to an MX unit) Spoofing the status packet sent to a MATE unit At this point I decided to try spoofing some other devices which I did not have access to, such as an FX inverter, a Hub, and a FlexNET DC monitor. This was a bit trickier to spoof since I had no idea what kind of data the MATE would expect. Luckily I discovered that the MATE would actually tell me if the packet had an error if it was too short, so I just kept padding 0x00s until it reported no errors (at which point it showed all 0s on the LCD for each read-out). I was then able to poke each byte and see what effect it had on the LCD, and mostly determine what each byte did. The spoofing code I used is available in my python library, but the MATE adapter needs to have the RX/TX swapped since it will be connected to the MATE, not the MX/FX unit. The next thing I discovered was that some of the other LCD screens sent a separate packet, which appeared to obtain the value of one specific register (eg. battery voltage, relay status, etc.): TX: 00 02 00 44 00 00 00 46 RX: 03 00 12 34 03 And I also discovered a similar packet was sent when I tried to control something (the MATE allows you to turn an attached inverter on/off): TX: 00 04 00 61 00 00 01 65 The full details of what each byte represents is available in my python library

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Learn about the traditional use of their land and surrounding waters by Aboriginal People as well as the extensive period of military occupation and the significant role each has played in shaping the city’s identity. A stunning waterfront retreat on the Mosman shoreline, Chowder Bay played an important part in the defence of Sydney during World War I and is also a place of enduring significance for the Borogegal People. The area was occupied by the military from the 1890s until 2000, when it was opened to the public. Cockatoo Island’s heritage buildings and distinctive terrain offer insights into the complex and layered history of this former convict penal establishment, naval ship dockyard, industrial school for girls, and reformatory. The island also has strong continued ties to the First Nations, having served as a meeting place for the Eora People prior to colonisation. Image caption: Illustration of Cockatoo Island, Circa 1843, John Skinner Prout, National Library of Australia Recognised as the traditional land of the Borogegal People, Georges Heights occupies a significant place in Australian history, being the place of the first ‘friendly’ contact between Europeans and Aboriginal People. In the 200 years following colonisation, the area was occupied by military forces and, during World War II, it played a crucial role in the defence of Sydney. Completed in 1818, Macquarie Lighthouse was designed by convict architect Francis Greenway and named for Lachlan Macquarie, the NSW Governor who commissioned it. Crumbling sandstone foundations led to the construction of a replacement lighthouse in 1883. Designed by James Barnet to closely resemble the original, this lighthouse continues to operate, ensuring the safe passage of vessels into Sydney Harbour. Like Sydney Hotel and Katoomba’s Carrington Hotel, the Former Marine Biological Station was designed by colonial architect John Kirkpatrick. Built in 1881 as a place for Russian scientist Nikolai Nikoleavich de Miklouho-Maclay to study local marine life, the station was later acquired by the Australian Army to house officers. A place of enduring significance for the Borogegal People, Middle Head once played an important role in the defence of Sydney. Gun emplacements were built in response to the Napoleonic Wars, and during World War II, barracks were constructed to house soldiers. After the war ended, Middle Head housed a training facility (ASOPA) for Australians serving the developing world. North Head Sanctuary was the backdrop for some of the earliest interactions between Aboriginal People and Europeans, and the area was also used to quarantine Australia from deadly epidemic diseases. During the Second World War, North Head was one of the most heavily fortified sites in Australian history. Sub Base Platypus was formerly HMAS Platypus, an Australian Navy submarine base. The site has also hosted a gasworks, as well as workshops for manufacturing and maintaining torpedoes for use in the Second World War. In May 2018, this once-hidden gem became accessible to the public for the first time in 150 years Woolwich Dock is a maritime precinct steeped in history. Carved from 85,000 cubic meters of excavated sandstone, the dock was used during both World Wars to repair damaged vessels. Later, the Army used it as a base for their marine transport operations.

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The Office of Community and Restorative Justice (OCRJ) at The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to expanding the use of non-traditional forms of justice to create safe and livable communities. Justice in the 21st Century must do more than arrest and punish offenders, it must also prevent crime, heal those harmed by crime and meaningfully address community problems. The primary strategies for this types of justice are Community Justice and Restorative Justice. The mission of the Office of Community and Restorative Justice is to: What is Restorative Justice? Restorative Justice is modeled after informal communal justice strategies used by indigenous people throughout human history, by many cultures, and across many faith traditions. It views justice in a different way. What is Community Justice? Community Justice seeks to prevent crime by addressing local problems in ways that improve quality of life and the life chances of residents while also reducing crime – particularly in high crime neighborhoods. Working in partnership, area residents and local agencies identify neighborhood concerns and appropriate strategies aimed at strengthening and improving their neighborhood. Such non-traditional approaches include community policing, community prosecution, and community legal-aid. The OCRJ offers a wide range of training opportunities and consulting services related to community and restorative justice. For more information please contact 210-458-2546.

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Why perfect competition sometimes regarded ideal market st Why is a market with pure competition considered the simplest market structure Buyers are well informed about products 4. Why is perfect competition sometimes regarded as an ideal market structure and why does Samuelson write that it doesn't faithfully represent the facts about modern industry? There are different kinds of market structures in this economy. Nonprice Competition 6 Monopolistic Competition Product Differentiation: when sellers try to point out differences between their products and other competitors. Compare Investment Accounts. Agricultural markets are often pointed to as examples of relatively perfect competition markets since it is nearly impossible for anyone producer of an agricultural commodity to gain a substantial amount of market power. Nonprice Competition: Competition on a basis other than price. Existence of buyers and selle Patents: government allows the product to be produced unchallenged for 17 years 2. Also buyers and sellers do not have perfect knowledge of market conditions. Thus, iPhone prices were set initially by Apple and not by the marketplace. It is true that many markets, such as the ones for raw materials come close to being in perfect competition, they can never truly achieve perfect competition. The model is based on such strict assumptions that its adaptation into everyday life situations, in most cases, is simply impossible; however it is often described as the ideal. Also, a good never really has a perfect substitute for itself, nor is the demand curve perfectly elastic for most goods. At the time, the cost to procure an iPhone was high and could remain so because of a lack of rival devices. Knowledge is freely available to all participants, which means that risk-taking is minimal. Productive efficiency is achieved in both the short run and the long run under perfect competition. However, Samuelson writes that perfect competition does not faithfully represent many of the facts about modern industry because life in the economic world can never be perfect. Does perfect competition exist? An oligopoly refers to a marketplace dominated by a small number of companies, and in which there are substantial barriers to new entrants in the market. Accessed 05, If we compare the perfect competition market with other types of market structure, such as monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly, it will be ob Then we will go deeper into the concept of fit. Many countries have antitrust laws or similar legislation designed to limit the market power of any one company. Firms' products are identical. Perfect competition is the most stable market form, and hence the most desirable. Technological Monopolies: when technology is used to develop a new product or improve on an old one 14 Protected by: 1. The narrow availability of oil, combined with the widespread reliance on the resource across multiple industries means that oil companies retain significant pricing power over this commodity. Some additional discussions of different perspectives follow and a briefly overview about the research of the six types of fit can be found. An example of market power is Apple Inc. Why is perfect competition sometimes regarded as an ideal market structure and why does Samuelson write that it doesn't faithfully represent the facts about modern industry? There must be many buyers and sellers in the market for an identical product. based on 49 review

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Key Information About Legionnaires' Disease Legionnaires' disease is a type of bacterial pneumonia. According to CDC, 1 out of every 10 individuals who get infected by this disease die because of complications. Legionnaires' disease is caused by Legionella pneumophila, an aerobic bacterium of the genus Legionella. These bacteria thrive in warm water. They often spread through a building’s contaminated water system. Showerheads, sink faucets, hot tubs and decorative fountains can be a source of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Legionnaires' disease usually develops 2 to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough, muscle pain, shortness of breath and headache. Fever Is a Symptom of Legionnaires' disease Tests to diagnose this disease include culture on specialized Legionella media. Culture media provide nutrients to the bacteria. When phlegm of the infected person is placed onto the culture media, the bacteria grows on the medium, making their identification possible. Legionnaires' disease can be cured. It is always treated with antibiotics. Treatment is usually started as soon as the disease is suspected. Antibiotics are given by mouth or intravenously for between 10 and 14 days. For Legionnaires disease (LD), a high level of suspicion and prompt initiation of adequate antimicrobial therapy are critical to improve clinical outcomes.— Mobeen H Rathore, MD, CPE, FAAP, FIDSA Legionnaires' Disease Is Treated With Antibiotics There are no vaccines for this disease. Prevent water stagnation. Flush out infrequently used taps and showerheads weekly. Clean and de-scale hoses and shower heads quarterly. Keep cold-water storage tanks clean. Practice yoga daily. It boosts your immune system. Do you practice yoga? Chest X-ray of a Severe Case of Legionnaires Disease This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency. © 2019 Srikanth R

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Section 10 of Ontario’s Health Care Consent Act 1996 (“the Act”) states that a health practitioner shall not administer a treatment for a person unless the person has given consent (if capable with respect to the treatment) or if the person’s substitute decision maker has given consent on the person’s behalf (if incapable with respect to the treatment). Simple concept at first blush, but a closer examination reveals some complexities, a handful of which we’ll explore below. What constitutes informed consent? One of the defining elements of consent to treatment, is that such consent must be “informed”. By framing consent in this way, the Act promotes communication between health practitioners and their patients or clients and encourages patients to exercise their autonomy. According to the Act, a consent to treatment is informed if, before giving it, a) The person received the information about the treatment that a reasonable person in the same circumstances would require to make a decision and b) The person received responses to his/her requests for additional information about the treatment. Information provided by the health practitioner must include the nature of the treatment (diagnosis and recommended treatment), expected benefits, its material risks and side effects, alternative courses of action (if any) and the likely consequences of not having the treatment. If the patient is deemed to be incapable, then the practitioner must identify the substitute decision-maker (s. 20 (1) of the Act sets out a specific hierarchy of individuals/agencies who may give or refuse consent) and go through the same process to obtain consent. In a tragic case decided in 2009 (upheld on appeal earlier this year) involving catastrophic injury to an infant sustained at birth as a result of an unsuccessful attempt at a forceps-assisted delivery, the trial judge found that the doctor in question failed to obtain informed consent to that procedure. Risks and benefits of the assisted delivery had not been explained to the mother, nor had the option of continuing to push been presented to her for consideration. What constitutes informed refusal? Election to forgo the treatment recommended by the practitioner after the disclosure of the relevant information constitutes “informed refusal”. A competent patient may refuse a treatment, even if it is in their best interests to have the treatment administered. The CMA Code of Ethics (2004) states that the practitioner has a responsibility to respect the right of a patient to reject any medical care recommended. The Act considers refusal of consent to include withdrawal of consent. When may the requirement for consent to treatment be waived? Consent from a capable patient may be waived if the situation is deemed by the health practitioner to be an emergency (i.e. the person is experiencing severe suffering or is at risk of sustaining serious bodily harm if the treatment is not administered promptly). Similarly, a treatment may be given without consent to an incapable person if there is an emergency and the delay required to obtain consent/refusal on the person’s behalf will prolong the person’s suffering or will put the person at risk of sustaining serious bodily harm. Interestingly, in an emergency situation, in the event that a substitute decision-maker is present and refuses to consent to treatment and is not acting in accordance with prior known wishes or is not acting in the patient’s best interests, then s. 27 of the Act gives the practitioner the power to administer treatment despite the refusal. What is the age of consent in Ontario? Contrary to widespread belief, there is no age of consent in Ontario. Instead, the principles of capacity (to consent to treatment) are applied, as per s. 4 (1) of the Act, i.e. does the person understand the information that is salient to the decision, and do they appreciate the reasonably foreseeable consequences of a decision or a lack of decision. In short, the concept of maturity is used as the yardstick, rather than chronological age. The issue of age of consent has come under the spotlight in recent years as a result of Ontario’s school-based HPV (Human Papillomavirus) immunization program for Grade 8 girls. All of Ontario’s Public Health Units request parental consent before HPV immunization at school-based clinics. That being said, a student who is deemed to be capable with regards to consenting to or refusing the immunization has the right to do so, irrespective of whether their parent signed or did not sign the consent form on their behalf. In their Consent to Treatment Policy (#4-05), the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario supports this framework by stating that "the capacity to exercise independent judgment for health care decisions varies according to the individual and the complexity of the decision at hand. Physicians must make a determination of capacity to consent for a child just as they would for an adult." - ‘Health practitioner’ refers to a member of a College under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, a naturopath registered as a drugless therapist under the Drugless Practitioners Act or a member of a category of persons prescribed by the regulations as health practitioners. Examples include (but are not limited to) physicians, dentists, physiotherapists, and nurses. - As per the HCCA, ‘treatment’ means anything that is done for a therapeutic, preventive, palliative, diagnostic, cosmetic or other health-related purpose, and includes a course of treatment, plan of treatment or community treatment plan.

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Improper posture can be no less harmful than smoking. In addition to health problems, a bad posture can negatively affect your mood, productivity, and even success. Only 36% of the average office workaholic in the US spend their working time in the right position which doesn’t harm posture. We should fight this bad habit. After all, the posture with a straight spine and open shoulders will help you avoid back pain and improve physical condition. It will also improve your social status and work efficiency. 1. Posture affects productivity Back pain is one of the most frequent complaints among patients of clinics. It’s most commonly caused by poor posture. A straight back gives a completely opposite effect: a human gets a burst of energy, gets rid of migraines, stress, back pain, and work efficiency increases. The fact is that the normal functioning of respiratory and digestive organs largely depends on posture. Poor posture doesn’t let them work in the usual way and supply our brain with the necessary amount of oxygen. 2. Posture affects self-confidence Proper posture leads to the production of chemicals which “make us” believe in ourselves. A raised head and straight shoulders cause testosterone release. This hormone gives us strength and confidence. One study at Ohio State University found that half an hour spent with poor posture significantly increase anxiety, depression, and fear. Keeping a straight back will help you to achieve more confidence and decrease tension. 3. Correct posture improves the function of internal organs If we slouch, our ribs bend and put pressure on adjacent organs. It affects the digestive system and leads to its dysfunction. But if you keep correct posture, all your abdominal organs work properly. 4. Good posture reduces pain and tension in the neck, shoulders, and back If you often experience discomfort in the upper part of the body, this may be the reason for improper posture. Starting with maintaining a correct posture throughout the day, you will notice significant improvements. Consequences of Poor Posture Lower back pain Poor posture leads to overloading of muscles and joints, which causes changes in spinal tissues, musculoskeletal damage, spasms, and pathologies of internal organs. All these terrible things may be the cause of back pain and lower back pain. Discomfort in the thoracic spine Discomfort in the thoracic spine is always manifested as bouts of pain in the central part of the back. People mistakenly think it’s a heart pain or problems with the lungs. Often the cause of this pain is poor posture, which leads to impaired muscle tone and spasms. When the nerve endings are squeezed, they cause intercostal neuralgia which is characterized by severe pain Incorrect posture and appearance Poor posture is ugly. And the appearance, as is known, directly affects the psycho-emotional state of a person. According to doctors, certain types of neurosis may be associated with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and poor posture. Risk of injuries Poor posture increases the risk of injury. If the body is not positioned correctly, the weight of the body is also not distributed as it should be, and this increases the risk of various injuries.

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The “Poor Tax” and Recovery Support We have all heard the old expression “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Does that apply to addiction and behavioral health care, support and treatment? Yes, it does. But there are companies that care, like RI International, FCC in Missouri, and many other CCBHC organizations which are offering a solution. What is the poor tax? - Having a low credit score leads to higher interest rates. The poor get poorer. - Lack of sufficient daily or weekly cash flow leads to borrowing. Often borrowing at extremely high interest rates. The poor get poorer. - Many medical facilities decline Medicaid patients, due to weak reimbursements. The poor get poorer. - Lack of sufficient cash and poor credit leads to higher deposits or cash payments for housing, transportation, and health care. The poor get poorer. - The lack of funds makes it difficult to secure healthy life-style items like access to exercise, medications, healthy food and health care. The poor get poorer. All of these are examples of the hidden “poor tax” that is levied upon the disadvantaged in our country. Frequently, due to no fault of their own, many Americans get caught in a downward spiral financially and in their mental health. Poor financial health, poor living conditions, and inadequate healthcare can lead to deteriorating health and mental health, often accompanied by addiction. A single situation like a job lay-off, extreme health emergency or emotional crisis can lead down a path that makes a middle-class person plunge into homelessness, ill-health, despair and addiction. - But, you say, there is plenty of support for addiction… we’ve all seen the commercials on TV. The rich get richer. - There are lots of great rehab facilities in our country. The rich get richer. - Your doctor can give you medication for your mental illness or addiction. The rich get richer. - Friends and family are always there to help. The rich get richer. The sad truth is that many in our very privileged and wealth country suffer and die in poverty, due to mental illness and addiction. They die due to the poor tax. But there is help. There are companies like RI International, FCC in Missouri, and many other support organizations that treat and support the disadvantaged. The US legislature has created a federal grant program called Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC) that are required to provide health care, housing and addiction and behavioral health, all regardless of a person’s ability to pay. Let’s take opportunities like CCBHC and dissolve the poor tax and help lift these disadvantaged and downtrodden to become all they can be… healthy and productive American citizens.

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Israel’s central Arava desert, where saline soils and dry climates are the norm, a thriving community creates up to 60% of Israel’s exported agricultural products. Recently, I visited the Arava valley to see the miracle of agriculture in the desert up close and personal. According to our tour host Michal Marmary: “By any standard, farming shouldn’t be happening in the Arava. Saline soil, lack of water, and blazing sun are not the ideal conditions in which to farm. Yet, agriculture thrives where you’d least expect it. Arava farmers take what nature has given them and, with hard work and creative solutions, have created a flourishing farming community. Today, about 800 families that live in 7 communities are involved in a variety of farming pursuits. 40,000 dunams of cultivated desert land produce 150,000 tons of vegetables; mainly tomatoes and peppers. This produce is mostly destined for export to Europe, the US and Russia, and constitutes about 60% of the total export volume of fresh vegetables from Israel.” The valley gets a paltry amount of rainfall: by some estimates less than a centimeter per month (less than 4-5 inches per year). By contrast, the driest state in the United States (usually Wyoming) gets roughly double that, and is still classified as desert. Wyoming’s agricultural economy largely consists of some widely grazed pastures by undernourished cows, and yet, here in the Arava region of Israel, everything from eggplant to watermelon is grown, but mainly it’s tomatoes and peppers that dominate the landscape. The Kibbutz Hatzerim, one of the pioneering settlements in the region, is a great case study in how this revolution happened. Established in 1946 prior to the creation of the nation of Israel, the Kibbutz settled land that, according to historical accounts, had barely one acacia tree growing, and whose soils were mostly alkaline dust. After 10 years of trying agriculture in the region, many of the original settlers left and the community was in danger of dissolving entirely. But through persistence and ingenuity, the original members were able to scratch out a living and begin to find crops that were better adjusted to the region’s difficult environs. They pressured the government of Israel many times to continue exploration of water resources, and after many failed attempts at finding subsurface water suitable for agriculture, they eventually found a fairly steady supply of brackish water, with salinity about 1/10 that of seawater, but still too much for most agricultural applications. In 1959, a major breakthrough occurred when Simcha Blass and his son Yeshahashu experimented with what would later be known as drip irrigation technology, wherein water could efficiently be delivered both subsurface and on the surface directly to the roots of the plant, rather than being blasted out through sprinklers. According to some tour guides from the Kibbutz Hatzerim, flood irrigation is about 50% effective, while their system of drip irrigation is upwards of 97% effective, in terms of how much water gets to the roots of the plants versus how much evaporates off or goes unused by the plant. Yield is correspondingly higher as well. But the benefits of drip irrigation go far beyond yield and water efficiency. By keeping water off the leaves, farmers can help keep disease in check. By not irrigating the soils beyond where the roots of the plants are, farmers can help keep pests from becoming a major nuisance. According to our guides at the Kibbutz Hatzerim, where wastewater is 100% recycled (even blackwater, since the water never touches the leaves of the plants), they have no need to use pesticides as a result of drip irrigation. Kibbutz Hatzerim partnered with Blass to create Netafim, a firm dedicated to the manufacture and sale of drip irrigation technologies globally. While on tour, I found myself asking, “But doesn’t the whole world know about this already?” After all, we’ve written about drip irrigation innovations many times over the last ten years, (including a really cool profile of drip irrigation development in Turkey), and, as with many other “no-brainer” sustainability innovations, I just want to believe that everyone’s on board already. Yet even in arid Israel, penetration of drip irrigation is only 75% and in California, where much of the United States’ produce is grown, market penetration is only 40%, according to our tour hosts. Time for us sustainability journalists to up our game, apparently!

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In September, a doctor named John Zhang announced that a baby, created via a complicated fertility treatment involving DNA contributions from three people, was successfully delivered the previous April. Now the U.K. has opened the way for more attempts at creating babies with three parents. The fertility treatment involves sperm, an egg from the prospective mother, and an egg from a donor and has been used to help women who have mitochondrial issues with their eggs, replacing the nucleus DNA of those eggs with that of donor, either before or after fertilization. The embryo then carries the donor’s mitochondrial DNA, which amounts to less than 1% of the resulting child’s genes. CBS News reports that on Thursday, Britain’s fertility regulator, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, approved the technique. The regulator’s chair, Sally Chesire, said in a statement, “Parents at very high risk of having a child with a life-threatening mitochondrial disease may soon have the chance of a healthy, genetically related child.” Mitochondrial issues can result in muscular dystrophy, muscle weakness and organ failure. Anyone who wishes to attempt fertility treatment using the 3-parent method must apply on a case-by-case basis via a clinic to HFEA. According to the BBC, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University is first in line to grab a license and are aiming to help 25 women a year. Professor Frances Flinter of the NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC, “It is infinitely preferable that the early clinical trials should be done in a tightly regulated system in the UK, with long term follow-up of any children born, rather than in countries where there is no regulation or oversight.” The decision does have it’s detractors. In addition to anti-abortion groups fearing the procedure will lead to discarded fertilized embryos, some fear this is the first step towards “designer babies.” The BBC quotes Dr David King, who works for advocacy group, Human Genetics Alert, as saying, “Already, bioethicists have started to argue that allowing mitochondrial replacement means that there is no logical basis for resisting GM babies, which is exactly how slippery slopes work.”

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Coleridge: a computer tool for assisting musical reflection and self-explanation Since the mid-1980s, there has been a movement away from knowledge supplied by the teacher and towards talking, reflecting and explaining as ways to learn. An example of this change in focus is provided by the self-explanation work of Chi et al (1994) who describe an approach to talking science rather than hearing science. According to Chi and coworkers, generating explanations to oneself (self-explanations) facilitates the integration of new information into existing knowledge. Reflecting about one's own learning is the same as thinking about learning or metacognition. Metacognition can be defined as the understanding of knowledge, an understanding that can be reflected in either effective use or overt description of the knowledge in question (Brown, 1987). This definition of metacognition requires of a learner both internalized thinking about learning (that is, reflection), and externalized communication, through language or action, that indicates an understanding of knowledge (that is, a self-explanation). In the work described in this paper the overall pedagogical goal is to encourage creative reflection in learners. Creative reflection is defined as the ability of a learner to imagine musical opportunities in novel situations, and then to make accurate predictions (verbally) about these opportunities. To succeed at creative reflection there should be a correspondence between what a learner predicts will happen and what actually happens. An example would be a learner first writing a musical phrase using musical notation, then predicting verbally how that phrase will sound, playing the phrase back on a piano, and finally evaluating if the prediction was accurate or not. Very little work has been done on how computers can be used to support talking, reflecting and explaining in the creative subject-area of musical composition. The rest of this paper addresses this issue.

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The young man held the medication in his hand — and considered using it to end his life. But then he “put it down and said, ‘No. I need help,’” before heading to a Laredo, Texas, emergency room, said Kimberly Gallegos, who at the time earlier this year was a mobile crisis worker for a local mental health center. Gallegos was helping evaluate whether the patient, a Latino in his early 30s, should be immediately hospitalized or could go home safely until seeing an outpatient doctor. He returned to the home he shares with his mother and a sibling. The family agreed to lock up the medication — which belonged to a family member — and watch out for any problematic behaviors and other warning signs of suicide, Gallegos recalled. The man’s experience illustrates a “suicide paradox,” experts say. Even though Latinos face economic disadvantages and other stress in their lives, their suicide rate is about one-third that of non-Hispanic whites, both in Texas and nationally. Experts attribute the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos to the culture’s strong family and community support systems, which appear to provide some degree of protection. “It definitely did make me feel a lot more comfortable knowing that now that the family was aware of what he was going through and experiencing, that they would be a lot more vigilant with him,” Gallegos said. In Texas, the suicide rate among non-Hispanic whites has been steadily increasing during the past 16 years, from 13.4 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2000 to 19.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2016. Meanwhile, the rate has remained largely unchanged among Hispanics, with 6.7 suicides per 100,000 residents in 2016 — the same as the national rate. Nationwide, suicides have increased nearly 30 percent since the turn of the century. As a group, Latinos face obstacles that can affect their health and well-being: They earn less than non-Hispanic whites, and are more likely to lack health insurance coverage. In 2017, 16.1 percent of Hispanics were uninsured compared with 6.3 percent of non-Hispanic whites, hampering access to mental health care and other treatment. In addition, Latino immigrants contend with the challenges of moving to a new country, sometimes after leaving violence and other traumatic conditions at home. But the practice of “colectivismo,” the building of a latticework of relationships through extended family, work colleagues and friends, is prevalent in the Latino community and can help provide an emotional safety net, said Luis Garcia, who has developed suicide prevention programs for Latino youth in California. Even activities such as regular church picnics or salsa dancing can help, said Garcia, vice president of cultural diversity at Arcadia, Calif.-based Pacific Clinics. “Latinos or Hispanics have a preference to work in groups,” Garcia said. “It’s something that, believe me, we practice on a daily basis.” Ties That Bind — And Fray To be sure, Latinos are a multifaceted population from numerous countries who shouldn’t be viewed through a single lens or set of assumptions, Garcia and other researchers stressed. And not all family or community relationships are necessarily healthy. Still, when immigrant families assimilate and ties to the Latino culture fray, so do the protective effects, according to a study published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Researchers, who analyzed suicidal thoughts and attempts, found that those inclinations increased as Latinos spent more years in the U.S. and started losing their fluency in Spanish and connections to Latino social networks and identity. In addition, Latino youth appear more vulnerable to suicide attempts than white teens. In 2017, 8.2 percent of Hispanic high school students attempted suicide in the prior year compared with 6.1 percent of whites and 9.8 percent of blacks, according to federal data. Still, the higher rate of teen suicide attempts has not resulted in a corresponding increase in suicide deaths among Latinos, for reasons that are unclear, said Luis Zayas, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book “Latinas Attempting Suicide: When Cultures, Families and Daughters Collide.” One possibility, Pacific Clinics’ Garcia said, is that the attempt is a teen’s cry for help and attention, and there may be an extended cultural support system to fall back on. Sometimes, though, vulnerable individuals must be encouraged to lean on that support. Sarai, a 15-year-old Latina in Southern California who requested that her full name not be used, credits a mental health counselor at Pacific Clinics with helping her reach out to friends and family, rather than bottle up her feelings. Sarai’s problems manifested when she began cutting herself. Her family did not notice because she wore long sleeves to cover the marks on her forearms. “I thought every time I did it, that it would let out some of the frustration and anger and sadness that I had,” Sarai said. One day, she found herself sitting on the kitchen floor, looking at the bleach in the sink cabinet and contemplating suicide. “I was just looking at the bottle of bleach and thinking, ‘This is it. I’m just going to do it.’ But then I heard my mom’s footsteps, and it totally snapped me out.” Still, the experience scared Sarai enough that she told her family that she needed to talk to someone about her anxiety, and they sought professional help. Sarai’s counselor persuaded her to share her feelings rather than to inflict pain on herself, the Latina teen said. Over time, Sarai opened up to her older sister about her history of cutting, calling her up late one night when she was tempted to start again. “We talked ’til probably 3 in the morning,” Sarai recalled. The inclination to hurt herself “completely went away,” she said. Cynthia Rodriguez, who has counseled Sarai for about a year and a half, said she encouraged the teen to not hide her emotional struggles and “to take advantage” of the support of close friends. Sarai eventually told a few friends that she used to cut herself. “They became like my little second family,” she said. While family and community support might partially explain the suicide paradox, it’s likely not the only factor. It may also be that some Latino suicides are misclassified, in part due to the stigma associated with it, said Ian Rockett, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at West Virginia University School of Public Health, and a longtime researcher on suicide. Federal suicide data, which is based on death records, relies on information compiled by local medical examiners or coroners, family and others, Rockett said. It can be more difficult to sort out what happened with an opioid overdose or when a car careens into a tree, he said. One clue is a note. One of Rockett’s studies, published earlier this year, found that nearly 33 percent of non-Hispanic whites committing suicide left a note compared with 26.5 percent of Hispanics and 19.6 percent of non-Hispanic blacks. Back in Laredo, Gallegos learned that the young man who had contemplated suicide believed suicide was against his family’s religion and that he had brought shame upon his family even by harboring suicidal thoughts. Once he realized his mother didn’t hold such beliefs, his tense posture began to ease, said Gallegos, who now works as a quality management adviser for the Laredo-based mental health center. “He was a lot calmer,” Gallegos said. “He was grateful that his mom was there.”

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Flower facts for kids A flower is a special kind of plant part. Flowers are also called the bloom or blossom of a plant. The flower grows on a stalk – a thin node – which supports it. Flowers have petals. Inside the part of the flower that has petals are the parts which produce pollen and seeds. Flowers are the reproductive structure of flowering plants, which are plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called the Angiosperms. In many plants, a flower is its most colourful part. We say the plant 'flowers', 'is flowering' or 'is in flower' when this colourful part begins to grow bigger and open out. There are many different kinds of flowers in different areas in the world. Even in the coldest places, for example the Arctic, flowers can grow during a few months. Flowers may grow separately on the plant, or they may grow together in an inflorescence. Structure of flowers To investigate the structure of a flower, it must be dissected, and its structure summarised by a floral diagram or a floral formula. Then its family can be identified with the aid of a flora, which is a book designed to help you identify plants. Four basic parts Flowers have four basic parts, from the outside in they are: - The perianth, the vegetative parts - The calyx: the outermost whorl consisting of units called sepals. These are often green and enclose the rest of the flower in the bud. They may be absent, or they may be petal-like in some species. - The corolla: the petals, usually thin, soft and often colored to attract animals that help pollination. - The reproductive parts Although this arrangement is typical, plant species show a wide variation in floral structure. The modifications produced in the evolution of flowering plants are used by botanists to find relationships among plant species. Flowers are an important evolutionary advance made by flowering plants. Some flowers are dependent upon the wind to move pollen between flowers of the same species. Many others rely on insects or birds to move pollen. The role of flowers is to produce seeds, which are contained in fruit. Fruits and seeds are a means of dispersal. Plants do not move, but wind, animals and birds spread the plants across the landscape. Since the ovules are protected by carpels, it takes something special for fertilisation to happen. Angiosperms have pollen grains comprising just three cells. One cell is responsible for drilling down through the integuments, and creating a passage for the two sperm cells to flow down. The megagametophyte has just seven cells. Of these, one is the egg cell; it fuses with a sperm cell, forming the zygote. Another cell joins with the other sperm, and dedicates itself to forming a nutrient-rich endosperm. The other cells take auxiliary roles. This process of "double fertilisation" is unique and common to all angiosperms. Evolution of flowers Flowers are modified leaves possessed only by the flowering plants (angiosperms), which are relatively late to appear in the fossil record. The earliest known fossils of flowers and flowering plants are from 130 million years ago, in the Lower Cretaceous. The flowering plants have long been assumed to have evolved from within the gymnosperms; but the known gymnosperms form a clade which is distinct from the angiosperms. It has been concluded that the two clades diverged (split) some 300 million years ago. The primary purpose of a flower is reproduction. Since the flowers are the reproductive organs of plant, they mediate the joining of the sperm, contained within pollen, to the ovules - contained in the ovary. Pollination is the movement of pollen from the anthers to the stigma. The joining of the sperm to the ovules is called fertilization. Normally pollen is moved from one plant to another, but many plants are able to self pollinate. The fertilized ovules produce seeds that are the next generation. Sexual reproduction produces genetically unique offspring, allowing for adaptation. Flowers have specific designs which encourages the transfer of pollen from one plant to another of the same species. Many plants are dependent upon external factors for pollination, including: wind and animals, and especially insects. Even large animals such as birds, bats, and pygmy possums can be employed. The period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully expanded and functional) is called anthesis. Plants can not move from one location to another, thus many flowers have evolved to attract animals to transfer pollen between individuals in dispersed populations. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are called entomophilous; literally "insect-loving" in Latin. They can be highly modified along with the pollinating insects by co-evolution. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on various parts that attract animals looking for nutritious nectar. Birds and bees have color vision, enabling them to seek out "colorful" flowers. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible only under ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and some of those scents are pleasant to our sense of smell. Not all flower scents are appealing to humans, a number of flowers are pollinated by insects that are attracted to rotten flesh and have flowers that smell like dead animals, often called Carrion flowers including Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Flowers pollinated by night visitors, including bats and moths, are likely to concentrate on scent to attract pollinators and most such flowers are white. Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent. Male bees move from one such flower to another in search of a mate. The pollination mechanism employed by a plant depends on what method of pollination is utilized. Most flowers can be divided between two broad groups of pollination methods: Entomophilous: flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Often they are specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the flowers it visits. Many flower rely on simple proximity between flower parts to ensure pollination. Others, such as the Sarracenia or lady-slipper orchids, have elaborate designs to ensure pollination while preventing self-pollination. Anemophilous: flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and Maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy" flowers. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered in times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn (maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them. Some flowers are self pollinated and use flowers that never open or are self pollinated before the flowers open, these flowers are called cleistogamous. Many Viola species and some Salvia have these types of flowers. Many flowers have close relationships with one or a few specific pollinating organisms. Many flowers, for example, attract only one specific species of insect, and therefore rely on that insect for successful reproduction. This close relationship is often given as an example of coevolution, as the flower and pollinator are thought to have developed together over a long period of time to match each other's needs. This close relationship compounds the negative effects of extinction. The extinction of either member in such a relationship would mean almost certain extinction of the other member as well. Some endangered plant species are so because of shrinking pollinator populations. Flowers for people Flowers have long been admired and used by humans. Most people think that flowers are beautiful. Many people also love flowers for their fragrances (scents). People enjoy seeing flowers growing in gardens. People also enjoy growing flowers in their backyards, outside their homes. People often wear flowers on their clothes or give flowers as a gift during special occasions, holidays, or rituals, such as the birth of a new baby (or a Christening), at weddings (marriages), at funerals (when a person dies). People often buy flowers from businesses called florists. As a name Some parents name their girl children after a flower. Some common flower names are: Rose, Lily, Daisy, Holly, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Blossom. People also eat some types of flowers. Flower vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke. The most expensive spice, saffron, comes from the crocus flower. Other flower spices are cloves and capers. Hops flowers are used to flavor beer. Dandelion can be made into wine. Honey is flower nectar that has been collected and processed by bees. Honey is often named for the type of flower that the bees are using (for example, clover honey). Some people put flowers from nasturtiums, chrysanthemums, or carnations in their food. Flowers can also be made into tea. Dried flowers such as chrysanthemum, rose, and jasmine are used to make tea. Flowers were used to signal meanings in the time when social meetings between men and women was difficult. Lilies made people think of life. Red roses made people think of love, beauty, and passion. In Britain, Australia and Canada, poppies are worn on special holidays as a mark of respect for those who served and died in wars. Daisies made people think of children and innocence. List of common flowers Images for kids Flower Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

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Over the past month, school shootings have unfortunately become a pertinent topic in California. Earlier this month, a 16-year-old killed himself after supposedly shooting five students at their Los Angeles suburb high school. Two teens died; three others were injured. More recently, L.A. authorities arrested a 13-year-old middle-schooler because they suspected he planned to commit a school shooting. Other students told teachers they heard the teen threaten to shoot students. Police found evidence to believe the teen had the ability to commit the violent offense and, therefore, arrested him. He will possibly be charged with making criminal threats or attempted murder. Thinking About Sentencing When The Unthinkable Happens School shootings are undoubtedly tragic. They shouldn’t happen, and too many people, including children and adults, have lost their lives to gun violence committed by teens. Conversations surrounding this teen violence, however, most often revolve around gun control. That is an important conversation, but so is the value of proper sentencing and treatment of teens accused of violence. In many school shooting incidents, the young perpetrator takes his own life. Those who do live to face the consequences of their actions face the most severe of sentencing. From a criminal defense and humanity standpoint, it is crucial we ask whether adult-level, life-long sentencing is appropriate for the minors who commit violence in our society. These teens committed awful acts in these cases, but they are still children. They are often children suffering from mental health issues. There Is More Than A Gun Behind The Violence Since school shootings have become more common in the U.S., researchers have tried to study the cases and find commonalities among the tragic incidents. While the people involved all certainly have their unique stories, the United States Department of Education claims to have identified some common factors among many of the teens behind the violence: • History of depression • History of attempted suicide What do these common factors tell us? They tell us that underneath the violence was or is a teen struggling with mental and emotional health problems. In many of the school shooting cases, the teens who perpetrate the violence don’t survive; it becomes too late for the community to help them once the immeasurable damage has been done. In the case of the recent teen arrested based on the suspicion he’d commit future violence, maybe it is not too late to reach him. There are signs of depression and other mental struggles his community could identify and address through the proper medical routes. Mental health counseling, sometimes medication, and even simple improved communication between a kid and his family can make a life-saving difference. A pediatric study found that teens who self-report mental health problems such as depression are more likely to have access to guns. To compound that concern, other research shows if there is a gun available to a teen, the chance he will commit homicide increases by three times compared to a teen with no access to a firearm. We know the young teen in the recent case did have access to a gun, which further supported authorities’ decision to step in and act upon the suspected threat. Defending A Teen Is Defending His Right To Hope When a case involves violence against children by children, emotions run deep. In any criminal case, defendants are entitled to a fair legal process. When the defendant in a case is a teenager – a child, stakes are so high. A teen facing murder or attempted murder charges has a lifetime ahead of him that will be directly altered by the outcome of the case. As a defense attorney in Los Angles who handles murder and violent crimes cases on a regular basis, the question always remains: will this young client get the chance to try to improve his well-being and outlook on the world through counseling and emotional education, or will the system treat him like a lost cause? And it is my job as a zealous criminal defense attorney to ensure the former and not the latter.

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Autistic people are more likely to: be diagnosed with a range of physical health conditions (i.e. cardio-vascular disease); experience premature mortality (for most disease categories); and experience barriers to effectively accessing healthcare. This systematic review sought to identify studies that report on barriers and facilitators to physical healthcare access for autistic people. A total of 3111 records were screened and six studies were included: two quantitative, two qualitative, and two mixed-methodology studies. Patient-provider communication, sensory sensitivities, and executive functioning/planning issues emerged as important barriers to healthcare. Recommendations for clinicians and those planning services are discussed. There is a growing research literature regarding autistic adults, and their life experiences. One focus has been a range of health and healthcare challenges for autistic adults. Autism is associated with a wide range of co-occurring mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety (Lever and Geurts 2016). Whilst rates of diagnoses and general population comparisons are difficult due to measurement and sampling issues (Howlin and Magiati 2017), autistic people are more likely than the general population to experience elevated rates of co-occurring mental health conditions (Croen et al. 2015; Howlin and Magiati 2017). In addition, there is an elevated rate of co-occurring physical health conditions compared to the general population (Cashin et al. 2018). For instance, data suggest that autistic adults compared to non-autistic people, are more likely to be diagnosed with epilepsy, cardiovascular disease (i.e. dyslipidaemia, hypertension,), and diabetes (Croen et al. 2015). There is an elevated risk of premature mortality for autistic people compared to the general population. Using two nationwide population-based Swedish registers Hirvikoski et al. (2016) reported significantly elevated rates of mortality for autistic people compared to the general population (Hirvikoski et al. 2016). Further analysis of cause-specific mortality revealed that for all recorded categories of disease, except infection, autistic people were at a greater risk of mortality compared to the general population (i.e. OR = 3.7 for endocrine, OR = 1.5 for circulatory system, or OR = 3.3 for digestive system diseases). These findings were similar to rates in Denmark, with comparable sample sizes (Schendel et al. 2016). Regarding service use, autistic people are more likely to access some healthcare services compared to the general population. Vohra et al. (2016) reported autistic people made significantly more emergency department visits (for both physical and mental health reasons) compared to the general population (although fewer visits for alcohol and substance misuse disorders, and respiratory disease) (Vohra et al. 2016). Results from a recent study comparing health records for 1507 autistic people and 15,070 members of the general population indicated autistic people were 2.1 times more likely to attend an outpatient healthcare visit (Zerbo et al. 2018). A separate study found that younger autistic adults were more likely to visit a general practitioner (OR = 1.27) or be hospitalised (OR = 2.75) compared to age-matched general population controls (Weiss et al. 2018). However, autistic adults are significantly more likely to report unmet healthcare needs, and lower healthcare self-efficacy, compared to the general population (Nicolaidis et al. 2013) and there remain variabilities in which services are accessed: For instance, autistic people may be more likely than the general population to access a screening service for diabetes but not prostate, cervical, or breast cancer screening (Zerbo et al. 2018). This elevated use of services may reflect autistic people trying to find a healthcare provider with a good level of knowledge about autism (Unigwe et al. 2017; Zerbo et al. 2015, 2018). Many factors potentially relate to effective health care for autistic people. Survey and interview data show many healthcare providers do not have sufficient skills or tools to effectively treat autistic people (Zerbo et al. 2015); providers may not receive formal autism related training (Unigwe et al. 2017). A large survey recently found autistic people reported significantly lower satisfaction with patient-provider communication, and healthcare self-efficacy, and had significantly more unmet needs compared to the general population (Nicolaidis et al. 2013). Communication is a two way process, and whilst social communication is a core difficulty for autistic people, professionals may not appreciate the need to adapt their communication style to communicate effectively with autistic people—or be unable/unwilling to do so. For example, some healthcare providers are not amenable to the use of augmented communication; assuming the autistic patient cannot attend the appointment without a relative or carer (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Taken together, the research literature suggests autistic people have an increased prevalence of some health conditions; those contribute in part to the increased rates of premature mortality; and there are numerous barriers preventing autistic people from effectively engaging with the appropriate healthcare practitioners to increase the likelihood of their health needs being met. Recently a UK community priority setting exercise identified ‘How should service delivery for autistic people be improved and adapted in order to meet their needs?’ as a research priority (James Lind Alliance 2016). In that context, understanding the barriers to healthcare access is key to implementing changes to services. The objective of this review was to systematically review and synthesise the current research into the barriers and facilitators to healthcare access experienced by autistic people. The specific question addressed by this review was: ‘what barriers and facilitators prevent and enable physical healthcare services access for autistic adults?’ The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used throughout the review (Moher et al. 2009), which was registered on PROSPERO (the international prospective register of systematic reviews: www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/). ID CRD42018110516. Peer-reviewed quantitative (i.e. randomised control trials, observational studies), qualitative (i.e. interview or focus group) studies, and mixed methodology studies, published in English from any country of origin were eligible for inclusion in the review. The inclusion criteria were: Studies including or relating to autistic adults aged 16 years and over (primary sample/discrete sub-sample), or studies including a quantitative or qualitative description of barriers to physical healthcare access, or characteristics that promoted access to physical healthcare for autistic people. Studies that investigated which services autistic people access/are more likely to access were not eligible for inclusion. To decide whether a paper should be included, the first author, and HB, used a decision matrix. This matrix consisted of key questions to address the inclusion/exclusion criteria consistently (see Supplementary material Table S1). The authors designed and piloted the initial search strategy and search terms and consulted relevant experts to refine them further. The final list of search terms contained key words taken from the literature and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms. The first author searched the following databases: CINAHL, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, and PsychINFO. Searches were limited to post 1994 to cover the DSM IV and DSM-5 eras. Key search terms, in different permutations, were: autis*, Asperge*, developmental dis*, barrier, facilitator, booster, adjustment, accommodation, access*, utili*, healthcare, delivery of care, delivery of healthcare, health checks, health services, general practitioner, physician, primary healthcare. In parallel, experts in this area were contacted, and a search of Google Scholar and relevant policy and health reports was conducted to identify additional citations. The initial search, removal of duplicates, and full text read-throughs was completed by 31st October 2018. All searches were rerun from the 1st November 2018 up to the 24th of January 2019. No additional papers were included. Study Selection Process After excluding duplicates, the first author screened articles by title and abstract against the inclusion criteria. A second reviewer, HB, checked a randomly selected 10% of the abstracts against the inclusion criteria to investigate agreement (99.6%). The first author then completed a full text read through of each study against the inclusion criteria. Several articles were thought to partially meet the inclusion criteria; the final decision was decided by group consensus by all authors. Data extraction for the final sample of studies was completed using a data collection form to record study sample size, population, design, any intervention(s) and outcome measures used, and the main findings. If further information was required, corresponding authors were contacted for clarification. Assessment of Methodological Quality Studies included in the final data synthesis were evaluated for methodological quality. This was conducted independently by two reviewers (two-way intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97, p < 0.001 indicated excellent agreement of ratings). For all studies the methodological reliability and validity was evaluated using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATSDD) (Sirriyeh et al. 2012). This is a 16-item tool with 14 items relevant to quantitative or qualitative studies (all 16 items were scored for mixed-methodology studies). Each item is scored from 0 to 3, thus quantitative or qualitative scores can range from 0 to 42, or 0–48 for mixed-methodology studies. This tool was selected as, a priori, it was expected that included studies would use a range of methodologies, and the QATSDD offers a numerical score for comparisons. We chose a narrative approach to data synthesis because we expected, a priori, to find few quantitative studies and that any quantitative studies would include highly heterogeneous operationalisation of ‘barriers’. Furthermore, it was expected that qualitative synthesis would represent the qualitative research most effectively. The search strategy yielded a total of 5192 records. After removing duplicates, a total of 3038 records were screened by title and abstract. A total of 3006 records were excluded at this stage. This left 32 studies for a full text review. Post review, six studies were included. The most common reason for exclusion was a lack of autistic participants. This is because the search strategy allowed for the inclusion of studies that included people with intellectual disability (who may or may not have included sub-samples of autistic participants). None of the studies describing intellectual disability participants met the inclusion criteria as they did not report the number of autistic people, or present the findings from autistic people. See Fig. 1 for a flowchart of the search process, and list of reasons for exclusions. Of the six papers selected, two were qualitative (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015), two were quantitative (Raymaker et al. 2017; Vogan et al. 2017), and two used mixed-methods (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Saqr et al. 2018). Sample sizes ranged from 10 (Saqr et al.’s focus group; Saqr et al. 2018) to 209 (Raymaker et al. 2017). The combined sample size of autistic adults was 683; three studies (Nicolaidis et al. 2015, 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017) included 229 non-autistic supporters, clinicians, adults with disabilities, and adults without disabilities. One study did not provide sample size data (Dern and Sappok 2016). Table 1 describes the included studies. Results of Individual Studies Qualitative studies: Two qualitative studies (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015) investigated the experiences of autistic adults when accessing healthcare. Nicolaidis et al. (2015) also recruited a sample of supporters of autistic adults as they may be the main communicators with healthcare professionals when the person they support accesses healthcare. Dern and Sappok (2016) collected data from an existing collaboration between autistic self-advocates and healthcare professionals treating autistic people. Both studies identified an extensive list of barriers that impair or prevent autistic people from accessing health care, and recommendations for improving healthcare provision. Each study identified a set of barriers and a unique taxonomy of these barriers. Nicolaidis et al. (2015) identified patient-level factors (i.e. verbal communication skills, sensory sensitivities, body awareness, slow processing speed, atypical non-verbal communication, and challenges with organization); provider-level factors (i.e. knowledge about autism in adults, incorrect assumptions, flexibility in following the patient’s preferred communication style, use of acceptable language, openness to proving accommodations, and skills in incorporating supporters); and systemic-level factors (i.e. available formal or informal supports, complexities and accessibility of the healthcare service, and stigma about autism). In comparison, Dern and Sappok (2016) identified five sets of barriers: making appointments (i.e. telephone calls can be challenging); waiting area (i.e. uncertain wait times, proximity of other patients, overly-stimulating noise level/lighting); examination (i.e. discomfort with unannounced touch, atypical presentation and experience of pain); communication (i.e. open-ended questions causing stress, patient cannot use written notes, idiosyncratic or hyper-specific language); hospital (i.e. constantly changing staff, not being admitted due to rigid thinking about what is happening at home); and sensory difficulties (i.e. prosopagnosia, sensory overload through traveling to, or being at, appointments). Quantitative: One quantitative study tracked the healthcare use, satisfaction with healthcare, and barriers to accessing healthcare by a sample of autistic adults (Vogan et al. 2017). A second study described the development and validation of a measure of barriers to accessing healthcare (Raymaker et al. 2017). Each study addressed a different research question yet common barriers to healthcare were identified. Raymaker et al. (2017) adapted an existing measure of barriers to healthcare used with disability populations. Using a community-based participatory research approach, the research team modified items for accessibility and added autism-specific barriers identified in previous research (Nicolaidis et al. 2013, 2015). The final version of the measure showed acceptable content and construct validity (as established by the research team and the pattern of item endorsement respectively). The long-form of the measure consists of 41 items across nine domains: emotional (i.e. frustration/anger, lack of confidence); executive function (i.e. organising appointments, translating medical instruction in practicable steps); healthcare navigation (i.e. find it too hard to navigate managed care, problems with paperwork); provider attitudes (i.e. providers relate new symptoms to existing conditions, providers are unwilling to use the patient’s preferred communication style); patient-provider communication (i.e. difficulty communicating with providers, trouble following spoken instructions); sensory (i.e. healthcare facilities cause sensory overload); socio-economic (i.e. concerns about costs, insurance does not cover atypical therapies); support (i.e. socially isolated, lack of available support); and waiting (i.e. waiting rooms are difficult to manage). The short form of the measure consists of 17 items. The short-form items cover the same nine domains as the long-form measure; items were created by collapsing conceptually similar items into one item and removing more general items in favour of more specific items (Raymaker et al. 2017). Vogan et al. (2017) reported similar barriers, e.g. not knowing where to find help, too many steps to finding help, and negative experiences with healthcare staff. Furthermore, Vogan and colleagues noted that around three quarters of participants could not access healthcare they needed, and over three quarters reported three or more barriers to healthcare access. Moreover, those experiencing physical health conditions reported almost twice the amount of barriers to healthcare than those without medical conditions. Mixed-methods: Two studies (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Saqr et al. 2018) sought to measure barriers to healthcare access, augmenting survey data with descriptive accounts (interviews and focus groups) from autistic people and, for Nicolaidis et al. (2016), primary care providers. Saqr et al. (2018) conducted a retrospective medical record review of patients attending a primary care facility set up to facilitate transition for autistic people (Saqr et al. 2018); Nicolaidis et al. conducted a single arm pre-/post-intervention evaluation of an online toolkit, the Autism Healthcare Accommodations Toolkit (AHAT) using surveys of autistic patients and their providers (Nicolaidis et al. 2016). Saqr et al. collected qualitative data about the clinical experience of autistic people and Nicolaidis et al. also used cognitive interviews to assess the content validity of the AHAT. One study, Saqr et al. (2018) used a standardised pre-visit assessment to identify possible barriers to a successful healthcare visit. An individualised plan was then made for patients who may experience such barriers. Saqr et al. reported that 23% of the patients in their sample (n = 17) had some form of individual plan. Qualitative data identified three sets of problems that interact with the healthcare visit. Participants suggested that sensory sensitivities made check-in and the waiting room a stressful experience. Anxiety from waiting made the waiting in the examination room and talking with the healthcare provider challenging. Participants suggested that lack of mutual understanding, communication, and trust made both the examination and treatment conversation more stressful. The authors then proposed that a negative feedback loop of social interaction developed during the healthcare visit. In brief, fear of social interaction drives anxiety and stress, which in turn heightens sensory sensitivity and overstimulation. This impacts concentration and makes social interaction more difficult, consequently increasing fear of social interaction. Nicolaidis et al. designed the AHAT to be completed by an autistic person or their supporter. The items were generated from previous research into healthcare barriers (Nicolaidis et al. 2013, 2015). The patient completes the sections of the AHAT: How you communicate; Communication suggestions; Before the visit; During the visit; After the visit; Getting to know you; and Your supporters. The AHAT then generates an individualised report than can be shared with the primary care provider. From the cognitive interviews, both autistic people and primary care providers responded positively to the AHAT, rating it as helpful and stating it included a comprehensive list of accommodations. Autistic people reported feeling more validated in their experiences and more able to self-advocate. Primary care providers said they would recommend it to other autistic patients. The AHAT significantly reduced healthcare barriers over the course of the evaluation intervention, as measured by the Barriers to Healthcare Checklist—Short Form, and increased satisfaction with patient-provider communication. Open-ended questions suggested that the toolkit empowered patients’ self-efficacy and that patients noted some changes in primary care providers’ behaviour. Whilst some patients reported that their primary care provider did not read the AHAT or did not change their practice after receiving it, most primary care providers in the evaluation rated the AHAT as moderately or very useful. Synthesis of Results Research investigating barriers to healthcare for autistic adults to date has used a diverse range of methodologies and measures. Qualitative studies have been used to elicit the lived experiences of autistic adults when accessing healthcare, providing recommendations for improving healthcare, and to posit tentative models of the healthcare visit. Furthermore, qualitative data has been integrated into validating measures of healthcare barriers. All studies included samples of autistic adults (aggregate age range approximately 18-64). One study compared autistic adults to the general population and to non-autistic people with other disabilities groups (Raymaker et al. 2017); two studies only included autistic participants (Saqr et al. 2018; Vogan et al. 2017); three studies included groups of supporters (Nicolaidis et al. 2015) or healthcare professionals (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2016). Despite diverse measures of barriers (for quantitative studies) and interview guides (qualitative studies), a consistent set of obstacles emerged across studies (see Table 2). Communication with healthcare providers was reported across five studies as a barrier to healthcare (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015, 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017; Saqr et al. 2018). Communication difficulties included: checking into a healthcare visit (Saqr et al. 2018), communicating with the primary care provider (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015; Saqr et al. 2018), or providers not respecting the autistic person’s preferred communication method (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Negative experiences with healthcare providers was also a prominent barrier (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Vogan et al. found that 47.4% of their sample reported such experiences (Vogan et al. 2017). Nicolaidis et al.’s qualitative study provided rich data regarding barriers to healthcare. This study reported that healthcare providers’ knowledge about autism can act as a barrier to healthcare. For instance, qualitative reports from autistic adults suggest that many healthcare providers do not know what autism entails and hence how treatment may need to be adapted (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). One key finding, relevant to clinicians, is that assumptions made by healthcare providers based on the presentation of the autistic patient (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). For instance, if the autistic patient requests that healthcare providers use an alternative communication device then they may assume the patient lacks the ability to comprehend what is said. Alternative communication preferences have been reported in several studies. For instance, written notes may be preferred due to challenges with verbal and non-verbal communication (Dern and Sappok 2016). Sensory sensitivities were a prominent barrier across five studies (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015, 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017; Saqr et al. 2018). Different aspects of the healthcare visit are associated with sensory sensitivities. For instance, the waiting room (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Saqr et al. 2018), unpredictable waiting times (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Saqr et al. 2018), travelling to appointments (Dern and Sappok 2016; Saqr et al. 2018), lighting and environmental factors (Nicolaidis et al. 2015; Saqr et al. 2018) can all contribute to sensory overload. Interestingly, Saqr et al.’s qualitative data suggest that the stress and anxiety about a healthcare visit begins prior to the visit (i.e. at home, or when travelling to the healthcare venue) (Saqr et al. 2018). Finally, a set of intra-person factors were reported across several studies as barriers to accessing healthcare. These included a slower processing speed when talking with providers (Nicolaidis et al. 2015) which could hamper ‘real-time’ interactions during an appointment (Raymaker et al. 2017). Less often mentioned, but important none the less, were issues of information processing and memory. Raymaker et al.’s Barriers to Healthcare Checklist included a domain about executive functioning (i.e. remembering to attend appointments or take medication) and difficulties with completing paper work were noted (Nicolaidis et al. 2015; Raymaker et al. 2017). Methodological Quality of Included Studies Many studies relied on self-reported diagnoses of being on the autism spectrum. For instance, Nicolaidis et al. (2015, 2016) required that participants report a formal or medical diagnosis of autism, Asperger’s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, or autism spectrum disorder. Nicolaidis et al. (2015) also allocated a portion of their sample to those who self-identified as being on the autism spectrum, with the autism quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al. 2001) used as a screen to indicate autistic traits. Raymaker et al. (2017) likewise recruited participants who identified as being on the autism spectrum (Raymaker et al. 2017). For their retrospective chart analysis Saqr et al. (2018) identified all patients who attended a specific healthcare provider between April 2014 and April 2015, and autism diagnosis was confirmed by a review of medical records and psychological evaluation (Saqr et al. 2018). Finally one study did not provide any participant information (Dern and Sappok 2016). Quantitative measures used in the included studies were highly heterogeneous, and in some cases not validated for use with this population (or authors did not comment on the measures’ validities). Four studies used quantitative data collection methods in their designs. Two of these studies sought to validate a measure or tool for use with autistic adults accessing healthcare (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017). The initial validation findings were promising, suggesting that each tool is appropriate for use with autistic participants in future studies or interventions. One study looked at retrospective chart analyses for every patient attending a specific healthcare provider over a 12 month period (Saqr et al. 2018). The complexity of each patient’s medication regimen was analysed. The authors do state the measure of complexity is valid for use with chronic disease, but the measure of medication regimen complexity has not yet been validated for use with autistic people. Finally, Vogan et al. used several measures including the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 and the Need for Help Questionnaire (Vogan et al. 2017). One measure of service use was created by the research team (‘service use’). Neither the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6 nor the Need for Help Questionnaire have been validated for the autistic population. We identified six papers investigating the barriers and facilitators to healthcare as reported by autistic adults. Despite the limited literature, there are similar barriers and facilitators reported across the six studies; efforts to devise interventions and measurement tools are underway, and initial steps towards evaluating the effectiveness of implementing change have been evidenced (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Dern and Sappok 2016; Saqr et al. 2018; Vogan et al. 2017; Nicolaidis et al. 2015; Raymaker et al. 2017). Nicolaidis et al. reported that verbal communication skills were an autism-related factor affecting healthcare access (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Social or communicative atypicalities are part of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum conditions (McPartland et al. 2012), however, autistic people display highly heterogeneous profiles of social and communicative ability (Frazier et al. 2012). Thus, social communication accommodations required by autistic patients are likely to be highly heterogeneous and unique to each patient. General difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication can act as a barrier to healthcare, or a lack of initiative in reporting medical conditions (Dern and Sappok 2016). By way of example, literal interpretation of language was reported to impair some autistic people’s ability to answer questions about, for instance, quantifying pain (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). These findings suggest that healthcare practitioners should be sensitive to the communication atypicalities associated with autism spectrum conditions. A ‘one size fits all’ approach to patient interaction is unlikely to work for autistic people; hence efforts to create individualised reports tailored to the autistic patient’s needs (Nicolaidis et al. 2016; Hislop et al. 2016). Given autistic patients are more likely to report barriers to healthcare compared to both adults with disabilities (vision/hearing, mobility, learning/remembering, activities of daily living, leaving home alone, working at a job) and non-autistic adults without disabilities (Raymaker et al. 2017), such attention to individual needs may reduce barriers to healthcare (Nicolaidis et al. 2016). For example, negative experiences with healthcare providers (Vogan et al. 2017) and ‘adverse events’ that might affect medical procedures (i.e. measuring vital signs) or increase anxiety about attending healthcare appointments (Saqr et al. 2018). Importantly, these communication difficulties only represent one aspect of barriers to healthcare. Several studies reported different barriers related to stigma or stereotyping, healthcare providers’ lack of autism knowledge, healthcare providers’ openness to different modes of communication, and trust in professionals. Almost one quarter of autistic people in Vogan et al.’s study reported a fear of stigmatisation or labelling (Vogan et al. 2017); although the sample size was small (N = 40) this does echo the findings of other studies that used qualitative methods. For instance, some autistic people who use alternative communication devices reported that their healthcare professional doubted the autistic patient’s competence (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Provider attitudes towards autistic patients was discussed in qualitative studies (Dern and Sappok 2016; Nicolaidis et al. 2015) and was a discrete factor in the ‘Barriers to Healthcare Checklist- Long Form’ (Raymaker et al. 2017). For instance, healthcare providers were reported to make assumptions about autistic patients from their initial presentation (Nicolaidis et al. 2015), not take into account rigid thinking (Dern and Sappok 2016), or assume behaviours expressing symptoms (i.e. pain) were behaviours more directly related to autism (Dern and Sappok 2016). These findings are in line with healthcare professionals’ self-reporting. For instance, 79% of adult medicine, 88% of obstetrics/gynaecology, and 70% of mental health professionals in the United States rated their ability to provide healthcare to autistic patients as poor or fair (Zerbo et al. 2015). Furthermore, in the United Kingdom 39.5% of general practitioners (n = 120 out of 304) reported having no formal training in autism, and limited confidence in their ability to offer healthcare to autistic patients (despite having a good knowledge of the key features of autism) (Unigwe et al. 2017). Again, these findings have important implications for healthcare professionals. It is important that healthcare professionals with autistic patients take the time to learn about autism spectrum conditions, and the individual needs of autistic patients. Nicolaidis et al. reported that the AHAT was rated positively by primary care providers (82% rated it as moderately or very useful) (Nicolaidis et al. 2016). The final ‘global’ barrier reported was sensory sensitivities. Autistic people report elevated sensory processing sensitivity compared to the general population (Crane et al. 2009; Tavassoli et al. 2014). This over-sensitivity is across a range of sensory modalities (sight, taste, touch, sound, smell) and can therefore have a significant impact on daily living (Tavassoli et al. 2014). The studies in this review agree with these findings. Compared to both non-autistic adults without disability (vision/hearing, mobility, learning/remembering, activities of daily living, leaving home alone, working at a job) and adults with disability, autistic people endorsed significantly more sensory items (e.g., lights/smells/sounds make visits uncomfortable or communicate well in healthcare settings) (Raymaker et al. 2017). Lighting (too harsh or bright), crowded waiting rooms (noise, smell, proximity of others), and unpredictable waiting times were also reported to be sources of sensory overload (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). Saqr et al. describe a ‘feedback’ model in which sensory overload reinforces feelings of anxiety, exacerbating communication difficulties when accessing healthcare (Saqr et al. 2018). These findings are important for ensuring the healthcare visit goes well. Healthcare settings should seek to minimise sensory sensitivities where possible. This could include having quiet waiting areas for autistic patients or allowing autistic patients to wait outside the healthcare building and being brought directly into their healthcare appointment. The intra-person cognitive factors of processing speed, organisation, and memory were not extensively mentioned but have important implications for healthcare settings. The Barriers to Healthcare Checklist includes items about processing speed affecting healthcare discussions and finding it difficult to follow spoken instructions (Raymaker et al. 2017). It is well documented that autistic children struggle to integrate multi-modal sensory information (Marco et al. 2011), or have difficulty processing rapidly presented information (Gepner and Mestre 2002). Evidence suggests that autistic adults are better than the general population at identifying parts of faces, but are poorer at identifying a face holistically (Lahaie et al. 2006). This is important as healthcare appointments with detailed conversations involve processing three streams of information: verbal (listening to the information), visual (looking at the healthcare provider, which some autistic people find aversive, Hurlbutt and Chalmers 2002), and processing (thinking about the information being presented and preparing a verbal response). Thus, an autistic adult may be overwhelmed by the demands of maintaining a social conversation and thinking through the implications of what they are being told. Furthermore, prospective memory (planning ahead for an event, and remembering to carry it out) may be impaired for autistic people. For instance, there are documented problems with timing-based prospective memory (i.e. do event x at time y) in both autistic children (Williams et al. 2013, 2014) and autistic adults (Altgassen et al. 2012). Whilst these are experimental data and may not be entirely valid for healthcare settings, the findings do agree with the anecdotal accounts (Nicolaidis et al. 2015) and measure development (Raymaker et al. 2017) that was identified by this review. Therefore, it is essential that healthcare providers account for these individual differences when interacting with autistic patients. Patients may need more support during healthcare appointments with how health information is disseminated, and more support with making and attending healthcare appointments. The AHAT for primary care providers has information about communication issues for autistic people, and allows the autistic patient to inform their care provider if they have processing speed issues (Nicolaidis et al. 2016). As the AHAT was shown to significantly decrease barriers to healthcare over time (Nicolaidis et al. 2016), accommodating these differences may improve the delivery of healthcare to, and consequently the health of, autistic adults. Although the age range of participants in the included studies was good (18-64 years) some questions remain about differences in healthcare access needs across the lifespan for autistic people. Currently there is a dearth of research about the characteristics and needs of older autistic adults (Mukaetova-Ladinska et al. 2012; Herrema et al. 2017; Rodgers et al. 2018). Yet, autistic people have many questions about how they will experience the ageing process and the additional support that will be required. For instance, what is the future like for an older autistic person cared for by elderly relatives? (Michael 2016). There is a wealth of literature about the transition experiences of young autistic people (Adreon and Durocher 2007; Hendricks and Wehman 2009; Taylor and Seltzer 2011). Yet, little is known about transitions for older autistic people (Mukaetova-Ladinska et al. 2012; Rodgers et al. 2018). A recent study with autistic adults (mean age 36 years) identified several factors important to autistic people as they contemplate the future (Rodgers et al. 2018). The overarching theme was uncertainty about the future, and specifically, worry about support needs and relationships, living circumstances, and health (Rodgers et al. 2018). These findings agree with a recent survey of 45 individuals who were either autistic individuals or carers of autistic individuals. The survey identified long-term management and awareness of ageing in autism as key research priorities (Mukaetova-Ladinska and Stuart-Hamilton 2015). Taken together, this research highlights the dearth of evidence that could inform healthcare practice for older autistic people. Exploring other literatures could provide a starting point for investigation. For instance, dementia research has looked at promoting a positive hospital experience for patients with cognitive impairment (Prato et al. 2018). Prato and colleagues identified themes that determined the quality of the hospital experience: valuing the person, activities to promote empowerment, and creating a suitable environment to support well-being (Prato et al. 2018). None of the included studies included samples of autistic people with intellectual disability (ID). It is feasible that some of the excluded studies did in fact have participants with ID who were also on the autism spectrum. However, this review took the position to only include papers that had reported details about samples (or subsamples) of autistic people. Hence, there could be some strategies to improve healthcare access for autistic people with ID that were not included here. For instance, toolkits designed to improve healthcare self-efficacy in ID populations (Lennox et al. 2012) could be tested with both autistic people, and autistic people with co-occurring ID. A final observation is that overarching healthcare ‘systems’ may impact on healthcare. For instance, Nicolaidis et al. identified system level factors affecting access to healthcare (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). These factors included availability of formal or informal supports and the complexities of the healthcare system (for instance the number of ‘administrative hoops’ patients have to navigate). Indeed, some autistic people reported they felt that they could not navigate the healthcare system without help (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). This is supported by Vogan et al.’s findings whereby just over 50% of participants reported that the steps to seeking help and almost 70% reported that not knowing where to find help were barriers to accessing health (Vogan et al. 2017). These findings do suggest that healthcare professionals could alleviate some difficulties for their autistic patients by providing accurate and concise signposting to healthcare services. Signposting to appropriate services (i.e. towards services the autistic person needs) has been reported to improve access to a range of services (i.e. education and support) and overall well-being in a non-funded community group (Southby and Robinson 2018). This does suggest that directing autistic people to appropriate services does not entail extra costs, and the result could improve effective access to care for autistic people. Overall, the quality of the six included studies was acceptable to good (60–80%, with one study scoring 20%); however, they addressed different questions with an array of methods and some observations can be made. First, the total sample size for each study tended to be small (i.e. number of participants between 40 and 259), and participants from diverse demographic groups were included (or instance, a range of educational attainment and ethnicity, Nicolaidis et al. 2015, 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017); one study did include participants who were from high-income areas, Vogan et al. 2017). Two studies included people with autism self-diagnosis (Nicolaidis et al. 2015; Raymaker et al. 2017); many adults may be autistic, yet lack a formal diagnosis because current adults were less likely to have received a diagnosis in childhood (Stuart-Hamilton and Morgan 2011; Lewis 2016). It is possible that those with a self-diagnosis face comparable barriers to those with a formal diagnosis, however further research is required to determine this. As such, clinicians should be sensitive, or receptive, to those who self-identify as being on the autism spectrum. Second, three studies used a co-designed approach whereby autistic people were involved in choosing research questions, designing the studies, recruitment, consent process, data collection and analysis (Nicolaidis et al. 2015, 2016; Raymaker et al. 2017). Two of these studies evaluated a new tool. One, to help healthcare providers by creating a statement of individualised healthcare adjustments that could help improve the healthcare appointment for the autistic patient (Nicolaidis et al. 2016) and the other a checklist to measure barriers to healthcare access (Raymaker et al. 2017). Both of these tools were reported to have high face validity and adequate measurement properties. It is reasonable to suggest that this co-design process was a key component in the success of developing these measures (also, these three studies obtained the highest ratings in the quality assessment). Future studies could emulate this approach to make research more accessible for autistic people. Third, there is now a validated checklist that healthcare providers and researchers can use to tackle future research questions about healthcare barriers with the autism population (Raymaker et al. 2017). Fourth, there is not yet a consensus on how to identify and group barriers to healthcare access. For instance, the Barriers to Healthcare Checklist has eight domains (i.e. emotional, executive functioning, support, transportation) (Raymaker et al. 2017). The model proposed by Nicolaidis et al. does encapsulate many, but not all, of these domains (Nicolaidis et al. 2015). This conceptualisation is important to guide future research coherently, to ensure that a full account of barriers to healthcare is given, and to specify hypotheses for studies. As the research into this area is very recent (i.e. all studies are within the past 3 years) more comprehensive studies are likely to follow. This review had several strengths. First, the agreement between the two authors who screened papers for the 10% sample of included studies (over 99%) suggests that both the selection criteria and initial screening process were valid. Second, the two authors who independently conducted the quality assessment had a very high degree of agreement. These two points suggest the papers included in the final review are likely exhaustive of the available literature and that each paper has been evaluated reliably. The search strategy was developed in an iterative way, so that search terms were refined. Experts in this research area were also included in the development of the search strategy. This study use the QATSDD to assess the quality of the included studies. This was selected a priori as a range of study methodologies was anticipated. This measure allows for a comparison between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methodology studies. However, it should be noted that a range of tools for different study types are available and that future studies could use multiple measures as per study type. Considering the limitations of this review, first, our review only identified a small number of papers meeting inclusion criteria. Thus, the barriers and facilitators identified in this review should not be considered definitive. It remains to be seen whether a broader set of barriers will consistently emerge when further research is conducted. Second, the exclusion criteria set for this study mean that our review may not have not have identified some facilitators of healthcare access used in clinical services. Thus, studies about clinicians’ perspectives on healthcare access for autistic people were not included. In the future, studies should explore the perspectives of autistic people, relatives/carers of autistic people, and clinicians about barriers and facilitators to healthcare access. This review identified six studies that investigated the barriers to healthcare access faced by autistic people and ways of addressing those barriers. Although the studies varied in their methodologies, three consistent findings emerged. First, autistic people find inter-personal communication with healthcare providers challenging. This can be due to literal thinking, or other communication atypicalities idiosyncratic to autistic people. However, healthcare providers may be unwilling to empower autistic people to communicate using their preferred communication style. Second, healthcare providers’ knowledge of autism may be lacking. Autistic people describe stigma and assumptions made about their abilities by healthcare providers. Yet, providers report feeling unable to provide adequate care to autistic patients, and some report a lack of formal training. Third, sensory sensitivities make accessing healthcare difficult for autistic people. This begins in the waiting/reception area, and continues through the appointment in a clinic room. Alleviating these sensitivities for autistic patients is likely to improve their healthcare access. 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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Electronic Supplementary Material Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. About this article Cite this article Mason, D., Ingham, B., Urbanowicz, A. et al. A Systematic Review of What Barriers and Facilitators Prevent and Enable Physical Healthcare Services Access for Autistic Adults. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 3387–3400 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04049-2 - Healthcare access - Physical health - Sensory sensitivities

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1. Sustainability Problem: Conventional wind turbines pose negative environmental impacts due to scale and cannot be used for distributed generation. 2. Technology: Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbines Conventional wind turbines are up to 300 meters tall and weigh up to 400 tons. The material and space required for a conventional wind farm pose a negative environmental impact. The large blades have been known to harass local bird populations and make noise that is disruptive to surrounding communities. A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless has developed a compact, bladeless wind turbine to solve these problems. - Vortex Bladeless turbines generate power through the centripetal vibrations of wind rather than the turning of blades. - Vortex Bladeless turbines require fewer materials to manufacture. - Vortex Bladeless turbines require no oil and less maintenance. - Vortext Bladeless turbines make no noise and are safe for birds. - Vortex Bladeless turbines are significantly smaller than conventional turbines and can be used for distributed generation as an alternative to solar panels. 3. Organizational Stakeholders: - Consumers of distributed generation - Communities with distributed generation - Electrical grids that permit distributed generation - Wind farms - Neighbors of wind farms - Distribute Vortex Bladeless wind turbines to households that have distributed generation to use in addition to, or in place of, solar panels - Supplement or replace commercial wind farms with Vortex Bladeless wind turbines - Supply electrical grids with low impact wind generation Frangoul, Anmar. The Future of Wind Turbines Could be Bladeless. CNBC. September 29, 2017. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/29/the-future-of-wind-turbines-could-be-bladeless.html

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Sign up to receive FREE videos each week! In this lesson you’ll learn how to use an adjustment called Equalize. The Equalize command is an adjustment that is not frequently used and is rarely understood by Photoshop users. You’ll see how Equalize can be used anytime an image has a large area that look different in brightness than the rest of the image. That means it is primarily useful when an image contains a huge amount of dark or bright tones, or has both with only a small amount of mid-tones. You’ll also learn how the histogram can indicate if your image might benefit from the Equalize command. Note: The practice files for this lesson have been combined into a single .zip file. You’ll need to double-click on the file after downloading in order to extract the contents before using the image in Photoshop.

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The development of accurate and robust computational models for water waves is vital for the assessment of natural hazards such as tsunamis, storm surges and rogue waves. It is also essential for understanding many other related physical phenomena such as beach erosion, nutrient transport in marine environments and the break up of sea ice at the poles. Previous work at the ANU in this area has included a collaboration with Geoscience Australia to develop ANUGA, which uses the Shallow Water Wave Equations (SWWE) to model water and has been applied to riverine floods, tsunamis and storm surges. However, as with all mathematical models the SWWE make some assumptions that limit their applicability as the length of waves relative to the depth of water decreases. These assumptions mean that SWWE have no wave dispersion and so the speed of waves is independent of frequency. Recent papers have shown that dispersion has a significant impact on wave height for tsunamis; particularly far from the source [1,2]. Therefore, a new model of water waves that includes dispersion is necessary for accurate tsunami modelling and the inclusion of these effects could also be important for other water wave phenomena. This lead to the current research at the ANU to develop numerical methods for the Serre equations, a set of dispersive equations that are considered to be one of the best models for water waves up to wave breaking. As part of this PhD, Chris Zoppou developed and validated a numerical method that appeared to handle steep gradients in the flow very well and contained variable bathymetery . I have continued this work by; rigorously demonstrating the validity of of numerical solutions for steep gradient problems , performing a linear analysis on our numerical methods demonstrating good convergence and dispersion properties and extending our numerical methods increasing their robustness and allowing for dry beds. 1. J.T. Kirby, F. Shi, B. Tehranirad, J.C. Harris, S.T. Grilli, (2013), Dispersive tsunami waves in the ocean: Model equations and sensitivity to dispersion and Coriolis effects, Ocean Modelling, 62. 2. Kulikov, E. (2006), Dispersion of the Sumatra Tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean detected by satellite altimetry, Russian Journal of Earth Sciences, 8. 3. C. Zoppou. Numerical Solution of the One-dimensional and Cylindrical Serre Equations for Rapidly Varying Free Surface Flows. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Mathematical Sciences Institute, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia, 2014. 4. C. Zoppou, J. Pitt, and S. Roberts. Numerical solution of the fully non-linear weakly dispersive Serre equations for steep gradient flows. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 48:70–95, 2017. 5. J.P.A. Pitt, C. Zoppou, and S.G. Roberts. Behaviour of the serre equations in the presence of steep gradients revisited. Wave Motion, 76(1):61–77, 2018.

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How do we diagnose Uterine Fibroids? In many cases, fibroids are diagnosed during routine pelvic exams performed by a gynecologist or primary care physician. If the uterus feels enlarged, the next step is typically a pelvic ultrasound. Sometimes, MRI can be used to further characterize these benign tumors. Ultrasound is the primary imaging exam for the evaluation of fibroids. Ultrasound does not produce radiation and instead uses high frequency soundwaves to image the uterus and other pelvic structures with a high level of detail. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is another important tool for characterizing fibroids. MRI uses a powerful magnetic field to produce images of the uterus and pelvis. MRI does not use or produce radiation and therefore is not associated with radiation risks or effects.

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By Eugene Kutz, MNA Intern The Michigan Nature Association is hosting the Moose on the Loose Family Fun and 5K this Saturday, August 26, 2017 in Marquette, MI. This event is a great way to show support for responsible conservation efforts and wildlife management in Michigan! After European settlers arrived in Michigan, “moose were pretty much all over” the state, said Rachel Clark of the Michigan History Center to Michigan Radio. Following this, Michigan’s moose population declined as a result of overhunting and habitat destruction from human settlements and logging. Eventually, moose mostly disappeared from the Lower Peninsula. Moose are currently found in two areas of the Upper Peninsula: the reintroduced population in Marquette, Baraga and Iron counties, and a smaller remnant population in the eastern UP, found primarily in Alger, Schoolcraft, Luce and Chippewa counties. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the most recent moose population survey of January 2011, an estimated 433 animals in the western Upper Peninsula were counted. No formal survey of the eastern U.P. moose population has been conducted, but estimated at about 100 animals from field observations and reports from the general public. Moose populations in the Upper Peninsula have risen and fallen in recent years, and despite a rise in western UP populations, moose are still in need of habitat management and protection, including a balanced relationship with their natural predators, like wolves. Populations have declined on Isle Royale, but dwindling wolf population to a single pair of adults has allowed moose to thrive, as considerations to import wolves to the island are being made to maintain predator-prey balance and vegetation growth for moose diet. While currently listed as a “species of special concern,” the US Federal Government considered adding the moose back on the Endangered Species List last year, as this status does not afford the animals or their habitat any protections, and nearly 60% of Minnesota’s moose population has declined in the last decade. Past attempts to repopulate the Upper Peninsula with moose, which involved shipping moose to the mainland from a large moose herd on Isle Royale, failed to restore previous numbers but succeeded in establishing a moose population, largely due to healthy habitats and increased poaching enforcement, even as poaching threats were low as citizens of the Upper Peninsula were involved with the repopulation project and had adopted the new moose population as their own. In an interview for MLIVE, DNR Wildlife Division chief Russ Mason said moose populations are declining for a variety of reasons, which include habitat loss, predation and climate change, and because moose are conditioned to live in cold climates, warmer temperatures are putting all moose at risk of overheating, which leads to malnutrition and compromised immune systems. This summer MNA celebrated Michigan Mammals Week by exploring interesting facts on native Michigan wildlife, including the moose! For more info on Michigan moose, visit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website. The Moose on the Loose Family Fun and 5K will be a must for moose and wildlife enthusiasts and families! Participants will have the opportunity to run along the scenic roadway of Peter White Drive on Presque Isle, a 323 acre forested oval shaped headland/peninsula which juts into Lake Superior! Proceeds promote efforts to protect the threatened Moose throughout Northern Michigan. For more information and to sign up for the challenge go to: https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Marquette/MooseontheLooseFamilyFunRunand5K For questions, contact Jess Foxen: 866-223-2231 / email@example.com

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More than 800 languages in a single typeface: creating Noto for Google. A typeface five years in the making, Google Noto spans more than 100 writing systems, 800 languages, and hundreds of thousands of characters. A collaborative effort between Google and Monotype, the Noto typeface is a truly universal method of communication for billions of people around the world accessing digital content. The brief: ‘no more tofu’ Google set Monotype a straightforward brief: “no more tofu” – tofu being the nickname for the blank boxes that are shown when a computer or site lacks font support for a particular character. To meet Google’s requirement, Monotype needed to develop one typographic family that could cover the more than 800 languages included in the Unicode Consortium standard. Tofu is an old nickname for the boxes that appear when a computer lacks support for a particular writing system or character. This mammoth effort required harmonious design and development of an unprecedented number of scripts, including several rare writing systems that had never been digitized before. “It was this really phenomenal, daunting project,” says Google internationalization expert Bob Jung. “Looking back at it, I’m even surprised myself how ambitious we were.” “Our goal for Noto has been to create fonts for our devices, but we’re also very interested in keeping information alive,” he adds. “When it comes to some of the lesser-used languages, or even the purely academic or dead languages, we think it’s really important to preserve them.” See samples of a few writing systems included in the Noto family. Canadian Aboriginal is a writing system used in a number of indigenous languages of Canada including Blackfoot [9,000 speakers], Cree [70,000 speakers], Inuktitut [65,000 speakers], and Ojibwe [80,000 speakers]. Noto Sans Devanagari covers 62 languages. The name is made up of two Sanskrit words: deva, which means god, and nāgarī, which means city. The Glagothic writing system was invented during the 9th century by missionaries in order to translate the Bible into the language of the Great Moravia region. This writing system is the basis of Old Church Slavonic, which is still used by the Russian Orthodox church. Did you know that around 200AD the use of Hebrew had largely been replaced by Aramaic? It wasn’t until the 1850s when Eliezer Ben Yehuda started a campaign to bring back Hebrew. Today, Hebrew is spoken by about 5 million people. Lycian was spoken in Turkey up until around the 3rd century BC. Knowledge of the Lycian language is quite limited with only about 180 inscriptions from the fourth and fifth century BC to use as reference material. Even though Saurashtra has it’s own script, it is primarily a spoken language only. The most cited reason is the lack of schools teaching people to read and write in Saurashtra script. With fewer than 200,000 speakers, Latin, Devanagari or Tamil are the most common alternatives. In Mongolia, Tibetan is considered the classic language of Buddhism and has no typographic tradition. What little has been done in Tibetan typography in the past few decades is based entirely on replicating calligraphic style, until Noto. Working with an open source design philosophy, the project involved liaising with individual designers and linguists around the world to perfect each letterform. Taking more than five years to reach its current stage, Noto required an intense and coordinated research effort, partnering with cultural experts to investigate the nuances of each style, and incorporating direct feedback from the communities using the script. The research: cultural preservation To give Adlam – a writing system for the Fulani language of Africa – a new identity, Monotype worked with the script’s original creators. Having direct access to the inventors of this writing system allowed the designers to incorporate stylistic choices and features that would reflect the creators’ original intentions, and bring the Fulani-speaking community the first chance to use the script digitally. Adlam was the first time in Monotype's 100+ year history that the type designers worked directly with the script inventors. This is an early drawing of Adlam characters. Traditional and contemporary elements were blended in Noto Armenian, which involved the Armenian community directly in the design process; while Tibetan monks offered expert feedback on Noto Tibetan. This vertically stacked script posed a unique challenge, with Monotype designer Toshi Omagari’s own study of the writing system supported by Buddhist scholar Shojiro Nomura, as well as the monks’ own constant manuscript study. This is a page from the notebook that Toshi Omagari kept while studying the calligraphic traditions of Tibetan. Noto was also an opportunity to bring a digital version of Urdu Nastaliq to life, giving greater access to the 100 million people that use it, as well as reinvigorate Ogham – an alphabet that dates back to the 4th century, and is found mostly on monuments and manuscripts. Monotype designer Steve Matteson unearthed copious images of the medieval script to create Noto Ogham“There are some characters you can only see on stones. If you don’t move them to the web, over time those stones will become sand and we’ll never be able to recover those drawings or that writing,” explains Noto product manager Xiangye Xiao. The result: a digital language for everyone In addition to the cultural role the typeface is finding, Noto is a digital workhorse, powering the text shown in Android and Chrome devices and spanning a huge amount of styles up to eight weights. It supports symbols, emoji and musical notation. Tamil and Devanagari in-use on Android devices. Georgian and Arabic in-use on Android devices. Hebrew and Devanagari in-use on Android devices. Noto is available from the Google Noto Fonts website, where it’s finding an ever-expanding range of uses. “We get emails everyday asking, ‘Can we use this font in our automation system?’, ‘Can we use it in the TV on a flight?’,” says Xiao. And the story doesn’t end there. As part of a wider effort to facilitate communication across culture, and the lofty aim of finally developing a font that supports all languages, Noto continues to be updated in line with the Unicode Consortium. A special thank you Monotype would thank the team of designers, researchers, script specialists, hinters/finishers, quality assurance, and tools developers who contributed to the Google Noto project. We would also like to thank the countless reviewers and native speakers who provided opinions and insights on the Google Noto scripts. Vickie Allison; Maria Glenda Bellarosa; Jelle Bosma; Priscilla Brugman; Nadine Chahine; Christopher Chapman; Carl Crossgrove; Karen Dupre; Jim Ford; Deborah Gonet; Josh Hadley; Mary Hanson; Linda Hintz; Robin Hui; Adel Hunter; Linda Jenkins; Cheung Kin Keung; Micah Stupak; Karl Leuthold; Kevin Lew; Alistair Lloyd; Kamal Mansour; Steve Matteson; Guy Mayger; Charles Nix; Toshi Omagari; Dave Opstad; Tom Rickner; George Ryan; Devin So; Chuong Ton; Bob Tremallo; Juan Villanueva; Susan Waksmonski; Jim Wasco; Terrance Weinzierl; Steve Zafarana; Sue Zafarana Partners and friends: Abdoulaye & Ibrahima Barry; Jo De Baerdemaeker; Cadson Demak Ltd; Diane Collier; Fontef Type Foundry; Kalapi Gajjar-Bordawekar; Gajjar & Vilhjamsson Private Limited; Yanone Gerner; Kimya Gandhi; Patrick Giasson; Giasson Ltd.; Glyphs; John Hudson; Indian Type Foundry; Yanek Iontef; Kigali Designs; Letterjuice Ltd.; Ben Mitchell; James; Montalbano; Elena Papassissa; Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer; Fiona Ross; Zachary Scheuren; Georg Seifert; Vaibhav Singh; Terminal Design; Tiro Typeworks Ltd.; Anuthin Wongsunkakon; Pascal Zoghbi The Studio team. Steve Matteson is the creative type director for Monotype, and is a type designer, historian and letterpress printer. He has designed more than 80 typeface families including brand families for Toyota, Microsoft and Google, as well as for the Monotype Library, including a dozen revivals of Frederic Goudy’s typefaces.

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“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffet This quotation, it made me think that this is what children that were taught to be financially smart turned out as adults. This next made me feel that it was just not important to send children to school to learn how to count and write, but as parents to teach them about the value of certain aspects in life. With consumerism overtaking the economy even in developing countries of the world like India, many youngsters are having easy accessibility to credit cards and EMI’s, making our children realize the difference between a real want and need would make them financially smart for a lifetime. Hence smart parents should assume a vital role to render useful lessons of financial management to their children. Smart parents would not only render useful finance lessons, but would also be a prominent example and take effective feedback by making their children a partner in their financial decisions. Let’s look at how we can make parenting to raise children, who are financially smart, an interesting and enjoyable experience. Have a look at these aspects in inculcating learning about personal finance: - Simple living: My grandfather has always been a part of my learning principles of smart financial management and I respect him for what he always told us as children, “Simple living and high thinking are the essence of life. We should be able to live with minimum wants if we wish to have an umbrella over us for a lifetime.” He was a standing example or what he preached, making me feel we could make our children lead better lives if we rendered these lessons to our children and practiced it ourselves to set an example. - Setting Financial Priorities: Setting priorities in our children such as ‘having basic necessities of life like food, clothing, and shelter were more essential than fancy and fashionable articles’ would surely help. The habits built at the cradle carry on to the death bed. This applies in educating our children about the clear demarcation between wants versus needs. Setting up financial priorities in children could start off with teaching them budgeting that is appropriate to their age. Inculcating the habit of budgeting in our children would start off with working together with them and making a child friendly budget. Young children are very happy to have budgets prepared with bright colors, graphs and other visuals. A joint effort would make them feel a part of it and be ready to cooperate and learn. - Goal Oriented: My observation of financially smart adults made me understand that they believed in saving for a goal. So we need to involve our older children by involving them in budgeting for costlier possessions like car, a house, new furniture or probably saving for a sound education or marriage. It is true that even younger children need to be encouraged to save for small fancy needs like probably going for a movie, an evening having pizza or that remote control toy or Barbie doll. Their achievement would give them a sense of fulfillment that could make them feel motivated and focused to save for bigger goals. - Rewards: Motivation has always been the keyword to progress, so praise and rewards could also make a great impact on children learning and implementing financially smart objectives. In addition teaching our children of how to survive and earn would help. So suggesting alternative ways to earn, like helping in the cleaning of the car, helping younger siblings with homework, running errands like shopping for essential or helping in small household chores in an age appropriate manner would surely help. - Banking: “Putting your savings in the bank would help you earn more money to meet your financial goals,” is what most financially smart parents would have instilled in their children right from childhood. A savings bank account started with parents being a guardian would help overlook their children’s spending habits and guide them. - Financial Learning: In addition instilling a habit of reading articles and reviews on finance have helped many financially smart children to save for their future once they started earning. Stocks, shares and other financially appreciating instruments are best taught to older children, with involving them in real life examples of your investments helping a lot. Next is to introduce them to credit cards and loans. When they should be taken and when they should be avoided need to be taught well in advance. Experience makes principles of smart financial planning more deep. So allowing our children to borrow money from us and repay it back with/without interest makes them realize the impact of loans. Lastly do realize that each child is made in a different way with different spending and savings traits. Identifying each child’s financial habits early in life would help us to guide them tactfully without being imposing on them. I have known of children who have learnt better by their falls in financial decisions, so just rest assured that experience sometimes renders the best lessons for a healthy financial life. (The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at email@example.com.)

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“A Thin Brush Attached to a Wire” A bottle brush used for abortions was confiscated by the Leipzig police in the 1920s and later presented in the relevant literature. Considering the high number of (illegal) abortions, one must ask why so little creativity was applied to the development of suitable instruments. Instead, women suffered due to the use of makeshift tools: knitting and crochet needles, bicycle spokes, wire clothes hangers and other unsuspicious household items. The situation was completely the opposite with contraception, as a vast number of – more or less effective – methods, devices and instruments have long been available. The legal situation provides the answer: as long as abortion was illegal and the ‘perpetrators’ were vigorously prosecuted, no specific instruments were produced. Being caught with one would have meant serious trouble, and clearer evidence of ‘guilt’ could hardly be imagined. The lack of proper instruments made abortions particularly dangerous. Unsuitable tools, insufficient knowledge of anatomy and hygiene, and appalling conditions (e.g. poorly lit kitchen tables and back-alley storerooms without running water) resulted in a high rate of consequences to the women’s health, sometimes even their death. The description of the brush is from the book “Woman as a Sexual Criminal”, by Dr Erich Wulffen, head of the department of criminal matters, pardons and prisons at Saxony’s Ministry of Justice, 1931

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Acquiring and Distributing Knowledge Sept 6, 2018 Regarding God's Creation Isotope Dating and the Flood Through 2018 we have studied Geology and the Genesis Flood. First we looked at the physical aspects of geology and the geologic column where we find horizontally flat and extensive rock layers separated vertically by discontinuities call unconformities. Whatever caused the Great Unconformity seen near the bottom of the Grand Canyon wiped out more than ten thousand feet of rock strata. This is a worldwide feature. Geologists often organized the rock layers above the Great Unconformity into five groups or "megasequences". It can be well argued that these sequences were laid down by massive surges of water. The lowest of these, the Sauk, was a worldwide deposition still present across the North and South American continents, Europe, the Mid-East and Africa. There are four more megasequences above the Sauk Sequence. Megasequences higher up in the column are more likely to have part of it later removed in various places by erosion. What could physically energize these megasequences? Geophysicist Dr. John Baumgardner developed the first whole earth mantle computer simulation program called Terra at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Terra shows that the Earth's mantle can enter a catastrophic runaway plate subduction mode that will break up the last continental conglomeration called Pangea into the continental fragments we see today and rapidly move them to the positions they occupy on the globe today. These simulations also predict the observed positions of subducted ocean floor slabs that are still cold today. It also correctly predicts very hot bodies of mantle circulated up from the bottom of the mantle. In this catastrophic process giant surges of seawater would be displaced over the moving continents. The simulations indicate that catastrophic process would reach its peak and begin to slow down with continents nearing their present positions in about two months. Energy and motion would decrease and settle toward a new equilibrium over the ten months or so. In the last few months we have looked at paleontology and the fossil content of the rock layers with Dr. Kurt Wise as our guide. He points out that only about 5% of the fossils in the geologic column appear in the order one would expect from evolution. Many secular paleontologists agree with this and further point out that the remaining 95% is half stasis (which means essentially no change over time) and half shows only random change without any progress in any particular evolutionary direction. Useful examples of stasis are provided in Wikipedia articles on Living Fossils and Lazarus Fossils. The 5% that is consistent with evolutionary expectation are organisms that seem to move from sea to land. To become fossilized organisms have to be buried quickly and deeply, otherwise they will be destroyed by forces like predation, decay, weathering, and bioturbation. Another mystery for evolutionists is the fact that the trackways of organisms are always found at lower levels that the body fossils. All of these things work well with the concept of catastrophic plate tectonics producing giant ocean surges that tear out various segments of the preexisting ecology or biome and deposited these on the continental fragments being driven to the present locations we see today. Dr. Wise presented this diagram to represent the big picture of the fossil distribution in the geologic column of rock layers. Starting September 6th the GHCA will extend our study to the isotopic content of these rock layers and to radiometric or radioactive dating. Radioactive elements change or "decay" to a "daughter" isotope at a steady predictable rate. Some decay quite fast and other extremely slowly. For example, radiocarbon C-14 will decay completely away in a hundred thousand years. Yet C-14 has long been found in all sources of carbon throughout the fossil record! That means that everything above the Great Unconformity is less than 100 thousand years old. In the recent decade or so paleontologists have found that large dinosaur bones still contains some original soft tissue and that also indicates little time since death. Further the Soft tissue also contain C-14 which indicates ages less than 100 thousand years, usually between 20 and 50 thousand years old. This is not anything like the 65 million year conventional date for the demise of the dinosaurs. Now, what about the slow decaying isotopes like uranium? They take literally billions of years to decay. These are the isotopes that conventional slow and gradual evolutionary thinking relies upon. We will show that there are three kinds of contamination that cause errors in even the most sophisticated dating methods. Further, all three of these errors are present in unknown amounts wherever magma rises through rock layers. One should also ask about possible contamination of C-14 and that can definitely happen anytime rocks, fossils, or living tissue are exposed to the atmosphere. Of course that would naturally be a part of the process of a catastrophic worldwide Flood ripping up thousands of feet of rock layers, sweeping up different parts of the ecological system living at that time and redepositing it all on a changing configuration of the continents. That material would be expected to contain C-14 only if that event occurred less than a hundred thousand years ago. No one can propose how the entire fossil record could be contaminated with C-14 in the context of slow and gradual processes spread out over hundreds of millions of years. Come join us on September 6th for a study of some of the isotope dating details. We will be viewing and discussing recorded lectures by geologist Dr. Andrew Snelling and others. September 6, 2018 Isotope Dating and the Flood IGHC lectures by Dr. Andrew Snelling Meeting space kindly provided at: Houston's First Baptist Church 7401 Katy Freeway at Post Oak Blessings to all, Come and bring your students, friends, skeptics, or pastors! All are welcome to bring their questions and join the discussion. There will be great fellowship, snacks, and array of creation books and DVDs as well. Please forward this newsletter to all who might be interested. PS. Please note that our website is temporarily out of service. Examples of Important YEC Scientific Evidences Some major examples of physical evidence we point to include: - Remains of original soft tissue still found in dinosaur bones. Along with that tissue is C-14 that would decay completely away in less than a hundred thousand years, a tiny fraction of the dinosaur fossil's supposed age. - For many years geologists have found C-14 in fossil carbon throughout the fossil record. - The origin of the information and molecular machinery in the first living self-reproducing cell remains a complete enigma for biologist and biochemists. - In the origin of the universe, big bang theory is being recognized as a dead end by increasing numbers of secular scientists. The hypothesized inflation has nothing to start it, drive it forward, or stop it. Without inflation fatal flaws appear with the absence of predicted antimatter, magnetic monopoles, or any means for the whole universe to come to the same precise background temperature. Then the formation of the first stars is as enigmatic as the origin of the first biological cell. Dark matter and dark energy are as enigmatic as the deep space motions they are needed to explain. At the root of all standard science are many assumptions that may be quite incorrect. At the top is that there is no God. Another is that present process can be used to explain everything in the past. When we look at a canyon we are taught to assume the river at the bottom cut the canyon. But perhaps tectonic events made the canyon and there is a river at the bottom because water always flows downhill. At the root of big bang theory is a pure assumption that has been named the "Cosmological Principle". Perhaps inaccuracies there are responsible for the big bang's multitude of problems. There is more about the role of assumptions in science found on our website here. There are many more resources on young earth and young universe evidences here. Online Attendance Option for GHCA Meetings ! On the day of the meeting we will provide a link to attend via webinar. Join any time after 7:00 pm on the day of the meeting. meeting will start shortly after 7 pm. To attend by online webinar click the following link and follow the instructions below. After clicking the link provided above a "Launch Application" window will appear. Next, click on the "Launch Application" button to enter the webinar. Checking the "Remember my choice" box will mean you don't have to do this on future GHCA webinars. You will be asked to enter your email address and name also. This application will connect you to the GHCA meeting video and audio. Please remind your friends, family, teachers,and church staff to sign up for their own copy of CREATION NEWS at the button above, or the "Join Our Mailing List" box at (free and no-spam) Houston's First Baptist Church is located at 7401 Katy Freeway. That is just west of the intersection of I-10 and Loop 610 West on the south side inbound feeder between Silber and N Post Oak. Detailed directions to Houston 's First Baptist Church at The Loop campus can be found PLEASE do not unsubscribe below if you are not the ORIGINAL RECIPIENT. Ongoing Prayer Needs and Praises! Among these is our own bookseller Tom Henderson. Pray for God's provision, enabling, and protection as they make recovery efforts. Christians around the world are being persecuted and murdered to force them out of their homes or to change their faith. Pray for protection for and support from Christian organizations in the West. is said to be recovering well now. But continue to pray for John and all the leaders, researchers, and writers in the YEC community. AIG, CMI, CRS, ICR, and LRA (Logos Research Ass.) the big five YEC creation organizations doing active research, publication and speaking. Pray for inspiration, enabling and financing. GHCA and Roger Sigler, Fred Bauhof, Tony Comeaux, Pete Moore, Frank Mayo a other GHCA members working to do research, publication, or local teaching ministries in creation science. We all need the Lord's guidance, enabling and funding. Jobe and Jenna Dee Martin: Give thanks for continued good health and continued production of great creation DVDs and speaking tours. David and Mary Jo Nutting, f ounders of Alpha Omega Institute. Pray for their speaking staff and continued training young speakers. John and Eileen Pendleton doing creation and gospel ministry in Zacatecas Mexico, Central and South America, and Cuba! Pray for support and funds. News from Houston, Texas & around the World Let us know of events in Houston (just reply to this email newsletter). Houston Science & Culture Network Houston chapter of the Discovery Institute's division of Science and Culture. The San Antonio Bible Based Science Association (SABBSA) usually meets the second Tuesday of each month, 7:00 p.m., at Jim's Restaurant located on the corner of Ramsey and San Pedro, approximately 1 mile outside Loop 410 across from Hovey's Motor Cars. More info is at The Metroplex Institute of Origin Science (MIOS) meets at the Dr. Pepper Starcenter, 12700 N. Stemmons Fwy, Farmers Branch, TX, usually at 7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Lubbock Area (Crosbyton): All year: Consider a visit to the Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum , directed by Joe Taylor. The Museum is definitely worth the visit if you live near or are traveling through the Panhandle near Lubbock. If you call ahead and time permitting, Joe has been known to give personal tours, especially to groups. For more information, visit Also see the nearby Dinosaur Valley State Park with many dino tracks, although presented with secular view of evolution,

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How Siberia plays its songs: Musical instruments of the indigenous nations Like most traditional instruments, the chagadan, the jaw harp, the khobyrakh and the shoor are best suited for playing in a small yurt or a chum, for an audience of 20 people or fewer. Their sound gets lost in a modern concert hall. So craftsmen try to take into account the needs of the performers. They preserve the original sound of the instrument and use only natural materials. Photo credit: TASS/Vitaly Ivanov «In the mountains, you can find everything you need – wood and animals. We prefer horse hair, tendons and dried intestines,» says Pyotr Topoyev, an expert maker of traditional musical instruments. 90 percent of traditional instruments are hand-made. In Soviet times, there were attempts to set up mass production of khomuses, shoors and chagadans, but the finished products never became popular, due to their poor sound quality. This is why those who want to include a Siberian musical instrument in their collection start by looking for a craftsman and then patiently wait their turn, which can take several years. The scarceness of these instruments can lead to strange incidents: When on tour, the band Ulgeroften finds some their musical instruments missing; they disappear without a trace in the global market of rarities. A khaidji, the keeper of storytelling traditions A traditional profession in Altai and the Siberian South is that of the khaidji, a storyteller who recites long rhythmic texts to the accompaniment of stringed instruments. The most common genres are heroic legends and tales of spirits, shamans and gods, told as serials broken up over several nights. Buryatians, Tuvans, Altaians, Khakassians, Nganasans and Yakutians believe that storytellers possess the gifts of healing and foresight: When a storyteller tells a legend, he enters an altered state of consciousness and is haunted by visions. The shaman’s drum: A mirror of the world Photo credit: RIA Novosti/Alexander Kryazhev The drum is more than a musical instrument for the indigenous peoples of Siberia; it is the principal sacred object in the shaman’s arsenal, an essential means of entering a trance. Northern nations, such as the Chukchi, the Nganasans and the Eskimos, use drums both for entertainment and for religious rituals. The native peoples of the Siberian South – Buryatians, Khakassians, Tuvans and Altaians – believe that anyone who touches a shaman’s drum, save the shaman himself, will be cursed. The drums are made from the hides of grazing animals by stretching the hide and tucking it around a wooden frame. The frames can be elliptical or round, with protruding «ribs» and additional resonating cavities. The size of the instrument also varies: Ethnographers have described drums as big as a person, weighing dozens of kilograms, as well as 50-centimeter drums. Decorated with metal bells, plates and rattlers, a drum is a festive sight: In the hands of its owner, it becomes a shining comet with a dazzling tail of multicolored ribbons. The ornaments also enrich the sound of the instrument: as the player strikes the drum, its thunderous beat is complemented by a jingle and a rustle which imitates the sounds of nature. The special stick used to beat the drum is decorated with fur and coins. Music of the universe The drum represents the structure of the universe. The outer surface of the instrument depicts the Higher, the Middle and the Lower worlds, whereas the handle resembles da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Shamans see the drum as their steed that carries them around the universe. Whose relative is the Yakutian khomus? Photo credit: Dmitri Ternovsky Siberian musical instruments have a lot in common with similar instruments from different cultures all over the planet. Thus, the Yakutian khomus has family in Norway – the munnharpe – as well as relatives in Kirgizia (temir-komuz), Japan (mukkuri), Iran (zanburak) and Cambodia (angkut). Khomuses can be found in Latin America, Africa, some parts of Asia and even Europe. This type of musical instrument is over 5000 years old. Yakutians make khomuses from wood, bone and iron in two basic shapes – plate-like and curved. Only experts can appreciate the unusual Yakutian manner of playing: The musician presses the khomus to his mouth with his left hand, while his right arm is bent and his right hand is raised to the level of his head, the nail of the index finger facing down, positioned in front of the instrument’s tongue. As they play, Yakutians make sounds with their tongues to imitate the clatter of horses’ hooves, the howl of a wolf, the cry of a hawk or the whistling of the wind:

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A cauldron is usually an iron pot, the cauldron is a tool of witches and sorcerers (see sorcery). In European witch lore, the cauldron was the receptacle in which POISONS, ointments and philtres were brewed. Wiccansmay have cauldrons, but use them for burning fires and incense in rituals or for decoration in the home. If used in rituals, the cauldron is placed on the witches’ altar inside the Magic circle. As a vessel, it is a feminine symbol and is associated with the womb of the Mother Goddess. The cauldron has had a magical significance through- out history. In the lore of ancient Ireland, magic cauldrons never ran out of food at a feast. The early Celts associated cauldrons with fertility and abundance, and revival of the dead. Cauldrons were used in human sacrifice — the victims had their throats slashed over the bowls, or were drowned or suffocated in them. The Cauldron of Regeneration, of death and rebirth, the receptacle of souls and the source of inspiration, is associated with the Celtic goddesses Cerridwen and Branwen and with the Babylonian fate-goddess, Siris, who stirred the mead of regeneration in the cauldron of the heavens. Cerridwen’s cauldron was said to provide the mead of wisdom and inspiration. Among the Celts, the priestess of the Moon goddess was required to sacrifice human victims by cutting off their heads over a silver cauldron. The blood was boiled to produce a magical drink of inspiration. The Celtic god, Cernunnos, identified with the Horned God, was torn apart and boiled in a cauldron, to be born again. Decorations on the Gundestrup cauldron, fashioned out of silver in about 100 b.C.e. and recovered from a peat bog in Gundestrup, Denmark, depict victims being plunged headfirst into a sacrificial cauldron. Sacrificial cauldrons also appear in some shamanic traditions. In Norse mythology, the patriarch god, Odin, drank magic blood from a cauldron of wisdom to obtain divine power. In Greek mythology, the witch goddess, Medea, could restore people to youth in a magic cauldron. The cauldron is linked to the chalice of the Holy Grail, which became incorporated into Christian myth. In medieval art, literature and folktales, the cauldron was in every witch’s house, set over a blazing fire. During the witch hunts, it was believed that witches stirred up vile brews made with ingredients such as bat’s blood, decapitated and flayed toads, snakes and baby fat. Before a Sabbat witches prepared their flying ointments and drugs in cauldrons. They often carried their pots to their sabbats, where they used them to boil small children for the feast. Witches could cause storms at sea by dumping the contents of their cauldrons into the ocean (see STORM raising). One of the more bizarre cauldrons allegedly belonged to Lady Alice Kyteler, an accused Irish witch of the 14th century. Lady Alice reportedly used the skull of a beheaded robber for mixing up her poisons and potions. According to one tale with an ironic twist, a 14th-century Scottish wizard was executed in a cauldron. William Lord Soulis, described as a pernicious wizard and perpetrator of “the most foul sorceries,” was convicted for various evil crimes and boiled to death in a cauldron (see Hermitage Castle). The cauldron also was an important tool of the alche- mist in the search for formulas to change lead into gold or silver, and mold small gems into big ones. - Cavendish, Richard, ed. in chief. Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the Unknown. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1983. - Valiente, Doreen. An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present. 1973. Reprint, Custer, Wash.: Phoenix Publishing, 1986. Back to Witches’ Tools Back to Witchcraft

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An OnFrontiers Expert Martha Molfetas explores the IPCC’s recent report and what it means for the future of our species. If there was ever a final wake up call, this is it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assessment for all our futures is not something to scoff at, but to rally around. It tells us largely what folks in the environmental community have been clamoring about since the Paris Agreement: we are nowhere near to reaching our global climate goals of 1.5°C, or preventing a life uninhabitable for ourselves, and generations of people who haven’t even been born yet. We need to drastically cut our global emissions and embrace climate solutions – like forests and clean energy – as if our lives depend on it, because they absolutely do. All our futures are at stake. Despite many policy and economic wins on clean energy, we are actually polluting more now than ever. As our world’s population increases, so too does our demand for energy. Today, we are burning more fossils than ever before, with a roughly 55% increase in all fossil fuel consumption from 1990 to 2016. This is at a time when clean energy offers all of us health, climate, and energy co-benefits; and has never been cheaper. Right now, we have 405.5 parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, something not seen on Earth since the Pliocene-era, 5.3 million years ago. That was right around the time when we evolved from chimpanzees and the Arctic was ice-free. Pollution & Us The impacts of carbon pollution are not isolated to creating an iceless Arctic, acidifying the oceans, or creating habitat losses for majestic creatures – pollution has a direct impact on us too. Alzheimer’s researchers discovered that prolonged exposure to air pollution had a positive correlation to developing the cognitive disease later in life. Expectant mothers in heavily polluted cities, like Los Angeles, had higher rates of giving birth to babies with cognitive impairments, like autism. Not to mention the nine million people around the world who die prematurely thanks to air pollution. From cradle to grave, air pollution steals lives, or rather – we’re killing ourselves. Environmental degradation caused by continuing our sociopathic ways, dubbed ‘business as usual’, causes irrevocable harm to communities at the epicenter of fossil fuel energy development, no matter where you live. In Poland, coal pollution engulfs communities, but despite the high social and health impacts, Poland remains the largest coal producer in the European Union, relying on coal for 80% of electricity generation. Families living near Polish coal power plantsregularly send their children and infants to hospital with respiratory issues, thanks to the particulate pollution emitted by burning coal. These noxious chemicals are liked to higher rates of strokes, heart attacks, and cancer – killing an estimated 43,000 Poles in 2011 alone. Overall, the coal industry in Poland creates €3-8.2 billion in added health costs. Meanwhile in Nigeria, the Niger Delta saw over 550 oil spills in 2014 alone, accounting for 5 million litres of oil. Decades of negligent oil production and extraction have forever devastated an essential water source that spans 7% of Nigeria’s total land area in one of the most biodiverse places in the world. Mangroves and fisheries have been wiped out, along with local agriculture, leaving communities with an uncertain future. This cannot be the world we inherit. Where’s the Political Action? Curbing our environmental pollution and addressing climate change go hand in hand, addressing them both will ensure all our futures. Overwhelmingly, people support action on climate change and cutting the cord on fossil fuels, but the political will has yet to meet rising public opinion. It might have something to do with the $125 million spent by oil companies to lobby politicians here in the United States last year. Globally, we are spending 6.5% of our GDP on fossil fuel subsidies, that’s a ridiculous $5 trillion each year. As Upton Sinclair wrote: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” With elections coming up in the United States and elsewhere, it’s worth holding on to this historical moment and reminding ourselves that politicians have always been a renewable resource, thanks to liberal democracy. Climate Change is Here If we continue down this path and fail as a global community, we will be dooming all our futures. We’ve all had a front-row seat to what a climate changed world looks like. Just in the last year, we’ve seen monster hurricanes and never-ending wildfire seasons in the U.S. – both fueled by our warming world. We’ve all also lived to see the once fabled Northwest Passage open up. All along with rising seas, which have put coastal communities from Florida to Bangladesh at risk of climate displacement. It’s like a paint by numbers for dangerous climate change – and this is all with less than 1°C of warming. By 2050, we could see up to one billion climate refugees worldwide, if we do absolutely nothing to alter course. As for the financial cost, American taxpayers already dole out $240 billion each year to pay for the impacts of climate change. With worsening effects, this number will only continue to grow. We have had an unprecedented opportunity to witness all this, while still having a small window of opportunity to change the tide. We cannot lose sight of this challenge. The difference between 1.5°C and 2°C of warming are stark. The damages caused by a 1.5°C world could cost us all $54 trillion in damages – a 2°C world would reach as much as $69 trillion according to the latest IPCC assessment. The financial costs are infinitesimal in comparison to the lives that will be put at risk. Failing to reach 1.5°C would mean a world unimaginable. A world without coral reefs, where up to 80 million people are exposed to coastal flooding from rising seas. A world with an ice-free Arctic, where severe and deadly heat waves will be a new normal for over one-third of us. Where water scarcity will threaten the livelihood security for 411 million people – not to mention the dramatic loss of crops, plants and animals. We have twelve years to save ourselves from this catastrophe. To do this will not be easy. Until 2035, we will need to spend an average of $2.4 trillion a year globally to transition our energy systems. We will have to expand renewable energy to provide 85% of our global electricity by 2050, in tandem with reducing our carbon emissions by 45% from 2010-levels by 2030. Ostriches with their heads buried in the sand will still drown in our climate-changed world. So please do wake up and take notice. Climate change will exacerbate existing insecurities and redefine our very civilization. We already have the tools to do this. Clean energy is only getting cheaper. In fact, in the U.S. it’s now the cheapest available form of new energy development – without subsidies. Installing new wind power stations is now cheaper than continuing to rely on coal plants. The economic benefits of creating a green economy are boundless, from job creation to the health benefits of not burning dinosaurs. The science and technology are all there, all that is missing is the political will to make it happen. The clock is ticking. We all need to make it happen.

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Generating ideas: brainstorming 1. To quickly find the maximum number of solutions to a problem or the maximum number of creative ideas: concepts, objects, services... 2. To involve an entire group by lifting value judgements. 3. To open the door to more complex idea-seeking techniques. You all know the brainstorming invented in 1939 by Alex OSBORN, vice president of the American advertising agency BBDO. His main goal was to facilitate communication within his team. He imagined to separate the phases of production of ideas and selection of ideas to get out of the blockages and judgements of the ideas emitted. But today... do you really master the process? Mastering it is a key to understanding: - the principle of separation between the two phases: Production (divergence)/Selection (convergence) of ideas. - the principle of the Free Wheel in the phase of divergence: to express oneself in turn, as quickly as possible, briefly and without judgment. A few tips: - The pace is too fast to avoid rationalizations. - The facilitator writes, numbers and rephrases each word at the same time: he switches from the board to the group very quickly (he can entrust another person with the note-taking to focus on the group and alternate between them). - This process opens a research process, it is insufficient alone. It is sometimes called "purging" because it "releases" what is known but not expressed. Formulate the subject Build a short presentation in the form of a positively formulated sentence, without double negation, that summarizes what you are looking for or what the team is looking for. Constitute the group Surround yourself with 5 to 12 people maximum: members of your team, completed by non-experts of the subject and without sharing with you a relationship of direct hierarchy. Prepare the animation Make a list of creative stimuli to boost the group's production during "wave dips" like "and again?" "what else?" "Give me a verb of action, a qualifier, a palpable object..." Criteria to select Prepare 3 to 4 criterions to sort and prioritize production. They are determined by objectives and context. They can evolve. At the beginning of the search, 3 criterions can be used: - Making me want to get involved (motivation). - Feasible/realistic in our context. Start with your short sentence and invite the group to react in the form of key words thrown into the group. Record everything as you go, repeating aloud everything that is said, while writing and numbering the words expressed. Stimulate without pause Re-launch using stimuli prepared in advance or using other stimuli found in the moment, inspired by the production of ideas. Keep everything and make it visible Display the entire production as you go. You can still start again from words expressed well before, to go further or more precisely, by still using stimuli. Proceed to the selection stage When you feel that the energy of the group can go no further, it is time to sort, prioritize, structure. On the basis of the criteria you have determined, make your choices with colored stickers. For example, 3 stickers in 3 colors. Each one corresponds to the 3 criteria defined at the beginning, which can still be modified at this stage. Each person puts his 9 stickers. You can also circle words of different colors, write them on post-its of 3 families of colors and make a selection table. It's your call. Make rational/intuitive synthesis Take back all the information, taking into account the selections, without locking yourself in. Write multiple synthesis on sheets: the whole group, in mini groups, alone... You can cross and enrich your synthesis by passing the sheets. To do this, use both your intuitive sensitivity and objective criteria.

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The task of understanding the past is never-ending. It is impossible not to feel at times ambivalent, and to resist the ease of disapproval, if not condemnation. It will be the obvious view of most readers that the Hawaiians should have been left to work out their own history. Although it has become useful for contemporary scholars and writers of Hawaiian history to blame the influence of foreigners, particularly the missionaries, for the near annihilation of the race, it is impossible to exempt the ali’i from hastening its perilous decline. Putting aside the inexorability of historical determinism, it is too easy to fault foreigners for the dissolution and eventual collapse of the Hawaiian monarchy, too simplistic to decry the acquisitive traders and shopkeepers who followed the ships, or the native chiefs who lost their kingdom through negligence and misrule. “The gods did not die: slowly they withdrew from the people, who no longer honored them.” The mythic navigator, Ka’uluakalana, is said to have composed this chant, only a fragment of which has been preserved, when he first landed in the Islands in the eleventh century A.D.: Falling are the heavens, rushing through the heavens Falls the dismal rain, rushing through the heavens Falls the heavy rain, rushing through the heavens Falls the gentle rain, rushing through the heavens Soars the dragonfly, rushing through the heavens Passed away has this one to Moanawaikaioo. The strong current, the rolling current, whirl away, “It will be overcome by you,— Passing perhaps, remaining perhaps. When the cabinet minister William N. Armstrong, who accompanied David Kalākaua on a trip around the world in 1881, warned him that the future of the Hawaiian people was in danger, Kalākaua insisted that his people were happy enough — there was food, their small kuleana (homesteads) supported them, and no one robbed them. “If they are [dying out], I’ve read lots of times that great races died out, and new ones took their places; my people are like the rest. I think the best thing is to let us be.” They were not left to themselves, as both the king and Armstrong must have foreseen, and they did begin to disappear. There is no little irony in recognizing that the speed with which this occurred — a short one hundred and twenty years from the arrival of Captain Cook in 1777 to the annexation of the Islands in 1898 by the United States — serves as testimony to the generosity of spirit, patience, and adaptability of the Hawaiians themselves. In their grace lay their defeat. Pālea, a Hawaiian chanter from Ka‘u who was born in 1852, composed this chant after he and his wife came upon a mirror for the first time. It is called “Piano Ahiahi,” or “Piano at Evening” (the native land shell is now an endangered species): O Piano I heard at evening, where are you? Your music haunts me far into the night like the voice of landshells near the break of day. I remember when my dear and I visited aboard the Nautilus and saw our first looking glass. I remember the upland of Ma‘eli‘eli where the mists creeping in and out threaded their way between the old houses of thatch. Again I chant my refrain of long ago and a piano singing far into the night.

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Housing First as a Means of Social Justice As we enter 2020, it’s no longer a surprise that federal, state, and local policies and programs have systematically disadvantaged people because of their race, gender, and/or sexual identity for decades. Those systemic disadvantages have contributed to countless discriminatory practices that have led to a disproportionate number of people of color and members of the LGBTQ community experiencing poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and whole host of other issues. A 2017 study from the University of Toronto and Ryerson University showed that Canadian applicants with equal qualifications were 28% less likely to secure an interview with an “Asian” name than those with an “Anglo” name, even when all education and work experience was in Canada. A similar study in 2003 showed that names that sound African-American received 50% fewer call-backs than applicants with traditionally white names. A far less scientific experiment, in which a woman working as a professional resume writer/editor swapped email signatures with a male colleague for two weeks, revealed the microaggressions and stresses that women experience in the workplace every day. The man was subjected to condescension, questioning, rude remarks, dismissiveness, patronization, and struggled to complete projects on time during the time span. The woman, however, had the most productive week of her career. These are just two quick examples of what we know to be true: inequities abound, and many of them impact a person’s ability to provide for themselves and their families. If you’re a member of one or more marginalized identities, it’s harder to find and keep a position that pays you what your experience and expertise are worth. And without that steady income, you’re at a higher risk of experiencing homelessness. In particular, African Americans represent 13% of the general population and 40% of people who experience homelessness. It’s the largest disparity for any race or ethnicity in the US, and the imbalance is not getting better with time. For comparison’s sake, white Americans represent 79% of the general population and 50% of the population experiencing homelessness. In Philadelphia specifically, where the 25% poverty rate is double the national average, African Americans represent 41% of the population (per 2017 data) and 76% of those experiencing homelessness (per the 2019 Point in Time Count). In comparison, 35% of Philadelphia residents are white, and 22% of those experiencing homelessness are white. Correcting this generations-long imbalance is not a one-size-fits-all approach, nor can it happen overnight. But one small step in the right direction for organizations that support people experiencing homelessness is implementing the Housing First model. Housing First is a philosophical approach that provides housing with no preconditions and subsequently addresses an individual’s financial, medical, behavioral health, and other needs. People should not need to prove that they have earned or deserve a home. Housing First is built upon the belief that housing is a basic human right, and everyone deserves a safe space to call home – regardless of their race, gender, or ethnicity. It is equally important that individuals feel safe and welcome by their support system. The Housing First model requires that, once a person is housed, comprehensive wrap-around services are provided to help that person integrate into their chosen community and achieve stability. Housing First is not, and should never be, housing only. Participant choice and self-determination are a crucial component of the Housing First model. The focus is on individualized recovery, whether from mental health conditions, trauma, substance use, or other challenges. In order for recovery to progress, individuals must be given the freedom and respect to determine what their path of healing will look like. Staff are then entrusted with the responsibility to support that vision. The focus on self-determination is a tenant of harm reduction, which helps people to reduce potential negative consequences associated with risky behaviors while still supporting an individual’s recovery goals, however they may be defined. Correcting generations of systemic discrimination will take a long time, and it will be hard work. But utilizing models like Housing First produces results. 85% of the participants at Pathways to Housing PA remain housed after five years in the program. 65% of those with opioid use disorder (OUD) are seeking some form of treatment after six months of being housed – whereas nationally, only 20% of people with OUD seek treatment. It should be noted that this statistic encompasses everyone with OUD, not just those experiencing homelessness, which makes it all the more impressive. While rates of OUD in the US remain more prevalent among whites than racial minorities, one 2017 study suggested that people of color with OUD were significantly less likely than their white counterparts to be prescribed buprenorphine or naltrexone within six months of diagnosis. Similarly, a 2002-2014 retrospective of adults receiving OUD treatment in an urban office setting, discovered that, while more than half of patients had left treatment after one year, retention outcomes were significantly worse among people of color. The Housing First model, especially when combined with Integrated Care efforts and harm reduction, has the potential to greatly impact the health outcomes of individuals with multiple marginalized identities. It is the charge of those working to alleviate the burden of these social determinants of health to recognize the impact of intersectionality and champion evidence-based models, like Housing First, that address the whole person.

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Немножко хрестоматийного. Коллега Фрост был конечно троллем высшей пробы. Иногда я начинаю даже в "Bereft" искать стёбные подтексты, а уж про то, что в "Stopping By Woods..." протагонист на самом деле остановился в лесу поссать, не упоминал только ленивый. По поводу "Дороги" википедия сообщает нам: Frost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England, where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward Thomas. Thomas and Frost became close friends and took many walks together. After Frost had returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of “The Road Not Taken”. The poem was intended by Frost as a gentle mocking of indecision, particularly the indecision that Thomas had shown on their many walks together. However, Frost later expressed chagrin that most audiences took the poem more seriously than he had intended; in particular, Thomas took it seriously and personally, and it provided the last straw in Thomas' decision to enlist in World War I. Thomas was killed two years later in the Battle of Arras. Уж затроллил так затроллил, я считаю. Шагрень он, зараза, выражал. The Road Not Taken by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Разбирать технические достижения товарища Фроста я здесь не буду. Не было в английской, да и мировой, поэзии после Фроста более изощрённого технаря и не будет уже наверное.

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College is a Great Option, but Not for All the Students There are many debates regarding college education because some people view it as the best learning option and a tool to get the best skills and experience possible. At the same time, others regard college education as a waste of money that does not prepare them for the future career and that provides very little practical skills. The debates lead to a conclusion that college is a good opportunity for those who have a desire and capacities to study, but it should not be regarded as a must for those who do not want to get and use it in the future. Thus, college education is the best option only for the people who recognize its worth and apply its results on practice. Therefore, it should not be pursued by the people who lack this understanding. The current problem is that college education has become an irreplaceable status thing that puts serious pressure on the individuals who are still in doubt; therefore, the tendency has to change while people get the opportunity to decide on the education and the skills they want to strengthen for the jobs they want to pursue. College Education Should not Be for Everyone Currently, college system possesses many flows that create the tension and the doubts regarding the necessity of having this type of education. People feel that they invest their money into the degrees that will not help them in the future, and they feel that college education is outdated and it does not meet the time requirements. Therefore, there are many doubts and questions in regards to the quality of the education people receive. More to say, in modern society, college education has lost its exclusiveness because people feel like that they have to get it because the majority does it (Murray 234). They do not think about applying the education later on in their lives, but they go to college out of social pressure and expectations. As a result, the students do not understand the reason for studying at all, as they feel they are forced into going to college. Another argument that shows that college education should not be for everyone is the fact that not all of people possess the same intellectual capacities and skills. While some are skilled and smart enough to go to school, and they possess the determination, others lack all of the mentioned qualities. Still, there are many people without skills or talents who get the college education because there are some schools that are easier to get into, and there are more possibilities for the students who come from richer families and can afford having a college degree. As a result, the colleges often have many students who do not deserve or seek getting the skills and knowledge and who waste many years without setting a goal for themselves. At the same time, some people cheat throughout college or use deceit in order to get good grades. However, they still get a degree, which puts them in the same position as the people who worked hard for the diplomas and who actually know much more. Therefore, a very unfair situation emerges because the talented graduates have to compete with the people who have done much less during their studies. The whole concept of cheating that happens very often throughout college education shows that there have to be some changes in the system, and not everybody should apply for college. However, there is another perspective that shows that college can be very beneficial for some people as they are able to get the knowledge they want, which would be an asset in their future lives. For instance, some researchers speak about the fact that people tend to overlook the benefits of liberal art education (Ungar 192). Many individuals have doubts about it because they think that engineering or specialized degrees would be more beneficial for them, and they underestimate theoretical knowledge. Nevertheless, liberal arts education can provide the leaders with valuable knowledge they would be able to apply in their professional life. With the focus on liberal arts, the students will learn to structure their thoughts and organize the educational process, which would also expand their general knowledge on the important topics. With these capacities being strengthened, the people will develop a skill of learning independently, and thus, they would be an important asset for any company. Henceforth, the liberal arts education helps people to develop critical thinking skills and apply them in practice, and that is the reason that shows that the college education can benefit the learners substantially. Returning to the main issue, one should stress that college does provide people with many skills and capacities they want to have. It is especially true with the motivated students who look for the opportunities and consider classes as the tools to gain the necessary information. They regard college experience as a preparation for their further careers because they learn a lot about themselves, improve their professional capacities, and they have time to determine what they want to do in life. From this perspective, college education serves as the tool it is intended to serve. It organizes young people, gives them the assets they can use in the future, and helps them to move further with their careers. This is exactly the reason why the institutions should be interested in accepting only motivated students who are truly interested in studying and who see this process not as an opportunity to waste four years, but as a tool for self-improvement and professional growth. In other words, colleges have to be more demanding and pay a lot of attention to the motivation of an individual in order to select only those who are eager to study. Thus, the current tendency with college being a status thing has to change. Nowadays, many people feel like without college education, they cannot get a good job or have good lives. They also feel that they are deprived of the opportunity to choose for themselves because they feel obliged to study even if they do not want to. There is also a fear of losing good life opportunities because of the lack of degree. Therefore, it is essential to draw a clear division line between the jobs that require specialized skills and have be studied before, and the jobs that do not need that sort of education. Another important thing is the necessity to clarify the job requirements and expectations the employers have for the potential employees. Currently, the employees feel like the employers care about the status of the college they went to, but there is little check of the skills and capacities of the candidate. As a result, the most suited workers do not always get the job. This situation can be changed in case the employers evaluate the workers based on their knowledge and pay less attention to the college experience unless it is not necessary. In addition, college education should be centered more on practical skills that are valuable for the people seeking work. Now, many people feel that they lack introduction into their profession, and this situation can change in case the companies decide to cooperate with schools directly. This way, they will be able to involve the talented students directly while evaluating their skills; and it will also be possible to select the best candidates. Thus, it is safe to say that college education provides the people with the intellectual benefits, but only if they want to get them. In other situations, it would not be an effective tool for the people, and they will not be able to use the capacities and knowledge that the colleges can offer. Modern society should to understand that college education is not for everybody, so it is pointless to demand everyone to study and learn in order to get the degree. Quite the opposite, college education should be an option for the extremely talented individuals who will be able to use their skills further in their life and apply the provided knowledge for the social benefits.

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The atlanto-occipital articulation (also known as the C0-C1 joint/articulation) is comprised of a pair of condyloid synovial joints that connect the occipital bone (C0) to the first cervical vertebra (atlas/C1). Each joint is comprised of two concave articular surfaces on the superior aspect of the lateral mass of atlas which articulate with a convex surface on the occipital condyle. The joint is reinforced by fibrous capsules which support each joint. The atlanta facets are tilted medially. - anterior atlanto-occipital membrane: broad, dense fibrous structure which joins the upper border of the anterior arch of the atlas (C1) to the anterior inferior margin of the foramen magnum; it is a continuation of the anterior longitudinal ligament and prevents excessive neck extension. Laterally it blends with the joint capsule and medially is strengthened by a strong, rounded cord which connects the basilar occipital bone to the anterior atlantal tubercle. - posterior atlanto-occipital membrane: a broad but thin fibrous membrane which attaches the upper border of the anterior surface of the posterior arch of the atlas (C1) to the posterior margin of the foramen magnum. It is continuous with the posterior atlantoaxial membrane inferiorly (part of the ligamentum flavum) and ligamentum nuchae posteriorly and lies immediately posterior to the spinal dura. Posteriorly lie the suboccipital muscles. The atlantic (V3) portion of the vertebral artery runs anteriorly to pierce the membrane and dura and become the dural (V4) portion. - tectorial membrane: continuation of the posterior longitudinal ligament from the dens to the anterior aspect of the foramen magnum. The joint capsule is innervated by the C1 nerve. Anastomosis between the deep cervical, occipital and vertebral arteries. Allows for 25o of flexion/extension and around 5o of axial rotation. posterior - vertebral artery anterior - rectus capitis anterior posteromedial - dorsal ramus of the first cervical nerve and rectus capitis posterior major - variable degree of communication between the atlanto-occipital joint and the cavity between the dens (odontoid peg) and transverse ligament of the cruciform ligament - third occipital condyle (condylus tertius) which may articulate with the anterior arch of the atlas, or the dens - paracondylar process - occipital condyle hypoplasia - division of the superior articular facet of the atlas - atlanto-occipital assimilation - arcuate foramen - foramen visualized by the atlantic portion of the vertebral artery as it courses through a calcified posterior atlanto-occipital membrane - atlanto-occipital dissociation (AOD) represents the most common cervical spine injury following a motor vehicle accident and is usually highly unstable with significant neurological morbidity - 1. Hall GC, Kinsman MJ, Nazar RG et-al. Atlanto-occipital dislocation. World J Orthop. 2015;6 (2): 236-43. doi:10.5312/wjo.v6.i2.236 - Free text at pubmed - Pubmed citation - 2. Offiah CE, Day E. The craniocervical junction: embryology, anatomy, biomechanics and imaging in blunt trauma. Insights into imaging. 8 (1): 29-47. doi:10.1007/s13244-016-0530-5 - Pubmed Related Radiopaedia articles - spinal canal - cervical spine - thoracic spine - lumbar spine - vertebral body - neural arch - transitional vertebrae - ossification centers - intervertebral disc - anterior longitudinal ligament - posterior longitudinal ligament - posterior ligamentous complex - cervical spine ligaments - iliolumbar ligament - epidural ligaments - musculature of the vertebral column - muscles of the neck - muscles of the back - spinal meninges and spaces - gross anatomy white matter tracts (white matter) - corticospinal tract - anterolateral columns - lateral columns - dorsal columns - grey matter - nerve root - central canal - functional anatomy - spinal cord blood supply - sympathetic chain

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written by Tracy Nemecek, LMHC Stop the stigma. Oprah Winfrey, Prince William, Prince Harry, Lady Gaga, Michael Phelps, and Jewel are some of the well-known individuals using their platforms to normalize the humanness of emotional struggles and promote strong mental health by encouraging people to seek and receive psychological support when they need it. Imagine if we existed in a culture where there was no stigma to be stopped because emotional health was viewed and valued in the same way that physical health is. Most individuals feel no shame in admitting that they have a fever or take a weekly yoga class for relaxation, yet the same cannot be said for admitting to having anxiety symptoms or attending regular therapy appointments. One of the ways the stigma can be stopped is to change the messages that children are receiving about understanding and managing emotions. Students learn age-appropriate skills in math and literacy as they move through school. These subjects are explicitly taught because we do not assume that children are inherently able to solve an equation or write a thesis statement. But regardless of the path a child takes into adulthood, s/he will need skills such as controlling impulses, showing empathy, and working on a team, and these are often not explicitly taught and it is instead left up to chance as to whether or not an individual will learn them. Recent research from the World Economic Forum indicates that employers are looking for employees who can coordinate with others, negotiate, and demonstrate emotional intelligence. In their Future of Jobs Report, specific technical skills did not even make the top ten in a list of workplace success skills. If we can make the commitment to overtly teaching children to recognize and manage their emotions, successfully navigate communication and conflict with others, and apply problem-solving and decision-making models to the choices they face, we can help to make social-emotional literacy as much a part of their everyday experience as mathematical computation and reading comprehension. These skills cannot be seen as separate from or less than academic skills. Emotions and their management can be given equal representation in the education of the whole child. This can assist in eliminating the stigma of emotional struggle and equip individuals with skills they will need and utilize across their life stages and relationships. Let’s stop the stigma and raise the next generation to not only view emotional challenges as normal and human but also be equipped to recognize and respond to them when they occur. Interested in a social-emotional literacy class for your child? Consider “Stories to Grow On”, offered by QL Therapy counselor Tracy Nemecek on August 12-16 at Writers and Books. Students will use children’s literature to explore the appreciation of individual uniqueness, and understand and cope with emotions such as fear, anger and worry. Creative projects will round out the class and provide students with an emotional management toolkit to take and use at home.

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This is a really simple Halloween Craft for Toddlers and Preschoolers to make and allows them to use their imagination and get creative. With a little inspiration from a monster book, you and your toddlers can get making these fun Monster Faces out of simple craft supplies. So get ready to create and make this Easy Monster Craft with your toddlers. Materials Needed to get Monster Making We have included links to the materials we used to make these faces. If you buy via the links we may earn a small commission on the sale. Optional -> Sticky tape to stick the monsters to the window to decorate your house for Halloween How to make these Halloween Monster Faces with your Toddlers - Cut out the face shapes for your toddlers and preschoolers. We cut out a variety of different shapes that they could then add the features to. - Provide a selection of different coloured papers as well as some precut face features. A selection of googly eyes of different sizes and the glue sticks for your toddlers with some safety scissors and then. - Let them create. Tips for Monster Making with Toddlers Craft where you can easily clean up. T wasn’t able to reach the table sitting on a chair when we made these so instead of strapping her into a high chair she sat on the table top and made the monsters there as you can see from the picture. These monsters were made using the precut face shapes that I provided for the kids to use. Although the placement and gluing was all their own work. With older toddlers and preschoolers that are using the scissors, you can imagine the difference that there is. Expect wonky cuts and random shapes that is part of their skill development. As you do simple crafts with toddlers talk about what they are making. Say you like particular colours, shapes, textures etc… as well as in the monster faces the placement of the face features this all helps with language development. Toddlers also love to see the things that they make. We attached these to our window for Halloween so that we could see one of the crafts that we had created. More Halloween Fun to Have with your Toddlers Help your toddler learn their numbers as you get creative making this DIY Stamped Pumpkin Number Line We like to read along with the seasons and events. Here are our favourite not so scary Halloween Books for Toddlers for you to read together. Inspired by the pumpkins around at this time of the year then check out our pumpkin activities for toddlers to learn and play. Make use of that salad spinner that you have at the back of the kitchen and create these fun Spin Art Pumpkin Faces. Pin These Monster Faces to Make with Toddlers this Halloween to Do Later

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Technology has made is possible for teaching and learning to continue beyond the classroom. It is necessary for learning to be possible in any environment because sadly, learning with technology in the classroom is rare and one of the last places for innovative technology can be reached and adopted. Fortunately, students and youth are very curious about innovations around them and seem to find technology rather fascinating, therefore can learn to use them effortlessly without the help of a teacher or monitor. Beyond learning in classrooms, some of the avenues through with students can keep up learning with technology helping include: 1. Social media: usually used for connecting with friends and family, social media is the unconventional learning environment. however, it is a community of technology experts, companies, news etc. and with the use of their phones, tablets or computers, students can find information in relevant fields. They can also poll users and can use results for research purposes. 2.Collaboration tools: use of applications like google drive allows students to share their projects and presentations among themselves. Students can work in groups from different locations, contribute to the same document and give feedback without sending emails back and forth. 3.Conferencing tools: the use of google hangouts and Skype allows students to collaborate but by speaking face-to-face online. They can share real-time updates and make demonstrations by sharing their screens and can be very efficient in holding group meetings. 4. Online educational content providers: Khan academy, Udemy, TED and YouTube are few of the many educational content providers online. Students have access to all these content by searching for all kinds of tutorials. The websites contain content numerous topics in different fields (art, math, sciences, gaming, sports, computing, law, etc) made available by teachers and others with expertise in relevant fields. While tutorials can be watched for free on YouTube and TED, academies like Udemy require payment for very short courses. Learning can take place beyond the classroom and technology has not only made it possible, but also made it easy and within reach. Smart kids can pick up both academic and non academic related information or skills easily because it has been made available. Students can research, share ideas, collaborate and contribute to creating content, all done virtually. This confirms that technology is not exactly harmful to students as there are numerous to use it to their advantage.

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Recently I wrote a post about research investigating an interesting compound called Epigallocatechin gallate (or EGCG – click here for that post). Several eagle-eyed readers, however, noted something interesting in the details of one of the research reports that was discussed in that post. The study in question had used EGCG as a positive control for evaluating the ability of other compounds for their ability to inhibit the clustering of Parkinson’s-associated protein alpha synuclein. But there was also a second positive control used in that study. It is called baicalein. In today’s post, we will discuss what baicalein is and what research has been done on it in the context of Parkinson’s. Lake Baikal. Source: Audleytravel Once upon a thyme, in a far away land, there was a mysterious little flowering plant. The “far away land” was the southern parts of eastern Siberia. And the flowering plant is Scutellaria baicalensis – which is more commonly referred to as Baikal skullcap. What is Baikal skullcap? Baikal skullcap is a perennial herb that is indigenous to Southern Siberia, China and Korea. For centuries, traditional Chinese medicine has used the dried roots – which is called huángqín (Chinese: 黄芩 or golden root) – for a variety of ailments. Baikal skullcap. Source: Urbol The plant grows to between 1-4 feet in height, with lance head-shaped leaves and blue-purple flowers. Baikal skullcap belongs to the same family of flowering plants (Lamiaceae) as thyme, basil, mint and rosemary. For traditional Chinese medicinal use, the roots are usually collected in spring or autumn once the plant is more than 3-4 years old. They are dried and then used to treat hypertension, to reduce “fire and dampness”, and to treat prostate & breast cancers. And one of the key constituents of Baikal skullcap (and huángqín) is a compound called baicalein. What is baicalein?

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Gareth Lock (2019) In diving, human theory is as important as decompression theory. Behaviour is contextual: what we do always depends on multiple, complex factors. Yet, we invariably attempt to understand a person’s actions by reducing them to the simplest terms. In so doing, we throw out all the information we need to avoid finding ourselves facing the same dangers. Under Pressure captures that information through real experiences of divers and uses established science to analyse and explain how such situations evolve. The commentary adds a depth of understanding of what lies under the errors we make. Error frequently becomes the fixation for litigation and the placement of blame, this tends to push people to hide their mistakes and so we lose opportunities for learning. The focus of this book is safety, and how we can improve all of our safety as divers by developing a culture where we can be open about our difficulties and mistakes … so that we can learn to do better. Consider that our diving equipment has advanced massively in the last decade or so, compared to the technology of the 1950s, the development is exponential. Well-serviced and maintained kit rarely fails, and when it does it is generally due to user error. Right now, there is very little stopping us as individual divers from entering the most dangerous environments: caves, wrecks and deep dives. In diving, the most likely point of failure is the human themselves, i.e. their skills in diving and their ability to self-regulate. Arguably we need to address the gap between the technology and our understanding of the human diver. We can do this by sharing stories and learning from each other’s discoveries. From humorous to heart-stopping, the variety of case examples usefully illustrates scenarios to which any diver may relate. Sharing these reflections allows the whole diving community insight into what goes through a person’s mind when under extreme pressure as a diver. All human divers will see themselves somewhere in this book. The examples also give revealing glimpses into the thought processes of people in situations from which some divers sadly never returned. Sharing their reflections allows the diving community an insight into what goes through a person’s mind when under extreme pressure as a diver, and what influenced their decision making. In addition, these examples show the humanity of some well-known names in diving, we all make mistakes, and the openness of more experienced divers in talking about their own mistakes is powerful to learning. There are other diving books that recount dramatic tales. But Under Pressure is the first to connect the accounts with scientific explanation, to guide informed behaviour change and help you to reduce the risks in your own diving. Remarkably, this is a book about health and safety and a fascinating and enlightening read!

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Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command Project Rest Stop personnel survey the jungle on Diego Garcia for a possible naval base in 1967. One of the major projects for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the major project for the Seabees in the 1970s and early 1980s was the construction of the naval complex on the atoll of Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Diego Garcia, one of the 52 coral atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, is located in the Indian Ocean 960 miles south of India and seven miles south of the equator. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum) 1943: 76th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) commissioned in Norfolk, Virginia (exact camp unknown). 1945: 137th NCB reactivated at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island. 1968: Seabee Team 0602 arrived in Phouc Le, Republic of Vietnam (RVN). The Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 rock crusher site was named Camp Coker in memory of Yeoman 3rd Class D.C. Coker who was killed in a mortar attack on 30 August 1967. Seabee Team 4002 Advance Party arrived at Camp Shields, Chu Lai, RVN. 1968: NMCB 74 was relieved by NMCB 62 at Camp Haskins, South, RVN. 1969: The commanding officer of NMCB 5, Cmdr. R.B. Wilson, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), officially relieved the commanding officer of NMCB 1, Cmdr. T.J. Mitchell, CEC, as commander of Camp Hoover, Da Nang, RVN, and Camp DeShurley, Phu Loc, RVN. 1971: Nine-man reconnaissance party lands at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), to confirm planning information and carry out preliminary survey of beach landing areas for 50-man party of NMCB 1 and Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 to arrive in March and begin construction of U.S. Naval Communication Station Diego Garcia, BIOT. 1946: 36th NCB inactivated on Okinawa. 1968: Cmdr. William J. Richeson, CEC, commanding officer, NMCB 62, relieved Cmdr. Gordon W. Schley, CEC, commanding officer, NMCB 74, at Camp Haskins South, RVN. Jan. 24-27, 1968: The main body of NMCB 62 arrived in RVN. 1944: 22nd Special NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia. 1963: Seabee Teams 0501 and 0502 were the first Seabee Teams to arrive in Vietnam. Team 0501 was employed at Dam Pau in central South Vietnam and Team 0502 was employed at Tri Ton, southwest of Saigon near the Cambodian border. Both teams were employed in support of the United States Army Special forces. 1971: The Navy League Councils throughout the country sponsor Sea Cadet units which take 14 to 17 year old youngsters and give them “boot camp” and technical training aimed at qualifying them up to E-3. Sea Cadet graduates who later enlist in the Navy can enlist at their level of attainment in the Sea Cadet program. 2008: NMCB 15 steelworkers and engineers of the 814th Multirole Bridge Company completed construction of a floating span of a Mabey Johnson Float Bridge in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq. 1943: ACORN 4 arrived at Noumea. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.) 1967: Seabee Team 0511 departed the main body at Da Nang, RVN, for training at the 31st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR), Port Hueneme, California. 1972: Seabee Team 6207 departed Yap Island for Guam. 1942: The first Seabee detachment, the Bobcats, left the United States for Bora Bora in the Society Islands. The Bobcats were the advance part of more than 325,000 men who served in the Naval Construction Force during the Second World War. 1945: 143rd NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, RI. 1947: 105th NCB reactivated, being re-designated as ACB 2 in October 1950. Jan. 27-Feb. 5, 1967: NMCB 9 main body departed Da Nang, RVN. 1972: Seabee Team 13308 returned to Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Gulfport, Mississippi. 1943: 82nd NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island. 1946: 144th NCB inactivated at Guam. 1963: NMCB 10’s first Sangley Point advance party of 2 officers and 44 enlisted men departed the continental United States (CONUS) aboard a VR-21 aircraft for the Philippines. Jan. 28-Feb. 7, 1968: NMCB 3 main body flights departed Vietnam for CONUS. 1969: Detachment of Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion Two augmented by 17 Seabee divers from the 21st NCR and Atlantic and Pacific mobile construction battalions install TEKTITE I habitat on the ocean floor on 28 January and standby to assist aquanauts with any problems or potential emergencies. Full installation of the habitat completed on February 12. 1970: Seabee Team 4003 departed Davisville, Rhode Island, for reassignment to Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Construction Battalion Pacific Detachment (CBPACDET), Guam and deployment at Truk Island, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). 1971: Seabee Team 0414 reported in at CBC, Port Hueneme, California.

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Motivation and achievement. The first line of each reference should be flush left with the margin of the page. Check out the other tools and citation guides on EasyBib. If a digital object identifier DOI is available, include it at the end of the reference. If, in the Works Cited list, the full reference has the title within quotation marks, include those quotation marks in the narrative MLA in-text citation or reference in parentheses. At the end of the assignment, on the Works Cited page, is the full reference. Use the following guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text. On Twelve [CD]. At the end of the sentence, in parentheses, is the page number where the information was found. Next, the editors should be noted followed by the location and publisher. Instead, follow the same order as shown on the source. Translated Books Many of psychology's most famous texts were originally written in another language and then translated into English.

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Top Gene Interactions - Metabolism: At the present time, the exact metabolic route and fate of thalidomide is not known in humans. Thalidomide itself does not appear to be hepatically metabolized to any large extent, but appears to undergo non-enzymatic hydrolysis in plasma to multiple metabolites. Thalidomide may be metabolized hepatically by enzymes of the cytochrome P450 enzyme system. The end product of metabolism, phthalic acid, is excreted as a glycine conjugate. In a repeat dose study in which THALOMID™ (thalidomide) 200 mg was administered to 10 healthy females for 18 days, thalidomide displayed similar pharmacokinetic profiles on the first and last day of dosing. This suggests that thalidomide does not induce or inhibit its own metabolism. Route of Elimination: Thalidomide itself has less than 0.7% of the dose excreted in the urine as unchanged drug. Half Life: The mean half-life of elimination ranges from approximately 5 to 7 hours following a single dose and is not altered upon multiple dosing. - Uses/Sources: For the acute treatment of the cutaneous manifestations of moderate to severe erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). Also for use as maintenance therapy for prevention and suppression of the cutaneous manifestations of ENL recurrence. Used to treat multiple myeloma. - Health Effects: The most serious toxicity associated with thalidomide is its documented human teratogenicity. The risk of severe birth defects, primarily phocomelia or death to the fetus, is extremely high during the critical period of pregnancy. The critical period is estimated, depending on the source of information, to range from 35 to 50 days after the last menstrual period. The risk of other potentially severe birth defects outside this critical period is unknown, but may be significant. Based on present knowledge, thalidomide must not be used at any time during pregnancy. Thalidomide can cause severe birth defects in humans. - Symptoms: Thalidomide is associated with drowsiness/somnolence, peripheral neuropathy, dizziness/orthostatic hypotension, neutro-penia, and HIV viral load increase. - Treatment: Precipitation of acyclovir in renal tubules may occur when the solubility (2.5 mg/mL) is exceeded in the intratubular fluid. In the event of acute renal failure and anuria, the patient may benefit from hemodialysis until renal function is restored. (L1721) - Route of Exposure: The absolute bioavailability has not yet been characterized in human subjects due to its poor aqueous solubility. In studies of both healthy volunteers and subjects with Hansen’s disease, the mean time to peak plasma concentrations (Tmax) ranged from 2.9 to 5.7 hours indicating that thalidomide is slowly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. - Carcinogenicity: No indication of carcinogenicity to humans (not listed by IARC). - Toxicity: The R-configuration and the S-configuration are more toxic individually than the racemic mixture. The LD₅₀ could not be established in mice for racemic thalidomide, whereas LD₅₀ values for the R and S configurations are reported to be 0.4 to 0.7 g/kg and 0.5 to 1.5 g/kg, respectively. Mechanism of Action |Target Name||Mechanism of Action||References| Prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 Tumor necrosis factor Nuclear factor NF-kappa-B p105 subunit |In patients with erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) the mechanism of action is not fully understood. Available data from in vitro studies and preliminary clinical trials suggest that the immunologic effects of this compound can vary substantially under different conditions, but may be related to suppression of excessive tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) production and down-modulation of selected cell surface adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte migration. For example, administration of thalidomide has been reported to decrease circulating levels of TNF-a in patients with ENL, however, it has also been shown to increase plasma TNF-a levels in HIV-seropositive patients.|| Nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group I member 2 Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4-alpha Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells

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Explore general as well as scientific information about the movement, chemistry and biology of area surface water environments. Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) assists with tracking the occurrences of rare, threatened, endangered and exemplary plants, animals and natural communities, called elements. An element is any exemplary or rare component of the natural environment, such as a species, natural community, bird rookery, spring, sinkhole, cave, or other ecological feature. An element occurrence is a single extant habitat that sustains or otherwise contributes to the survival of a population or a distinct, self-sustaining example of a particular element, such as a plant species. The following links provide access to tools on the FNAI website where you can view a list of elements in your area and read a description of each element (e.g. plant, animal, or natural community). Vegetation sampling is the identification and quantification of plant species and communities. Vegetation sampling is a tool used in environmental assessments and can inform a myriad of assessment goals including biomass availability, water quality concerns, management benchmarks, and determining the introduction and establishment of invasive species. Sampling can be conducted via destructive or non-destructive methods. Learn more about vegetation sampling from the links and documents listed below. |Species Name||Listing||Wekiva River Quadrangle| |2011 - 2012 Results||Historic Average| |Little Blue Heron||SSC|

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Presentation on theme: "CHINESE EMPIRE CHAPTER 12. QIN DYNASTY Strong kingdom Efficient government Qin decided to declare himself Shi Huangdi or “First Emperor” Tore."— Presentation transcript: QIN DYNASTY Strong kingdom Efficient government Qin decided to declare himself Shi Huangdi or “First Emperor” Tore down walls of local kingdoms. Began Great Wall- a long wall running east to west UNIFORM STANDARDS Standards for Daily Life standardize- set rules that make things more similar Unified China’s economy and culture Single written language with standard characters Transportation- standard axles to vehicles Uniform weights and measure ORGANIZING THE EMPIRE Central governing system 36 provinces Shi Huangdi forced thousands to move to the capital. Government spies could keep an eye on them. Legalism - stronger leader and strong legal system are need to create social order. HARSH LAWS Uniform legal code Penalties for breaking laws were severe. Severe punishment Censor- ban ideas he found dangerous or offensive. Ordered burning of all books that didn’t follow his rule. Dynasty collapsed with death of Qin Shi Huangdi in 210 B.C.E. His oppression brought backlash Rebellions in regional capitals The Qin had lost the Mandate of Heaven The Fall of the Qin Dynasty SECTION 1 REVIEW Why did Shi Huangdi create harsh laws? EXPANSION OF HAN DYNASTY One of the longest lasting and most influential of all dynasties. Han dynasty ruled for over 400 years. New Ideas of Han encouraged learning lowered taxes ended harsh rules http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkNEvPly5W U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkNEvPly5W U SOCIAL CLASSES UNDER THE HAN Emperor Governors and Kings Nobles, Scholars, and State Officials Peasants (Farmers) Artisans and Merchants Soldiers Slaves WUDI – THE MARTIAL EMPEROR Wudi lived 141-87 BCE Used warfare to expand the Chinese empire – Northern steppes Fought Xiongnu – nomads that raided Chinese villages Traditionally kept at bay through bribery Wudi made allies of the Xiongnu’s enemies and sent in 100,000 soldiers Then pushed the Xiongnu back Settled soldiers on former Xiongnu lands But the nomads of the steppes provided ongoing conflict – Modern-day Korea, Manchuria, Vietnam, etc. Conquered and colonized Borders under Wudi nearly what they are today CIVIL SERVICE System that government employees selected for their skills and knowledge. Not hereditary- appointed to positions Exams created to find talented people Wanted employees to be loyal SILK ROAD Network of trade routes that crossed Asia over 4000 miles Silk Road, was a major trade route which sold China’s secret commodity (silk) Chinese Silk Road connected China to the Roman Emp ire Silk Road was protected by Great Wall Employed mandatory military service to maintain empire Also a path to spread ideas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfe-eNq-Qyg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfe-eNq-Qyg JOURNEY OF ZHANG QIAN Was captured by Xiongnu and was a prisoner for 10 years. Stepped up to find Xiongnu Zhang described travel to exotic lands Wudi and Han emperors sent envoys to create relations to west. Trade began to flourish. SECTION 2 REVIEW How did the Silk Road influence Chinese culture? HAN SOCIETY Social Order- based on Confucian values Mental rather than physical labor Farmers respected for providing food and cloth. Artisans respected for skill and hard work. Merchants fell in social order since they don’t produce anything. FAMILY LIFE ROLE OF WOMEN Loyalty Respect for elders Parents report children who did not behave with filial piety Women considered lower than men. Worked in the home Weaving and caring for children Ban Zhoa- educated female became historian in the royal court ECONOMIC LIFE Farming -wheat, millet, barley, beans and rice - silkweaving Industry - iron –tools and weapons -salt mining Monopoly -single group controls the production of a good or service Literature The Han created realistic scenes from everyday life, advanced figure painting, and depictions of religious figures and Confucian scholars. Calligraphy-art of beautiful writing. Fu style: combination of prose and poetry Shi style: short lines of verse that could be sung The Han Chinese made paper by grinding plant fibers into a paste and then setting the paste out to dry in sheets. Later they rolled the dried pulp into scrolls. HAN ACHIEVEMENTS Invention of Paper Art Seismograph A device for telling time, the sundial uses the position of the shadows cast by the sun to tell the time of day. This device measures the strength of an earthquake. Chinese scientists believed that the movement of the earth was a sign of evil times. Acupuncture is the practice of inserting needles into the skin to cure disease or relieve pain. This practice is still widely used today. HAN ACHIEVEMENTS Acupuncture Sundial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVFuIc cf5c

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Esmeraldas and its Afro-Ecuadorian Cultural Legacy| 19 June, 2015 The far-north coast of Ecuador has a historical and cultural background that sets it apart from most of the rest of the country, with cultural traditions whose roots stretch across the globe. In recent years, the Afro-Ecuadorian community who make up most of Esmeraldas have made significant progress in gaining their rights with a constitutional referendum in 1998 which accepted for the first time the status of Ecuador as a racially and culturally hybrid country. Nevertheless, racist attitudes persist and are not always, but very often ingrained in Ecuadorian social norms, especially away from the coastal areas. Esmeraldas, with a 70% Afro-Ecuadorian population, is the most Afro-Ecuadorian concentrated region, followed by the Valle del Chota and both Quito and Guayaquil. These groups have been historically discriminated against by other ethnic groups in all areas except sport, with Afro-Ecuadorians making up a large proportion of the national football team. Esmeraldas takes its name from Spanish colonisers, who hoped to find a rich source of emeralds, but also for the lush tropical vegetation of the area. A mixture of historical archives and legends tell the tale of a slave ship wrecked along the Northern Pacific coast of Ecuador in 1533 which led to the establishment of an African diaspora settlement merged with indigenous groups from the Esmeraldas area. Runaway slaves from Brazil and surrounding settlements and plantations joined communities known as palenques, and together these groups held off the Spanish colonial powers for many years. The intense mixing and merging of cultures from different sides of the globe is evident in the music of the region today, as in many areas of the Americas where very culturally and ethnically different groups were pushed together under the violent and displacing pressure of the slave trade. Nevertheless African-descended cultural aspects are visible in the popular marimba and arrullos, along with Afro-Brazilian samba influences. This shows the active role played by Africans and their descendants in the cultural make-up of these areas even within the repressive slave trade. The base of the music is made up of rhytmic drumming and the warm and distinctive marimba, a wooden xylophone, accompanied by singers and a traditional dance. In Esmeraldas and the Pacific Coast of Colombia a branch of the genre, marimba salsera, has more contemporary influences of the salsa culture popular in most parts of Ecuador and throughout Latin America. The esmeraldeños celebrate this cultural and musical legacy in various festivals and performances such as the Festival Internacional de Danza y Musica Afro, and music accompanies and is part of different religious practises. The increasing recognition given to the cultural and historical richness of the area may go some way to confronting the established racist attitudes, but due to the region’s relative economic, infrastructural and social isolation, significant change and equality for Afro-Ecuadorians is yet to materialise. Watch a great short film about Afro-Ecuadorian music, called The Guardians Of The Marimba, The Cununo and The Guasa, below: Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.

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The statistical issue might be easiest to think about in terms of finding the true frequency of heads for a coin that might be biased (binomial distribution). If you only flip a fair coin 3 times per experiment, then in one out of eight experiments you will get all heads, and in one out of eight experiments you will get all tails. That is, in one-quarter of the experiments with a fair coin you will find an empirical frequency that is as far away as possible from the true frequency of 1/2 for heads, if you only sample 3 times in your experiment. You might think analogously about the case of 16 distinct possibilities (a multinomial distribution) sampled only 40 times. With not even 3 times as many samples as there are possible outcomes, you will not have much assurance that the observed frequencies for each possibility are close to the true underlying frequencies of the population. For example, S. K. Thompson examined sampling from multinomial distributions (The American Statistician, Vol. 41, No. 1, 1987, pp. 42-46; available through JSTOR if you have that access). Based on his table, with only 40 samples, half the time in a worst-case scenario at least one of the observed probabilities $p_i$ will be more than 0.1 unit away from the true probability. (If each of the 16 possibilities is equally likely, each true probability would be 0.0625.) In principle, to "draw a line" at $N=40$ might have been based on a judgement by the authors about the error that such limited sampling would make in their calculation of "epipolymorphism." In this case, however, the requirement for $N>40$ might instead represent an attempt to omit technically questionable results rather than to achieve some strictly statistical purpose. Data analyzed for "epipolymorphism" in the paper were reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RBBS) results. This method determines whether certain cytosine residues next to guanines (CpG) in DNA have been methylated, one type of "epigenetic" modification of different parts of the genome. As next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used for RBSS, several consecutive CpG sites could be analyzed on each single piece of DNA. The authors examined thousands of sets of 4 consecutive CpGs (4-mers) across the human genome and determined how the variability of methylation patterns for the 4-mers changed as a function of their average CpG methylation, among many biological samples. If all 4 CpGs in a 4-mer are completely methylated or completely unmethylated then there is no variability (0 epipolymorphism) but at intermediate average methylation there are distinct, biologically interesting, possibilities. For example, 25% average CpG methylation of a 4-mer could come from one out of every 4 DNA pieces having all 4 of its CpGs methylated, or all DNA pieces having one identically placed CpG methylated out of the 4, or something more random providing 25% average methylation. The "epipolymorphism" (noted in a comment by @Sycorax to be the same as Gini impurity) was evidently intended to capture the variability in this epigenetic modification among individual pieces of DNA covering each analyzed 4-mer in the genome, a type of epigenetic heterogeneity among cells. The supplementary data for the paper suggest that 300 to 600 individual pieces of DNA ("reads") were typically analyzed for each 4-mer for each biological sample. Having no more than 40 reads available for a particular 4-mer suggests substantial under-representation of that 4-mer (only about 1/10 of the average representation) in that DNA sample. RBBS involves several processing steps including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which can have different amplification ability on different regions of the genome. Omitting under-represented genomic regions in NGS can be a way to try to avoid regions of the genome that might have been affected by technical limitations. The hard cutoff at $N>40$ might have been Procrustean but it was a simple way to proceed; it still left tens of thousands of 4-mers to examine in almost all samples. Clearly the 4-mers with low representation would also have been less reliable in terms of identifying their methylation patterns, but I would guess that the authors simply looked at the distribution of 4-mer coverage among all genomic sites and found that those with $N\le40$ appeared to be technical outliers. The authors of the paper could presumably clarify how they came up with that cutoff.

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The Rose Plant Roses are one of the most beautiful, traditional and lovely smelling fragrance flowers that you can admire in any garden. All that this plant requires is some proper attention and care to blossom, giving you their full potentials of adding colour, fragrance, and happiness to your home or even your office. The rose plant is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa. It came from the family Rosaceae, and there are over three hundred thousand species of the Rose plant. Most of the species of this plant are native to Asia while some species are native to Europe, North America, and Northwestern Africa. The Rose plant come in different sizes from compact to miniature rose and to the climber that reach even meter in height. Their flowers also vary in shapes, sizes, and colour that add glamour and beauty to the plant and it’s surrounding. There are lots of varieties of this beautiful plant as earlier said, but we would only take a look at very few of them. - The Hybrid Tea: This is one of the most popular types of rose grown. It blossoms like an upright bush that grows one flower per stem. You probably would have come across them because they are prevalent in all regions. - Floribunda: This is the most colourful type of rose variety available. They bloom freely in a bushy shrub-like manner, creating clusters of three to fifteen blooms rather than one flower on a stem. - Grandiflora: This variety of the rose plant is a mixture of the floribunda and the hybrid tea. It grows up to six feet tall and creates a classic hybrid flower cluster. - Climber roe: This rose adds fragrance to any garden and is typically grown on a fence. They have the potential to cover pillars, walls or just any structure that gives support to them. - Tree Roe: This variety of the rose plant is known for its hardy rock stock. The tree rose is visually stunning, and it takes more care for it to survive during the winter. - The Miniature Rose: This is the smallest of the rose plant, and they can grow just anywhere from six inches to feet tall. They flower continuously and are a very excellent variety of the rose plant for a container or potted garden. The uses of the Rose plant cannot be overemphasized. They are best known as ornamental plants cultivated for their fragrance and beautiful flower in gardens. They are also used commercially for the production of perfume, commercial cut flower crops and as landscape plants. The rose hip is also used in the production of medicines as a secondary source of vitamin C. The Rose plant would only do well in a location that provides them with good quality sunshine, enough paces to blossom, well-drained soil and proper shelter to protect them from strong winds. Give your Rose garden the quality rose care it requires and let it marvel you with its beautiful wonders. Roses On Board a Superyacht Roses are an important visual asset on a yacht. The beautify the interior and the exterior. They make any cabin appealing to the guests. Also, you can spice the bedrooms with some rose flowers. The following instructions have been written for taking care of potted roses plants onboard a superyacht. Water the roses Roses love water. To have healthy roses, you need to water them regularly. The best time is in the morning and evenings. The flowers will absorb the generous amount. During this time, it is not sunny. Hence, water will not evaporate. They should soak up to 2 inches deep. This way, the beautiful roses get adequate moisture. Tap water is an easy and excellent choice. Place them under the sun Roses needs some sunlight. This will make them bloom and look great. The sun will also give them an incredible look. It will also reduce the chances of roses getting any diseases. Roses do well under the sun. In addition to that, the leaves get dry warding off any fungi. The ideal time to take them out is in the morning. They will enjoy the mild sunlight. The vitamin D will make them look breath-taking. Add some fertilizer Yes, you will have to carry some fertilizer on board. The pot plants will need it to grow well. The potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous is good for their growth. Thus, you can be able to pluck some for your interior decor. Epsom salt can work some magic too. It will make the plants stronger. You can do this once in 3 weeks. You will see great plants when you add fertilizer. Pruning the roses removes unwanted parts. An example is the misrouted stems. They tend to cause a bad growing pattern. You can look at those plants that grow outward. Then, using sharp equipment cut them off. You should be careful as you cut them. Wear protective gloves to protect your hands. To top it up, look for the brown canes and cut them off. This will give a chance to new ones to grow. Avoid touching the roses Roses are irresistible and eye-catching. However, you shouldn’t touch them. You can also encourage other crew members not to touch. This is because the oil from our hands isn’t friendly. They can make the roses to dry up. They will decompose very fast. They are delicate and should be treated with sensitivity. If you have to cut the stems, remember to wear gloves. Rose Care Tips For Cut Roses - Remove any leaves or foliage that lies below the water line - Like other stemmed flowers, cut the stem at a 45-degree angle for immediate water absorption - Add the flower food to lukewarm water - Place the flowers into the vase and arrange. - Make sure you do not overcrowd the vase - Change the water, clean the vase and add new plant food every 2 3 days - Keep your cut roses away from direct sunlight and in a cool spot. This is hard to do on a yacht, but by doing this the roses should last about 7 days Rose care on a yacht is as simple as that. You should give the rose enough water. Also, add fertilizer to the pots. Some grooming will make them healthy. No one should touch the roses with bare hands. They will fade away so quickly. From time to time, let them get sunlight. When you do this, you will have a constant supply of roses.Related Articles: How to Take Care of an Orchid

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One dynamic that will cross your eyes, if you should have the time to spend attempting to contemplate all its intricacies, involves the warming of the sea-ice before it starts to even think about melting. In fact it is still freezing and getting thicker, as it first starts to warm. That alone sits one backs onto their heels. How can the ice be getting warmer if it is getting thicker? It is rather simple, when you think that ice at the surface can be down to around -60°C when the bitterest cold howls off Siberia in the deepest dark of January. It is obvious that, should that ice “warm” to -59°C, there is not going to be much melting going on. In fact it can warm and warm and warm, all the way up to -1.9°, and the ice will blithely ignore all the warming and go right on getting thicker. In fact the words, “warm”, “warming”, and “warmer” can be handy tools, if you own a cruel streak and wish to agitate Alarmists. Just make your eyes round and clasp your hands and say the ice is heating up, and you’ll get to watch them rush around like chickens after corn. However I am a kindly old man, and don’t torture people more than I have to, and if I am going to cause anyone a headache I prefer to do it to myself, simply by trying to get my mind around the complexities of what boils down (poor word choice) amounts to an ice-cube melting in a glass of water. The warmth is coming from both the top and the bottom. Assuming the ice “remembers” the winter’s cold, and has been chilled to -25°C , you have that temperature sandwiched by “warmer” air of -15°C above, and “warmer” seawater of -1.9°C below. Keeping that sandwich in mind, it then pays to remember the first and second laws of thermodynamics. A bit of thought makes it clear that the most warming of the ice comes from below, and in fact has been radiating up all winter, even as the ice has been growing thicker, and continues to grow thicker. Not only does this heat come from the water, but latent heat is released from the water as it freezes. (That’s a hard thing to get your mind around. When water is freezing one seldom extends their palms to feel the warmth radiating from the phase change.) Eventually the ice, at the bottom, will reach its melting point, and we’ll then discuss the opposite phase change, which gobbles up available heat, turning it back to latent heat. But before we reach that point we run into a few other small problems. First, as the salt water freezes it exudes the salt, which involves a further heat exchange. Then you wind up with fresh water ice sitting in salt water. How is this a problem? Well, the melting point of fresh water is 0°C and the water is at -1.9°C. So how can the ice ever melt? I’m getting a headache. In any case, as you look at the maps below please keep all the above in mind. When we last looked a “Swirl” was laughing at textbooks and sitting on the Pole. Apparently this irritated the high pressure towards Canada, who believes in doing things by the book, and it has been making a noble effort to sit on the Pole. Now we have nearly achieved the state where high pressure sits on the Pole, and all is as it should be, according to the book. The only problem is that the low north of Norway looks like it is going to be rude and head straight to the Pole. Besides exporting a lot of cold down towards Europe, (Joe Bastardi at the Weatherbell site points out by April 27 snow might be seen down in France and Germany), but also this will make life interesting for the tourists up at the Barneo camp. So far the skies remain blue and the huts have been set up. The airstrip hasn’t cracked lately, and the jets are landing on schedule. Winds are light, and temperatures, which made it up to -15°C, have dipped back to -23°C, as the base drifts slowly towards Fram Strait, and the various cross country skiers, helicoptered to various points on the Russian side of the Pole, hurry to get to the Pole before the storm comes north. Things could get interesting up there towards the weekend.

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5 prompts for proofreading a term paper When writing an essay it is important to ensure that one proofreads the work they have written before it is submitting. This will enable a person to correct as many errors as possible. A person might have written an award winning essay, but as long as it has got spelling and grammatical errors it will not go far. Similarly, proofreading an essay by a student might mean a difference between passing and failing to be admitted into a college by an admission board. A student should therefore always make it a practice to make a thesis proofreading before submitting. The following are prompts that a person can use to produce an error free essay. - a. After you are through with the writing use the spelling and grammar checkers to identify any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. These tools are quite helpful as they will highlight the errors and provide corrective suggestions. However, you should be cautious since they are not entirely fool proof. For example a word may be highlighted as misspelled while actually it is not. In the same context some grammar checking tools highlight errors but may not provide explanation as to why that particular phrase needs revising. - b. After writing the essay a person should get away from the essay or at least take a break to clear your head before coming back to proof read the essay. This way, the essay will not be too familiar to you and you will be able to identify errors. A five minute break is just as sufficient since it helps you to return to the article with a fresh mind and eye. - c. Proofreading in a quiet environment helps a person to concentrate and avoid distractions. This would mean that if possible a person should secure a quiet location or at least a place with little number of distractions. Also you can try reading out loud and slowly. This will help you to say each word and hear how they sound, thereby making it impossible to skip over errors. - d. Another technique that you can use is to separate the text into individual sentences. This would help you to read each sentence carefully. Then you look for grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. If you are using a hard printed copy, then you should use a ruler to single out the line that you would be using. - e. You could also try reading the paper backwards starting from the last word. This would help to track spelling errors.

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Venice is sinking and Lapland has no snow. Locals increasingly face extreme rainfall, drought and heatwaves. The damage to our climate has impacted our ecosystems, economies and human health, and worryingly, projections show that these extremes will only increase and worsen over many European regions. Even if we were to reduce our carbon emissions to zero, the emissions that have already been and continue to be sent into the atmosphere will have an impact for centuries to come. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC), fifth assessment report states that we can expect shorter winter seasons, sea level rises, ocean acidification, civil and social unrest in many poorer countries, risk to food, electricity and water due to large scales storms, and affects on tourist perceptions of many destinations. The tourism sector seems to be in denial about the impact and no country has a specific climate change tourism strategy. It’s unacceptable to place all the responsibility on the tourist, but in the meantime, what can we do to be responsible tourists, and lead the way for responsible action? The aviation industry accounts for 2% of carbon emissions (some studies say more) and is one of the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions in the world. Technology is being developed to produce more sustainable airplanes, that are powered by battery or biomass fuel rather than kerosene, but for the time being, it’s expected it could take decades before this technology will be available to us. In the mean time, high altitude planes produce contrails (trails of water vapour condensation) which are highly damaging to the earth, and whose effects double at night time, according to Dr. Piers Forster from the University of Leeds. Shifting all UK night flights to the daytime would save the equivalent of 2.5% of the UK’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, he said. So we can’t hang around for the aviation industry to fix this problem overnight, and without public pressure the industry won’t have the real motivation to make the changes, nor will governments feel they need to regulate it. Just look at Finnair, recently caught out for providing misleading information about it’s carbon emissions reduction. So how do we do better? Trains and Buses Public transport in the form of trains and buses, are infinitely better than airplanes, and many are government owned. It’s always good to support a government funded service, as ideally that feeds back into government funded sources and amenities. It’s also becoming easier for tourists to hire fully electric cars in many destinations around Europe, with Enterprise adding electric cars to their fleets from as early as 2011. But what if you need to cross the water? Ferries are more complex and it can be difficult to define their benefits in relation to airplanes as there are many factors in play. Cruise liners for example contribute high emissions because of the electricity needed to power onboard services. More modern boats and ships are made with lighter metals, such as aluminium, so they require less fuel to be powered. They are also painted with non-pollutive paint, which helps prevent water pollution. The Passenger Shipping Association’s (PSA) carried out an independent study and found that ferries contribute CO2 emissions of 0.12 kg CO2 per passenger kilometre. For airplanes it has been figured at 0.35 kg CO2 per passenger kilometre. However, it all comes down to the boat or plane model, passengers on board, distance travelled, time of day scheduled, and definitely more factors, my puny brain can’t emotionally deal with right now. Walking and Biking However, if you are considering a biking holiday or a walking pilgrimage, you are courting with the possibility of enjoying a potential near zero emissions holiday. The less time we spend in the sky and the sea at the moment, the better, and opting for public transport or leg powered transport carves your way to a much more environmentally empathic holiday. Use your next holiday as an opportunity to support local businesses and local initiatives. Drink the local beer. Visit a restaurant that prides itself in selling in-season and local produce. Spend your money on locally produced food, goods and services. A common definition of “buying local” is consuming food and products that are grown or made within 100 miles of their selling point. Food that is bought locally tends to be safer, healthier and better for the economy of the country you are visiting and the environment as a whole. The less food has travelled, the less carbon emissions have been emitted into the air due to transport. It’s not always straight forward to know the travel miles of all the food and products you buy, but start having those conversations with sellers in the market, seek out restaurants that advertise themselves as organic, local or in-season and visit local craftspeople’s shops and stalls. Visit local charities and initiatives that support the local ecosystems and help support wildlife conservation. Book tours that are eco-friendly and help you learn about local customs, traditions, nature and the landscape. Visit www.ecotourismireland.ie to learn more on how and where you can support ecotourism in Ireland. Single Use, is Single Use Everywhere We’ve gotten much better (not perfect) at rejecting single use waste and opting for reusable coffee cups, water bottles, lunch boxes, shopping bags utensils, etc. However, still so many people don’t take this good habit abroad with them. When we make these clean choices, we make them for the planet as a whole, so don’t get lax when it comes to your holiday. Do your best to use your reusable and refillable products and even try learning a few helpful sentences that will make explaining you don’t want that straw or you you brought your own cup, easier to explain in Swahili. Likewise, collect and dispose of your waste responsibly, giving equal respect to the beaches abroad, as you would at home. Recycle wherever possible and don’t litter. Sea, Sun, Safe Avoid toxins for you and the sea, by using Ocean Safe or Reef Safe® sunscreens, that use natural ingredients and are preferably vegan and cruelty-free. Opt for non-motorised sea transport like, kayaks, canoes, surfboards, etc., so you can avoid fuel waste entering the water and damage to sea-life. Coral reefs are extremely diverse and sensitive ecosystem, never ever touch the coral, as they can be affected by the oil on your skin. Dive In recommends using buoyancy aids to help prevent overzealous kicking and causing damage to coral. These are just some of the ways you can help the planet when you go on holiday. Please share any other ideas you have in the comment section below. Green Travels! 🙂

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Report by Ella Rose Mast by Steve Mason Josephus was the Judean Historian who wrote his history of his people, as well as the story of the fall of old Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The old translated book entitled Josephus was quoted and misquoted over the years, but in early Christian era we find that the church fathers quoted him quite often. Today even tho he has been presented as a Jewish Historian, still we see interest in the writings of Josephus---wonder why? Also since he was born in 37 A.D. then was active in events at the downfall of Old Jerusalem, did he, or did he not have anything to say about JESUS THE CHRIST? Today we have a new book entitled Josephus, written by Steve Mason and he asked some of the same questions, and still he does not quite succeed as he brings out different facts. Josephus grew up in old Palestine, and being an Israelite of the king and Levi lineage he was thus a Priest according to our new author, and therefore he must have known a lot about the Israelite religion, and the events which took place in old Judea as the time came for the fulfillment of Prophecy, that the Temple would be destroyed. Josephus is portrayed as having worked in Galilee for a time, for the Judean government which we now know had been taken over by the enemy. And in his writings then Josephus reached back into events which occurred at the end of the old testament period to lay the background for his story of the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. Thus he was covering the effect on his own people and of those who had taken over the power in that old land, from the Israelites, and he would then show the results of that occupation. Now; in these writings of Josephus that are now being presented then Josephus talked about John the Baptist, and also especially James who he called--The brother of Jesus. In the early Christian era it was two famous church leaders especially who quoted Josephus in their writings, and these two were Origen and Eusebius. Today as you study the book now by Steve Mason, published in 1992---it would not be interesting unless you knew who the people of the Bible really are, as well as the people of this book. However knowing that then this is very interesting as we learn more about the writings by Josephus as to that time in our history. The writings of Josephus provided much on the background information for readers of early Christian writings such as the Gospels. Josephus gave us a history of King Herod, and his sons, Archelaus and Antipas; also he wrote of the Roman Pontius Pilate, and his part in the events that took place at that time, as well as the High Priests Ananus (Annas) and Caiaphas, as well the temple in Jerusalem, and even of the region---Galilee where Jesus spent much time. Josephus also wrote of the Samaritans, and the two different types of Pharisees, and then of course of the Sadducees. Thus you see how the writings of Josephus filled the gap in history, between the close of the old Testament, and the birth of Christianity for the New Testament. Now we read that most early Christians saw themselves as 'true Israel', and as heirs of the Biblical traditions, thus we find them drawing on the words of Josephus, and his description of what occurred in the siege of old Jerusalem by the Romans. The early fathers were quoted as reminding of the events such as the act of Cannibalism which occurred at that time, as the lady ate her own child, so as to show the type people who were then in Old Jerusalem, for Israelites would not have done such a thing. It has been a teaching in Christianity that the Destruction of old Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was God's punishment of the Jewish people for their rejection of Jesus. Then by the time of Martin Luther--his tract on "The Jews and their Lies" reflected the common trend that the Romans were God's instrument, punishing the Jews for their delusions regarding their false Christ, and their persecution of the true Christ. In those early years Origen and Eusebius traveled extensively in the Roman world and both were able to read and to understand the writings of Josephus. Origen mentions Josephus, many times, and at one pint he recorded that some months before the destruction of Jerusalem that strange voices were heard in the Temple saying:--"We are departing from here" (Josephus' Was 6.299-230). The early fathers saw this as the moment of collapse for the whole temple regime and actually Judaism itself, (Lam.109) Origen then talks about how the Jews then turned against the disciples, and he sites that the History of Josephus tells of the evils being practiced against the disciples of the CHRIST, and how many people because of their persecution were killed. Now;--consider this--if you were thinking of Josephus as a Jew then you would have trouble understanding why he would be writing more in favor of the Christians than of the Jews? Josephus wrote that during the Roman siege of old Jerusalem that at one time the Roman General pulled his troops back so as to allow any people who wanted to leave the old city could do so, As Dr. Swift also pointed out, this allowed any of the Israelites who were still in the old city to come out, and this they did. Then the final siege began and then would come the fall of the old city after much hardship for those people who remained. Now; to understand the writings of Josephus we call attention to our author--Steve Masons words in his book--Josephus--published in 1992. Altho he tried to maintain this illusion that Josephus was a Jewish Historian, he did say that actually the word Jew simply meant Judean. He however tells us more about the life of Josephus, and how at that time he was sent to Galilee as a regional commander in this revolt of the Jews, and in Galilee Josephus was of course in the company of the Romans, and then spoke on their behalf during the remainder of the siege. Just as happened with the Apostle Paul we find that from that the Jews then turned against Josephus. We wonder if we be correct in saying that Josephus found out who he was as did the Apostle Paul, and realized who the Romans were also? It was the Romans who appointed Josephus to write the history of the events that transpired at that time of the fall of old Jerusalem. Steve Mason then tells us that from the moment that Josephus surrendered to the Romans he faced relentless hatred from the Jews, and some tried to have him executed. When the early Christian church declared that Josephus had said that Jesus was the Messiah, his fate was sealed, and his name does not appear in either version of the Talmud which was finally edited in the 5th. and 6th century and not in any other early Jewish writings was his name to be found. Thus we asked---was it only then the Christians who called Josephus a Jewish Historian, as they later translated his writings? However all will agree that it was from Josephus that much history of that time was obtained. He also wrote the history of his people, starting with Adam and Eve. As the enemy gained strength in the early Christian era, then it was not until the 9th century that again the study of Josephus became popular in the western world. This interest began in Germany, and the people began to read once more about the early history of that old area of Palestine. Since this history which Josephus wrote did not come from Judaism, then what was its source? At last we must listen to Josephus--to his own words--we must understand his lineage, his thoughts, and why he wrote as he did, not as the interpreters of old thought he meant. After all most of the ancient writers did not tell us much about themselves. Those who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gospels, or other writers as well did not tell us much about their own life, but Josephus tells us a great deal about himself, his life, his career, thus why then was his writings so ignored? In fact Josephus opens his "Life" with a pedigree of his Aristocratic heritage, and this was most important to the understanding of his writings. Today we are told that we are not supposed to be interested in our heritage, our lineage, or any class lines. But Josephus wanted you to know that he was born into a certain race, and he expected to remain in that class. Thus his writings reflected this identification status of a certain lineage. In fact in that time the provision of a genealogy was necessary if there was any doubt of one's pedigree. Thus we find that Josephus insisted that he came from Priestly, Royal roots. In fact these roots were in the Hasmonean line, thus both Priest and King and the first John Hyrcanus is the connection, and then Josephus blends in the Biblical-Israelite theme of desert sojourn, as preparation of divine service, and he was referring to the Essenes. In fact Josephus claims that God chose him to announce to the world the coming fortunes of His Roman Captors, thus he decided to surrender to the Romans. He says that he had earlier received the prophecy as to the success of Vespasian became Emperor, and that Josephus became famous in Rome. Steve Mason in his book "Josephus" tells us that Josephus was very familiar with his native languages, both Hebrew and Aramaic traditions also, and he was familiar with the Greek language and literature before he left Judea. Our author then told us that---the Greek and Latin words for "Jew" simply meant Judean. In the works of Josephus then Josephus implied that Rome and Judea both had the same kind of traditions and aspirations. He also praised the Maccabees and opposed the wicked King Herod who wiped out his nation and its traditions. In history we find that King Herod the Great reigned from 37-to-4 B.C. over all of Palestine, At his death his Kingdom was partitioned by the Roman Empire Augustes, and given to three of Herod's sons. Archelaus became national ruler of the Heartland of Judea, Samaria, and the coastal plain. Antipas governed Galilee along with the region of Perea across the Jordan river. It was he who executed John the Baptist. Philip was made Tetrarch of the N.E. Regions of Herod's Kingdom. His wife Herodias was taken by his step-brother Herod Antipas. Herod Agrippa a grandson of Herod the Great executed the Apostle James, the brother of John, and imprisoned Peter who then escaped. All of Herod's grandsons were called King Herod, and even the great Grandson of Herod the Great--Agrippa II--became king of the north eastern lands of Palestine. There was some mixing of the Israelite line into the Herod line, since the marriage of an Israelite daughter to a Herod, but only disaster came from that mixing. Josephus also tells us that several times the normal population gathered in Jerusalem at Passover, thus carrying forward our understanding that Israelites out in migration and permanent settlements still came back to old Jerusalem at Passover, and this is also out in the scriptures. Josephus also tells us that the High Priests in Jerusalem at the time of the Messiah were not Israelites--as he recorded that those in power selected their own High Priests, that together the Jewish Rebels and Idumeaus defeated the Chief Priests, thus further leading to God's punishment of the old city. He then enforces this known fact that at the time of Jesus the High Priest was a Sadducee, that the True Pharisees and the Sadducees were at opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum. From the immortality of the soul to the denial by the Sadducees who insisted on absolute freedom of will while rejecting an afterlife with its rewards or punishment, the gap was wide. The Essenes received the unqualified praise of Josephus, while the Sadducees did not, altho they were some of the most wealthy people in Judea at that time. He stresses that it was the Essenes who had been granted a knowledge of the future, because of their virtue. He states that the Essenes were to be found in each town of Palestine. In the book of Acts, our author states that the role of the Essenes according to Josephus presentation is taken by the early Christian movement. We would thus surely agree that this teaching carried over into early Christianity. As Josephus talks about John the Baptist, Jesus, and James, then since John the Baptist died before the birth of Josephus, then he must have been recounting tradition, either oral or written, and perhaps both. Now; as to Jesus--the text of Josephus reads--"About this time comes Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is proper to call HIM a man. For he was a worker of incredible deeds, a teacher of those who accept the truth with pleasure, and He attracted many Judeans as well as man Greeks. This MAN WAS THE CHRIST.--And when in view of his denunciation by the leading, ruling men of Judea, and the sentence of him to a cross by Pilate, still those who loved HIM at the beginning did not cease to do so. He appeared to them on the third day--ALIVE--again, for the Divine Prophets had announced these countless other marvels concerning HIM. And even now the tribes of Christians named after him, have not yet disappeared." As pertaining to James the one called--'The brother of Jesus" Josephus had this to say:---Ananus supposing he had the opportune moment with King Festus having died, and Albinus still on the way, convened the Judges of the council for the Sanhedrin and arraigned before them the brother of Jesus --who was called Christ--James by name and some others. Having brought the charge that they violated the law, he handed them over to be stoned. Those of his friends who were burdened with grief then sent messengers to King Agrippa II pleading for him to stop the doing of such things. They also went then to meet with Albinus as he was making his way from Alexandria." Thus James who was not one of the original disciples, still is mentioned in the Gospels as one of the brothers of Jesus, and we would say one of the sons of Joseph. Mary's son Jesus was of course God, Himself in the flesh. But James is also a leading figure in the Christian era, in the Churches' first generation of existence. In the beginning of his book--Josephus--the author tells us that the Christians were at first indistinguishable from other Judeans, but by the end of the first century, the Christian Communities were seen as entirely non-Jewish, and this was because of the work of the Apostle Paul. The Christians were then meeting at night, in secret, and men and women together, they shared a worship of one who had recently been crucified as 'Son of God'. These Christians of that early age were rooted in ancient Judean (Hebrew) traditions.

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How to overcome failure? In almost everything we do we come across events and situations which we can regard as setback or failure. In extreme cases, some can be catastrophic – such as a business failure, or making a mess of something at work or at home or even a natural disaster such as a hurricane. What we can generally always observe is that individuals respond differently. Some of us will respond by being flattened by the event. It stops us in our tracks and it seems to take a long time to recover if that ever occurs. We dwell on what has happened and take forever to get past it. Others, on the other hand, seem to stop, reflect, put it behind them and move on quickly. This has important applications for those in jobs which can be subject to the frequent setback. Ask any salesperson, for instance. Out of 10 appointments, they may close 2 sales but get 8 rejections. If those rejections prey on their minds their performance, wellbeing and positivity begin to diminish. And in the 21st Century, there are many roles that are exposed to the possibility of failure and rejection – such as those in health and emergency services as well as contact centre staff and those in operations and delivery services and almost all managerial roles. Recently a number of studies report that some, who find themselves in traumatic situations, seem to have the ability to “self heal”. Dr. Stephen Dewhurst’s Research on Direct Forgetting and Mental Toughness: Interestingly, recent research carried out by Dr. Stephen Dewhurst at Hull University on Directed Forgetting and Mental Toughness sheds some valuable light here. Dewhurst and his colleagues looked at the concept of Directed Forgetting which psychologists often describe as cognitive inhibition. This refers to the suppression of unwanted information in order to focus on new information. In other words the ability to stop thinking about something in whole or in part, consciously or unconsciously. Mental Toughness and Direct Forgetting Experiment: The study involved showing people a list of things that they were then asked to recall. They were then showed a second similar list. At that point, they were asked to recall items from the second list and not the first. All participants completed the MTQ48 (Mental Toughness Questionaire). The study showed that mentally tough individuals are significantly better able to “forget” items on the first list and recall more accurately the items on the second list. There was no difference in performance between those with high, medium and low levels of Mental Toughness when only shown the first list and then asked to recall the first list. But there was a big difference when individuals were told to forget the first list and only recall the second list. Those who were mentally tough were much better able to do this. This is thought to be a significant part of the explanation of why Mentally Tough people can put adversity behind them and move on more quickly than do the Mentally Sensitive. Conclusion of Dr. Stephen Dewhurst’s Research The studies indicated that that the ability to perform such effortful restructuring in memory, and thereby prevent potentially distracting thoughts from undermining performance, is a characteristic of mentally tough individuals. And this chimes very well with our understanding of the 4 Cs concept of Mental Toughness – especially the challenge, control and commitment elements. Importantly the research showed that this was indeed the mechanism and that it wasn’t simply that mentally tough individuals had better recall per se. They did have the ability to suppress unwanted memories. Conclusion on Directed Forgetting and Mental toughness It seems that the mentally tough are better able to things to focus on the correct issues– “what is important”. Dealing with setback and unwanted distractions are behaviors that are valuable in every walk of life. This has a number of practical implications for those involved in the organisation and people development as well as in business development. If developing the so-called resilient and agile organization is so important, and it is, then understanding the cognitive underpinning of mental toughness has a significant role to play in achieving this. Interested in learning more about Mental Toughness and the MTQ Measures Email us at email@example.com or call + 971 2 666 7153 By Doug Strycharczyk, CEO of AQR International

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Hepatitis B Test Hepatitis B test is used to find substances in the blood sample that show whether the infection is active or it occurred in the past. The test can look for different markers of disease. From the CDC: Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is transmitted when blood, semen, or another body fluid from a person infected with the Hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. This can happen through sexual contact; sharing needles, syringes, or other drug-injection equipment; or from mother to baby at birth. For some people, hepatitis B is an acute, or short-term, illness but for others, it can become a long-term, chronic infection. Risk for chronic infection is related to age at infection: approximately 90% of infected infants become chronically infected, compared with 2%–6% of adults. Chronic Hepatitis B can lead to serious health issues, like cirrhosis or liver cancer. The best way to prevent Hepatitis B is by getting vaccinated. What tests are available? Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is one of the most standard tests for this infection. This antigen can be present before the symptoms of this disease are present. Now, if it’s present for six months, then you have a chronic HBV infection. It means that you can spread this virus to others throughout your life. Another available test is hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb). It’s not as common as HBsAg. However, it’s vital to know if the infection is at the end of its active stage. If it is, then you’re no longer considered as contagious. It means you can’t pass the infection to others. The HBsAb test is used to know whether you have the antibody after you’ve received a series of HBV vaccine series. Now, if the test showed that you have both the antibodies and antigen, then you’re still considered as contagious. Hepatitis B Treatment and Consequences What is HBV DNA test? It’s another test for hepatitis B that checks for the DNA of the HB virus. The test measures the amount of this genetic material is present in your body. If it’s at a high level, it means that the virus is still multiplying, and you can spread the disease. An increased viral DNA level could mean that you’re at high risk for a liver damage. Your doctor may prescribe an antiviral medicine. This test is also utilized to know whether or not the treat for your chronic HBV infection is effective. Compared with HBeAg test, DNA testing for HBV is more sensitive. The following tests are also done but not as often as those tests above:

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Have you or someone you know fallen? You are not alone...more than one in every three adults over the age of 65 years, has a fall every year. Each year, 5 million older U.S. adults go to emergency departments for fall-related injuries. One in five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or head injury. Among older adults, falls are the number one cause for losing independence, fracture and head injuries. Falls are the foremost reason for hospitalizations and deaths related to injury.  The risk for falls increases with age and many older adults are afraid of falling. This fear becomes more common as people age, even among those who haven't fallen. It may lead older people to avoid walking, shopping, or taking part in social activities. But older adults who become less physically active are weaker and this increases their chances of falling. Many falls are preventable. More than half of all falls occur in the home while people are doing their daily activities. Fall proofing the home could be as simple as removing tripping hazards such as area rugs (these have the tendency to bunch up and it’s best to remove them) and clutter. Electric cables should be secured to baseboards. Toilet seats should be raised to above 16". Oxygen lines are frequent culprits for falls, ask your doctor to order a portable oxygen compressor. When tripping hazards cannot be removed such as: uneven or steep steps and walkways, (or pets), then increased awareness and installing grab bars and better lighting, can help. Scared of taking a walk in the winter? The good news is that there are ways to protect against falls while staying active in winter. Experts in geriatric care offer the following tips: Appropriate footwear during the winter months is essential. Rubber or neoprene soles, especially those with plenty of tread, provide better traction on snow and ice than either leather or plastic soles. Removable wire grips/cleats are great for walking on ice and snow. These cost around $30. Planning ahead is essential. Think about the best route to your destination and add extra time to get there. Avoid rushing or taking shortcuts through the snow or over icy areas. If you have to walk over slippery surfaces, bend your body slightly forward, take shorter strides, or shuffle your feet for better traction and stability. Be careful getting into and out of the car. This is when many falls occurs. Take a quick look around to make sure your footing is clear when you step out of the car. Hold on to the car door as you make your first step out of the car. Be aware of “black ice,” which is hard to see. Stay on clean, clear pathways or ones that have been treated with sand or salt. Make sure you have a clear and level pathway to stand on, so you don’t lose your balance. Take advantage of floor mats when you enter buildings. These help remove moisture from your shoes. Once indoors, avoid walking on wet or slippery surfaces. If you are at home, change out of your snow covered, wet shoes as soon as possible. Frail seniors who are particularly at risk, should have a companion when walking outdoors. Did you know? Over 6 million adults use a walking device? Over 70% of canes are faulty, damaged or the wrong height? Only 20% people have been taught how to use their cane correctly? All walking devices can contribute to falls if used incorrectly! There are many walking devices available. The following is a quick comparison and review to guide you in the proper selection and use of one that best works for you or a loved one. Improves balance but should not be used for bearing weight. Umbrella handle can cause carpal tunnelsyndrome. For intermittent weight bearing. Can be used for weight bearing and can remain upright upon release. All four prongs must be plant. A cane is used correctly when it supports the side opposite the weak or painful leg. A candy cane or offset cane tilted backwards, indication of unsafe a excessive weight bearing and should be a warning that it’s time to change to a more stable device. An easy way to assess the correct height of a cane is to match the top with the wrist crease when the arm is straight and hanging down. Walkers provide more stability than canes however, they may be considered unattractive, and are more awkward and difficult to use with stairs. Easiest to propel and maneuver. Usually have a built in brakes, seat and basket. Can be difficult to fold. Maintains normal walking posture best. Greatest stability but requires lifting with each step. Slower and less natural gait. Choosing the right walking device for you or a loved one and making sure that it’s fitted and used correctly may require consultation with your doctor or a physical therapist. For people who live alone and have a history of falling, medical alert systems offer peace of mind that someone can be reached through a 24-hour monitoring service. There are many medical alert companies. All provide a waterproof neck pendant and wristband and usually a base station with wall mounted call buttons. Some offer a GPS mobile feature that works when you are away from home. Others, a mobile 911 phone, which places a call to local 911 services. Some offer motion-sensitive pendants that can detect a fall and place a call for help. Subscriptions usually cost $30-70 per month. Research should be done to find the best match for you or a loved one. A cheaper alternative may be just to always carry a cell phone. CAN POPPING A PILL PREVENT FALLS? The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends taking a daily dose of 800 I.U of Vitamin D and 1-1.2g of Calcium. Studies have shown this can reduce the fall risk by 17 percent. On the other hand, many medications have been associated with falls in the elderly. Taking four or more medications is a risk factor also. Almost any drug that acts on the brain or on blood pressure can lead to falls because of increased drowsiness, slowed reaction times, unsteadiness, or lowered blood pressure or heart rate. Those who are taking four or more medications, antidepressants, seizure medications, pain medications, muscle relaxants, sleep aids, blood pressure or heart medicines should ask their doctor to review their medications. Medical conditions such as diabetes, heart and lung disease, and vision problems are common risk factors contributing to falls. Every fall should be regarded seriously and discussed with your doctor. A doctor or physical therapist may be the best person to help you.. I hope you found this article on fall prevention helpful. Please feel free to share copies with your friends and family. You can also send me questions and comments through my website at www.wendys-team.com. If you’d like me to talk about any other healthcare related topics in a fireside chat, just let me know!

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Tap has evolved as an American dance form, popularised throughout the world, with debate about its origins coming from African dance, Irish dance and/or clog dancing. The dancer uses their feet to strike the floor, beating out different rhythms, with dancers wearing tap shoes which have small metal plates on the toe and heel to give the distinctive sound. Tap dance is a theatrical art form often seen on stage in musicals. This form of dance incorporates metal taps on the bottom of the shoe to create complex, rhythmic percussion. There are two basic variations of tap dance: Rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap, or show tap, is lighter and uses more arm work. It has been influenced by ballroom dancing and ballet. It is usually performed in theatrical dance routines. Rhythm tap focuses more on the sound of the footwork. Tap dancing originated in the United States and is thought to have begun in the mid-19th century, with the rise of minstrel and vaudeville shows. Friends that dance together, stay together The WSBPA has been such a huge part of my childhood. In my time here I have learned so much more than ballet and modern dance. I have made life-long friends here and will never forget the great moments I have had here, both on and off the stage. To me, WSBPA is my childhood. Your classmates slowly grow into family, teachers become like second parents and the studio becomes your second home if not your first! The WSBPA will always hold a special place in my heart and mind with unforgettable memories with people that I know will be my friends for life. WSBPA means everything. The school and staff gave me more than just dancing lessons. It gave me life lessons that I will never forget. It has given me the confidence to do what I love and has taught me so much about performing. I have been taught things I would never learn anywhere else. I have been treated so well and always love coming to singing and dancing class. This is my favourite place to be and WSBPA means the world to me. The WSBPA has been my second home since I was 3. Words cannot explain how special the WSBPA is to me. So many memories and opportunities I will cherish forever. It’s a special place with wonderful friends and teachers. WSBPA is a place where i have learned valuable life lessons. I have been taught the importance of hard work and discipline, dedication and perseverance. WSBPA is a home away from home where i have been show that family isn’t just limited to bloodline.

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It’s not often that my day job links, even tangentially, with my enthusiasm for wildlife (see this post on the badger cull for a rare exception to this). But I spent the other morning teaching undergraduates the importance of involving patients and the public in clinical trials. As we discussed the different sorts of impact this involvement can have, it reminded me of a recent talk I heard about dormice by Pat Morris. OK, the link isn’t obvious, but bear with me. Pat Morris is one of the country’s leading experts on dormice. His talk wasn’t so much about the natural history of dormice, as the (surprisingly short) history of the study of hazel dormice. What really struck me was the importance of amateurs in that history. When Pat turned his attention to hazel dormice (having decided to move on from hedgehogs) very little was known about them. By the early 1980s there were only three scientific papers on hazel dormice. This dearth of knowledge was because they are so difficult to study. They don’t go into traps like other small mammals. And being nocturnal arboreal mammals, you won’t see any if you go out looking for them. So how, apart from chance encounters, could scientists study them? It was amateur wildlife enthusiasts that discovered two of the key ways that we now use to search for or monitor dormice populations. - nibbled nuts: as the name suggests, Hazel dormice are partial to hazel nuts. A sharp-eyed amateur noticed that it’s possible to distinguish between a nutshell that’s been opened by a dormouse and one opened by other small mammals (see How to tell who’s been nibbling your nuts). If you can find a nutshell that’s been nibbled by a dormouse, you know there must be dormice present in your wood, even if no-one ever sets eyes on one. - dormouse boxes: Doug Woods, a keen birder who monitored woodland bird breeding noticed that dormice would sometimes build nests in bird boxes. By adapting bird boxes to discourage birds and encourage dormice (putting the entrance hole at the back of the box, next to the trunk), he developed a monitoring tool that allows us to see and measure dormice. The amateur contribution to the study of dormice didn’t stop at discovering the research tools. Hundreds of volunteers have helped to collect data about dormice using these tools. The Great Nut Hunt of 1993 was a pivotal moment in the study of dormice in the UK. Volunteers across the country got on their hands and knees in woodlands, searching for dormouse nibbled nuts. They found 300,000 nuts, which showed that during the 20th century dormice had disappeared from half their range (based on where historical observations had been recorded). The important contribution of amateurs continues to this day. Many of the people who volunteer to check dormouse boxes each month for the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme are, like me, amateur enthusiasts. The programme now has around 400 sites, and dormice are the only terrestrial mammal being monitored nationally every year in the UK. This talk encouraged me – even as a volunteer giving a few hours each month, I can help to increase our knowledge about our native wildlife, which will hopefully mean we can get better at protecting it. At work I have seen some striking examples of people who aren’t medical professionals or scientists making vital contributions to our research. It seems to be the same in conservation. We ignore the insight of people with a passion at our peril.

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Geography of AlappuzhaKnown for its ultimate natural beauty comprising of several types of water bodies, Alappuzha or more popularly called Alleppey has diverse geographic features. Located between 9.50 North Latitude and 76.330 East Longitude, Alappuzha covers a total of 1414 sq. km area. The district of Alappuzha is situated in the South of Kochi and west of Kottayam. On the west of the district is the Lakshadweep on the Arabian Sea. Situated directly by the side of the Arabian sea, many areas of the district are in the low region. Significantly, there are no forest and major hills in the district except for some small hillocks scattered at the east of the district. Rivers in AlappuzhaThe beauty of Alappuzha remains in the water bodies those criss-cross on the land make it a heavenly enchanting place. Numerous fresh water rivers, canals and lagoons and of course the coastal line with several backwaters make the port-town nature’s beautiful handicraft. The most important water bodies in Alappuzha are Manimala, Pamba and Achankovil or Kulallada rives and Vembanad and the Kayamkulam lake. Originates from the Mothavara hills, the Manimala River goes through villages of Manimala, Kaviyoor, Mallappally, Thalavadi, Kalloppara, Kozhimukku and Champakulam and then joins the River Pamba in Muttar. The total length of the river is 91.73 kms. River Pamba originates from Peerumedu and falls in the lake of Vembanad. The total area it flows though is 1987.17 Sq. Kms. While its total length is 74.02 Kms. From Achankovil River which is also known as Kulallada River has its origin Pasukida Mettu and the catchment area of this river is 1155.14 Sq. Kms. The length of the river is 32.19 kms. The most important lake in Alappuzha is the Lake Vembanad which is also the most significant west coast canal system in India. The total length of the lake is 84 kms and the average breadth is 3.1 Kms. The total catchment area of the lake is 204 Sq Kms. Stating from Alappuzha the lake ends in Kochi. Many rivers including Achankovil, Pamba and Manimala etc. flow into the Vembanad Lake. The centre of the lake has a variety of beautiful rows of palm and coconut trees and other lush vegetation. The land in between the lake is called Pathiramanal meaning the mysterious sand-belt of midnight. This lake is also the largest mud regulator in the country. Another important lake in Alappuzha is The Kayamkulam Lake which lies both in Alappuzha and the Kollam district. Apart from the scenic beauty this lake provides public transport. Alappuzha also has several canals which are mostly used for the navigation system. The most important one is the Vadai Canal. Climate of Alappuzha As a coastal city with huge amounts of various water bodies, Alappuzha is naturally hot and humid throughout the year. The heat increases during the months of summer and from mid September to November the temperature remains comparatively cooler. The average temperature in April-May remains around 270-290 Celsius. The lowest temperature in this region comes down to 230 Celsius during October-November. The interesting feature of any coastal city is their long and wet monsoon season. Alappuzha has two monsoon seasons one is from June to September and another one is from October to November. The average precipitation in these seasons is around 2763 mm. Population of AlappuzhaAccording to the census 2011 the total population of the district of Alappuzha is 2,127,789 of which the male and female population are 1,013,142 and 1,114,647 respectively. Alappuzha city (municipality) has a population of 174,176. Another important attributes of the natural formation of Alappuzha is the Kuttanad region. With a stretch of 75 Km, the amazingly fertile Kuttanad is called the ‘Rice bowl of Kerala’ and interestingly is one of the rare places where agriculture is done below the sea level. Fisheries in AlappuzhaThere is a huge area in Alappuzha fitted for pisciculture as a significant percentage of the district is water-logged. Alappuzha has a vast resource of marine animals which makes the district an important fishery along the western coastal line. The fishing season in the coastal areas is from October to May but with several fresh water rivers the inland-bound fishing happens throughout - SHARE THIS - TWEET THIS - SHARE THIS - LOVE THIS 0

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• temperament •Pronunciation: tem-pê-rê-mênt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. The basic nature or personality of man or animal as revealed in behavior, range of emotion. 2. The dominant physical and mental characteristics of humans according to the medieval theory of humors. Notes: This word has a trap: an unaccented A in its midst, allowing the pronunciation to become [tempêrmênt]. Unaccented syllables should be pronounced, excepting only by those of us suffering from LVS, the Loose Vowel Syndrome. The vowel is also in the adjective, temperamental "liable to erratic shifts of temperament". In Play: Temperaments can vary wildly; that is how the sense of temperamental evolved: "The position of company president requires someone with a steady temperament, not someone who gives free rein to it." Some temperaments are better suited for certain jobs, but not others: "Ben Dover doesn't have the temperament for a wrestler." Word History: Temperament is a noun based on the Latin verb temperare "to temper, to moderate". This verb is apparently derived from a variant of tempus (tempor- with suffixes) "time, season", though the semantic trail is not at all a clear one. There might be a connection between temp- and ten- "stretch", which gave English its thin and Russian tyanut' "to stretch, extend". To change the sound [n] to [m], however, would require a suffix [p], but there is no evidence that Latin contained such a suffix. (Norman Holler was temperamental enough to recommend today's rather volatile Good Word.)

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The majority of people in Tibet practice Buddhism. There are also a large number of Hindus in Tibet. Hinduism and Buddhism mingle together and share some festivals and the worship of Buddha. The most accepted religion in Tibet is Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism differs from other countries' methods of practicing Buddhism. And with the increase in Chinese people in Tibet, Islam is now becoming more practiced and in fact, in Lhasa, there is quite a sizable Islamic community with there own market, shops, and Mosque. This place is called the Muslim quarter. Hinduism is one of the oldest practiced religions, with firm roots extending back 1000 years BCE. It is based on a number of holy books, most important of these is The Four Vedas or books of “Divine Knowledge” which create foundations of Hindu philosophy. Dharma, Artha, and Karma are the three aims in the life of Hindu. i) For filling one's duty to family and caste and gaining religious merit through having a wholesome life. (ii) The lawful making of wealth. (iii) Desire and satisfaction. A Hindu links these goals with the four stages they progress through in a full life. - (i) Child and student-this time are devoted to learning about life and education and correct social behavior from their parents and guru. - (ii) The house holder-at this time a person proves themselves by being able to manage a household and raise children, most importantly to bear a son. - (iii) Meditation and solitude-once proved as a householder, a person is free to take up a life of celibacy and meditation. - (iv) Finally, in the latter stages of life, a person renounces all possessions and ties in the hope to achieve Moksha. The main concern for most Hindus is to reduce bad karma and to hopefully gain points to be born with a higher status in their next life. This is achieved by worship and honest and charitable living within the restrictions imposed by a person’s caste. Most Hindus have a shrine in their homes dedicated to a chosen Deity to which they perform a puja to every day. Puja is an act of prayer and offerings to a god. The Buddhist religion was founded in Nepal around about 500 BCE, by Siddhartha Gautam who was known as Gautam Buddha. Siddhartha Gautam was born in Lumbini, Nepal to a very wealthy family and grew up as a prince. At the age of 30, unsatisfied by the explanation of worldly suffering by his Hindu gurus and convinced that asceticism did not lead to spiritual enlightenment, he renounced his family, riches, and lifestyle too pursue a life of mediation and wondering. During his mediation, in a place called Bodhgaya in India, he reached a state of enlightenment. After this, he spent the rest of his life teaching Dharma, the true nature of life, the world and spiritual attainment. Prior to his death, Buddha established a community of monks and nuns who took over his teachings. Most Buddhists, don’t consider Buddhism as a religion and they don’t consider Buddha to be a god. Buddhists consider Buddhism as a guide to living a good life, like a science for the mind and the deities found in the monasteries are there as symbols to aid deepened spiritual awareness. The Buddha’s view of life includes the Hindu concepts of samsara and Karma, but the ultimate goal of the religion is Nirvana a state of clarity of mind, pure understanding, and unimaginable bliss. Buddhism prohibits any form of killing. There are two main schools of Buddhism which are Hinayana and Mahayana. Where Hindus worship many gods, Buddhists chiefly worship Buddha, though some Buddhists also worship Shiva and other Hindu gods. Buddhism was introduced to Tibet in the Seventh Century and integrated to a certain extent with the indigenous Bon culture before emerging as a faith considered incorporating all three vehicles: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Tibetan Buddhism recognizes a historical Buddha, known as Sakyamuni, alongside previous Buddha’s and a host of Bodhisattvas and protector deities. The Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism, is the fourteenth in a succession of incarnate bodhisattvas. For Buddhist monks and nuns, and some members, meditation is an integral part of religious life. Most Buddhist concentrates on Dana and sila and on the auspicious day of Buddha’s birthday. Many Buddhist devotees gather together in silent meditation or join in chants taken from early Buddhist texts. Among Tibetan communities, devotees hang prayer flags, turn prayer wheels and set stones carved with mantras in rivers in hope that they are sending the word of Buddha with the wind and water to all corners of the world. Unlike Hindus, Muslims believe in only one god-Allah. Islam is submission to god through strict rules and daily worship. Muslims pray five times a day, prayer is done in the mosque which is specially designed to face Mecca, the main pilgrim point for Muslims. Mecca is in Saudi Arabia and once a year during Hajji Millions of Muslims make the pilgrimage to this holiest place. There are also special prayer rooms in the house and workplaces for women and people who cannot make it to the mosque.

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As a California motorist, you know first-hand that traffic does not cease once the sun has set. Even in the nighttime hours, people are rushing home from work, going to work or just leaving for a night out on the town. While you may be used to driving at night, you may not realize the increased danger of becoming involved in an accident. According to the National Safety Council, you are three times more likely to be involved in a deadly accident at night than you are during the day. Why is there an increased danger and what can you do to minimize your risk of getting into an accident? The lack of natural light is the most common reason why people get into nighttime accidents. Decreased visibility makes it more difficult to see objects in the road, traffic signs, pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. You may experience a delayed response time to these things, as you may be unable to see them clearly. The lack of light can also affect your depth perception. When turning out into traffic, it can be hard to judge the distance of an oncoming vehicle, as well as how fast it is going. Rather than pull out into traffic, wait until you are sure it is safe. Night blindness is a condition, and it is especially common in older drivers. A 50-year old motorist requires twice as much light to see as well as a 30-year-old. Bright headlights can also cause temporary blindness, making it hard to see. In addition to low light levels, there is an increased number of drunk drivers on the road at night. When driving at night, it is critical that you remain cautious and drive defensively. This information is intended to educate and should not be taken as legal advice.

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Maritime casualty management The chances of a maritime casualty causing a major risk to Australia’s coastal interests are small, but the potential environmental consequences could be devastating. This means incidents must be rapidly and effectively addressed. Part of this response is an ocean-going emergency towage capability to assist with shipping casualties and to prevent pollution. Although it is always the first responsibility of the ship-owner and operator to seek assistance when an incident occurs, Australia’s state, territory and federal governments recognise the benefits of an integrated emergency response capability. This means timely support and direction can be provided when and where necessary. This integrated approach is supported by: - port authorities - shipping interests - other stakeholders Maritime emergency response commander To ensure fast, decisive action, we have appointed a Maritime Emergency Response Commander (MERCOM). The MERCOM will act on behalf of the Authority during a shipping casualty where there is a risk of significant pollution. State and Northern Territory Governments retain powers to deal with lesser pollution or environmental threats, and may still exercise powers independently. The MERCOM is also able to take action, but must consider the reasonable views and positions of relevant authorities and stakeholders. Stakeholders and authorities represent community views about economic, environmental, community and social interests that could be impacted by the MERCOM’s decisions. The principles of ‘potential polluter pays’ and ‘polluter pays’ apply where localised pollution or damage results from actions taken to prevent widespread pollution. In the event of pollution or other damage, the ship requiring assistance pays costs and liabilities. This is in accordance with the generally applicable principles under international conventions and domestic laws.

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Archaeologists Discover 4,000-Year-Old Sheepskin in Burial Cist Workers constructing a septic tank in Sutherland, UK, in 2011 made a surprising find when they stumbled upon a prehistoric stone tomb amidst the rubble. Archaeologists were called in to investigate the site and uncovered a stone cist, built within a substantial pit, contained the remains of a middle-aged adult female. A new analysis on the site has now revealed that the body had been placed upon a sheepskin, the first known example from a Bronze Age burial in Britain. A radiocarbon analysis was done on the bone and charcoal fragments found within the tomb, which were found to date to 2051-1911 BC and 2151 – 2018 BC respectively, placing the cist in the early Bronze Age period. A tripartite food vessel urn, of Early Bronze Age date, was placed to the west of her skull, but what made this burial a particularly extraordinary site was the discovery of sheepskin and wool recovered from under the skeletal remains. There have been two other samples of Bronze Age wool found in the British Isles, but no other examples of potential sheepskin are known. Findings of hide or fur are few and far between in Britain but are often associated with ‘rich burials’ of adult inhumations. Another unique characteristic of the cist is that it had been sealed and therefore represents an exclusive ‘individual grave’, as opposed to the large pits that were common in Scotland. There were also a number of items found within the tomb including vessels containing carbonised material of non-botanical origin, unidentified cremated bone and a fragment of a small ring. The objects taken together indicate belief in the afterlife and were placed there to assist the individual’s journey into the next world.

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JLR: Super-fast spins hurt lipoproteins Sometimes the end doesn’t justify the means. In a recent paper in the Journal of Lipid Research, investigators describe how spinning high-density lipoproteins fast, a typical way to isolate them quickly, damages them. The finding suggests that the current understanding of the hydrodynamic properties and composition of HDL “is incorrect,” states William Munroe at the University of California, Los Angeles. HDL, known as the “good cholesterol,” is an important lipoprotein in diagnosing cardiovascular disease. Its abundance in the bloodstream is considered to be a sign of good cardiovascular health, because HDL carries away cholesterol. Ever since the discovery in 1949 that lipoproteins can be separated and isolated in an ultracentrifuge, spinning lipoproteins like HDL at speeds of 40,000 rpm or greater has been the norm. Samples often get spun at speeds of 65,000 to 120,000 rpm within 48 hours to hasten the isolation process. But there have been whispers in the lipid community that the high speeds damage the molecules. So a trio of researchers at UCLA, led by Verne Schumaker, decided to see how speed affects HDL. “The phenomenon of HDL potentially exhibiting sensitivity to the ultracentrifuge speed is sometimes mentioned between lipoprotein researchers,” says Munroe, the first author on the paper. “However, there was little in the literature describing this phenomenon.” In their JLR paper, Munroe, Schumaker and Martin Phillips showed that damage to HDL began as soon as the ultracentrifuge speed hit 30,000 rpm. Using mouse plasma samples, the investigators demonstrated that the damage got worse as the rotor went faster. Proteins, which are integral to the lipoproteins, got ripped out of the protein-lipid complexes, leaving few intact particles. “With enough gravitational force or time, this protein-deficient HDL undergoes further damage to lose lipid,” notes Munroe. To try to circumvent the damage, the investigators tested out an alternative method for isolating HDL. They poured a potassium bromide density gradient over their sample. Next, they spun the gradient with the sample at a low speed of 15,000 rpm. Admittedly, the isolation took longer at 96 hours, but at least the amount of HDL that rose to the top of gradient was significantly higher than when using the conventional method. Based on their findings, the investigators now want “to identify HDL-associated proteins that previous identification studies may have missed because certain proteins may have been completely lost from the recovered HDL particle during its isolation by ultracentrifugation,” says Munroe. “This may give insight into additional roles the HDL may participate in besides reverse cholesterol transport.” Join the ASBMB Today mailing list Sign up to get updates on articles, interviews and events. University of Illinois at Chicago researchers and colleagues report a new mechanism for detecting foreign material during early immune responses.

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Acer Name Meaning & Origin Origin of the name Alexander: A compound Greek name composed of the elements alexein (to defend, to help) and andros (man): hence, “defender or helper of mankind.” The name was borne by Alexander the Great (356—323 B.C.), a Macedonian king and military conqueror who helped spread the Greek culture across Asia Minor to Egypt and India. Var: Aleksandr, Aleksandur, Alexander, Alexandras. Short: Alek, Alekos, Alex, Alexei, Alexios, Alexis, Sander, Sandros Looking for the perfect name? Try the Name MatchMaker to find the perfect baby name for you! Sister & Brother Names Know an Acer? What are his siblings named? Name Lists Featuring Acer Contribute your knowledge to the name Acer - Comments and insights on the name Acer Acer is a botanical name with a masculine feel. It is the name of the genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. This name was very unusual or nonexistent in the United States before 2008, when 10 baby boys were given this name. It sounds similar to the more popular name Ace, which can be used as a nickname for Alexander. - Personal experiences with the name Acer - Nicknames for Acer - Meanings and history of the name Acer The maple is a common symbol of strength and endurance. Maples are important as sources of syrup and timber. Charcoal from maples is an integral part of the Lincoln County Process used to make Tennessee whiskey. A maple leaf is on the coat of arms of Canada, and is on the Canadian flag. The maple is also a symbol of Hiroshima. - Famous real-life people named Acer David Acer (born 1970), stand-up comedian and Canadian close-up magician Acer is also the name of a corporation that produces computer hardware - Acer in song, story & screen

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Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative therapeutic modality originally designed to help people with histories of trauma access and process their memories in a healing manner. When a person experiences extreme distress, the brain is not able to process information normally, creating disturbances in how they function emotionally. For example, some people become hypervigilant and live in a constant state of heightened anxiety long after the threat has passed. The disordered processing can lead to or aggravate mental health disorders such as PTSD, dissociative disorders, depression, and anxiety. EMDR works to unlock patterns of destructive thinking and maladaptive coping behaviors and replace them with new ways of viewing and responding to traumatic memories and overwhelming emotions. Clinicians have found that EMDR is not only effective for treating trauma, but a range of mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and substance abuse. By disrupting disordered thought patterns and encouraging mind-body wholeness, EMDR can lead to relief from somatic symptoms of emotional disturbances, increased self-esteem, and improved stability. Desensitization and Reprocessing in Practice The highly trained EMDR therapists available at Bridges to Recovery will assess you and your situation to identify if and when EMDR will be most helpful to you during your treatment. When indicated, they will then guide you in recalling a distressing memory while directing your eye movements to stimulate the brain. You won’t necessarily have to talk about the memory–which makes EMDR particularly inviting to some trauma survivors. The therapist checks in with you periodically to ask what you are experiencing in the present moment, both emotionally and physically. Slowly, your therapist will ask you to shift your focus to more constructive and empowering memories and beliefs. The combination of eye movements and dialogue desensitizes you to the trauma or disturbing thoughts as you recontextualize and process your experiences in new ways. EMDR can move you toward increased bodily awareness while learning to identify triggers and forming coping skills to deal with the traumatic memory, feelings of anxiety, and overwhelming emotions. At Bridges to Recovery, we incorporate EMDR when clinically indicated into our thoughtfully designed, comprehensive treatment plans to address your individual needs. Using multiple modalities allows for interplay between therapeutic approaches, enhancing each other and augmenting results. Together, these treatments give you the tools necessary to create a more stable, fulfilling life. Contact us if you or a loved one may benefit from EMDR. We are happy to answer any questions and tell you more about the Bridges to Recovery program.

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Inequality remained a prominent theme in public debate during 2015, likely helped by the unexpected rise and resilience of democratic socialist Bernie Sanders’ run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Although the labor market continued its slow recovery, wage growth remained fairly weak—especially for middle and low earners. The upper middle class continues to pull away from the middle, not least in terms of income and wealth. But it has also become much clearer that inequality is a geographical issue, as much as a social and economic one. Whether the focus is on the more immediate matter of income inequality or the slower-burning issue of intergenerational mobility, there is huge variation between different places in the United States. Not all cities are created equal… National income trends are important, of course. But they can often disguise deep differences by place. The income required to be ‘rich,’ at least by comparison to those around you, varies significantly between different cities, for example. A household income of $100,000 puts you on almost on the top rung (around the 95th percentile) of the income ladder in Detroit. But to reach the same heights in San Jose, California, you’d need an income three times as great, according to calculations by my colleague Alan Berube. There are also very large differences in the extent of income inequality in different metropolitan areas. Using the inequality measure used in another recent paper by Berube, the ratio between incomes at the 20th percentile and the 95th percentile, shows that while some cities have large gaps between rich and poor, others look almost Scandinavian in their egalitarian distributions. Here are the 20/95 ratios for the three most equal and unequal cities in the U.S.: Intergenerational mobility varies—a lot—by place In a groundbreaking research paper in 2014, Raj Chetty and his team at the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard showed that rates of intergenerational income mobility also vary considerably between different cities. It was always a stretch to compare the U.S. to Denmark on this front, given the colossal differences between the countries. But such comparisons became virtually unconscionable once the variations within the U.S. become apparent. This year, Chetty and his co-author Nathaniel Hendren went a step further and a big step closer to showing a causal impact of place on the prospects for children raised in different locations. Again relying on large administrative datasets, the two scholars were able to show the variation in earnings for the folk hailing from, say, Baltimore versus Baton Rouge. Professor Chetty presented his new research at a Brookings event in June (which you can view here), just weeks after the eruption of protest and violence in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray. One striking finding was that the worst place in America to grow up, in terms of subsequent earnings, is Baltimore City. Critically, Chetty’s research design allows him to show that these differences do not reflect the characteristics of the people of Baltimore; but the characteristics of Baltimore itself. This downward effect on earnings is particularly bad for boys, as we highlighted in an earlier blog: In related work, Chetty and his colleagues also show that children who move to a better place see an improvement in their own earnings—and that the younger they are when they move, the bigger the impact. The children of families who move as a result of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Opportunity program showed sizable improvements in their own outcomes, as Jonathan Rothwell highlighted in his blog, ‘Sociology’s revenge: Moving to Opportunity (MTO) revisited.’ Race, place and opportunity One of the findings from Chetty’s earlier work is that race, place, and opportunity intersect in important ways. Cities with more segregation, and those with larger black populations, tend to show weaker upward mobility patterns. In order to understand the obstacles to upward mobility, policymakers have to adopt both a place-conscious (Margery Turner) and a race-conscious perspective. This policy was the subject of another Brookings event in November, with contributions from the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, the Governor of Delaware, and the Mayor of Newton, Mass. (The event can still be viewed here; for my highlights see this piece.) Being poor and black is generally not the same as being poor and white. Being poor in Cleveland is not the same as being poor in Charlotte. On equal opportunity: think local, act local Many states and cities are upping their game on issues of equality and opportunity, for both bad and good reasons. The bad reason is the relative inertia of the federal government. The good reason is a growing recognition that many of the levers for improving opportunity lie in the hands of institutions and agents at the state and metro level. Colorado has adopted a life-cycle opportunity framework and is pioneering efforts to integrate health and social policy. Charlotte has a high-profile taskforce (which I advise) on improving opportunity. Cincinnati has pledged to lift 10,000 children out of poverty within five years. Louisville is leading a push on school desegregation. Kalamazoo is adding greater student supports to its existing promise of free college. Baltimore’s program to reduce infant mortality has shown remarkable success. Durham, N.C. has rolled out a universal home visiting program. Many of these efforts are building on the emerging ideas around ‘collective impact,’ harnessing local resources of many kinds around a clearly-articulated, shared goal. Given the scholarship showing just how much particular places influences individual and broader outcomes, this is likely to be where much of the most important policy development will take place in coming years. In terms of equality—and especially equality of opportunity—we need to think local, and act local, too.

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Several types of intelligence peak at age 50 Older doesn't just mean wiser. It also means smarter, at least in some ways. Take our ability to do basic math, for example, or our command of a large vocabulary. Contrary to popular opinions about intelligence fading over time, both of those skills (and several others) continue to improve until we reach our 50th birthdays, according to new research published earlier this month. Many abilities, of course, follow the conventionally recognized pattern of peaking around age 18 and getting worse over the rest of our lives. But the study reveals some striking new findings about how our skills change over time: While we doubtless get worse at some things as we get older (such as remembering basic information for short periods, shown in purple, or keeping track of details over the long term, shown in orange and green), we also get much better at others (like big-picture comprehension and understanding, shown in red, and overall knowledge, shown in blue). Several other skills ripen later too, as far out as middle age. Our ability to read others' emotions, for example (shown below as the "Mind-In-Eyes Task"), and recall events that have just happened ("WM: Digit Span, replication") peak as late age 47 and 35, respectively: On the one hand, the results are stunning. (Who would've guessed that we'd get better at multiplication and division at as we age?) On the other, though, the findings make sense - as we get older, we read more books, watch more movies, and have more conversations with different types of people (so it's only natural that our vocabularies expand a bit), but our brains get a bit less sharp at remembering the tiny details of people, places and things we encountered long ago. "At almost any given age, most of us are getting better at some things and worse at others," lead study author and MIT department of brain and cognitive sciences researcher Joshua Hartshorne told Business Insider.

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Understanding the FAFSA’s EFC You might think you know what the FAFSA’s EFC means, but do you? When you file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), your income, asset and personal information are used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution, which also is known as the EFC. Most families look at the EFC and gasp because it is higher than what the family thinks it can afford to pay. Despite the name, the expected family contribution has little to do with the actual amount you will have to pay. Usually, you end up paying a lot more. Financial aid is based on financial need, which is the difference between total costs and the EFC. The higher the EFC, the less financial aid you get. But most colleges and universities do not provide enough financial aid to cover the full demonstrated financial need of all students. They leave many families with unmet need, which is a gap between financial aid and financial need. Even if a school meets a student’s full demonstrated financial need, financial aid packages often include loans. Student loans do not cut costs. Instead, they often increase costs by charging interest. The amount the family will have to pay now and in the future is often much higher than the EFC, partly because of unmet need and partly because of the inclusion of student loans in the financial aid package. Based on an analysis of data from the 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), more than half (57%) of students in bachelor’s degree programs have unmet need. If student loans are left out from the analysis, seven-eighths (86%) of these students have unmet need. The average gap for just one year was $8,079 if loans are counted as meeting need. It was $12,279 otherwise. Some schools use their own financial aid formula for calculating the EFC. They must use the FAFSA’s EFC for federal and state aid, but can use their own EFC for awarding their own financial aid funds. Often, schools have a minimum student contribution or summer work expectation that increases the EFC by $3,000 to $6,000. The school might claim to meet the full demonstrated financial need, but does so because it changed the definition of financial need. Rather than be misled by confusion over the expected family contribution, instead look at the net price. The net price is the difference between total college costs and gift aid. Gift aid includes grants, scholarships and other money that does not need to be repaid. The net price is like a discounted sticker price and more accurately reflects the actual amount of money the family will have to pay using savings, income and loans.

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Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent was born on the 24th of May 1819 to the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Her reign would come to define and age, and would prove to be the longest reign in the history of the British Monarchy, beating that of George III, in whose reign she was only just born into. Victoria's father, the fourth son of George III died the year after Victoria was born on the 23rd of January 1820 (predeceasing his own father by six days), and her upbringing and education was taken into the hands of her overbearing and ambitious mother. By the late 1820s, it became apparent that Victoria was likely to inherit the throne due to the failure of her father's elder brothers to produce surviving, legitimate sons. The Dowager Duchess of Kent, mindful of her likely future role as the mother of a future Queen Regnant, subjected her daughter to what came to be known as the 'Kensington System' (after Kensington Palace, where Victoria spent most of her childhood), bringing her up according to a strict code of moral propriety and severely restricting her access to others who might corrupt her, and more importantly, dampen the Duchesses' own influence over her daughter (including King William IV, whose relationship with the Duchess was one of mutual contempt). The Duchess herself was heavily influenced by James Conroy, an embezzler and a rogue who flattered more than one female member of the Royal Family whilst simultaneously relieving them of much of their wealth, and whom the future Queen Victoria strongly came to detest. Despite her restricted access to her Uncle, William IV, the King was as fond of his niece as he was contemptuous of her mother, to the extent that the plain-speaking former Royal Navy officer made a speech at his final birthday banquet, attended by Victoria and her mother, in which the ailing King expressed a hope that he would live long enough to see his niece attain the age of eighteen, thus preventing her mother from becoming her regent. "I trust to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer" The King stated. "[that] I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the exercise of the Royal authority to the personal authority of that young lady, heiress presumptive to the Crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by evil advisers and is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the situation in which she would be placed." The speech caused great embarrassment to the Duchess, and caused the young princess Victoria to burst into tears. Nevertheless, the old King got his wish, and when he died 10 months later on the 20th of June 1837, he had lived to see Victoria reach her majority by less than a month. Upon becoming Queen, Victoria banished James Conroy from her household and obliged her mother to live in an apartment separate to her own (until this point, her mother shared a bedroom with Victoria). Although Victoria had always loved her mother, she had long resented her overbearing influence and now made it quite clear that she was her own woman. A Whig by inclination, Victoria was heavily influenced by her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne in her early years, and surrounded herself with people of a similar political inclination. In 1839 however, Lord Melbourne was forced to resign as Prime Minister when an alliance of Tories and Radicals defeated a government bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica. Victoria reluctantly offered the premiership to Sir Robert Peel, but he refused to accept the premiership unless the Queen replaced some of her ladies of the bedchamber (many of whom were the wives of Whig politicians) with Tory sympathisers to reduce the Whig's influence on the young Queen, precipitating what came to be known as the 'Bedchamber Crisis'. The Queen refused to dismiss her friends from the Royal Court, and instead invited Lord Melbourne to re-form a Whig administration. The government remained unstable however, and the crisis dragged on into 1841, until a general election returned an indisputable Tory majority and the Queen finally acceded to Peel's wishes on the advice of her new husband, Prince Albert. Marriage to Prince Albert Even before Victoria became Queen, the subject of who would make a suitable husband for her was seriously considered, with the main contenders being Prince Alexander of the Netherlands and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. Victoria eventually settled upon Prince Albert, and as Queen, she proposed marriage to him in October 1839 and married him in February the following year. Victoria fell pregnant almost immediately, and gave birth to the couple's first child in the following November. Over the following 17 years, the Queen gave birth to 9 children in all. During this time, Albert came to have a profound influence over Victoria, becoming her personal secretary and closest confidante. During the rest of their married life together, Albert was, if not the power behind the throne, certainly the single most powerful influence over it. Albert used this power to promote his own projects aimed at improving the standing of his adopted country, and was instrumental in the arrangement of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was intended as a demonstration of Britain's might as an industrial, commercial and technological power. One of his final acts on the political stage was his rewording of a diplomatic protest to the United States over the Trent Affair, so that it was toned down from Lord Palmerston's original bellicose language which may well have provoked a war between Britain and the US just as the US Civil War was breaking out. That same year, in 1861, Albert died of typhoid fever, and Queen Victoria was plunged into a period mourning which was to last until the end of her life. Without Albert, Victoria withdrew into seclusion, and spent most of her time away from London, choosing instead to divide her time between Balmoral Castle, Windsor Castle and Osborne House. The political life of the nation carried on largely without her, as the monarchy had by this point become largely symbolic. Victoria nevertheless displayed a certain partiality between the two great statesman of the age, Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, vastly preferring the former over the latter (the Queen complained to others that Gladstone treated her like an institution rather than a person, and that she addressed her as if he was addressing an audience at a public meeting). Disraeli, keen to take advantage of the Queen's popularity and the prestige of the Empire, flattered the Queen and the nation by making her the Empress of India in 1876. The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 1887 was a cause of great celebration throughout the Empire, and Victoria was persuaded to take some time out of her usual seclusion to show herself to her adoring public. A new 'Jubilee' portrait was designed for Britain's coinage to celebrate the Queen's long reign, but many contemporary numismatists and coin collectors at the time were unimpressed, and described the design as 'disappointing' because they made the Queen look ridiculous with a tiny crown perched precariously on top of her head and a somewhat sour look on her face (one wonders what they might have made of some of the more recent designs on Britain's coinage!) The 'jubilee head' portrait was discontinued only 6 years later, and the 'old head' design which was adopted for the rest of her reign proved to be far less controversial. Victoria survived to see her diamond jubilee in 1897, provoking another round of great celebration throughout the Empire. The Queen died less than four years later at Osbourne House of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 81. She was interred at Frogmore House in Windsor, beside her beloved Prince Consort Albert. She was also buried with a lock of hair from her former servant John Brown, a Scotsman whom Victoria was dubiously rumoured to have had an affair with following her husband's death. Victoria had presided over some of the greatest social and technological change of any monarch in British History, with the possible exception of our present Queen, Elizabeth II. During her lifetime, the railway had replaced the horse and cart as the main means of transportation on land. At sea, the age of sail had given way to the age of machine propulsion. The British economy had also been transformed from a largely rural economy into a largely urban and industrial one. Under Victoria, the British Empire had reached its zenith, and the Queen's portrait ordered coins used by a quarter of the world's population. Politically, the old loose Tory and Whig confederations had given way to modern, whipped political parties as we know them today. The Labour Party was also founded during Victoria's reign, although it would not become a significant force in politics until the 1920s. Under Victoria, the monarchy ceased to be any real force in politics, and the culmination had been reached of a trend begun in the 17th century (and arguably even earlier) that had seen the gradual decline of Royal Power, and in which the monarchy was now seen as a symbol of the nation, rather than as a powerful political force in its own right. Numismatically, Victoria's reign saw the first tentative steps towards decimalisation when in 1848, the Florin (or one tenth of a pound) was introduced. When first introduced, the Florin was controversial for dropping any reference to God from the legend (hence the term 'Godless Florin') these early Florins, as well as the early Crowns, carried a unique 'Gothic' portrait. The rest of the early coins up until 1860 carried the 'Young Head' portrait, when the copper penny, halfpenny and farthing denominations were replaced with smaller bronze equivalents featuring the 'bun head' portrait. For precious metal issues of threepence or above, the young head portrait design survived until 1887, to be replaced by the 'Jubilee Head' design for those issues. In 1893, the portrait design for all coin types was replaced with the 'Old Head' design which lasted for the rest of Victoria's reign. The expansion of the Empire, British Industry, trade and the British population engendered a need for vast quantities of coins, and these, plus the length of Victoria's reign, meant that the coinage issued in her name was one of the most prolific in British history, rivalled only by that of Elizabeth II. The Sovereign and its half and multiple equivalents struck under Queen Victoria are also the oldest remaining British coins with legal-tender status, although for obvious reasons, they are no longer used for general circulation! Historical Notes on England's Kings and Queens - You may wish to visit our portrait gallery of English/British monarchs. Although it is not complete, we add new and better coins when we can. We are always keen to buy superior quality British coins to upgrade our photo gallery.

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Brentin Mock is a staff writer at CityLab. He was previously the justice editor at Grist. Housing plans by Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg intend redress for racist redlining housing practices, but who will actually benefit? Several issues have gone missing so far on the debate stage among the Democratic Party’s presidential candidates, among them affordable housing and racial equity. This, despite the fact that living costs are going up while wages remain stagnant, and that the percentage of people—whites included—who believe that African Americans are getting fair housing opportunities, is at its lowest level in decades, according to Gallup. So far, six presidential candidates have proposed policies that address both housing insecurity and historical racial discrimination in the housing market. Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Bernie Sanders, along with South Bend mayor, Pete Buttigieg, and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, have all submitted plans that specifically take a crack at addressing racial housing injustices. Some of them aim to reverse the damage done by redlining—the system in which government and financial market forces conspired to keep black people trapped in segregated and under-invested neighborhoods. Some of those plans that target redlining propose offering down-payment assistance for certain first-time home-buyers in neighborhoods that were historically labeled as “hazardous” in the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) risk maps of the 1930s—the blueprints for redlining policies. Warren, Buttigieg, and Harris all offer this in the name of redressing and hopefully reversing redlining’s legacy, which is still keeping black families from building wealth today, according to numerous studies. “A policy by any other name might be called reparations,” CityLab wrote earlier this year in reference to Warren’s plan. That is indeed the idea, according to Mehrsa Baradaran, the University of California, Irvine law professor whose research serves as the basis for several of the presidential candidates’ redlining-aimed proposals. Wrote Baradaran in her study “Jim Crow Credit”: Most of the neighborhoods that were initially redlined in 1934 have been perpetually denied credit and thus remain pockets of poverty. Racial ghettos, once created, have had remarkable staying power. Across the country, these black ghettos are still the territories where the wealth and well-being gap are most drastically highlighted. These are the districts where poverty is still concentrated, schools are segregated, and properties continue to be devalued. By focusing a reparations program on geography as opposed to identity, policymakers can not only avoid the sacred cow of colorblindness, but they can link reparations with integration. However, a new report from the Brookings Institution says that those policies likely won’t have the effect that the candidates think they will. Brookings fellow Andre Perry and research analyst David Harshbarger examined the current demographics of the residents who live in city neighborhoods that were redlined as “hazardous” in the HOLC maps and found that most of the people who live within those boundaries today are not African Americans, unlike when those zones were first drawn in the 1930s. Overall, there are more white and Latino people living in the formerly redlined neighborhoods today. Meaning, according to their analysis, that any policy based on the redlining maps would fail to comprehensively benefit black families—the demographic the plans seek to remunerate in the first place. Of course, when looking closely at redlined neighborhoods at the city and regional level, there are still some that have a majority-African-American population today—Detroit, Birmingham, Cleveland, and Baltimore are a few examples. Chicago and Philadelphia have sizable black populations in their formerly redlined neighborhoods, but they still don’t match the white and Latino residential demographics in those zones. Still, there is no region in which most of the formerly redlined neighborhoods have black populations comparable to when those red lines were first drawn. In the Northeast, the city with the highest percentage of black people still living in formerly redlined neighborhoods is Pittsburgh, where 36 percent of African Americans fit the bill. However, formerly redlined neighborhoods do, in fact, still carry on the hallmarks of concentrated poverty and lower home values, according to the report. “Clearly, these areas have suffered from a legacy of divestment, and deserve attention from policymakers,” the Brookings Institution researchers write. “But a strategy to close the racial wealth gap that focuses mainly on these now-diversified locations risks overlooking Black neighborhoods elsewhere.” Many African Americans, particularly those of low-income, are now living in the suburbs of these cities, not the inner city, where the redlining most frequently occurred. Not only that, but recent federal housing policies, such as the replacement of public housing with mixed-income developments and the expansion of Section 8 housing vouchers, has dispersed black families across metropolitan regions while infusing more white residents into neighborhoods once almost exclusively inhabited by black residents. Sociologist William Darity, director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, anticipated this problem back in January when he told CityLab: By avoiding making it a program that’s directed specifically at the families that either were living in neighborhoods subject to redlining, or families that indirectly lost income as a consequence of the impact of redlining given the existence of segregated residential areas, the bill is not designed to provide resources specifically to those families that were victimized. It actually gives resources to current residents. The criteria for receiving down-payment assistance varies among the candidates’ plans. Warren’s housing plan is centered around the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act bill she introduced to the Senate last year. It would create a new HUD fund to help people buy homes in formerly redlined areas. This program would provide cash assistance for down payments to first-time homebuyers. To qualify, a buyer must have lived in the area for at least four years, and their earnings must fall within 120 percent of the area median income. Harris’s approach is similar. Her plan would give down-payment assistance to homebuyers who live in areas that were subject to redlining or legal racial segregation. Unlike Warren’s plan, though, under Harris’s program, buyers could use these HUD grants to purchase a home anywhere in the country. They don’t have to be first-time buyers, although the plans requires buyers to use the home as a principal residence. Only buyers who have lived in a formerly redlined community for at least 10 years would be eligible for Harris’s program. And her legislation is meant to work with other bills to make credit scores more inclusive. Buttigieg’s program is even more geographically focused. His plan would tackle hyper-vacancy, a term that describes communities plagued by very high shares of vacant properties—cities like Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit. Buttigieg’s plan would give vacant properties to homesteaders who would take full ownership over the houses as long as they occupied them for a decade. The homes would come with an extremely low-cost mortgage, payable directly into a homeownership fund, which would be used for improvement and maintenance for distressed properties. Under the Buttigieg plan, only residents who have lived in designated pilot areas for three years and earn less than the area median income, or have lived in an historically redlined or segregated neighborhood for three years, can qualify for the program. Again, it’s a plan for building general wealth, not just redistributing cash: Homeownership is key. However, it is still subject to the same criticism that people who currently live in historically redlined areas are not necessarily the victims of decades of discriminatory lending policies. There are other problems to plans based on homeownership in redlined communities. Many of the African American or Latinx families who live in formerly redlined communities don’t fit the profile of a first-time homebuyer, for example. They may own their homes now, or they may have owned homes previously. These residents may have been victims of predatory lending schemes or the foreclosure crisis. While a down-payment program targeted to residents from specific geographic areas might be a way to help some households build wealth (as opposed to a simple cash transfer), it is a near-sighted approach to making whole the victims of redlining, critics say. There’s also the question of whether providing financial assistance for black families to purchase houses in formerly redlined districts would reinforce or even lock in the segregation that already exists—after all, it’s wealthy, white suburbs that need the integration and have the proximity to economic opportunities that black families could benefit from. Baradaran addresses this unintended segregation problem by proposing housing vouchers for people looking to buy homes. Right now the federal government provides vouchers to low-income workers to rent apartments and houses on the private market. Baradaran proposes expanding the voucher system to allow people to purchase homes in any neighborhood, but helped along through a “shared equity mortgage,” wherein a private investor or government actor would jointly own the property with the voucher recipient. At the end of a loan term, the equity of the property would be evenly split between the homeowner and the investor, and in the event of a default, the investor would claim the property. But the vouchers would still be awarded to people who’ve lived in formerly redlined communities. Baradaran also acknowledges that using the redlining maps of the 1930s might be suboptimal in capturing the black families intended for the benefit, because of changing demographics. But just because the players in these neighborhoods have changed doesn’t mean the game has. “This does not mean that segregation patterns have been disrupted or that the same forces that created the racial wealth gap are still not in play,” Baradaran told CityLab. “What it means is that many communities have been re-segregated to new spaces and it’s usually not difficult to see how these formerly redlined populations have moved to different regions.” Black people who once lived in redlined St. Louis have been priced out to suburbs like Ferguson; black folks in once-redlined, but now-gentrified Harlem were uprooted to places like the Bronx and Yonkers. Washington, D.C., was not covered by the HOLC maps of the 1930s, as the Brookings report points out. However, that doesn’t mean that no redlining occurred. As Greater Greater Washington reported in 2016, the organization Prologue DC created the Mapping Segregation in Washington D.C. project to show how certain neighborhoods, such as Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights, Park View, and Petworth, refused to sell houses to African Americans in the early 20th century. Neighborhoods in the southeastern quadrant of D.C., along the Anacostia River, became redlined for low-income African Americans by default. “Some of the redlined areas are still intact, but many are not—that does not mean that we give up on a remedy; it just means we re-map these populations,” says Baradaran. “The Brooking authors are right that we need to look carefully at those borders, but I don’t think anyone that has proposed targeting these communities with housing subsidies has been under the impression that we would use the exact same maps. I helped several of the candidates with their policies and each one, we drafted the provision to help the people who were affected by housing segregation, not just the few redlined blocks.” Whether the redlining maps of the 1930s align neatly with today’s maps of inequity or not, the problems and legacy of racist housing and investment discrimination still need to be addressed. A landmark survey released in August by The Groundwork Collaborative found that a majority of black adults believe that the economy is rigged against them in favor of the wealthy, and 50 percent of African Americans cited finding affordable housing near their jobs or family a challenge—a third said it was a “big challenge” in their lives. These are beliefs and attitudes that can’t be easily traced or shaded over. But this is also an issue that the nation can no longer afford to be colorblind toward.

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To take full advantage of Building Information Modeling, the Autodesk Revit Fundamentals for MEP course in Chicago, Illinois has been designed to teach the concepts and principles of creating 3D parametric models of MEP system from engineering design through construction documentation. This course is intended to introduce students to the software’s user interface and the basic HVAC, electrical, and piping/plumbing components that make the Autodesk Revit software a powerful and flexible engineering modeling tool. The course will also familiarize students with the tools required to create, document, and print the parametric model. The examples and practices are designed to take the students through the basics of a full MEP project from linking in an architectural model to construction documents. For more detailed course information, go to: https://www.dezignext.com/pages/Courses/crs-revt-mepf.html

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Northern Beaches white ant and termite inspections. What are termites (or white ants as they are also known)? Termites are an ancient order of insects whose origins date back more than 100 million years. Although they are commonly called ‘white ants’, the resemblance to ants is superficial and they are more closely related to cockroaches. They are one of the most successful groups of insects, colonising most landmasses except for Antarctica. Their colonies range in size from a few hundred individuals to enormous societies with several million individuals. Termites are social insects, working and living together in colonies. Each colony contains several types’ castes which differ in body shape and behaviour, and each caste is specialised to perform different tasks. Three principal castes are recognised: workers, soldiers and reproductives (the primary king and queen and sometimes supplementary reproductives). Termites can be grouped into three basic categories: dampwood, drywood and subterranean. Subterranean termites are the main termite group that poses the greatest threat to homes, building and timber in service in Australia they are ground-dwelling and require contact with the soil or some constant source of moisture. The 3 main species of subterranean termites responsible for the majority of the damage to Sydney homes are Coptotermesacinaciformis closely followed by Schedorhinotermes andthe less damagingNasutitermes.Termite attack is often unwittingly encouraged by human intervention in providing termites with moist conditions ideal for their establishment and development Subterranean termites build their passages underground commonly in the top 200 mm of soil from these passages they attack timber in the ground or construct earthen tubes up various surfaces until they reach a food source. Theses passages can extend under areas such as roadways,paths and concreate slabs. Once in contact with their food source they begin to excavate the wood. Many termite species build their colonies below the surface of the ground generally under tree stumps and roots of trees. White ant and termite treatment options At Clean and Green Pest Management, we do not push one particular method or product when it comes to termite eradication. We access each property individually and, taking into account any preferences you may have, we then make a recommendation on the best termite treatment option for you and your situation. These may include one or several of the following termite treatment options: Baiting : Above-ground termite bait stations will be attached on or adjacent to termite workings within the building which has been identified during the termite inspection and a insect growth regulator is added this usually the most effective option for colony eradication but can take some time to achieve the result. Dustings : A dust is introduced into termite galleries and workings which make it possible for the termites themselves to spread the contaminant through the colony by grooming each other and cannibalism Foams : Can be applied into damaged timber were termites are active. Liquid insecticides : Where a colony is found or suspected in a tree, a short residual insecticide can be injected into the tree after it has been drilled this is a very effective option for colony elimination and should always be used when there are suspect trees on the property. Termite control and management options External in-ground monitoring stations will be installed to perimeter of the nominated structure. These stations contain wood that is attractive to termites once they start feeding a insect growth regulator is then added. The stations are placed at an average of 3 meter intervals but will not normal exceed 5 meter intervals , at an optimum distance of no more than 1 . 5 meters from the drip line of the nominated structure and will be inspected every 4 weeks when the system is active and every 8 weeks when it is not active..This is generally sold as a 12 month program that can be renewed at the end of this period. Chemical (Post construction) A termiticide such as Termidor is applied as a continuous chemical soil zone around the external walls, footings and sub floor areas of a building. The termiticide is applied either by creating a trench or by injecting it into the ground. Because termites often use footpaths and patios to gain entry into a building, the termiticide can also be injected through these. Termidor is non-repellent to termites. This means that they cannot see or smell the product and therefore will not avoid the treated area. As a result, the termites continue to randomly forage through the soil until they encounter Termidor. Once this happens and they get a lethal dose… How often should I have a termite inspection? Our experienced and qualified pest inspectors have many years of experience in termite eradication, control and management. All of our inspectors are fully qualified and insured. Our insurance covers us for Public Indemnity and Professional Indemnity which gives you complete peace of mind. A termite inspection is recommended at least annually by the Australian Standard AS3660 even if you have a termite protection system in place. We also recommend all homeowners have a full termite inspection completed on their home and property once every 12 months.This way, if termites have gained entry to your home, they will be found and eradicated before too much damage occurs to the structure. Even if termite protection systems are in place, these make it easier to detect termites but won’t stop them from attacking your building. Your existing termite protection system may also be compromised which you need to be aware of. If your home has history termite damage and activity and your house is in a high termite pressure area , it would be advisable to have more regular inspections completed, such as 3-6 monthly especially if you have not installed a termiticide treated soil zone around your home or have termite monitoring stations around the perimeter of the home. Our termite inspection process 1. We use the latest equipment including: - Sounding – a specialist technique to test the integrity of wood - Listening Equipment – detects termite movement - Moisture Meters – detects elevated moisture in wood which may indicate the presence of termites - Borescope – an invasive technique that can take pictures of active termites in timber 2. Our comprehensive report gives you essential information on: - Current termite activity - Evidence of previous termite camage - The conditions around your property that are conducive to termite attack - Evidence of a current termite protection system - Advice on how to minimise the likelihood of termite attack - How often you should have a termite inspection - The various options regarding an effective Termite Protection Program Property pest inspections and termite eradication Northern Beaches If you have any questions about removing termites and white ants from your home or business premises, contact the team at Clean and Green Pest Management for obligation free advice. We are your local Northern Beaches pest inspectors specialising in both traditional and the green pest control methods that are safe for your family and pets. Our licensed termite controllers can advise you on the safest and most sustainable ways to control and eradicate termites from your property. More white ant & termite treatment, protection and control tips. Homeowners on Sydney’s Northern Beaches & North Shore need to be on high alert when it comes to the early detection of termite infestation. Termites, also called white ants, are such a threat to homes all across Sydney’s Northern Beaches and North Shore as they can simply can sneak up from the ground, silent and […] Termite treatment, protection and control methods. What we look for when undertaking a termite inspection When our pest controllers conduct a visual termite inspection we are not only just looking for active termites within the property we are also inspecting and reporting any areas that are conducive for termite attack which could bring termites into […] Northern Beaches Termite Treatment and Pest Inspections. Several termite species such as coptotermes acinaciformis and coptotermes frenchi are often found in trees and stumps of trees and also landscaping sleepers left in the ground. The termite species schedorhinotermes intermedius is also occasionally found in trees and stumps, particularly when stumps are covered by soil. In colonies […] Termite control and white ant treatments on Sydney’s Northern Beaches & North Shore. Northern Beaches & North Shore home owners need to be on high alert when it comes to the early detection of termite infestation. Termites, also called white ants, are such a threat to homes all across Sydney’s Northern Beaches and North Shore […] Child and pet safe pest control Sydney. Did you know that today’s newest pest control techniques are designed to attack targeted pests and not pets or children? With the latest in Integrated Pest Management advancements, pest control experts are now able to provide targeted applications to pest problems faced around the home or workplace that […] Home pest control treatments – are they worth the effort? One of the main issues people encounter trying to fight pest infestation on their own is underestimating the scope of the problem. When you see one or two cockroaches around, you can also guarantee there are more hiding in obscure areas where you can’t find […] Termite protection and control Northern Beaches. When it comes to termite eradication and protection of your property there are 2 main method available on the market today : Non-repellent Chemical Termite Barriers, and Termite Baiting Systems. Most pest protection companies will have a preference for either one of the other and may only provide their […] Northern Beaches white ant and termite inspections. What are termites (or white ants as they are also known)? Termites are an ancient order of insects whose origins date back more than 100 million years. Although they are commonly called ‘white ants’, the resemblance to ants is superficial and they are more closely related to cockroaches. […]

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